Absolutely.
I think you've missed my point. The whole issue starts with VM forcing terrible kit on users to avoid supporting diverse equipment, but then actually recommending diverse equipment to overcome the shortcomings of the supplied kit.
I understand that they don't want to support a ton of different kit, and yes, I realise the SH is built by a 3rd party. Badging it largely makes it 1st party in my eyes.
That is not the only logical reason, and there is the potential for plenty of benefit as previously mentioned. If you read what I'd previously written properly then you would know that at no stage have I "moaned about support". I don't need support from VM, largely because the field I work in gives me better knowledge of switched/WiFi networking than the script/diagnostic flow their team is forced to work from. When I had to support broadband for my employer I just got on with it no matter which router the customer was using. Google gives you GUI addresses and logins for most routers, then asking the right questions gives you the rest. What I have actually done is complain about equipment which is not fit for purpose, ask for assistance circumventing their terrible choice of kit, state that I don't want to be told to "just use modem mode" (if that was an answer I was happy with then I wouldn't be asking the question in the first place) then reply to the people who suggested just that.
The logical reason for this thread is that I didn't know if there was a reasonably easy way to circumvent the forced use of the dire kit. That question was properly answered by someone's second reply. Since then I've answered lots of questions posted in response to my initial question. If I wanted to "put it in modem mode, get a router and get on with it" then I wouldn't bother asking the initial question.
---------- Post added at 18:22 ---------- Previous post was at 18:17 ----------
To be fair I already have four boxes, if you discount the SH. My point is I do not want the SH. I want a standalone modem because I can trust that to not be *****. From that I can pull a single cable to the firewall/VPN/server I have. That has a single line to the switch, which then has a connection to one other switch, one router - actually supplied by VM as part of their two-box solution years ago - and one wireless AP used to deliver signal where the router can't reach. A simple setup this is not, but it does exactly what I want in exactly the way I want it to.
---------- Post added at 18:25 ---------- Previous post was at 18:22 ----------
It was a cheap shot, but still made me laugh! The problem with taping them together is when I set fire to the SH it would also damage my switch
---------- Post added at 18:26 ---------- Previous post was at 18:25 ----------
This suffers the same problem as above, except with extra fuel for the fire!
---------- Post added at 18:33 ---------- Previous post was at 18:26 ----------
The lack of the modem only solution is the exact issue. As stated previously, I don't need them to support my network. I'd take a fair bet that 95%+ of their staff couldn't if they tried, but that's fine. It is by no means a standard home network.
All I want is a small, efficient, tidy device that I can rely on. None of those things are the SH. I'm prepared to obtain this device at my own financial expense, and to a certain degree with an amount of difficulty and learning thrown in too. The reply which made me more fully aware of the actual difficulty doing this also made me aware that this is probably several bridges too far.
---------- Post added at 18:38 ---------- Previous post was at 18:33 ----------
I saw this much in an article a few weeks/months ago on one of the usual suspects online - techradar/Engadget etc. The three is a complete **** take. I tried to manually set the WPA key to one of my choosing and it won't even allow me to save it. I give neither a flying f**k nor rolling doughnut if VM see my password as suitable/safe; it's not obvious but is memorable to friends and family, which is the point. Brilliantly their Twitter lot said the password "has to be up to scratch for me own safety" so I screenshot the option to just turn security off altogether. Strangely, they've not yet answered me on that from over 24 hours ago. If you're going to give me a corporate answer a least don't make it nonsensical.
---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:38 ----------
You don't need a router to connect more than one hard wired device. My server will happily pick up the DHCP load without noticing so a switch would suffice, but that's me being pedantic.
I'm sorry to give the same basic answer but I just don't want anything to do with any of the SH family. The only reason it is foisted upon us is rendered null and void by it's lack of capability. With that an actual fact, there is no good reason to force it upon us, and plenty of good reasons to not. All I'm asking for is a common sense solution.