Virgin Media Community

[db579]

I have a VMB plan with Hitron Chita modem/router and a static IP address. The wifi signal strength produced is pretty poor so I wanted to try putting the Hitron in modem mode and using a different router to see if that would produce any improvement.

I was told that required switching to a setup with 5 static IPs and that at that point I would have to use the Hitron in modem mode and no longer have the option of using it as a WiFi router, unless I then made the switch back to 1 single static IP.

I didn't really understand why this was the case? I understand you might want to connect multiple routers, each with their own static IP, but why is not possible to just connect a single router on a single static IP? This seems quite a cumbersome debugging process if you have to contact support and change your whole setup just to try a different router?

[legacy1]

VM are keeping tight lipped of their unsecure GRE tunnel to where your WAN IP is even if you have a router that supports this VM will not give you the IP of the gateway.
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Tech-Chatter/Attempting-to-do-VM-setup-that-the-Hitron-does-by-...
So just use modem mode with a non static IP that does not change for years most of the time

VM could do your static IP's right on the local gateway first hop but they have to route them to that gateway plus its not secure and people can hijack them because no authentication and VM could fix that by making every hub for consumers do DAI then the only problem is two Hitron on the same network can hijack the others IPs which is less likely . 

[db579]

I'm not really understanding how that situation changes if you have a 5 static IP setup though?

Non-static isn't really an option if you need your web servers to be available on that IP even if the IP doesn't change very frequently.

[legacy1]

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@db579 wrote:

I'm not really understanding how that situation changes if you have a 5 static IP setup though?

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your focused to use router mode with 5 static IP by the GRE tunnel

[Tudor]

Please note that this board is for residential customers only, not business account customers. A few people may be able to help, but the vast majority of users have no experience of the business setup and VM staff member will also not be able to help you. You need to contact the business help line.

[TimeRider]

I too was scammed the same way. Impossible to securely route/firewall traffic if you have a static IP, Why else would you need one unless this is your intention? Of course if I want to pay them EXTRA money they'll suposedly let me use the hitron junk as a modem.

Filled out the support form online, and have called three times. 16 hour turnaround on faults they say (and this IS a fault as it doens't work as intended), 13 days later I'm still waiting for a callback. Several times I said 'just cancel it then' (well within cooling off period) - each time told I would have to pay them exit fees.

Virgin site mentions none of the above, in fact words that it is a simple. easy option in the router GUI.

Engineer on the day said that was the easy part, the sales guy who called around was also unaware of the forced upsell and had been trained that a static IP was indeed a static IP.

Disgusting customer service. According to the cheap chinese router they supplied tha WAN IP isn't really the WAN IP - How can they go so wrong with standards that have been in place for decades?

Interestingly, traceroute seems to show a jump stateside before coming back to the supposed public WAN IP.

We've now had several weeks unable to do our normal work due to this, we adhere to strict security and data protection protocols and need our firewall and routing to work. VM seem to just bury their heads and hope you go away.

This info needs passed on to ALL sales staff as they are woefully unaware, and I would suggest that customer service also is in dire need of training - attitude from one was so terrible that if I had ever spoken to her before it would have been enough to make me stay away from VM.

Anyone signing up needs to see it explicitly mentioned that VM do not supply a working static IP.

[Sephiroth]

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@TimeRider wrote:
I too was scammed the same way. Impossible to securely route/firewall traffic if you have a static IP, Why else would you need one unless this is your intention? Of course if I want to pay them EXTRA money they'll suposedly let me use the hitron junk as a modem.

<SNIP>

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My recollection from a few years ago (when I was on the original Hitron trial) is that if you install a proper firewall behind the modem, then the rules you set can handle each of the static IP addresses you've got and route accordingly to an appropriate device/server on your network.  This would be secure, certainly inbound.