Tried out the two recently purchased routers today and couldn't get either of them to talk to my ISP. Exact same make and model but there is some software mojo in there somewhere that won't allow a handshake. Late in the day I took a look at the doppler radar and saw a storm heading south in my direction so I shot to town to grab a few essentials. Just happened to catch our Big Bend Telephone tech guy Danny at the motor inn. I asked him about the issue and all he would give up is that the only routers that work with their system are the ones that are sold by them. I know he is holding back some information but he is a great guy and I can't fault him for being loyal to the company that has been very good to him. I can't really fault Big Bend Telephone either since they are the only real game in town. But there has to be a fairly simple work-around for this so I will keep looking. Where is a good hacker when you need one? In the meantime, I got another router from him so I have a backup in case I lose the other 2 LAN ports. They are $65 now from BBT - they aren't so generous anymore. They have replaced 2 modems for free since I first moved here so I guess I am still ahead in the game. My free FlightRadar24 reciever has been offline for over a week and I need to start sending data again soon. Got home just before TFL got hammered with a quick downpour. 94,106,84, .14",C
7 comments:
John,
Search for the various manuals for the specific routers you have.
I believe there is firmware or maybe flashable to upgrade.
Many made by the mfg are customized. Takes some research.
In the past, ISPs used something called the MAC address to determine whether a connection is authentic or not. If that wasn't the case, anyone with a telephone line inside their coverage area could use their network without any authentication. Over time this changed. Now days they use something known as BPI+, which involves a much more complicated encryption system. It is still clone-able, but it is much more involved. This is important from their standpoint, because otherwise someone could just clone (copy) a trusted user's mac address and then connect through their service using that account from any wired telephone number. Basically.. you can't just buy another modem. In all likelihood, the big bend telephone guy you talked to probably wasn't withholding info, he probably just didn't know the specifics. Most "IT guys" that do consumer level tech support aren't exactly networking buffs.. or else they would move up the chain and get jobs that pay a few times what they currently make. (no disrespect to those guys intended, that's just the facts of life).
Not everyone knows everything. I have to agree with Johnny. Several or a few years ago I got some how to books from Barnes and Noble and did some plumbing. The men in the store out here knew not much. Finally I got to a speciality store for plumbers in San Antonio where they knew a lot and would help a woman and then I could do my repair with the new parts. Cost me $4.50. The same story for air conditioning some years ago. Now I know a good person who does it.
I've been this before with some networks I've set up. The customer had a modem that they had bought on their own, and it didn't have the firmware the service provider tweaked to optimize for their network, pretty much leaving the customer hung out to dry. I wasn't able to find too much concerning BBT's system, but there could be a pretty big difference between their firmware and factory. Your best bet might be to try to copy the modem they gave you and install that on your own, assuming you have the confidence in yourself to pull it off.
My son is works for a Tech company and this is what he said. "If he could find the particular format his ISP uses, he could get a modem that could talk to it. Except the tech guy could be dead on and there's a software pack that has to be preinstalled on the modem before setup. Midco doesn't do that, but some ISPs do."
John, you should be able to contact BBT and add the modem device onto the network by providing the MAC address of the device. The modems you get from them are already listed and authorized...basic network security.
BBT will only authorize a modem sold by them.
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