Connecting Nighthawk R8000 router to Virgin Media Hub 3.0 in modem mode

[RobWK]

I've just bought a Nighthawk X6 as my Virgin Media Hub 3.0 is constantly dropping out and providing low connection speeds.  I've read a number of discussions that say to put the VM hub in modem mode, then connect to the Netgear router.  When I do this, I get a red error light on the VM hub and an amber light on the Netgear router to confirm no internet connection.  The Netgear set up app confirms the two are connected by ethernet cable but cannot see an internet connection.  When I change the VM hub back to router mode and connect the Netgear router, I get the internet connection.  I guess in this mode the router is acting as an extender which is not what I want.  Is there any way to change the VM hub to modem mode and get the connection through to the router?

[AndyCalling · Accepted solution]

Yes. I am using an R7000p with a Shub 4 but it should be the same I guess.

Right, the Shub will have only one of the LAN ports that can be used in modem mode to connect to the router, in my case port 1. The rest will not work (except the WAN port of course). Make sure you're using the right one.

Then:

1) Connect your PC direct to the Shub and switch to modem mode.

2) Disconnect the PC then power off the Shub.

3) Connect the router to the Shub via the correct LAN port, keeping both the router and the Shub powered off.

4) Switch on the Shub, and wait for it to connect to the internet and settle down.

5) Switch on the router.

If this does not work, reset the router to factory defaults (and the Shub just in case) then do all this again, and when you power up the router in step 5 go through the initial setup for it.

Keep in mind that once the Shub in modem mode has detected a MAC address on the appropriate LAN port it will not connect to anything else without a power cycle. That is probably the issue you are seeing.

[AndyCalling · Accepted solution]

Yes. I am using an R7000p with a Shub 4 but it should be the same I guess.

Right, the Shub will have only one of the LAN ports that can be used in modem mode to connect to the router, in my case port 1. The rest will not work (except the WAN port of course). Make sure you're using the right one.

Then:

1) Connect your PC direct to the Shub and switch to modem mode.

2) Disconnect the PC then power off the Shub.

3) Connect the router to the Shub via the correct LAN port, keeping both the router and the Shub powered off.

4) Switch on the Shub, and wait for it to connect to the internet and settle down.

5) Switch on the router.

If this does not work, reset the router to factory defaults (and the Shub just in case) then do all this again, and when you power up the router in step 5 go through the initial setup for it.

Keep in mind that once the Shub in modem mode has detected a MAC address on the appropriate LAN port it will not connect to anything else without a power cycle. That is probably the issue you are seeing.

[RobWK]

Hi, I followed the steps 1 to 5 and initially I had the same issue of no internet connection to the router. I then reset the hub and router, powered them back up and the router now has an internet connect from the hub in modem mode.  

Thanks so so much for your help!

[AndyCalling]

NP. I have just noticed that I have a Shub 3 as well as you, not a 4. The 3rd Shub was called the Shub 2AC (so 1-2-2AC-3) which was what confused me. So, being they are the same, note that in modem mode the IP address to access your Shub settings will now be 192.168.100.1 instead of the usual default.

[RobWK]

Thanks again.  I noted the IP the other day when my first attempts at putting the Shub to modem mode didn't work so I had to change it back to router mode.