Do I have "the know how to setup my own router"?

[Prawo Jazdy]

Hello, I'm changing broadband providers. The company I'm switching to wants to charge rent for a router, and I have one that works fine from the previous company. It's a Zyxel WG3925-B10C. The new company says "You cannot use another provider's router such as Sky, BT, etc", and needs me to confirm that "I have technical ability to setup and program my own router" before I can select not to rent a new one.

I kind of arrogantly assume it will just carry on working once the provider switches. Am I wrong? It has a Shell Broadband sticker on the front. Will that detect "different internet" and cause the unit to spontaneously combust? I'm not a tech wizard, but I can log into the router to see the settings. Is this enough know how?

Thanks.

[wyson]

That is a seriously outdated router. Wifi 5. I wouldn't use one that old.

Not sure what sort of connection you have? That can change the modem bit of the router.

Also you might have to change settings. I changed my ISP's free router because it was poo, but couldn't use my ISP's DNS anymore. Nor could they trouble shoot my connection without 'their' router, so I still have it stuffed in some box somewhere.

I almost never do this, because ISPs give out such poo routers, but in your case, maybe pay the rental? I mean, its got to be a new Wifi 6 or 6E model so it should be better than your old router. Plus if the connection goes bad, they will be able to troubleshoot it.

Edited by wyson on Monday 4th November 23:11

[ARHarh]

First things first. If they are charging rent for a router is the overall cost comparable to other services that don't charge for renting a router. If not find one that does not charge extra for an essential bit of kit to use their service.

What sort of connection are you changing from and to?

If not and you really want to use your router its just a matter of putting the correct settings in the router, user name and password etc.

[droopsnoot]

wyson said:

Nor could they trouble shoot my connection without 'their' router, so I still have it stuffed in some box somewhere.

This would be the main concern - whether they'll try to blame any future connection problems on you configuring the router incorrectly, or having a faulty router, or any excuse to not have to help. The last time I set one up for a customer (which is a long time ago, I admit) there was a need to put in a username and password (supplied by the ISP) and a couple of numbers that were always the same, but that was all. We used to supply our own routers, but that was because the ISP ones didn't support stuff like port forwarding.

[Baldchap]

Prawo Jazdy said:

I kind of arrogantly assume it will just carry on working once the provider switches. Am I wrong? It has a Shell Broadband sticker on the front. Will that detect "different internet" and cause the unit to spontaneously combust? I'm not a tech wizard, but I can log into the router to see the settings. Is this enough know how?

Thanks.

For a basic configuration, you will probably find it just works, assuming it's set up to provide DHCP and has DNS set up to work properly.

Certainly in the case of the ISPs I've used, it doesn't actually matter what you put in the username and password boxes, and most standard ADSL connections use similar settings.

Plug it in and see.

Although I'd use my own and tell them I'm using theirs.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Thanks for the replies.

The cheapest router they offer is £3 a month, so over 24 months that's £72. I can't help thinking that I could just buy a router that I've chosen for that price, but I take the point about companies being difficult if you end up with problems and don't have their equipment. Tried to go with Sky to have a new router included for a similar contract price, but regretted it (their site and 'help' were so useless before I had even managed to register that I decided I wanted nothing to do with them).

[worsy]

Who are you changing to and what product? Is it ADSL, FTTC or FTTP? If you give us some more info we might be able to give you some advice.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Sorry, it's FTTC. FTTH is an option, but I'd rather plan this better than just have someone unknown turn up, dig up the front garden, drill through a door frame and pin a cable along a skirting board.

I was thinking about no-name provider OneStream, but I've gone with another no-name: Pop Broadband. Forums suggest that Pop are run by the current provider, which is TalkTalk. We're not particularly heavy tech users, so the current setup works for us. The next time the contract is up (18 months) might be the time to get FTTH, as the children might be old enough to want to use online gaming etc.

[worsy]

Prawo Jazdy said:

Sorry, it's FTTC. FTTH is an option, but I'd rather plan this better than just have someone unknown turn up, dig up the front garden, drill through a door frame and pin a cable along a skirting board.

I was thinking about no-name provider OneStream, but I've gone with another no-name: Pop Broadband. Forums suggest that Pop are run by the current provider, which is TalkTalk. We're not particularly heavy tech users, so the current setup works for us. The next time the contract is up (18 months) might be the time to get FTTH, as the children might be old enough to want to use online gaming etc.

Ok easy then. Looks like oneStream will send you a PPOE username and password. It is dead easy to set up most routers.

You will need a VDSL2 router. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-Archer-VR2100-Adv...

I have this one and used it for FTTC. I now have FTTP and still use it in a different configuration to support BTs service.

there are cheaper and more expensive options, so let us know your ideal budget.

[wyson]

I would go FTTP. It's such a superior technology. It's not just speed, it's reliability as well.

My FTTP with Hyperoptic terminates with ethernet at the wall, no need for any kind of modem. Just plug in a router, it's good to go.

It's gone down 3 times in the last 6 years. Never had an internet connection that reliable. Usually FTTC or heaven forbid ADSL, goes down that much a year.

[Shaoxter]

Prawo Jazdy said:

Sorry, it's FTTC. FTTH is an option, but I'd rather plan this better than just have someone unknown turn up, dig up the front garden, drill through a door frame and pin a cable along a skirting board.

How would you be able to plan it any better? Those guys who install FTTP do it for a living and I'm sure you can discuss with them where best to route all the cables.

[jingars]

Shaoxter said:

Prawo Jazdy said:

Sorry, it's FTTC. FTTH is an option, but I'd rather plan this better than just have someone unknown turn up, dig up the front garden, drill through a door frame and pin a cable along a skirting board.

How would you be able to plan it any better? Those guys who install FTTP do it for a living and I'm sure you can discuss with them where best to route all the cables.

I am two months in to FTTP from Squirrel Internet. Pre-sales was all via online chat, but I asked them specifically re the route to provision my house. They confirmed that they would follow the existing tail as used on my FTTC service. This they did, with an extremely neat external box next to the copper line entrance to my house, and an equally neat internal box next to the BT master socket.

[Prawo Jazdy]

That's good to know. When we moved in here, the Openreach people wanted to connect an overhead line to the front of the house, run a cable all the way down the front (they mentioned that drilling into the render might break some of it off in chunks), drill through the brand new door frame and then have a cable stapled to the top of a skirting board. It was only by me insisting that there seemed to already be some provision for a connection, and calling the electrician who worked on the build, that we found that a connection terminating in the loft was connected to a socket panel in the hallway. They were able to put the overhead line to the side of the house just below the roof, drill into the loft and connect up to that cable, which was all a lot neater. However it needed a lot of pushback from me to get that outcome.

I'm not saying that solution could be done with fibre necessarily, just that the standard route in the Openreach case seemed a bit inelegant, so I assumed the same would be true of the standard fibre solution.

Thanks for the replies.

Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Tuesday 5th November 21:31