Modem Mode | Hub 5x | Cooling off period

[greganew]

The dream came true and Virgin laid the fibre and offered FTTP in an area where my ADSL would be lucky to get 32 Megabits per second. I did my research and found that Modem Mode is possible so that I can use my existing Asus router / Wifi 🙂

Service was installed and as soon as the engineer left I logged in and there is no Modem Mode 😞

Found this, https://www.reddit.com/r/VirginMedia/comments/1ah1boq/hub_5x_working_modem_mode, which worked first time and my Asus got a Public IP and I was in business 🙂 

Wife complained about where I had meticulously setup all the kit, there's a lesson in there, so I moved it all, and it never worked again, despite running through it several times.

Before I cancel the service is there anything that can be done from the Virgin side of things to get Modem Mode working in a stable fashion within the next 5 days?

I see people have been asking for this for a very long time. I also see that some people report they have newer firmware than me, 1.2.1b / 2.40.13-2210.4, but it sounds like it's some phased roll out.

I also found some threads talking about a device that can be used but found that very high temperatures are reported and cooling may be required, so I'm not tempted by the option.

So, before I cancel, dig out my Vigor 130 and go back to BT, is there anything that can be done?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

[legacy1]

all VM had to do was say modem mode is not supported on the 10Gb port and people will happily use 1Gb for modem mode to show VM that they should make thier next model hub with 10Gb port support modem mode. 

[greganew]

So, my Hub 5x was configured for Modem Mode using the steps in this Reddit post, https://www.reddit.com/r/VirginMedia/comments/1ah1boq/hub_5x_working_modem_mode/.

My connection was 100% stable for just over 7 days then suddenly stopped working. The green light was still on the Hub 5x and my Asus was still reporting a WAN IP of 86.1.253.x but no traffic was flowing.

I faffed around for a while, disabling the WAN port on the Asus, rebooting the Asus, but no traffic flow. I rebooted the Hub 5x and my Asus but never got a public IP via DHCP on the Asus WAN port, nor could any other device that I plugged in.

I'm pretty confident that this is a Virgin Media DHCP / firmware issue, that they could easily resolve. Someone in the thread said that the DHCP lease can sometimes be 7 days.

I put the Hub 5x back into Modem Mode and was immediately back in business and have been for several days. I can't go on like this though as an 18 month contract would see me re-doing the Modem Mode configuration 76 more times!

I've cancelled and am going back to my very slow ADSL! 

If only Virgin Media would give customers a choice. The majority will be very happy with a Hub 5x but for those that want to use their own hardware just give us a simple modem.

It was nice while it lasted.

[carl_pearce]

Try a different MAC address on the ASUS WAN side.

[greganew]

Hey carl_pearce, thanks for the suggestion 🙂 Can you expand on that a little please? Simply change the Asus WAN MAC to any old random MAC? Are you in a similar position to me?

When the traffic stopped flowing I tried plugging a laptop into port 1, the port that goes to my Asus WAN port, but that couldn't get an IP either, so I assume this is a DHCP server issue on the Virgin Media side, basically refusing the hand out an IP, possibly firmware related.

My service goes off on the 4th November so I am happy to try just about anything.

Thanks in advance 🙂

[carl_pearce]

It's the WAN MAC that usually determines the IP address allocation, so maybe changing the MAC could help, although as you say if your laptop didn't work then nothing would I suppose.

Maybe try setting it to the MAC of the HUB.

[legacy1]

When the hub is in modem mode a change of MAC means you need to power off the hub for 2 minutes also a random MAC some 2 HEX down from what is listed on the hub can help like

"00:00::00:00:00:FF"

to 

"00:00::00:00:00:FD"

[IPFreely]

If you've a router or switch you can plug an SFP+ module into you can replace the Hub5x entirely. No need to worry about modem mode.

The lack of modem mode is due to VM both wanting to force you to use their hub and wanting to manage it over a protocol that needs it to have an IP address: a Hub5x in a proper modem mode wouldn't have an IP address. If they didn't force you to use their hub they couldn't ruin your service periodically by running speed tests on it.

[greganew]

@legacy1, thanks for the suggestion on configuring the Asus WAN MAC. At the moment I think I can guarantee that a reboot of the Hub 5x and the Asus, or DHCP renewal on the Asus WAN port, will result in me no longer getting an IP. Is this MAC change likely to completely solve that? 

Is there any chance of the Hub 5x, in hidden Modem Mode config, working in a very stable way? Sometimes I travel with work so the wife needs to be able to get it working if I'm not here!

Any hints or tips to get this Hub 5x working stably in hidden Modem Mode config are greatly appreciated. I will try all options up until the 4th November, which is when my service goes offline due to me cancelling it!

[greganew]

@IPFreely, thanks for that. I had read about this device you speak of and joined the community. I don't have anywhere to plug in an SFP+ so it's quite an investment to overcome a ridiculous situation with VM.

Is it safe to assume that you never got the Hub 5x, in hidden Modem Mode config, working in a stable way?

[IPFreely]

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@greganew wrote:

@IPFreely, thanks for that. I had read about this device you speak of and joined the community. I don't have anywhere to plug in an SFP+ so it's quite an investment to overcome a ridiculous situation with VM.

Is it safe to assume that you never got the Hub 5x, in hidden Modem Mode config, working in a stable way?

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It's safer to assume that if I ever ordered VM over XGSPON I would have the SFP waiting to replace the Hub the moment the installer left, and would be programming it with the serial number, etc, the moment he took it out of the box.

I have the option but no need to use them, I've an altnet that's cheaper, faster and provides better customer service.

On the SFP+ and somewhere to plug it not as bad as you might think - https://www.getic.com/product/mikrotik-crs305-1g-4sin