I have a standard Huawei HG659 modem from Vodafone with latest firmware on VDSL. It seems to be randomly blocking ports, which I suspect is causing trouble with alert reporting from an IP connected alarm system.

My current plan to deal with this is to put the HG659 in bridge mode, then purchase another router (looking at Unifi Security Gateway) to handle DHCP, firewall, port forwards, etc. If I place this router in bridge mode, my understanding is that it will act as just a VDSL modem and not try to interfere with anything else. Am I correct? I would like to confirm this with someone who has used an HG659 in bridge mode, before I buy a new router and find the problem still exists.

Two other points I've noticed while trying to troubleshoot:

1. The ports I am trying to forward are 1883 and 8080. I can create a rule for 1883 but not for 8080. Instead I get the error "The external port cannot be 7547, 514, 68, 53, 546, 500, 1701, 8443, 8080, 990, 5060, 28090, 50000-50020." Have disabled TR069, Remote Access, I'm using the admin login, but still no luck.

2. When I check for open ports with canyouseeme.org, all ports appear closed. This includes port 1883 (which I can create a rule for) and also ports 80, 25, 110, etc - my internet and email work fine, but the ports are closed? Same result when I turn all firewalls off. The only port that seems open is 32400 (Plex) which has it's own port forward rule on the HG659.