Huawei B618s-65D in bridge mode for mesh wifi?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Huawei B618s-65D in bridge mode for mesh wifi?

AndyT

163 posts

Master Geek

#271739 25-May-2020 15:08

I have a Huawei B618s-65D wireless broadband router which is great in rural North Canterbury, but our large house has some wifi dead spots and I'm considering mesh wifi.

I understand how to put it all together but on previous Apple equipment I've had to put the "old" router in bridge mode to avoid double NATing but I can't see a way of doing this in the Huawei B618s settings and there's nothing about it on the Spark website or on line generally.

Am I missing something or don't I need to put it into bridge mode and I can just connect up the TP Link Deco M5 master unit with Cat6 to the LAN/WAN port without any problems?

Any advice would be appreciated.

halper86

547 posts

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#2491130 25-May-2020 15:11

But you are going to use the Huawei as the modem, correct?

nztim

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TEAMnetwork

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#2491131 25-May-2020 15:11

You cant put it in Bridge Mode, disable the wireless on the B618 and get yourself a few Aruba Instant On Access points which you can mesh round the house

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AndyT

163 posts

Master Geek

#2491135 25-May-2020 15:36

Correct, the Huawei would be the modem with wireless managed by the mesh units..... assuming I can't run both the Huawei and the mesh units without running into technical problems? If I could do the latter I could get away with two mesh units rather than three, but I'd assumed the Huwaei router function had to be turned off to avoid problems?

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#2491136 25-May-2020 15:43

I'd recommend going more mesh units than using your existing device.

it can work, but it breaks much of the 'mesh' capability from seamlessly working.

I would recommend considering the Spark Smart Mesh setup - you will need a few yes as the b618 doesn't act as a base unit. That's quite a simple and smooth upgrade path.

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noroad

951 posts

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#2491137 25-May-2020 15:49

AndyT:

I have a Huawei B618s-65D wireless broadband router which is great in rural North Canterbury, but our large house has some wifi dead spots and I'm considering mesh wifi.

I understand how to put it all together but on previous Apple equipment I've had to put the "old" router in bridge mode to avoid double NATing but I can't see a way of doing this in the Huawei B618s settings and there's nothing about it on the Spark website or on line generally.

Am I missing something or don't I need to put it into bridge mode and I can just connect up the TP Link Deco M5 master unit with Cat6 to the LAN/WAN port without any problems?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Just connect your Deco M5 mesh units to the Huawei and switch them to bridge mode (not the Huawei), you can do this from the Deco App. That way only your Huawei does the NAT, your mesh units just do the wifi only. I did this a couple of days ago (on a vdsl) and it works perfectly without the double natting.

noroad

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#2491139 25-May-2020 15:51

noroad:

Just connect your Deco M5 mesh units to the Huawei and switch them to bridge mode (not the Huawei), you can do this from the Deco App. That way only your Huawei does the NAT, your mesh units just do the wifi only. I did this a couple of days ago (on a vdsl) and it works perfectly without the double natting.

Its under "more", "advanced", then "mode" on the app from memory.

noroad

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#2491142 25-May-2020 15:56

noroad:

Its under "more", "advanced", then "mode" on the app from memory.

oh, and turn off the wifi on the Huawei, just let the Deco units do the wifi. you can use as many Deco units as you like, three is a good number.

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halper86

547 posts

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#2491209 25-May-2020 17:13

hio77:
I'd recommend going more mesh units than using your existing device.

it can work, but it breaks much of the 'mesh' capability from seamlessly working.

I would recommend considering the Spark Smart Mesh setup - you will need a few yes as the b618 doesn't act as a base unit. That's quite a simple and smooth upgrade path.

Doesn’t the smart modem have lte built in?

nztim

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TEAMnetwork

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#2491212 25-May-2020 17:18

halper86:

Doesn’t the smart modem have lte built in?

Having LTE "Built In" and being allowed to put the SIM in it are two different things, the Ts&Cs for Spark, Skinny, And Vodafone clearly state that while it will work if you put the SIM in another device that is grounds for termination of service

I am guessing their rationale behind this is they can manage the bandwidth allocation for each user over TR-069 so to not saturate the cellphone towers

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

halper86

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#2491214 25-May-2020 17:25

nztim:
halper86:

Doesn’t the smart modem have lte built in?

Having LTE "Built In" and being allowed to put the SIM in it are two different things, the Ts&Cs for Spark, Skinny, And Vodafone clearly state that while it will work if you put the SIM in another device that is grounds for termination of service

I am guessing their rationale behind this is they can manage the bandwidth allocation for each user over TR-069 so to not saturate the cellphone towers

I’m only thinking about why spark doesn’t send out smart modems instead of huaweis for wireless