Having trouble with your Lumen internet? Not satisfied with your 360 WiFI / Premium WiFI and Quantum Fiber / My CenturyLink app experience? Or do you want to use your own 3rd party router so that you have more control over your network? Here are some helpful instructions.
Note: AT&T (Forged Fiber 37) has acquired substantially all of the residential / small-business fiber in 11 states from Lumen as of 02/02/26. Price For Life is no longer available for new / modified accounts starting 04/17/26. This guide is updated regularly.
I hope this guide will help you get the same solid Lumen / CenturyLink Fiber and AT&T / Quantum Fiber experience that I have had in the Twin Cities, MN area for over 7.5 years now! (Note: I have always used a 3rd party router and DNS.) If you need to contact support, it's best to call M-F 8am-6pm local time until you get someone in the states. [https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/contact.html](https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/contact.html)
# Hardware / Service Troubleshooting
If your SmartNID / ONT front panel light is solid green or solid white then your connection is working. If not then unplug the power for 1min, plug it back in, and then wait 10min. If still no solid green or solid white light then there is an issue somewhere between your SmartNID and the Central Office that you will need to contact support about.
On the bottom of the SmartNID where the fiber plugs in, if the B light is not on, the fiber is likely damaged and you will need a tech visit. If the light is a solid green, your fiber is fine and the issue lies elsewhere. Do not unplug the fiber cable to look at it. Just get a tech visit.
# WiFi Pods & IoT Troubleshooting
If you are having issues with your WiFi pods and your SmartNID light is solid green you can maybe get them working again. Remove all of them from the app, factory reset the pods, and then connect each of them wired to the SmartNID for a while so that their firmware updates. After that add each one back as new pods following the instructions here:
[https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/services/360-wifi.html](https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/services/360-wifi.html)
[https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/fiber/premium-wifi.html](https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/fiber/premium-wifi.html)
The power adapters are not interchangeable between the SmartNID and wifi pods. Always make sure you are using the correct one for each device if you ever unplug them for some reason.
Are you having a problem connecting IoT devices to the 2.4ghz signal? You have 3 options to try.
* 1.) Unplug the power to the wifi pod, create a 2.4ghz only hotspot on your phone/computer/tablet with the exact same SSID name/password, connect your IoT devices, turn off the hotspot, plug back in the wifi pod,. * 2.) or get a cheap 2.4ghz access point. * 3.) or use a 3rd party router.
The W1700K / W1701K pods now support Ethernet backhaul by using the left port on the W1701K, which is highly recommended. First sync up the W1701K wirelessly near the W1700k before moving it and using Ethernet backhaul.
# General Tips & Performance
To know what speed you are getting you can do a speedtest to HOME in the QF app. Or do a direct wired Ethernet [speedtest.net](http://speedtest.net) connected to the SmartNID, W1700K, or W1701K (if using Ethernet backhaul), selecting the closest Lumen / CenturyLink server.
You can also use a 3rd party router to have great service like many of us have had since day one. If you want suggestions [https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/) might be a good place to ask.
It's a good idea to keep the 360 WiFi / Premium WiFi equipment in a box for an emergency backup as long as they stay a free lease. It is always possible that the WiFi pods and apps are a future firmware/software update away from them being good enough for what you want your home internet experience to be. It's highly recommended to have all gaming devices ethernet wired that can be, as that is one of the biggest complaints about the wifi pods.
# Equipment Returns
If they ever start charging for them, or you cancel service, just send them back and make sure to keep the tracking number. Once it shows as delivered you can contact support to have it immediately removed from your account.
[https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/equipment/returns.html](https://www.quantumfiber.com/support/equipment/returns.html)
[https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/how-to-pack-and-return-the-modem.html](https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/how-to-pack-and-return-the-modem.html)
# Setup Guide
**(0.)** **3rd party router instructions**. **(Even if you're using the "WiFi pods" everyone should follow #2, and in #4 those marked with an asterisk \* .)**
For the easiest setup you only need the first four sections. Only go as far as you are comfortable with, but make sure to read till the end of each section before making changes. This all might seem intimidating but you can do it!
Note: If your SmartNID is Ethernet fed and you want to use a 3rd party router follow sections 2 & 6 only.
**(1.) SmartNID setup (or DSL modem)**
The SmartNID address is 192.168.0.1, so make sure your router's LAN IP is set to something else like a higher 192.168.x.1 (x between 1 and 254).
Connect the Ethernet cable from the fastest port on your SmartNID to the fastest WAN/Internet port on your router.
The login credentials will be on the sticker attached to the device.
**(2.) Static DNS**
So many issues with Centurylink / Quantum are due to their unreliable DNS servers.
It's a good idea to use a 3rd party DNS provider like Quad9, Cloudflare, Google, OpenDNS, etc [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public\_recursive\_name\_server](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_recursive_name_server)
Make these changes in the WAN / Internet settings on both the SmartNID and your router.
I have used one or another of these providers since 2005 and because of that I have never once had a DNS issue. I recommend malware blocking ones like [Quad9](https://quad9.net/service/service-addresses-and-features/) or [Cloudflare for Families](https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setup/), and to enable DNS over TLS (DoT) or DNS over HTTPS (DoH) if your router supports it.
**(3.) DMZ**
For the majority of people placing their router into the SmartNID's DMZ will be good enough. The router will be "Placed Outside the Onboard Firewall and NAT." Though, bridge mode in section #5 is always preferable.
These are the DMZ instructions, the GUI might look different but the instructions are basically the same:
[https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/advanced-setup/security-settings.html](https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/advanced-setup/security-settings.html)
Your router's IP should show up as 192.168.0.2
When the firmware auto-updates a factory reset can happen. If all of a sudden you have double NAT this is likely why.
If you have a Q1000K and see high latency ping tests there is info here about it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantumFiber/comments/1re9v2o/q1000k\_unstable\_latency\_spike\_research\_findings/](https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantumFiber/comments/1re9v2o/q1000k_unstable_latency_spike_research_findings/)
**(4.) More settings suggestions**
DMZ or Bridge Mode:
Make the changes in this order before enabling bridge mode.
QF App:
* Remove all 360 Wifi Pods, WiFi networks, and Parental Controls Profiles. If possible. * Network Security - Disable everything. (This is important to do. Wait a minute before making other changes. This will reset with every SmartNID factory reset.)
SmartNID:
* Advanced - Cyber Security - Disabled.
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