SuperWifi as router?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › SuperWifi as router?

Marmalade

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#289803 30-Sep-2021 00:04

Sorry if this has already been asked, but I am wondering if I can use the Deco x20 without a separate router? I'm setting up fibre for an elderly friend and her place is tiny, so a WIFI router AND the two Deco's is overkill. Since she can get the Deco's free from Vodafone it seems to make sense, and save her a bit of money, if I can plug one of them directly into the ONT. Will it work that way?

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meow
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#2786719 30-Sep-2021 00:23

Why would you even redeem the Deco's if the standard router will work no problems + be fully supported by Vodafone in the event of a technical support call? Keep it simple, don't redeem the Deco's.

The Deco's do also come with a 24 month contract so they're only free if you stay on that plan for the contract period.

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eracode

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#2786743 30-Sep-2021 07:30

Not sure what you're thinking to do. Surely you can't get the Decos 'free' unless you're contracting with VF to get the smart router. To get the Decos without the router, don't you need to pay for them? I'm not even sure from the VF website if you can buy them separately (Spark do sell theirs separately). And if you don't have the smart router, you need to get a minimum of two Decos to get it to work with an existing router - because I believe the first Deco needs to be wired. However I stand to be corrected on all this.

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scuwp

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#2786752 30-Sep-2021 08:01

The VF provided modem (or any standard modem) should be perfectly adequate for typical internet use for small to medium size houses. I am also confused by what you are trying to achieve.

To answer your question though, yes you can connect an X20 directly to the ONT provided they don't also use it for voice calling. There may be some configuring needed as the X20's come pre-configured to plug into the VF modem.

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bcbear

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#2786755 30-Sep-2021 08:03

I originally setup my Super Wifi connected to a port on my router (HG659 sigh)

But that (HG659) finally died, so I have just plugged the main X20 for Super Wifi directly into the ONT

Sweet as! and clears a whole bunch of space in the comms cab. in the garage so bonus points for the WAF

halper86

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#2786769 30-Sep-2021 08:33

I have used these before, no you don’t need the ultrahub to get these to work (on its own as a router), you just need to fiddle with some settings. The two units are the same and it doesn’t matter what one you set up as the master. Vodafone charges you around $19 a month for 24 months for these, but this is zero rated as long as you stay on the same plan.

DjShadow

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#2786776 30-Sep-2021 08:48

I found the Wifi off the ultrahub is be very poor so the X20 Decos made a night/day difference to Wifi, however I've put them in access point mode so the ultrahub still does all the work and not double nat'ing the network.

halper86

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#2786798 30-Sep-2021 09:40

DjShadow:

I found the Wifi off the ultrahub is be very poor...

Mine arrived faulty so I couldn't compare 😕. Couldn't be bothered trying to get a new one so have an HG659b in place. Also used a spark smart modem and the Deco's in router mode had a bit of an edge on the smart modem in terms of wifi surprisingly. Around 700 down compared to 600 down. Never thought wifi could be so fast.

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mobiusnz

457 posts

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#2786902 30-Sep-2021 11:36

Ardgowan:

Sorry if this has already been asked, but I am wondering if I can use the Deco x20 without a separate router? I'm setting up fibre for an elderly friend and her place is tiny, so a WIFI router AND the two Deco's is overkill. Since she can get the Deco's free from Vodafone it seems to make sense, and save her a bit of money, if I can plug one of them directly into the ONT. Will it work that way?

A friend got these recently and I went round to set them up. After banging my head for a while on the wall whereby the app on his iphone wouldn't see it I worked out he'd obviously clicked NO to allowing the app to scan his network devices as he installed the app before I got these. Once I set that right in his phone settings it was pretty easy.

Ended up putting one in to replace the router and then plugged the 2nd one in via a cat 5e link as he already had a cable. Then I could use the 2nd port on the satellite device to uplink his Chromecast (I setup the chromecast on ethernet years ago due to slow wifi - Now I couldn't for the life of me reset it and get it to work via wifi at all so that 2nd ethernet port is helpful).

I did have a few quirks but that was probably me - I really hate setups like this that pat you one the head and don't let you have any real control. When the phone wouldn't find the devices I found them and hoped you could just log into a web interface to set them up - But no, smartphone app only.

Overall they seem to do a pretty good job - Even when the satellite was on Wireless uplink the speed were pretty good. Unfortunately when its on wireless uplink you can't seem to use the ethernet ports to uplink anything hard wired - I'd hoped it would act like a bridge would might be handy for some but no dice.

In general pretty hopeless instructions and nothing online from TPLink really told me to check the setting that fixed it on the phone but the tip to check Bluetooth was on and usable tipped me off.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

bcbear

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#2786907 30-Sep-2021 11:48

using the IP of the main unit, and the following URL

http://<ip>/webpages/index.html

you can use a browser version of the interface, as well as the app version

halper86

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#2786924 30-Sep-2021 12:15

mobiusnz:

Overall they seem to do a pretty good job - Even when the satellite was on Wireless uplink the speed were pretty good. Unfortunately when its on wireless uplink you can't seem to use the ethernet ports to uplink anything hard wired - I'd hoped it would act like a bridge would might be handy for some but no dice.

