Adding a Tenda ac2100 router to hub3

[John107]

Please can someone give this total newbie  simple and clear instructions on how to connect the sh3 to this router with a cat 7 cable. I need all the help I can get lol. Thanks in advance...👍

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

Follow this "generic" protocol
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Set up your Tenda to have the WAN port set to be in "DHCP" (& Nat) mode, it may be pre-set that way anyway. Then, disconnect all cables from your new router and switch it off and unplug it.

Then, put the VM Hub into modem mode ( https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-hub-modem-mode ) and wait for the base light to turn magenta/purple (on a Hub3 - but not on a Hub4!). Once it’s in modem mode, the VM hub “MUST” then be powered off.

Switch your Tenda on and make sure it’s fully initialised (leave 5 min) and then put in the ethernet cable from its WAN port to the VM hub (any port will do).

NOW… power up the VM hub and wait 5-10 minutes for The Hub to initialise and and you should get a connection. This order only needs to be done the first time you connect the router to the VM hub.

[John107]

Thank you so much for the advice jbrennand, It's helped me enormously. I am connected up but I'm not getting the 110 Mbps that was constant before. I think things might improve as my speed started at 18 and now varies between 35- 60 so perhaps I should leave it alone and see what happens? In the meantime if anyone can give further advice with my Tenda ac2100 and hub 3 I'd appreciate the help. I know quite a few have suffered speed loss with hub 3 and their own routers. This forum is fabulous and I'm so glad it exists for people with little knowledge like myself.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @John107 

Thank you so much for your post and I'm so sorry to hear you had these issues! Huge thank you @jbrennand for their help on this, it appears to have been very useful! 

Can I ask how your speeds are looking since your last post? 

Thank you.

[mjpartyboy]

Bear in mind, different routers will come with different settings enabled/disabled by default. Some of these default configurations might get you the results you expect, whilst others won't. You need to spend time investigating the router's settings and then tune it for your environment.

[Tudor]

By the way it is useless to use Cat7 cables, there are not covered by any international standards, but are only produced by some manufacturers. Also they have their own connectors that are said to be back compatible with standard RJ45 connectors, but who knows. With VM equipment there is no need to use anything other than Cat5E or Cat 6 cables, although if you want to waste money use Cat6a or Cat8 cables by all means.

[loulouk]

I'm following (trying to!)the instructions for connecting the AC2100 router to the Hub3.

The bit I can't get is how I connect to the Tenda router to ensure it's using DCHP mode.  Don't I need to be connected to the internet first to log on to the Tenda?  But I can't connect to the internet until the router and Hub are speaking to each other.  I'm clearly missing something.

What aren't I getting?

[WelshGasman]

PMFJI

No, you connect to the router via it's IP address.? It is all internal, no internet needed.

If you do not know what that is, then open a command window with cmd and type in 'ipconfig' without the quotes.

The default gateway value will be your router ip address.

Log in using whatever credentials it uses?, normally admin and a password displayed on the bottom of the router.

Then find the DHCP setting.

https://www.tendacn.com/en/service/download-cata-12.html 

HTH

[Adduxi]

You need to connect a cable from a pc or laptop to one of the lan ports on the tenda. The static IP address on the laptop should be in the same range as the tenda.  Some routers will be 192.168.0.xxx range or 192.168.1.xxx

So a laptop of 192.168.1.10 will connect to the tenda if it is 192.168.1.1 

Once connected you can set the WAN details to be DHCP. 

Disconnect the laptop and follow Johns instructions.

[Moonshadow]

Hello!

Thanks for the guide you posted. Unfortunately I am having no luck getting this router to work. Modem mode works fine when the PC is plugged in directly, but via the router I get "Disconnected. Please contact your ISP for help"

The connection is obviously fine since PC direct to hub works. Just this router is playing up