Digital Voice with different Router

[CJT80]

@guidoliguori 

Why would anybody expect a mainstream BIG internet provider like BT to help them with a product they don't support (3rd party router) ?   That's like asking Mercedes to fix a Fiesta.

There are a number of other providers who offer FTTC/FTTP who would be more than willing to support you with your 3rd Party router, but for DV to work correctly you need to use BT's supplied router.

BTW before any suggestion is made, I am NOT a fanboy of BT, which is why I am leaving them!

[guidoliguori]

I think the analogy is specious.  Why not?  Other providers have so I, personally don't see why BT can't.  I suspect they don't want other routers to be used. Yes, there are other fttp providers but none serve my address. Btw, my local merc garage is happy to fix all models and makes.  Says so outside!  

[licquorice]

BT are a large commercial operation, why would you expect them to waste money training staff on how to configure equipment they haven't supplied, they have enough difficulty understanding their own equipment. Unlike some ISPs, BT are perfectly happy supplying the details required to use third party routers, but can't possibly be expected to support them or advise on more esoteric configurations. That is why forums such as this one or Kitz exist, to provide the necessary details.

[colbartram]

Someone gave me the link to where BT provide details necessary to connect with their broadband service. There was one block of content for if you were still on copper, and a link for if you have fibre. I clicked that link and there was no content behind it. I eventually powered up SH2, looked at the default configuration info and replicated it in the R7000. Basically just the 'bthomehub@blabla.com'. The R7000 said it new all about BT and connected without a murmour.

[choppyc]

@colbartram  You can 3rd party dns on the upstream router, I.e google etc

[colbartram]

@choppyc. How come you're labelled as a Beginner?

[colbartram]

@choppyc 

Hi choppyc. I've started poking around the admin UI in my Netgear R7000, which will be my version of your Netduma. I've read up on port forwarding which has been quite useful 'cos I never really knew what ports were all about, and presume it's  easy enough to find the forwarding rules in the SH2. And the ability to define the R7000 as being in DMZ.

It's clear where the primary and secondary DNS details are provided on the R7000, but I haven't found Gateway yet.  Maybe it will appear when I switch the radio button for 'Does your internet require a logon?' from Yes to No - which I presume is what I'll have to do. There's a DMZ setting in the R7000 but I guess I'll leave that alone.

Thanks for the pointers. I will be going ahead with great caution and fingers crossed that I'll be able to revert to my current setup, if I screw it up. Most folks think I'm  nuts trying to preserve the landline, but I've gotten to be a bit stubborn about it.

[colbartram]

@kennyspark8574 

Hello  I saw you have managed to get the SH2 + R7000 combination working, in  the configuration suggested by choppyc.  I'm trying to do the same, but I'm struggling with creating all the settings on the R7000. I can't see where to define Gateway as ...1.254.  I presume that's so the R7000 knows where the internet is coming from, as the SH2 takes the 1.254 address.   Did you create this Gateway setting on the R7000?

Thanks.

[licquorice]

See page 25 of the user manual https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R7000.aspx#docs

[colbartram]

@choppyc 

I've been making progress setting up my Netgear R7000 with the SH2, following your example, but come up against a puzzle.  I got the SH2 working with the digital phone. (It appeared I had to turn off the WiFi on  the adjacent Netgear  router before  the WPS binding worked, but that might have been a fluke.)

I've since been working in the SH2 Admin, working my way through your list of things to disable. I was doing  this over Wifi, assuming I would be able to connect from laptop using an Ethernet cable for the later stages of setting  up the port forwarding etc. The WiFi was the last  thing I turned off and course I can't use that connection now, without restoring all the factory settings. 

However, although the laptop network settings shows an Ethernet network with the hub's name,  typing 192.128.1.254 into my browser results in Cannot be reached. I  tried turning WiFi off on the laptop to convince it to use the Ethernet but got no further. I think I am doing something fundamentally stupid....