shub 2 modem mode
 

Hi all

Talking to my brother who uses his shub 2 with a third part router. I was asking him how easy it is to set it to modem mode. He said he hadn't heard of modem mode, he just turns of wifi on the shub 2 then connects his own router to a superhub ethernet port. This doesn't sound right to me, can anyone confirm if what he's doing is correct. (I could be getting one in near future so just want to be prepared).

Thanks :)

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

no it is not. Disabling the Wi-Fi obviously only takes care of the wifi, if he leaves the shub in router mode then it is still acting as a router which is why the ports on the switch at the back are still active. Yes he can still attach another router to it but it is like making a daisy chain. The 3rd party router will handle all the routing for the devices connected to it but if they want to go outside of the side (lan) and get onto the internet, they have no direct connection, the new router is simply going to handle the traffic to the shub because it is going to see it as the default gateway and the shub is then going to route it off to the internet. He is "double nating" and forcing the traffic to go through another router unnecessarily which can only introduce more problems.

As soon as you log into shub2 in router mode there is an option on the page to put it in modem mode. Modem mode disables the routing functionality and turns the shub into a modem. This means that only port 1 is active on the back of the shub and the only way you are going to get a device connected to the internet is if it is directly connected to port 1 or if you connect a router to port 1 (i.e. attaching a router to the modem) and then connecting multiple devices to the router. In this scenario the router will be the sole device maintaining the network and it will act as the dhcp server and handle the routing etc. In your brothers case, the shub will have been handing out ip addresses for it's subnet and the 3rd party router will have been as well. The only bit of good news is that he has got away with conflicts because the two routers will more than likely have been setup for different subnets. The shub is 192.168.0.1/24 and most 3rd party routers I have seen are 192.168.1.100/24

Long story short is your bro has done it completely wrong and modem mode is there for a reason. Turning off wifi is only part of the answer and does nothing to stop wired routing, shub firewall, dhcp or any of the other stuff going on.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

that's what i thought, and thanks for the excellent and detailed explanation GM. I'll be in touch with him to inform him of his schoolboy error with a degree of smugness as he's a rocket scientist (and satellites too !).

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Not a good one though. [IMG]http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/ROFL_C12.gif[/IMG]

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Actually turns out that the engineer set it up like that when he installed it !

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

With a third party router attached??? I doubt it. Possibly turned off wireless as only 1 PC attached and your brother later add added the router without changing anything.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Here is a helpful link for you also:

http://help.virginmedia.com/system/s...MER_TYPE=Cable

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Cheers, think i'm sorted.

I've got a linksys E3200, so should i use that or stick with the shub routing ?

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

To be fair, while it's not inherently a good idea to daisy-chain two consumer NAT gateways it's not going to have any negative consequences for a lot of people either.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

definitely stick with a the E3200, it is a cracking router. Put the shub in modem mode and set the Linksys up. One of the first things I would do which is going to save you soooo much hassle in future is set your dns servers to 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4 and 208.67.220.220 (google's dns servers and opendns). This is one of those occasions when you'll set it up and never look back and should be used as best practise by VM tbh. You have got a very very good router and once you have got it set up properly everything is going to tick away nicely and you'll never have any problems. Once you are happy with what you have done you can show your bro how to do the same thing.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

^
What he said :D

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

That'll do for me, many thanks General Maximus ;)

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

np dude

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

The engineer that was sent out to me one time set my at the time new Superhub exactly that way, I actually asked him why he had done that as I wanted It set up as setup in modem mode and he told me turning off WiFi was the setting that done it. I just waited till he left and fixed it myself.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

I think they are trying to fob people off. They probably worked out a long time ago that people wanted modem mode because wireless was/is rubbish on shub1 so they are lulling everyone into a false sense of security by disabling wireless and letting the new router handle it whilst at the same time letting the shub act as the primary router so tech support can still do their stuff when you ring up. Sneaky.

Tbh I don't blame though, if I was a tech I wouldn't set it up either. I would provide the shub as is and if the user wants to put it into modem mode and then setup their own 3rd party (for which I accept no responsibility or liability for) then so be it. The user can't be dependant on the tech to setup their own router. If they don't know how to set it up then they shouldn't have bought one.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Ahh, Virgin's extensive training at work there, I see.

---------- Post added at 22:52 ---------- Previous post was at 22:50 ----------

I very much doubt this is the case. For all Virgin's faults, I've never seen them do anything deliberately like this in order to pull the wool over a customer's eyes. Their agents still have to support 3rd party wireless and it makes more sense to put the hub into modem mode for that (less conflicting things).

In all likelihood, the tech was either being lazy, not trained very well or hasn't been trained since the Shub got modem mode - meaning the "old" way was to just switch off wireless.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Given the number of different people reporting different call centre staff saying "I'm sending some signals to your line which will fix it" when no such thing is happening, I am pretty much certain VM have trained their staff deliberately to make this misleading statement. I can't believe dozens of individuals would have simultaneously invented the same cop-out excuse individually without some higher influence.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Modem mode doesn't stop tech support being able to see problems with your connection or SuperHub, it just means they can't see how your internal network is set up.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

I know, but I very much doubt they'll be willing to use remote access to look at the 3rd router config and play around with the wireless settings like they can do with the shub. The point I was trying to make is that leaving the shub in router mode, disabling wireless and letting a 3rd party router act as the wap is the perfect all-in-one solution for VM in terms of support vs performance balance

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Don't see how - if everything is connected to the 3rd party router, VM still can't see anything useful in regards to the network set up?

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

I know but it still lets them muck about with the shub and change settings rather than not being able to do anything at all.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Errrr....that is actually a thing. They call it "sending hits" internally and is usually a good way to force the modem to redownload its configuration file, among other things (I don't know the ins and outs of it). Mostly fixes provisioning issues, like when it didn't quite activate correctly or occasionally someone's paid their bill but the modem didn't get the memo, stuff like that. It's usually worth doing if the modem isn't getting online but the power levels seem ok.

It's a thing, I assure you.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Can you explain what happens when the Call center say "i've boosted your signal"

how do they do that?

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

Looooooool, it is a shame they dont realise how stupid they sound. If they think they can work magic then they should be working in networks and sort out 1gbit fttp

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2014/08/5.gif


Seriously though, the agents are trained to use the "sending signals" line but it isn't to try and pull the wool over a customer's eyes, it's to keep the level of Jargon down. I doubt most of the people on this forum, who are generally fairly technically inclined, would know what "sending hits" meant, let alone an average customer.

The "boosted your signal" one isn't something officially trained out as it is misleading at best. Christ knows what (if anything) the tech was actually doing at that point.

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

lol, that gif is excellent, it has given me my afternoon chuckle

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

And that does what exactly which is at all relevant to fixing node congestion problems? Yes it's a thing that exists. That doesn't mean it isn't still a complete lie that has nothing to do with, and no chance of fixing the problem the customer called about.

"You have performance issues between 6pm and 10pm every day? Sure I'll send some signals at 2pm. That'll fix it."

Re: shub 2 modem mode
 

See that's a different statement entirely. I agree, there's nothing an agent can immediately do when it comes to congestion other than check for an existing ticket or raising one if there isn't. That's what they're trained to do, that's what the internal process dictates they're supposed to do - they're never told to outright lie to the customer. Mind you, I can only speak for onshore, not offshore.