Promised a router, supplied a modem (plus.net)

[joey1211]

Signed up for a cheap broadband account with plus.net and ticked the option for a 1-port router. They sent a me a D-Link DSL-320B which is a modem.

As such I am unable to share the connection via a hub.

Contacted plus with:

The hardware that you have supplied is not a router, it is a modem.

A router is able to share the broadband connection with other computers when plugged into a hub. The router is given the external ip address and shares this connection via 192.168.0.1 for example.

A modem, however, cannot do this. The first computer that is attached to the modem via a hub is assigned the external ip address. Any other computers attached to the hub get no response and are unable to connect to the internet.

I opted to accept your offer of a router as the only charge was for the p+p. I would not have ordered this hardware had I known that it was only a modem.​

And their reply was

By definition, a router is a device that acts as a default gateway and acts as a bridge between two or more networks (In this case your home network and ours, via the internet) and retains the connection by way of it's own power supply. The hardware we have supplied satisfies all of the above criteria.

If you would like to exchange this we are more than happy to do so, but you would need to upgrade your package or pay the upgrade charge. Please advise if you would like to go ahead. Thank you.​

Am replacing the D-Link with a Linksys Wireless anyhow. Just interested to know whether the above statement from plus is true.

 

[Curiosityx]

Semi true, yes the simple definition of a router is a device that connects two or more dissimilar networks.

But you are correct the device you have received is by definition of modem, do you receive a public or private address on the inside network, is there any NAT being performed at all?

I would imagine that you would be receiving a public ip address on your machine, as such there is no clear demarcation between yourself and the ISP.

In effect they have used some clever wording to describe the package on offer.

 

[joey1211]

The ip address of my pc is now external - 87.113.***.***. Surely their asking for trouble supplying noobs with this hardware? But they've probably got a warehouse full of these and their not going to admit a whoopsy!

I went with plus for my parents house last xmas and was supplied the standard BT hardware (can't remember the model) which worked fine via a hub. Oh well.

 

[J.B]

If Id clicked on a one port router that's what Id expect to be honest, NAT and DHCP is pretty useless one you only have 1 client.

 

[errata]

If your only PC has the external ip address then they have not bridged 2 networks your and theirs as only 1 network exists in that setup.

But it is a bit weird that the web interface for the modem has an internal ip address.

 

[joey1211]

No, the ip address of the modem is 192.168.1.1, accessible nia web interface

It's the pc that has been given 87.113.***.***

 

[errata]

therefore theres only 1 network involved and the modem has a interface that presented on a fixed IP address like a webpage would be. Its not bridging 2 networks so cant meet their own definition of a router