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DoctorSteve's avatar
DoctorSteve
On our wavelength
18 days ago

HUB in MODEM Mode

My 7+ year old Hub3 blew up last weekend and I got a replacement on Tuesday.

It is now a HUB5 but I also have a wireless router, so after a quick visit by the tech, I said I could sort out modem mode by myself. But then I had lots and lots of issues.

I'm pasting the guide I followed here to help others and maybe future me as it's fine if everything is working but if the HUB does a full reset back into Router mode, you may start seeing your router showing:
"Your ISP's DHCP does not function properly." message - which means you have no internet connectivity. 

So the way to get the extremely temperamental VM HUB to work (this was the same with my HUB3 as it is with the HUB5) is do the following.

Full power down of HUB, Router, PC
Plug Ethernet from computer into MODEM
REBOOT MODEM and Reboot COMPUTER
Ensure Internet can be found and IP 192.168.0.1 Can interface with MODEM

Set MODEM from ROUTER mode to MODEM mode

Once the page has lost connectivity, disconnect ethernet cable from Modem and Power off all devices.
Plug ethernet cable from Computer into Router.
Plug Ethernet cable from Router WAN to PORT1 on the VM HUB
There should only be one ethernet cable from Router to Modem (PORT1)

REBOOT MODEM, Reboot Router and Reboot COMPUTER

Ensure Internet can be found and 192.168.100.1 Can interface with MODEM
You should also be able to locate your router depending on address (mine is 192.168.0.1)

These last steps can take a few minutes for the VM Modem to initialise and link properly with your router.
Whilst in startup mode I saw lots of messages like:
"The network cable is unplugged" and "Disconnected" before the final "Connected" message

TL/DR...
POWER OFF, POWER ON all devices
Order Critical: ROUTER OFF / MODEM OFF then ROUTER ON / MODEM ON

3 Replies

  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta
    18 days ago

    Yes it just the gateway on VM locks to a given MAC for your WAN IP it takes about 2 minutes normally for that to clear to allow a new MAC.

    also the hub locks to a MAC by CPE 1 setting

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    18 days ago

    This is a full step-by-step guide to put VM hubs into modem mode. It has been used successfully by many users.

    How to put a VM hub into modem mode:

    1) Access your hub on 192.168.0.1, sign on and put it into modem mode. On the Hub3 the bottom LED will change to magenta, on a Hub4 the LED band will be green, on a Hub5 the LED will be green. Best done from a wired connection.

    2) Turn off the hub and disconnect any Ethernet cables

    3) Fully initialise your own router or mesh master unit and make sure the WAN port is set to DHCP (for some routers or mesh this may have to be done in router mode before entering modem mode)

    4) Connect your router or mesh master unit to the VM hub with an Ethernet cable, Cat5e or Cat6, any higher specification is a waste of money. On a Hub5 use port 4.

    5) Turn on the VM hub.

    6) You should now be able to access the internet and the hub will now be on 192.168.100.1

    Note1: this only needs doing once for each new router or when VM changes your WAN IP address.

    Note2: If you have a Hub4 and your own router is NOT 192.168.0.1 then it’s possible that you can still access the VM hub on 192.168.0.1

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    18 days ago

    With the Hub 5 be aware the 2.5Gbps port requires
    your router to have Energy Efficient Ethernet aka EEE Disabled on the WAN port. 

    If you are unable to do this try via one of the Hub 5 1Gbps ports.