If the built-in Wi-Fi router on your Verizon 5G Home Internet gateway is not reaching all of the devices in your home, you may need to use your own Wi-Fi router to get better range.
In my case, the Verizon Gateway’s built-in Wi-Fi was sufficient for both floors of my condo, but it didn’t reach my outdoor Ring cameras. So, I found it necessary to plug in my trusty Netgear Wi-Fi router into my Verizon 5G Home Internet gateway.
The Easy Way
Technically, you could simply plug your router into one of your Gateway’s Ethernet ports. As long as the Wi-Fi names on your router are set to different values than your Gateway, that setup should work for everyday web browsing.
But, that means your Gateway is unnecessarily transmitting a Wi-Fi signal. It’s best to turn off Wi-Fi on your cube by accessing the Gateway at //192.168.0.1 and turning off both 5GHz and 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi.
I actually used my cube for months like this and it was fine for regular web browsing.
Passthrough Mode
The ideal way to use your own router with the Verizon 5G gateway, however, is to put the gateway into Passthrough mode because it offers maximum compatibility with various ways to use your router (due to avoiding the “double NAT” problem).
For example, I needed to do this in order to watch recordings from my Tablo Dual Lite when away from home. You might need to do this in other special cases like peer-to-peer gaming, VPN connections, etc. If you just do regular web browsing from home, you probably don’t need to do this.
Here are some things that happen on your Gateway in Passthrough mode:
- Wi-Fi is disabled
- The LAN1 Ethernet port will no longer give Internet access. It will need to be used to access the Gateway’s control panel though.
- The LAN2 Ethernet port will have Internet access, but will not give you access to the Gateway’s control panel.
- The Gateway will no longer do Network Address Translation (NAT), allowing your router to do it (which is what you want).
If you want to proceed, here’s how to enable Passthrough mode on your gateway.
Log Into Your Gateway
The ideal way to do this setup is to access the Gateway through the LAN1 port. You could do it through the LAN2 port or even the Gateway’s Wi-Fi, but as soon as you enable Passthrough mode, you’ll immediately lose access to the control panel.
So plug your computer’s Ethernet cable into the LAN1 port. If you want to do this over Wi-Fi using a phone, plug your router into the LAN1 port.
From there, access the web portal at 192.168.0.1:
Log in using the password printed on your unit.
Can’t Log Into Your Gateway?
If you can’t log into your Gateway, you probably need to do a factory reset by using a paperclip to press the reset button on the bottom of the unit for 3 seconds.
This happened to me, and after I reset the unit, my firmware was upgraded from 222656 to 3.2.0.21.
Setting Passthrough on the ARC-XCI55AX
If you have the ARC-XCI55AX, use these instructions to enable passthrough mode. After doing that, skip past the instructions for the ASK model on this page to the next step.
On the ASK unit, the way to enable Passthrough depends on the firmware version of your unit.
Setting Passthrough on the ASK Model with Firmware 3.2.0.14 through 3.2.0.21 or Later (New Firmware)
At version 3.2.0.14, Verizon completely changed the user interface of the Gateway interface. As a result, the Passthrough setting is much more hidden. Here are the steps to enable Passthrough in version 3.2.0.14 or later:
- Click Advanced in the header menu.
- Click Advanced in the left menu.
- Click Network Connections in the dropdown.
- Next to Network (Home/Office), click Edit as shown below. If that doesn’t do anything, click the words “Network (Home/Office)” to the left and that should do the trick.
- Click the Settings button in the upper right corner.
- Find the IP Passthrough check box and check it!
- Click “Save Changes”.
Please note that after doing this, you will only be able to access the gateway’s control panel by using the LAN1 port of the Gateway.
The LED will eventually turn green.
Setting Passthrough on the ASK Model with Firmware 222656 (Old Firmware)
This is how to enable Passthrough mode with Verizon’s older firmware, version 222656 or older.
Go to Network -> LAN -> IP passthrough then click Configure.
Slide the toggle to the “on” position and click Save:
After this point, you’ll have to wait a disturbingly long period of time, like a few minutes for the screen to refresh. Don’t worry, just chill and grab a coffee.
