Virgin Media Community

[andrewilley]

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Eddy29 wrote:

So if anyone else needs to do the same, feel free to PM me and I'll try to explain in detail what exactly you need to do (and obviously it would be at your own risk)

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I messaged Eddy29, and as long as you are able to use the developer console in your browser to simply confirm one URL code that the router is using, his solution worked perfectly. So now my new Superhub3 is happily operating using the IP address 192.168.1.1 so it's properly compatible with the rest of my existing 192.169.1.* network and I don't need to return it.

As to why Virgin would change the default address from that used by their previous routers in the first place, I have no idea. I have even less idea why they would say it can't be changed when patently it very easily can, they just need to include a very simple option within their management panel.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, after I had tidily configured the IP address, admin password, wireless network SSIDs and passwords, etc, as soon as I connected the router to the incoming cable and activated it, Virgin then sent out a firmware update and factory reset the unit again - so I had to do it all over again. Thanks for nothing Virgin!

Andre

[Eddy29]

Hi,

Sorry I didn't see the replies here before. As I've now had several people message me for instructions, and they've (so far) all been successful in changing their IP address with no issues, I'm now going to post my instructions here - I hope this is OK.

It's a bit difficult to explain but I'll try to do so as simply as I can. Basically it seems like most of the Superhub 3's web admin interface is built using JavaScript, and uses AJAX to communicate with the underlying system (somehow using SNMP, by the looks of it). So that means it is possible to set things which aren't available in the interface at all, if you can figure out the right command etc to use.

So to start with, you need to be able to see what URLs are being loaded via AJAX. I don't know how you might do this in other browsers, but I use Chrome, and in that you can do it by opening the development console (F12) and then right clicking in the console and making sure Log XMLHTTPRequests is ticked.

You then need to log into your router's admin page, and then look at the URLs that are loaded after that in the console (basically just wait until it finishes loading the main admin page - i.e. after logging in with your password - then pick the last URL shown in the console). You'll notice it has n=something (a number) in it. That number seems to be used like an authentication code - it changes when you log in, and if you try to load a URL which doesn't have the correct number for the current session, you won't get any response and it will actually log you out (i.e. if you try to click anything in the admin panel you'll be sent back to the login page, and will have to log in again and get a fresh number).

So once you've logged in, copy the n= number shown in the console for use in the later steps.

Assuming your router is currently still at 192.168.0.1, and you want to change it to 192.168.1.1, the URLs you need are:

http://192.168.0.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.5.200=%24c0a80101;4;&_n=0
http://192.168.0.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.11.200=%24C0A8010A;4;&_n=0
http://192.168.0.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.13.200=%24c0a801fe;4;&_n=0
http://192.168.0.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.9.0=1;2;&_n=0

The first one is to set the actual local IP address of the router to 192.168.1.1, the second is to set the start of the DHCP address range to 192.168.1.10, and the third is to set the end of the DHCP range to 192.168.1.254 (i.e. the same as the defaults but in the 192.168.1 range). Each of these IP addresses is hex encoded (starting after the %24 and ending before the semicolon), so you can use an online IP address converter to convert other addresses to the proper format (although I haven't tried setting any others and don't know whether that might cause any issues, especially if you use a completely different range like 10.). The fourth one seems to be used to finish applying any settings that have been changed.

So what you need to do is, after logging in and getting the current n= number from the console, replace the 0 at the end of each of these URLs with that number (I'd recommend doing them all beforehand in Notepad), and then load each one in a new tab in your browser, in the above order. When you load each one, you should get a plain response which shows the value of the changed setting (don't worry too much about checking this, as long as you don't get a completely blank response). When you load the final URL which applies the settings, your Superhub should then immediately sort everything out for you by moving to its new IP address and assigning you a new local IP from the new DHCP range. So I didn't have to do anything else, but you may find that you have to force a renewal of your IP address from whatever device you're using. The only slight issue I had was that I then couldn't log back into the admin panel for about 15-20 minutes, as it said someone else was already logged in (which would have been me at my old, no longer usable local IP address).

If by any chance something does go wrong, I would try manually assigning yourself an IP address in the 192.168.0 range and try accessing the router at 192.168.0.1, and then try the same for the 192.168.1 range with the router at 192.168.1.1. If this doesn't work and you get completely stuck with no access to anything, you might have to factory reset the router (although I don't actually know how you do that) - so just make sure you're prepared for that (or have an alternate way of accessing the internet to find out what to do). So obviously this is all at your own risk - I don't take any responsibility for what might happen, although it all worked fine for me.

Hope this helps and all makes sense - let me know if any of it isn't clear.

Kind regards,

Eddy

[Tidus]

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andrewilley wrote:

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Eddy29 wrote:

So if anyone else needs to do the same, feel free to PM me and I'll try to explain in detail what exactly you need to do (and obviously it would be at your own risk)

---

I messaged Eddy29, and as long as you are able to use the developer console in your browser to simply confirm one URL code that the router is using, his solution worked perfectly. So now my new Superhub3 is happily operating using the IP address 192.168.1.1 so it's properly compatible with the rest of my existing 192.169.1.* network and I don't need to return it.

As to why Virgin would change the default address from that used by their previous routers in the first place, I have no idea. I have even less idea why they would say it can't be changed when patently it very easily can, they just need to include a very simple option within their management panel.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, after I had tidily configured the IP address, admin password, wireless network SSIDs and passwords, etc, as soon as I connected the router to the incoming cable and activated it, Virgin then sent out a firmware update and factory reset the unit again - so I had to do it all over again. Thanks for nothing Virgin!

Andre

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All of VMs Hubs/Superhubs have used 192.168.0.1 by default so VM did not change anything. 

