Router? How to connect

[Elroy Blue]

Can anybody give any advice on this. Son's New build property and it has this on the wall. He's signed up with Vodafone, but he's plugged the router into the only available socket but can't get it to connect. (middle one)

It seems that the wall box is generating it's own WiFi signal. He's had confirmation from open reach that the switch has happened. Thought I'd ask on here first before enduring the trauma of Vodafone customer services

[neilus]

That's the ONT, although I've never seen it in a enclosure like that, and yes the middle cable goes into the routers WAN port.

Within the router you may need to configure the WAN device (connection type, username, password), unless it was provided by the ISP in which case it should already be set up.

In the top photo I can't see the LAN connection illuminated.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Have you got the Ethernet cable plugged into the correct port on the router? The connection to the ISP’s box can’t just go into any of the router’s Ethernet ports - it will have a special WAN port, often coloured differently and often yellow, and you must plug the ISP box into that port.

[Actual]

If the Openreach ONT is putting out a Wi-Fi signal then it may be currently configured in router mode and it is also proving DHCP. The Wi-Fi SSID and Passkey may be printed on the device. You can connect any number of devices to the Wi-Fi using the SSID and Passkey. Anything plugged into the yellow port will receive an IP address from the Openreach ONT and should get Internet. If you connect an Ethernet switch (not a router) to the yellow port then any device connected to the switch will get an IP address and get Internet.

To use your own router with the Openreach ONT then the Openreach ONT needs to be placed into Bridge Mode which is also known as Passthrough Mode. When the Openreach ONT is in bridge mode then your router can be pugged into the yellow port and it will get an IP address from the upstream gateway and your router will then be responsible for DHCP and providing IP addresses and Internet to all your devices.

The Openreach ONT only works as a basic router so for better Wi-Fi and other features it is best to use your own router and possibly a mesh Wi-Fi.

Contact your service provider and request to be placed in Bridge Mode or just continue with a basic service.

Sorry if the above is wrong but it is how our Gigaclear was when we moved in.

[JimbobVFR]

I don't believe there is an Openreach ONT that has wifi built in, I'm not certain to be fair.

Is the router the supplied one from Vodafone or his own router?

[OldGermanHeaps]

The openreach ont is not a router, it cant broadcast wifi, and it must be plugged into a suitable routers wan port. The only exception is if you plug it directly into a computer and do some very specific config on the computers network port.
To suggest anything else is misleading. I dont know why people would just invent random false ste and try to pass it off as fact if they didnt know the answer to a question.
Have vodafone sent you a router and is the ont plugged into the wan port with the supplied fully populated 8 pin patch cable?

Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Wednesday 3rd September 19:30

[Davie]

First up, looks like you've got a DSL cable into the ONT... that's never going to work. It's an ethernet port... needs an ethernet cable to connect the ONT to the router. That's why you'll have no LAN light illuminated.

As far as the ONT itself, is the PON light solid or flashing?

To aldo echo the above, the ethernet cable from the ONT must also go into the correct WAN port on the router.

That said if he's just moved in, it's also possible the ONT will not be "built" to his CP account... it may necessitate an engineer visit to activate the ONT against his order as it were.

Assuming it's all physically connected correctly, I'd be surprised if the service / account was active if he's just moved in. His account will need activated against the new address / CP order and the ONT activated, usually.

Edited by Davie on Wednesday 3rd September 20:25

Edited by Davie on Wednesday 3rd September 20:28

[Elroy Blue]

I only suggested that it was broadcasting WiFi as my phone was picking up a strong WiFi signal, and there was a number of WiFi accounts picked up on my phone with similar addresses, and I thought they might be the neighbours.
He's had an email from openreach saying they've carried out the switch and no engineers visit was necessary.
He's received the router from Vodafone and after getting an email from them setting his account was active, he just plugged the router into the only socket free on the wall box (the middle one). The router is sending out a WiFi signal, but says it's not connected to the Internet
The two green lights shown are solid

[skyebear]

The cable that connects the Opeanreach wall box to new Vodafone router, does it have any markings that say Cat 5 or Cat 6?

Where the cable connects on the Opeanreach and Vodafone, do you have any lights (solid; flashing; none) like in this image:



Edit: zooming in on your photo, the person above was correct. The middle cable is a DSL (cable label!) not Ethernet cable so that needs replacing.

Edited by skyebear on Wednesday 3rd September 23:06

[595Heaven]

Davie said:

First up, looks like you've got a DSL cable into the ONT... that's never going to work. It's an ethernet port... needs an ethernet cable to connect the ONT to the router. That's why you'll have no LAN light illuminated.

This is the vital point. That isn’t an Ethernet cable that has been plugged in, it is a DSL cable as per image below. You need to connect from that port to the Ethernet WAN port on the router

[Davie]

Elroy Blue said:

...he just plugged the router into the only socket free on the wall box (the middle one)

Yes, however in the images he has a DSL cable plugged into the only free socket on the wall box... has he removed this and connected the router's WAN port to the free port on the ONT using the correct ethernet cable. NOT the DSL tagged cable he's stuck in there initially.

If this hasn't been done... it will not work.

[snuffy]

Elroy Blue said:

I only suggested that it was broadcasting WiFi as my phone was picking up a strong WiFi signal, and there was a number of WiFi accounts picked up on my phone with similar addresses, and I thought they might be the neighbours.

Turn it off then and see if your phone can still the same wifi SSID.

[silentbrown]

Davie said:

Yes, however in the images he has a DSL cable plugged into the only free socket on the wall box.

Having worked on ethernet networks for almost 30 years, I'm ashamed to admit I never knew an RJ11 plug would 'fit' properly into an RJ45 socket!

[Elroy Blue]

All sorted. Thanks to all. As spotted, the dozy bugger had used the wrong cable. Worked straight away once he changed it.
Still bemused by all the WiFi signals with similar addresses he's picking up. There's only four houses in his row.

[JimbobVFR]

Smartlife could refer to some cheap smart home devices, maybe that haven't been setup yet, for example smart plugs with a brand name you've never heard of before from Amazon.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Smartlife plus the last few digits of the mac address is tuya smart home devices that arent able to connect to the wifi network they had originally been connected to , or they haven't been set up yet. Its to allow you to connect to the device directly to do the config.

[Elroy Blue]

Well, they're not his, so that's for someone else to sort out

[OldGermanHeaps]

Perhaps the previous owner put some smart bulbs in various fittings in the property. The wifi range on them isnt great so unlikely to be a neighbor unless the houses are very close to each other.

[Elroy Blue]

OldGermanHeaps said:

Perhaps the previous owner put some smart bulbs in various fittings in the property. The wifi range on them isnt great so unlikely to be a neighbor unless the houses are very close to each other.

It's a new build