I can't say when it is in AP mode, but in router mode you can use the ethernet ports on the slaves. Both device and deco app showing up with it connected to ethernet.

mobiusnz

457 posts

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#2786959 30-Sep-2021 13:09

halper86:

mobiusnz:

Overall they seem to do a pretty good job - Even when the satellite was on Wireless uplink the speed were pretty good. Unfortunately when its on wireless uplink you can't seem to use the ethernet ports to uplink anything hard wired - I'd hoped it would act like a bridge would might be handy for some but no dice.

I can't say when it is in AP mode, but in router mode you can use the ethernet ports on the slaves. Both device and deco app showing up with it connected to ethernet.

I'm saying if the slave is wireless uplink can you plug say a Playstation into one of the ethernet ports in the slave and it'll bridge over the wireless uplink? It didn't seem to work for me when I tried - That is the slave doesn't seem to work as a wireless bridge for ethernet devices.

In the end I put a 5 port switch in and uplinked if from the 2nd port on the master. Then I could link the slave via the switch and it linked via ethernet and I could add a device into the 2nd port on the slave and it too was linked via ethernet.

He need more ports at the master for a Desktop, another ethernet to his son's computer in the next room etc.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

mobiusnz

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#2786961 30-Sep-2021 13:11

bcbear:

Hi

using the IP of the main unit, and the following URL

http://<ip>/webpages/index.html

you can use a browser version of the interface, as well as the app version

Cheers bcbear - That's good to know for next time but not sure I'll ever set another one up. It won't be something I recommend if it requires spending. I'd go with a Grandstream AP.
I did literally just try http://<ip> and it told be to get the app so I assumed it didn't have a web portal at all. Didn't really go looking hard, just went back and worked out why the app wasn't working.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

halper86

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#2787017 30-Sep-2021 13:24

mobiusnz:

I'm saying if the slave is wireless uplink can you plug say a Playstation into one of the ethernet ports in the slave and it'll bridge over the wireless uplink? It didn't seem to work for me when I tried - That is the slave doesn't seem to work as a wireless bridge for ethernet devices.

Yep I understand what you are saying. And yes it is working for me with a Vodafone tv.

To clarify: you definitely are using the decos in the router configuration not AP configuration?

mobiusnz

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#2787020 30-Sep-2021 13:31

halper86:

Yep I understand what you are saying. And yes it is working for me with a Vodafone tv.

To clarify: you definitely are using the decos in the router configuration not AP configuration?

Yip - 100%, ripped the horrible old Vodafone Homehub out altogether. If I had a laptop handy I could have tested it a bit easier. In the end once I'd dropped round and put the switch in and we could then use the wired uplink to the slave it wasn't really an issue anyway. I'm kind of temped to see if the distributor will give me a pair to play with so I can experiment a little more with the ins and out - This was a quick job at a mates so didn't experiment much. I think from memory the only device I tried on one of the ethernet ports was the Chromecast which isn't the ideal piece of kit to experiment with as it works or it doesn't - I can't do IPCONFIG's and pings etc to see whats happening.

I feel link the uplink to the ONT had to be using the second Ethernet port which seemed counter intuative aswell (In my head) and that wasn't obviously talked about in the "instructions" - Possibly I tried it the other way and was impatient and didn't give it enough time. I have a mental block with this sort of user friendly kit - I've setup hundreds of router from the straight forward to the down right complex over the years but I like to have control and I make assumptions about how I think it should work (I've been doing this for far too long).

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

Marmalade

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#2787088 30-Sep-2021 15:09

OP here — sorry for causing confusion!

To hopefully clarify things, her Vodafone plan didn't include a modem, it's BYO. I noticed that the ONT has wifi and initially assumed I'd be able to set that up as her WIFI router but frustratingly that seems not to be the case. So my next idea was to redeem the two Decos from Vodafone and use one of those as her primary router.

In terms of the Decos being "free", it's just in the sense that she won't have to pay more to get them, other than to commit to 24 months with the same plan with Vodafone, which I suspect she will do anyway (I will check with her of course).

Vodafone use the term modem and router interchangeably (at least in their phone support). With fibre am I right thinking the ONT is the "modem"? Seems the only requirement Vodafone mentions is that "your modem must support WAN VLAN tagging with IPoE". So if the Decos support that, they should be fine. According to @bcbear and @scuwp above, this actually does work.

HOWEVER, I've had a rethink and given my friend's demographic, the simplest solution is the best one, so I've changed her Vodafone account to include their modem. So in the end I won't get her to redeem the Decos anyway. Sorry if anyone feels I wasted their time with this thread but I'm grateful for the shared knowledge nonetheless.

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