Gigabit LAN attached to FIOS modem

Goals:

1. increase the speed of my LAN from 100mbps to gigabit.
2. increase the number of ports on my LAN.

Hardware:
1. Verizon FIOS modem, Actiontec MI424-WR with a max of 100mbps for the LAN.
2. Netgear Rangemax Router (WNR854T) (Gigabit device NOT IN USE CURRENTLY)
3. HP ProCurve Switch 1400-8G (Gigabit device NEVER IN USE)

The history:

I recently changed from Comcast cable to Verizon FIOS. When I had Comcast's cable modem, I simply connected a Cat-5 cable from the cable modem to the "Internet" port of my Netgear Rangemax Router and connected my computers to the four ports of the Netgear Router. The Netgear Router is a gigabit device, so my local network was very fast.

Unfortunately, the Verizon Fios device maxes out at 100mbps, and I want my networked computers to talk to each at 1 gigabit.

First, I tried plugging a CAT-5 cable from the FIOS Actiontec modem into the HP Switch. No dice. From a quick research trip to Google I surmised that I needed to connect the Verizon Actiontec device to a "router," not a "switch." So then I tried plugging a CAT-5 cable from the FIOS Actiontec modem into the Netgear Router. I received two messages.

First message, this from the Netgear Router: "Important Update. To avoid a conflict with your Internet Service Provider, your router's IP address has been updated to 10.0.0.1. You must now update the IP addresses in your router's configuration settings for each relevant service, such as port forwarding and IP address reservation." (I have NO idea how to respond to this. The browser URL for the Netgear Router and the Verizon Actiontec router are identical, which sorta scares me.) Second message, from Verizon's VZ In-Home Agent, asks whether I'm having trouble receiving e-mail and offers to help. It quickly gives up trying.

For now, I've shelved the effort to improve the LAN's speed, and gone back to using the Verizon Actiontec, unplugging the other two devices.

When I try this again, do you have any advice? I don't even know how to get started.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to plug in the HP switch, and NOT use the old Netgear router. The HP switch has eight ports, which would allow for future growth in my own network and also enable me to hook up visitors without messing with my wireless security settings.

Thanks!

Bob C

Thanks, Todd. And the reward for being so helpful is... more questions! I realize that these are such stupid questions -- I really hesitate to ask, and I understand if you tell me to just hire an expert to come in and do this. There is a forum on the FIOS website with some semi-comprehensible advice which I haven't implemented yet.

[Todd Perchert] "Go into your router settings and make sure that the WAN port points to the modem.

How does it "point to the modem"? Does this mean the IP for the modem?

The LAN port can be configured with a local static IP for the router (such as 192.168.1.1).

I'm intending to connect a gigabit switch to the router - is that okay to have one static IP?

Then set the router up as your DHCP server, using IP addresses such as 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.100."

I'm a little confused about the multiple IP addresses. I understand that I only get one from FIOS??

Thanks for your patience.

Bob C

I appreciate your taking the time to explain this. I feel as if I'm learning a foreign language.

Bob C