New install, will I be able to configure modem only?

[RedHodor]

I'm about to get my gig1 installed in a couple of days.  The external work has been completed ready.

My concern is that I will require modem only option and I've read the new hub 5x cannot be configured this way.  Can I request a hub5 instead?

Our property is quite large, and currently we use eight wifi access points to distribute a decent signal around the house. I appreciatevwe could just use the 5x and have double Nat with our existing network but this causes issues with multiple devices in the house (not least of which kids gaming consoles).

Is there a method of using the 5x in modem only, or can I request the hub 5 to ensure I can use the connection as I need?

[carl_pearce]

If you are in a FTTP area you cannot use a HUB 5 as it uses a coax connection for HFC (Hybrid fiber-coaxial).

The HUB 5x uses a Fibre connection, and no, modem mode is not yet available.

See this thread:

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Hub-5x-Modem-Mode/td-p/5319733

[Cardiffman282]

I know I will be shouted down on this but, just for fun, in a theoretical world where VM supplied whatever hub you wanted would a clever adaptor work with a VM FTTP connection to a Hub 5 thus liberating modem mode? 

[TableTop]

Well you certainly shouldn’t be ‘shouted down’ for asking a sensible question. The answer, alas, is no.

Oddly enough, you are half-right, in areas using RFoG fibre connections, this ‘conversion’ to/from coax is exactly what does happen in the box outside, which is why it needs to be powered. However the technology involved in transmitting data is completely different for an XGS-PON connection, even if you were to have some kind of optical to coax converter, the Hub 5 which is expecting DOCSIS ‘encapsulated’ data simply wouldn’t be able to understand what it was receiving. It’s not the physical medium which is the issue here, it’s the way that the data are sent.

In response to the original posters request, do you happen to know what is in use in your area? If the external work has already been done, is this a brown box on the outside wall, which if you were to open, does it just have a copper coax cable coming in from the outside? 

If you are in a XGS-PON area then I’m afraid you have no choice, it has to be the 5x, otherwise (and this is by far the most likely), you are in a ‘legacy’ DOCSIS area, then you will get a Hub 4 or 5, depending on availability, and both of these can (and arguably, should) be put in modem mode.

[RedHodor]

Its a brand new area using pole mounted hardware.  I assume therefor I'll  e stuck with the 5x, so I'll likely be cancelling within the 14 days as not having a modem only option is a complete deal breaker for me.  I wrongly assumed this basic feature would be available.

[Adduxi]

You should still be able to use your Access Points as simple AP’s. No need for double NAT. You could connect an 8 port switch to the Hub for this scenario? 

[Cardiffman282]

Ta. I suspected there would be complications 😊

[RedHodor]

We have a complete ubiquiti setup that involves 8 switches and the WiFi access points are connected into various ubiquiti switches within the network.  The whole network including the WiFi is managed by the ubiquiti system.  Currently using dual wan with a fttc and starlink connection.  Both of which are setup in modem only mode.

If modem only isn't an option then looks like after waiting a year for this to finally be available I'll have to cancel it.  I can't honestly believe they've released a unit for some of the most advanced broadband speeds available without this basic function to be honest.

[TableTop]

OK, yes, based on what you are saying, then, you are right and you have to just cancel now! Because modem mode on the 5x is somewhere out in the future, could happen tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never!

But really though, worst case scenario, is double-NAT really such a big thing? Yes, I know you mentioned ‘gamers’, the truth though is that whatever ‘gamers’ claim they need, doesn’t necessarily be equivalent with the truth, similarly game companies, when faced with a customer complaint, are quite happy to dismiss it as a ‘ISP issue’, and palm it off.

[RedHodor]

I intend to try it and see if issues can be overcome.  However because we have two xbox units that are on simultaneously with voice chat between those two and external I've run into issues caused by double nat before with the port forwarding settings for those.  I know it's a niche case, but it's also something that we do a fair bit in our household.

Other issues may present when connecting to the office vpn, though that will need to be tested.

Most other devices will likely play well, though there are internal cctv servers and homeassistant servers that need port forwarding to work properly.

I could perhaps look at using internal fixed ip on the devices and directing specific physical ports on switches to the virgin router directly, or going down vlan route and seeing if I can run some sort of hybrid system where some devices are directed to the virgin hub for external traffic but accessible to internal traffic too.

Would be a heck of a lot easier if the hub just did what every hub or router I've known to be capable of in the last 20 years.