I confess that I am trying to be patient and to "understand" Verizon's approach with upgrades to the Actiontec routers for FIOS customers. Notably, we've been a FIOS customer for more than 5 years. In the IT world, 3-5 years is the average lifespan of network equipment, with the corresponding depreciation schedule. Presuming that our payments for FIOS services included some portion towards depreciation and replacement of equipment - including our Actiontec router - I admit to being a little irked that it appears that Verizon wants at least $99.00 to replace our current 802.11g unit with an 802.11n unit (not necessarily even current technology), rather than simply telling us that a replacement is "ready for us" and waiting for us to initiate the order to replace the existing, older unit. With announcements over the last 2 years of vulnerabilities in consumer routers, and - clearly - no further firmware upgrades for the older Actiontec routers, it appears that Verizon's strategy is to a) extract as much cash from customers as they'll tolerate, and b) ignore the risks, impacts, and potential liabilities in permitting older, end-of-life, unmaintainable devices to remain on its networks and connected to the Internet, potentially affecting its other customers, and other private and governmental entities with interests exposed to or leveraging the Internet. At least with Comcast/XFinity, I could - eventually - replace my cable modem with a later model, supported version, and then use whatever router I wanted to - owning the configuration, maintenance, and consequences. With Verizon FIOS it doesn't appear that I have that option. It seems that Verizon-owned and supported routers are required if one wants the requisite MOCA support, and connectivity to the FIOS network. a) Are there alternative, compatible routers that customers can purchase and use with their FIOS service? b) Is there somewhere on the Verizon site - someplace I may have missed - where it's possible to order replacements for older equipment (routers, DVRs) without having to pay replacement charges (since, at this point, it's all user-installable)? c) are there any proper upgrades to routers, and support for IPv6 coming in the near future? Andrew
↧