Weird problem with Netgear D7000 on Vodafone UK fibre broadband

[CaptainPeacock]

Hi, I have Vodafone UK business Fibre broadband and am having difficulty in getting a permanent internet connection with my D7000. (1.0.0.38 firmware)

I know Vodafone won't give out the username and password to home broadband account holders but they do to business customers and Vodafone support duly gave me mine. I keyed this info into the D7000 and set my (static) IP address & DNS server IPaddresses to be obtained from the ISP. The D7000 synced with the DSLAM OK at around 66mbit, but no Internet access and the Internet LED (2nd from left) on the D7000 remained red.

I tried manually setting the DNS IP addresses to those shown in the Vodafone supplied Huawei HG2500 VDSL router but the D7000 would not accept the primary or secondary DNS server IP addresses saying they were invalid. These were 90.255.255.90 and 90.255.255.255 which I feel are rather odd addresses to use, however that's what the Huawei HG2500 says they are and I think they are obtained automatically as they switch places with each other sometimes i.e. one becomes the primary DNS server and the other the secondary and vice-versa.

HOWEVER, out of sheer desperation I ran the setup wizard on the D7000 and after I entered my username and password the wizard said all was well and I got internet access and the 2nd from left LED was white BUT ONLY until I rebooted or power cycled the D7000, then I was back to square one again until I re-ran the setup wizard after which I got internet access back again.

My initial thought was that I'd miskeyed the username & password info into the D7000 but after several more complete clearing and re-keyings of username & password into the D7000, still no joy until I re-ran the setup wizard.

My gut feeling is that the problem is down to the D7000 firmware not being happy with Vodafone's DNS server IP addresses, which I suspect, is being ignored/over-ridden by the setup wizard as the two DNS server IP addresses are listed (along with my IP address) in the appropriate D7000 setup screen after I run the setup wizard.

Can anyone advise me how to setup the D7000 in order to get a reliable re-connection each time the D7000 has to log back into the Vodafone service, say after a power cut etc..

Thanks.

[michaelkenward]

I can't answer the problem about preventing the amnesia after a reboot, but I can suggest that when you have got it working you create a backup of the settings so that you don't have to manually go through the rigmarole all over again when you are locked out.

One thought, you could try an earlier firmware to see if the latest is not the greatest and is the source of the problem. That would not be the first time that this has happened.

You could search around here for "D7000 firmware" to see if there are similar reports.

By the way, there is newer firmware for your device here:

D7000 | Product | Support | NETGEAR

Maybe that would help.

[CaptainPeacock]

OK, I'll try earlier firmware versions, but I strongly suspect the failing to reconnect after a reboot/resync is down to the D7000 barfing at Vodafone's DNS server IP addresses as when I select "Use These DNS Servers" and enter Vodafone's DNS server IP addresses, the D7000 will not accept these addresses and tells me they are not allowed.

Yet when I run the setup wizard, the D7000 pulls these same IP addresses from Vodafone's system, accepts them and sets these DNS server IP addresses as the primary & secondary DNS servers, yet when I enter the same DNS server IP addresses manually, the D7000 won't allow me to set those IP addresses.

And whilst a backup of the settings is always useful, I can't see how it will resolve the issue as the only action that gets me a connection is running the setup wizard - particularly as Vodafone seem to require any DSL router to auto-obtain the DNS server IP addresses. It also means I still have to log into the router and restore the settings every time the router reboots or resyncs.

A "rock or hard place" choice nes pa?

Hope that makes sense.

[Barcud27]

Did you get this resolved?  I have exactly the same issue.  I cannot get the connection and always same "DNS number not valid" whenever I try to use the Netgear D7000.  I have rechecked data on vodafones useless modem but it seems that modification on the vodafone modem works where as the D7000 doesn't.  No doubt a ploy by vodafone to keep people using the dodgy Huawei kit.

[CaptainPeacock]

Well I THINK I fixed the problem by updating the D7000 to the latest firmware (1.0.1.44 IIRC) and several resyncs and re-logins later, the D7000 seems to auto-reconnect and re-login OK. I haven't tried actually rebooting or power cycling the D7000 yet, but my gut feeling is it should work OK as even a resync would not work before. Until I upgraded to 1.0.1.44 firmware, I would have to go through the Quick Setup routine in the D7000 firmware each time the connection was dropped in order to get Internet access back.

I assume you have entered your Vodafone system login name and password into the D7000 as these are required. Only Vodafone business account holders are allowed to have these, meaning home users are forced to stick with the Vodafone-supplied Huawei 2500(?) modem-router which I found OK-ish, but the WiFi schedule only worked when it felt like it - which wasn't very often.

I do know Plusnet will supply home users with their user name and password and I NEARLY went with them but as an ex-Demon user, I got a very good fibre business account deal with their holding company (i.e. Vodafone) which includes a free MiFi (mobile WiFi) hotspot and a free 4gB of data a month which my wife and I find very useful. AND you get your user name and password so you can use your own equipment.

[michaelkenward]

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@CaptainPeacock wrote:
I do know Plusnet will supply home users with their user name and password ...

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Plusnet is a subsidiary of BT.