After a while the screen should refresh and most of the settings will be hidden. However, you’ll still be able to turn off Passthrough mode.
The LED will be white.
Connecting Your Router to the Gateway’s LAN2 Port
That was pretty much the hard part.
Next, just plug in your Wi-Fi router into the LAN2 port, and it should just start working!
You won’t be able to get Internet access through the gateway’s LAN1 port, although you can still use it to access the gateway’s web interface. So, unplug your computer from LAN1 (if it was plugged in there) and plug it into your router.
You should be off to the races now!
A side benefit of offloading Wi-Fi from your gateway to a separate router is that you are decreasing the processing power needed by the gateway, and therefore decreasing generated heat. Heat can be a problem, so doing this could prolong the life of your gateway or even increase speed in extreme cases.
Speed and Connection Problems in Passthrough Mode?
Some folks online have complained that with IP Passthrough mode enabled on the ASK cube, the gateway disconnects frequently (like daily or every few hours). When disabling Passthrough, the problem goes away.
Others have said that their download speed gets cut in half when they use Passthrough.
I have not experienced these issues. Passthrough mode on the ASK router has been rock solid for me and other users. Speed is the same as when Passthrough is off.
Some of these issues did occur in the past but were fixed with later firmware updates.
One person online who was experiencing this problem said that when Verizon replaced their ASK cube with the new ARC model, the disconnection problem went away. So that may be another solution!
If you’re an advanced user, check out this alternate solution on the Verizon gateway which does not use Passthrough mode. Turning off DHCP on one of your devices or changing the IP range may help both the disconnection issue and the speed getting cut in half. But only try this if you know what you’re doing!
Conclusion
I hope this was helpful to you! Please leave your questions or comments below! Is Passthrough working for you? – Brian
How do I tget ipv6 to work im Bridge Mode and a second mesh router. I can only get it to work in pass. thru mode on the home mesh router
Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKbBI38MML8
Does Verizon 5G Home Internet still work with Tablo TV?
It was for me from May ’23 till recently. I first setup Tablo TV in March ’23 when I had Spectrum. Then I switched to Verizon 5G Home Internet in May ’23. It was working “well” until recently when I did a reboot/factory reset. I was having some signal & recording problems.
Now my Tablo TV is stuck at:
Setting Up Your Tablo
Tablo will be ready to use once the first 24 hours of guide data has been downloaded. The remaining guide data will continue downloading in the background.
Estimating time remaining …..
Is Verizon 5G Home Internet the problem? Has my Tablo TV or HDD bricked?
Or is it something else?
Hi JD,
Hmm… I used my old Tablo Dual Lite last month with my Verizon 5G service and it worked fine. I don’t think Verizon is the problem.
It sounds like an issue with your Tablo. Get on the phone with them – usually they are pretty helpful. The number is on their site.
Best,
Brian
I gave Tablo a call, and at first they suggested my HDD may be shot. But they had me go through the factory reset again. I had them go step by step slowly. My Tablo is now working again. The Tablo reset button must be really touchy, because I have no issues resetting other tech with paperclips. After a few test recordings the HDD seems to be ok.
The only issue I have is after the rescan I went from 46 to 44 channels. But FOX does seem to be working better.
Hi JD,
Ah, thanks for following up. Glad you got it working!
Best,
Brian
Is there a way to do this if you can’t plug into Ethernet?
Hi Lauren,
Yes, you can do it through your router using Wi-Fi, but if something goes wrong (i.e., for some reason you can’t access the cube’s admin page), you’ll have to do a factory reset of your Verizon gateway using the reset button on the bottom of the unit and start over. Not the end of the world.
Best,
Brian
I’ve heard reports over the last couple weeks that the new firmward update “broke” pass-through mode — i.e., that it doesn’t work or makes the wifi speed extremely slow. Have you noticed changes with the firmware change? I am thinking about switching to Verizon 5G but only if it will work effectively with my Deco mesh system. Thanks!
