Skinny smart modem on Spark fibre connection

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Skinny smart modem on Spark fibre connection

KhEGYNZ

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#310761 20-Nov-2023 10:05

Hi there, I struggled to get a good secondhand Spark modem 3 however, I noticed many reasonable prices for an equivalent Skinny smart modem. looking at both specs they seem similar and manufactured by the same company. can I buy a Skinny and use it for a Spark connection?

Jiriteach

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#3161418 20-Nov-2023 10:09

Short answer - yes. I am assuming for Fibre as opposed to Wireless Broadband?

-- opinions expressed by me are solely my own. ie - personal

KhEGYNZ

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#3161429 20-Nov-2023 10:30

Jiriteach:

Short answer - yes. I am assuming for Fibre as opposed to Wireless Broadband?

Yes for Fibre connection. thanks

Chills

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#3161433 20-Nov-2023 10:40

Going over the support documentation they have for the Smart Modem, Yes.

Incompatibility usually comes down to VLAN Tagging. Some modems won't accept Tagged connections or Tagging on the WAN port. Skinny doesn't do tagging, but Spark does so try and find out if the Smart Modem accepts tagging on the WAN port.

cbrpilot

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#3161435 20-Nov-2023 10:45

While I don't have a Skinny Smart Modem in front of me, I am pretty sure you can enable/disable VLAN tagging from either of the Spark or Skinny Smart Modems.

So when you plug it in, connect a PC to it and got to the router web interface http://192.168.1.254 and into Network (left hand side) > WAN (top) > Edit (Ethernet WAN).

In that page you should be able to enable VLAN tagging under the '802.1q' heading, and set VLAN to 10.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

michaelmurfy

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#3161450 20-Nov-2023 11:17

Can confirm @cbrpilot's flow is 100% right:

This is from a Skinny Smart Modem 3. You'll be totally fine and it'll work no problems.

Also - as long as it is the Smart Modem 3 you can purchase the Smart Mesh 2 from Spark directly and use it with the Skinny variant totally fine also. I've got this exact setup at my parents house.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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KhEGYNZ

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#3161519 20-Nov-2023 12:24

michaelmurfy:

Can confirm @cbrpilot's flow is 100% right:

This is from a Skinny Smart Modem 3. You'll be totally fine and it'll work no problems.

Also - as long as it is the Smart Modem 3 you can purchase the Smart Mesh 2 from Spark directly and use it with the Skinny variant totally fine also. I've got this exact setup at my parents house.

thanks, will proceed