@AndreD 

The issue of not connecting to the internet may be that you need to power the modem down during the install process. See the instructions for the router install. Many overlook it and it sometime works without unpluging the modem and sometimes not. Try power off and unplug the modem and power off the router for 10-15 min, then plug in and power up the modem, wait a bit then power om the router. That forces the ISP to reset the connection. 

  @AndreD 

Thanks for the reply! I think i found the problem: the Verizon configuration page had a switch to allow or block the device. I set it to "allow" once but it didn't take. Did it again and that time it worked.

That's an interesting point about disconnecting the modem forcing the ISP to reset it. I had a problem with the modem some months back, didn't know what to do. Tried a couple of things including unplugging it. I guess the key point is to wait a few minutes to make the ISP do its thing.