[mamaq]

Thanks for this method, I too wanted to use a more complex address range so tried this and after some fiddling, it worked for me. However, I thought I'd put a bit of extra detail about my experience of this super hub 3 as there were a few bits where I did do further googling and thought this might help others.

First of all, I was told by VM that I could get this hub for a small charge along with a speed upgrade. OK, there was a small charge, but I was asking as my old hub was showing signs of faults. I asked and they said that settings backup was compatible. That is not the case and so I ended up with a task of setting things up manually. That's a bit of a pain for me as I use MAC filtering on the wifi and non-default settings.

Second, do your basic setup for the hub first. By this, I mean the plugging in, calling the number, reboot after 3 minutes, let it upgrade for 15mins. It'll save you hassle later.

Third, my network settings were controlled by DHCP throughout and I was using a wired connection to the hub

Finally, I think you should only do this if you have reasonable competence with networking at the command prompt. If you don't know what "ipconfig" does, this might not be for you. If you are OK with that, but perhaps like me you aren't familiar with the Chrome developer console and how websites work, here's some tips (based on Chrome Version 51.0.2704.103 m)...

1) Open a new Chrome session and navigate to the log on screen and then press F12. A pane opens to the right in your browser
2) In the menu bar, click on console
3) I suggest tick the "preserve log" box. This will give you more control.
4) Right-click anywhere in the window and select the Log XMLHttpRequests as suggested
5) Log into the hub in the left hand pane and you should see the calls being made by the hub configuration program being listed out in the console pane
6) You'll see that depending on where you right-click you can clear the history and also, right clicking on the link lets you copy it out to notepad. It's useful to clear it down when you navigate around the menu and of course capture the required value for n=

I noticed my links had an extra "&+=nnnnnnn" bit on the end. My experience was this should be ignored. The links above worked fine once you substiture your value to put in the first n= bit and your required Hex values for IP addresses

You must convert your IP addresses to Hex. This is the Hex converter site I used...

http://ncalculators.com/digital-computation/ip-address-hex-decimal-binary.htm

I did notice that the converter returned the Hex value with an upper case "C" but the link that was tracked by the Chrome console used a lower case "c". I went with lower case for .my changes.

I was able to set a range well away of the 1.* range and I was able to set a starting value for the Hub that wasn't 1. Here are some examples for a base address of 192.168.42.13 with starting of ...42.14 and range to 42.254

192.168.42.13=c0A82A0D
192.168.42.14=c0A82A0E
192.168.42.254=c0A82AFE

giving example links of...

http://192.168.37.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.5.200=%24c0A82A0D;4;&_n=08563
http://192.168.37.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.11.200=%24c0A82A0E;4;&_n=08563
http://192.168.37.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.2.2.1.13.200=%24c0A82AFE;4;&_n=08563
http://192.168.37.1/snmpSet?oid=1.3.6.1.4.1.4115.1.20.1.1.9.0=1;2;&_n=08563

I chose to do this in the same tab I logged into and that worked OK for me. Just enter each of your links, one after the other into the address bar and press return. After the last step, I got a response from the configuration app and then if I tried to refresh the page, a "network changed" error from chrome. When I checked my ipconfig in command prompt, my network had changed. I also experienced the temporary lock out behaviour but you can get past this quicker by power cycling the router and waiting for the main light to go white again. You might also find a "ping -t" running in a command window helps you track what is going on in your machine's network connection. I found mine dropped in and out a bit, even thought the light was white.

BTW, if you can't remember what your previous SSID was, you might find it useful to use regedit to search registry for the value which should be there if your computer has connected to your old network. I found mine in sections under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/NetworkList/Profiles

One last thing, remember to back up your settings as you go. After successfully changing settings, and backing up, I reset my hub. You will need to use the original address range and password to get back in but restoring the config gets it all back to where you set it.

Thanks again to Eddy29 for his method.

[mamaq]

Just to mention, I'd changed the base address to 37.1 on this occasion.

[andrewilley]

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mamaq wrote:

Do you basic setup for the hub first. By this, I mean the plugging in, calling the number, reboot after 3 minutes, let it upgrade for 15mins. It'll save you hassle later.

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100% agree on this one! When the new hub gets initialised and updated, they do a clean wipe so any settings you've made beforehand will get wiped and you'll need to do them again. As I found out the hard way.

Andre

[davec81]

Horseman,

Is there an update on the status of this known issue. Do Virgin Media plan to fix this serious omission and if so when.

I work from home as part of my job and require to access my employers VPN, so its vital to me and evidently others that this be fixed.

Does VM appreciate how this will potentially lose them customers?

Regards
DaveC

[legacy1]

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davec81 wrote:

Horseman,

Is there an update on the status of this known issue. Do Virgin Media plan to fix this serious omission and if so when.

I work from home as part of my job and require to access my employers VPN, so its vital to me and evidently others that this be fixed.

Does VM appreciate how this will potentially lose them customers?

Regards
DaveC

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If you expect router mode to do what you want don't. I don't know how much worse or clear this needs to be but you all cocked it if you don't ask for something simple like modem mode.

Their are no updates from VM they will update when it happens.

[andrewilley]

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davec81 wrote:

Is there an update on the status of this known issue. Do Virgin Media plan to fix this serious omission and if so when.

I certainly wouldn't hold my breath for Virgin to fix this omission - but you can do it for yourself (see the posts above yours, I have my router set to use 192.168.1.1).

And yes, you might be better with a more powerful and configurable third-party wireless router, and operate the SuperHub in modem mode, but as long as you don't want it to do anything too clever (and are prepared to work with its naff interface issues) it works well enough for most purposes.

Andre

[davec81]

I've used the fix described by Eddy29 and confirmed by Mamaq (many thanks for this). It just feels wrong to resort to do this, as all previous VM modems I've had allowed this out of the box.

So once again many thx to Eddy29.