Hi Dawn,
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I still have the old firmware, v222656. I have seen those posts about the new version of firmware breaking passthrough. When I get my update, I’ll definitely post my findings!
However, it is possible that if you sign up now, you’ll get the brand new router, not this old ASK unit. Many other folks have been getting the new unit. Therefore you may be OK signing up now but check with Verizon first as there are no guarantees.
Best,
Brian
My ASK router just updated to a new firmware and in pass-through mode I can no longer access the Verizon cube using 192.168.0.1. I did a reset and was able to get in that way but is there an easier way?
Hi Mitzy,
Wow, my ASK router is still on v222656. How about if you plug your Ethernet cable into the LAN1 port of the gateway?
Best,
Brian
Thank You Brian! Yes that worked. I don’t have a laptop but just plugged my router into lan 1 typed 192.168.0.1 and had admin access. Really appreciate the help.
Great, glad it worked! Thanks for following up!
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian!
thanks for your video.
I have a Netgear router like yours. I followed the steps and have it plugged into the gateway lan 2 and settings set as in video.
mmy question is now I don’t see the Verizon interment in my settings. It defaulted to old Netgear network. Is this what I am suppose to use now and go back to my old password for this on all our accounts that need wifi (and why I tell our guests to connect to with that router password)
thank you!
Hi Kellie,
Yes, if you do this, your Wi-Fi will be handled by your Netgear router, so those will be your Wi-Fi settings from now on. Usually this is a nice feature, as it makes it unnecessary to enter your new Wi-Fi passwords on the Verizon gateway.
Best,
Brian
Ty for the reply.
I have dropped internet a few times since doing this today.
I am aware now I cannot use my
Verizon app to reset my cube after doing this. It’s greyed out.
Do you have a set of steps other than unplugging the router and cube and just plugging back in as this doesn’t seem to help much of for only a short time
Ty
Hi Kellie,
You should call Verizon and tell them it’s constantly dropping. For some people getting a new gateway helped. If that doesn’t fix it, then drop Verizon altogether. In some areas, it just doesn’t work well.
Brian
Hi, I set up an ARC at our cabin (85935) about a week ago. A neighbor up here said he loved it. Verizon’s website didn’t show us as having it, but gal at store, said try it you might get it. Think I must it’s faster than cable, which I’ve now turned off. Yippee
Got a second ARC for our home (85718) where website says we definitely get it, though with hills and washes in area I’m a bit unsure, but we do get solid 4g on phones(haven’t switched to 5g devices yet.
At our home we have many more devices set up, 31 and counting. I think I will try using my router a netgear c7800 (which currently handles all devices nicely, both indoors and outdoors and some distance from house).
So I have question: When I plug it into the ARC at home (following above directions), will I then have to reset up up each devise or will the old network simply continue and the router simply recognize them all?
One thing I noticed when setting up the network on the ARC at the cabin, was that I didn’t have to assign things to a 5g or 2.4g network…it just did it, and now my printer works painlessly with all devices. Am I giving that up by using my old router? Perhaps a new Wifi 6 router is in order? Though if answer to set up question in paragraph above is yes, I may to choose to live with printer hassle for a while longer.
Appreciate your advise!
Hi Diane,
If you use the same router (with same WiFi passwords set up), you shouldn’t need to reset the Wi-Fi passwords in all of your devices.
And if you do use your old (existing) router at home I don’t think you’ll need to re-set your printer settings either. Since it’s working with your router now, it should work with your router when it is connected to the gateway.
That’s my best guess, at least.
Best,
Brian
I think the Verizon 5g Home Plus SUCKs. I must unplug the 1338 device minimum of 1 time a week up to sometimes 2 times a day. I may try it again but as it stands now I think they are over selling their service as to just who can get 5g home .could it be I’m at the far edge of 5g tower as I rarely get 5g on my phone that I am also over paying for being a sucker to paying Verizon for service. Most of the time my Down Speed is 30 to 40 Mbps. No where near advrted speed
Verizon never should have sold you 5G since your phone can’t even get 5G there. I would cancel immediately. Thanks for sharing your experience! – Brian