ToT Fibre whinge.

[Crossy]

ToT called Wifey this afternoon to tell her they were coming (in five minutes) to replace our Forth fibre router due to "stability issues". Now our connection has been just fine forever, anyway no choice was given (the Forth router is awful in the Wifi department anyway).

 

So, they replace the router with a Huawei HG8245H unit and left it with the default everything as I told Wifey to ensure, I want to configure my own internal network.

 

Seems to be no difference in the connection speed and as noted above we've had no "stability issues" in the past.

 

Anyway, to the point of the thread.

 

It appears to be difficult / impossible to change the router configuration username and password away from the default, the message from the router is:-

 

Quote

The administrator uses the initial password. If you want to change this password, please contact the telecom carrier. For details about how to change the password, see the Security Maintenance from http://support.huawei.com.

 

I failed to find the relevant instructions, but I've not spent much time looking as I have another, much more secure router behind the Huawei which provides my security services.

 

Therefore it is VITAL to change the ONT WAN access behind the "Security" tab to disable all WAN access to the router configuration (just un-check all the boxes in the "WAN Service" section), we don't want anybody and everybody fiddling with our router settings.

 

[Pib]

The Huawei HG8245H is the same router than came with my AIS Fibre 50/10 plan....and numerous 3BB Fiber folks get the HG8245H router.  And yes, many router features are locked/greyed out.    I have AIS Fibre all the way to my home, right into the HG8245H router.

 

Getting more typical with cable and fiber plans where the ISPs want to maintain tighter configuration control....quite a bit different from ADSL/VDSL where the customer can usually completely swap-out the ISP-provided router with their personally bought router.

 

And maybe even with some ISP-provided  VDSL routers it's the same on the tight configuration control/greyed out router settings as AIS Fibre provided to buildings is usually converted from Fiber to VDSL at the building junction point on the ground floor, then it's a phone line run up to the condo on the X-floor,  and then the customer is provided a VDSL router which still says AIS Fibre.

[Crossy]

Further investigation into the beast and it seems to be running the Huawei standard firmware, same users and passwords as in the manual, and no apparent way of changing the all-singing admin login details.

 

Nothing appears to be locked out, even if there were I have no problem with being unable to fiddle with the WAN parameters, so long as I can set up the LAN side of the beast I'm happy.

 

My main gripe was simply the lack of notification. If they'd called the day before I would have left them the settings I wanted and wouldn't have wasted an hour (most of which was spent finding my way round an unfamiliar router) getting it going as I wanted.

 

Oh, and the Huawei is no better than the Forth was in the WiFi department

[robblok]

I just put my huawei in bridge mode and got an good asus one.

Worked faster and better. I am on 3bb fiber.

[Crossy]

Yeah rob, I have been tempted by bridge mode, but as noted in my other thread "bridge vs DMZ" keeping on the good side of the ToT tech is important for when I'm away (got to keep Wifey connected) and he won't support a bridged unit.

 

The speed penalty is minor and the double-NAT isn't giving me grief at present. I can access the ASUS AiCloud without issue so all my work files are there whenever I have a decent internet connection (rare in parts of India mind).

[robblok]

Your right if support is an issue not to do it. I have a heavy network so i notice it. 2 computers a laptop 2 external hd drives and a nas unit and a few phones and an ip phone and 2 normal mobile phones. So in my case it was useful.

[thedemon]

I have TOT Fibre in bridge mode (ZTE router).

 

It is always the same 2 tech guys that visit me for any issues. I get the impression that they prefer bridge mode because they simply connect their notebook to the ZTE and make a PPPoE connection to test the line.

 

As long as that works, they can leave. The routing and WiFi is my problem not theirs.

[Pib]

The AIS Fibre-provided Huawei HG8245H is customized for AIS...quite a few settings are locked/greyed out....the configuration control approach.   Having goggled the HG8245H quite a bit and seeing other folks post some images of their HG8245H firmware menus, their's are definitely different from my AIS-provided HG8245H...generally, mine has fewer setting options.   Even the Edimax AC650 router they provided as a freebie has AIS-specific firmware which limited some of its functions, but I was able to load the Edimax rugular/latest-and-greatest firmware to get full functionality from the router.

 

[Generalchaos]

6 hours ago, Crossy said:

Yeah rob, I have been tempted by bridge mode, but as noted in my other thread "bridge vs DMZ" keeping on the good side of the ToT tech is important for when I'm away (got to keep Wifey connected) and he won't support a bridged unit.

 

The speed penalty is minor and the double-NAT isn't giving me grief at present. I can access the ASUS AiCloud without issue so all my work files are there whenever I have a decent internet connection (rare in parts of India mind).

TOT must have different rules for different areas. I got their FTH package 20/10 (which actually runs at 25/15) and they brought a ZTE fibre interface which is fixed in Bridge Mode then behind that they connected a rather shabby TP Link 300 Mbps Wifi / Ethernet router.

Of course they were not TOT, they were sub contractors and left it set up incorrectly with Double NAT headache (Yes, they connected the TP Link router to my existing Linksys router!!! and they left me without any of the passwords or login details.

After I rang TOT they provided me with the log in etc. and the TP link was  removed and  now the Linksys is doing the routing.

I must admit, the little ZTE box is excellent, it is stable and has never required a reset in over 6 months.

[ChrisY1]

On our second fibre modem....same as the first one...the TOT Tenda....seems ok and TOT Cha Am do appear quite helpful and havn't had any issues with them