Orcon Genius without the Genius

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Orcon Genius without the Genius

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styxgeist

32 posts

Geek

#617791 1-May-2012 09:02

garvani:
Zeon: What's up with all these crazy ISP devices? Lol 2 steps backwards....

2 steps backwards for you maybe but for the average joe its alot easier to setup out of the box and the isp can remote into it if there is a problem, so from the ISP's point of view they are great.

It's all fine and dandy until the Genius modem breaks, and you can't use a spare modem and have to wait several days until Orcon wings out another Genius modem, assuming you can get through to their technical help desk at all :)

powerforce

162 posts

Master Geek

#617836 1-May-2012 10:50

My genius plan worked without the genius modem.
I was on the genius plan for about 2 months before i could be bothered actually swapping over to using the genius modem.
im not sure if it would let me swap back now..but it worked before

ZeeBOB

26 posts

Geek

#618020 1-May-2012 18:53

Just to confirm any doubt

YES - you can use your existing modem on an Orcon Genius plan. You just need to call Orcon and ask for your ADSL password (this is NOT the same as your ******@orcon.net.nz account/email password, it is a random generated one)

I didn't like the Genius modem QoS rate limiting a lot of my downloads because of a VoIP system I don't even use.

Plugged in my trusty Vigor120 with a FortiGate attached, use the PPPoE -> PPPoA passthrough and all up and running just like before!

I'm still going to try setting up the VoIP either via softphone or another ADSL VoIP modem.

kiwiscoota

237 posts

Master Geek

#618338 2-May-2012 13:27

ZeeBOB: Just to confirm any doubt

YES - you can use your existing modem on an Orcon Genius plan. You just need to call Orcon and ask for your ADSL password (this is NOT the same as your ******@orcon.net.nz account/email password, it is a random generated one)

........

I was having major speed issues and as part of my testing to eliminate various possible causes, I looked at the Genius config and then used the same config settings on my old TelecomNZ modem.

It worked fine, albeit without my Orcon voip service, and proved that my Genius modem was not the cause of my speed issues.

ChevronX

280 posts

Ultimate Geek

#618366 2-May-2012 14:22

ZeeBOB: Just to confirm any doubt

YES - you can use your existing modem on an Orcon Genius plan. You just need to call Orcon and ask for your ADSL password (this is NOT the same as your ******@orcon.net.nz account/email password, it is a random generated one)

I didn't like the Genius modem QoS rate limiting a lot of my downloads because of a VoIP system I don't even use.

Plugged in my trusty Vigor120 with a FortiGate attached, use the PPPoE -> PPPoA passthrough and all up and running just like before!

I'm still going to try setting up the VoIP either via softphone or another ADSL VoIP modem.

Thanks for this information, good to know. Was wondering myself.

"The Atlantis base, brings greetings from the pegasus galaxy, you may cut power to the gate!."- Dr Weir (Rising) New Zealand · Luke.Geek.NZ

ZeeBOB

26 posts

Geek

#618381 2-May-2012 14:35

Another small tip, make sure you're using Orcon's proper DNS servers, makes accessing things like YouTube, iTunes and Microsoft updates really quick!

coffeebaron

6233 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#618438 2-May-2012 16:18

Then change the Genius router into non-DSL mode - i.e. apparently one of the LAN ports can be switched to WAN?

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Peppery

919 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#871625 4-Aug-2013 17:21

I couldn't find this anywhere else so I thought I might post this information here if someone needs help.

To get the ADSL authentication password out of the Genius, log into the device and download the configuration backup, open it up in a text editor and look for these lines under WANPPPConnection:

<X_BROADCOM_COM_IGMPEnabled>TRUE</X_BROADCOM_COM_IGMPEnabled>
<Username>username@orcon.net.nz</Username>
<Password>[string]</Password>
<X_BROADCOM_COM_IfName>pppoa1</X_BROADCOM_COM_IfName>

The tag in <Password> is your base64 encoded ADSL password. Throw it into any base64 decoder of your choice (i.e. http://www.base64decode.org) and put the output into your non-Genius modem and enjoy.

rossnixon

36 posts

Geek

#871775 4-Aug-2013 23:26

What a coincidence. Just an hour or two ago I decided to hook up my new Fritz!Box from Snap Internet. I'm on Orcon Genius until the 29th, but wanted to have a nosey at the menus and test the Fritz!Box that arrived yesterday.

I had already backed up the above information mentioned by Peppery, so I reconfigured the IP address, WPA2 password etc also, to make both boxes as identical as possible - makes swapping in/out quicker (if required).

Everything is working fine.
I even tested my DECT phone, and it worked. I was so surprised. Didn't have to enter any SIP addresses or port numbers. (I had that info in a text file also). I haven't registered the DECT phone to the Fritz!Box yet, so I don't know what additional benefit that gives.

Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#871783 5-Aug-2013 01:50

Can confirm that you can use a different modem for a Genius. When my genius failed on me I had to use an old modem - got the user/pass off an Orcon rep here on Geekzone.

gpsboy

40 posts

Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#871818 5-Aug-2013 08:41

Thanks for posting. I was only given the option of a modem factory reset from the Orcon CSR when I changed my account password. Next time I will insist that this is not necessary.

rossnixon

36 posts

Geek

#871822 5-Aug-2013 08:48

Oh. I can't get incoming phone calls. I'll have to look at the user manual to sort that out.
So now I'm back on the Genius modem for a while.

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