[CaptainPeacock]

Agreed, but I'm not certain that BT will give home users their login name and password, whereas Plusnet definitely will as you have the option to use your own router at sign-up i.e. you can elect for Plusnet to not send you their router - and you save the postage on it (it was £6:95 or thereabouts). I guess the caveat with using your own modem/router is that Plusnet will not provide any support for problems occurring with your modem/router on their equipment.

It appears Plusnet now supply a Plusnet badged version of BT's Home Hub 5A (called Hub One) instead of the crappy Thomson 58X series modem/router they used to supply. Hub One has dual band WiFi (802.11ac) and can use the same SSID across the two bands.

[michaelkenward]

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@CaptainPeacock wrote:

Agreed, but I'm not certain that BT will give home users their login name and password...

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It is easy to get the BT login details.

I have two Infinity lines. One of them uses a D6700 modem (the other has a dire Homehub 5) which automatically set up the connection. No login details needed. So Netgear can clearly find out these secrets.

The BT forum is also full of that sort of information.

Solved: Trying to get a 3rd Party Router working with BT I... - BTCare Community Forums

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@CaptainPeacock wrote:
Hub One has dual band WiFi (802.11ac) and can use the same SSID across the two bands.

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That is one reason why I don't like the Homehub. It isn't  case if "can use" the same SSID across the two bands so much as "must use" the same SSID. This is not always a good thing.

There is a case that the Homehub is worth what you pay for it. The cost of delivery.

[CaptainPeacock]

Thanks for the info on BT user names & passwords. I'm surprised and TBH a bit shocked to learn that their system doesn't seem to need a unique password. Sky's system OTOH definitely does and also seems to use the router's MAC address as a means of limiting one to using their router and they will not supply the ISP username & password under any circumstances. But Wireshark comes in handy there! ;). Nice to see the D7000 has MAC address spoofing as standard, which is partly why I bought it.

The Huawei Vodafone modem/router could also use either a common or unique SSID for each band, but the terminology in the Huawei firmware is shall we say, rather non-standard! Like you, I prefer separate SSIDs for each band as if nothing else, it helps to avoid confusion (i.e. "is the 5gHz band working or not...") . The EX7000 I use as a range extender and to provide wired Internet access to my Youview box can also use unique SSIDs for each band and you can also select which frequency (2.4 or 5gHz) feeds the wired Ethernet ports.

As for the price of the HomeHub: yes it does make you wonder, but my gut feeling says the router cost is recovered from a small part of the monthly fee. As the old saying goes, "there's no such thing as a free lunch..."!

I remember the good old days when my ISP (Demon in those days) supplied all the info (username, password, default gateway & DNS server IP addresses etc.) with the introductory information pack and you just put this info into your ADSL modem/router, filed the card or sheet of paper away for future reference and away you went. As the meerkats would say... Seemples!

[michaelkenward]

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@CaptainPeacock wrote:

Thanks for the info on BT user names & passwords. I'm surprised and TBH a bit shocked to learn that their system doesn't seem to need a unique password.

No need. It is tied to your telephone line. The access details won't work anywhere else.

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CaptainPeacock wrote:As for the price of the HomeHub: yes it does make you wonder, but my gut feeling says the router cost is recovered from a small part of the monthly fee. As the old saying goes, "there's no such thing as a free lunch..."!

Spot on there. BT's rates are plenty high enough to recoup the real cost it pays for the modem. £129.99 for a SmartHub? £99.95 for a Homehub? Extracting the urine by my reckoning.

[CaptainPeacock]

Well in that case I guess the password is somewhat surplus to requirements, which if this is the case with all ISPs broadband service, why the need for a password for any of them?

As for BT's charges being so high, well I guess they have to recoup the BILLIONS they have to dole out to outbid Murdoch for sport somehow! Not that I agree with charging such high prices: I switched from BT to Vodafone for landline phone as I got sick of BT hiking their line rental & call charges in order to subsidise their TV sport - which I didn't have anyway. Interesting that Ofcom ordered BT to reduce their line rental charges for non-BT Sport customers: what does that shout from the roof tops?

In my book, BT have become a Murdoch wannabe.

[michaelkenward]

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Well in that case I guess the password is somewhat surplus to requirements, which if this is the case with all ISPs broadband service, why the need for a password for any of them?

Indeed. But different ISPs have different systems.

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As for BT's charges being so high, well I guess they have to recoup the BILLIONS they have to dole out to outbid Murdoch for sport somehow!

This is why there has been all that pressure on BT to separate OpenReach from the rest of the business.

Ofcom has been pathetic at protecting consumers from these rapacious businesses.

As to Vodafone, I have been to the company's massive HQ. Not what you would call a lean operation striving hard to keep costs down for consumers.

[CaptainPeacock]

Tell me which large corporation does that for its customers these days? Picture a scene from the boardoroom: "Throw another orphan on the fire please, it's cold outside!"

In the last 35 years in this country, we have regressed 170 years back to the days of children being sent up chimneys.  The 21st century version is called the gig economy with zero-hours contracts!

Totally agree about Ofcom: a complete toothless waste of space - as Ofgem also is, but that's another story! How have either helped consumers? All they've done is merely feathered the nests of the corporations they're there to keep in check!

Let's just say I'm not holding my breath for the benefits that separating OpenReach from BT has portended. I'll believe them when (if) I see them.