Modem advice

Ginnel

Ginnel

Ginnel

Associate
Joined
2 Jan 2021
Posts
11
Hi I recently bought an ASUS RT-AX58U router to use with my home network but unfortunately the Vodafone hub I'm with can't be turned into a bridge/modem only mode which leads to double NAT which equals bad.

I'm about to go over to NOW TV which has the same issues as Sky broadband, but a firmware update can get around that.

So on to the questions
  • Does anyone know if the NOW broadband router/modem be used as a bridge
  • If not can if I buy a router just for its ability to go into bridge mode should I be on the look out for any specific features for it in this case.
  • Should I return the ASUS router and purchase a new modem/router combo
 
For a modem, and working on the assumption you have a VDSL connection, get hold of a secondhand BT Openreach HG612 3B (< £20). It's what BT originally supplied before the ISPs started to supply routers with internal VDSL modems. They're old but still work perfectly well.

If you just want better wireless, you could configure the ASUS as a wireless access point and leave the ISP router to handle the network side of things.
 
Hi I've unlocked a HG612 3B and I think I set it in bridged mode (basically using the drop down menu options for that) and then left it. I've also downloaded the Merlin firmware for the ASUS router put it in automatic IP mode and filled in some random username and password in the format a1w2c3d4e5@nowtv/abcd1234 (please note slash wasn't used the vertical line or pipe I think it's called was used instead just can't access that on mobile)

When I plug everything in all lights seem to be flashing apart from the internet one on the router which is red. So no internet, I've reset up the router and modem so many times now with one on 192.168.50.1 and the other on 192.168.50.2 and still no joy I've changed the username password bit many times using the Mac address as the username. I even tried wireshark to get at the actual username and password but following those instructions gets me 6 random characters instead of a proper username. I'm really stuck on where to go next and not sure how to troubleshoot the HG612 3B to see if that's the problem.
 
You didn’t need to unlock or configure the modem. They came configured to work as they needed to as a modem.

The only reason to unlock them for a VDSL connection is to get access to line stats.

It’s a Sky connection so you’ll need to configure the DHCP option 61 information.
 
Ok sorry got confused with everywhere I was searching for information talking about unlocking the modem. I've now hard reset again and all the lights are doing their own thing so looks right.

Regarding the DHCP option 61 I've read around that you just need to use a general username and password so a1b2c3d4e5@nowtv|abcd1234 should work, this doesn't seem to be the case, I'm probably barking up the wrong forum looking for advice on that here.
 
Unfortunately nothing seems to work I'm sure there's something obvious wrong, but going to change ISP instead as still in cooling off period to Talk Talk which actually doesn't even need a username and password.
 
TalkTalk just use DHCP - you can hook up an Openreach modem and plug a laptop in and it will get an IP address.

I wish more providers would move away from PPPoE, it just puts overheads in that don't need to be there.
 
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