Re: Business hub in Bridge mode and Complaint!

btnotverygood · ‎27-03-2012

I have been using my bt business hub in bridge mode for 6 months sucessfully. A few days ago my internet stopped working so i tried to sort it out. I bypassed my firewall (pfsense) and connected directly to the bt business hub. To my amazement the routers wireless has been enabled by itself and it was set to open and there was various hostnames of phones and other devicesd in the dns list. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, I CAN NOT HAVE THE WIRELESS AUTOMATICALLY TURNING ITSELF ON, THIS IS SECRUITY RISK, THIS IS A WASTE OF MY BANDWIDTH. I am sure BT just do it so that they can resell my bandwidth with btopenzone. It may have turned itself on while i was rebooting the router but this should not randomlly change settings especially when all the other settings remain the same like the login details.

Ok well back to the problem. I have been unable to get the bt business hub to in to bridge mode, everytime i reboot the router it reverts back to the pppoe with routing neabled and loses the bridge mode settings. I read up and apparently this is a "known issue" and is apparanetly a firmware problem. Well i just so happen to have a second bt business hub which is on a different firmware version and after pluggin ni this brand new router i experiecned the exactly the same problem with the settings not saving. What makes me think it is not a firmware problem but something that BT has done to disable bridge mode capability:

1) problem happened with a bt business hub with latest firmware. After putting it into bridge mode you need to restart to get it too work but the restart just resets the settings back to the pppoe, non bridge mode.
2) i tried a different business hub router with an older firmware and it behaved in exactly the same way.
3) i reset the modem while the router was in bridge mode and the modem reboot reset the router to non bride mode.

I tried to bypass the bt business hub and connect it directly to PFSENSE which is an opensource firewall router distribution. I set the pfsense to pppoe and filled in the correct settings but it refuses to get an ip address, sometimes it gets a 172 ip address. I work in IT and i know how to configure network devices. So this is obviously a restriction or limitation of the BT infinity service. I am on a dynamic ip with BT so i don't rent a (fake) static ip address from BT.

So questions:

1) why am i am not able to set the bs business hub in to bridge mode anymore.

2) Why am i unable to use pfsense and pppoe as my router

3) do you think there is something wrong with my modem?

Also would like to point out that i refuse to contact BT by phone.

OldWolf · ‎27-03-2012

Hi,

If you reset the router (and I mean reset by turning off and on, and not FACTORY reset) and it loses it's settings then it is BROKEN!! It is NOT some conspiracy theory intended to steal everything you own and your first born child.

Try and factory reset it using the options in the user interface, and if that doesn't work then contact the Helpdesk. How you contact them is up to you:

http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/contact/session/L3RpbWUvMTMzMjg0ODI2Ni9zaWQvRWNEekQ3VWs%3D#s=ImNh...

/sigh

Dave A

btnotverygood · ‎27-03-2012

I have tried resetting the router to the factory defaults and this did not fix the problem. How could all of sudden two routers break in the exact same way? ESpecially considering the one router which i tried afterwards was brand new and never been used.

I refuse to contact the BT helpdesk by phone.

What about the wireless turning on by itself?

MHC · ‎27-03-2012

@btnotverygood wrote:
I have tried resetting the router to the factory defaults and this did not fix the problem. How could all of sudden two routers break in the exact same way? ESpecially considering the one router which i tried afterwards was brand new and never been used.

I refuse to contact the BT helpdesk by phone.

What about the wireless turning on by itself?

Why will you not call the BT helpdesk? That is what they are there for ... to provide support ans assistance with issues such as this.

OldWolf · ‎28-03-2012

@btnotverygood wrote:
What about the wireless turning on by itself?

Seriously? You have to ask that? If your router is losing its settings then isn't it highly likely that it reset, and because wireless is turned on by default... /sigh

And sadly BT routers do seem to be prone to this settings loss issue. You're probably just unfortunate to have more than one do it.

To be honest, just buy a router that pleases you and be done with it. You don't want to contact the Helpdesk anyway, and unless you actually paid extra for it then the router was free.

Dave A

btnotverygood · ‎28-03-2012

I have actually confirmed by someone else with another ISP that offers fiber that they are able to use pfsense by connecting it to the modem. So obviously there is a problem on my line. I realy do not appreciate your attitude on this matter. Wireless should never be enabled as open by default. No other router that i have known of sets that option. Like i said the settings did not completely reset as some of the settings that i had entered like the login and password were still saved. There was at least 10+ foreign devices in the dns list this is completely unacceptable and something i have never experienced before using other isp routers or commerical routers.

Anyway i don't expect you to do anything about, maybe it was just a random glitch. But i thought i should point it out. As people on other ISP with exactly the same FTTC bt openzone fiber can use pfsense without a problem it leads me think there is a problem or limitation with this sort of service on the bt product version of the fttc. Maybe the problem is specific to my modem or configuration at the isp.

OldWolf · ‎29-03-2012

@btnotverygood wrote:
I have actually confirmed by someone else with another ISP that offers fiber that they are able to use pfsense by connecting it to the modem. So obviously there is a problem on my line. I realy do not appreciate your attitude on this matter. Wireless should never be enabled as open by default. No other router that i have known of sets that option. Like i said the settings did not completely reset as some of the settings that i had entered like the login and password were still saved. There was at least 10+ foreign devices in the dns list this is completely unacceptable and something i have never experienced before using other isp routers or commerical routers.

Anyway i don't expect you to do anything about, maybe it was just a random glitch. But i thought i should point it out. As people on other ISP with exactly the same FTTC bt openzone fiber can use pfsense without a problem it leads me think there is a problem or limitation with this sort of service on the bt product version of the fttc. Maybe the problem is specific to my modem or configuration at the isp.

Right. My 'attitude' comes from this, from your original post:

"I am sure BT just do it so that they can resell my bandwidth with btopenzone."

I despise people who assume that a technical issue is some sort of conspiracy. I have no respect for that particular attitude tbh.

Just because it doesn't lose EVERY setting doesn't mean it isn't broken. IT IS.

As I say, go buy a router that suits you and be happy.

/sigh

Dave A

Edit: Apologies. I misread the comment about wireless. Removed offending section.

btnotverygood · ‎29-03-2012

I appreciate that you have replied but to be frank with you, your replies have been worthless. Not only have they not helped one single bit but they have contributed to annoying me even more. Your final solution is go buy a router that works for you. I think you should just shut up. You obviously did not read the OP and have no intention of helping me, you just went all defensive because someone pointed out a major problem with the bt hub. Go and cry some where else before you waste any more of my time. If there is one thing BT do best it is wasting my time.

If there is anyone else that can offer any insight i would appreciate that. If you are just going to say that i am making up a conspiracy or advise me to "buy a router that works for me" then i don't want to hear it.

OldWolf · ‎30-03-2012

Hi,

I did help you, but you're too hung up on bashing BT and me to notice.

Here's the help you would probably get from anyone who knows anything about BT routers and the issue you're having, copied from my original reply:

"Try and factory reset it using the options in the user interface, and if that doesn't work then contact the Helpdesk."

If someone can come up with something more 'sensible' than that then I will put my hands up.

Hope that helps.

Cheers.

Dave A

helpinghands · ‎01-04-2012

Hi

There has always been a problem with the Business Hub 2701 with it losing bridge settings when the router is rebooted. I am not aware of any Firmware upgrade that has resolved the problem. If you call the helpdesk they will be able to send out the Business Hub 3 to resolve the problem.