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Yes, there is a method to set up the present DW6000/DW7000/HN7x00S software to force the unit to bypass the Web Acceleration (Turbo Page) Proxy at the NOC. The following discussion is geared toward the DW7000 & HN7x00S, but the bypass method works equally well on the DW6000. The only difference between the units is that the Event Logs feature as discussed below is disabled in the present DW6000 software.

Why would you want to? The most common reason is to browse to Web sites that are not accessible for some reason through the HughesNet proxy. It can also be a troubleshooting technique to see if that's why Web sites are not loading. There are times when a particular Web Acceleration Server may be having problems, or the modems link to the Web Acceleration servers at the NOC is unstable. Bypassing the Web Acceleration server at the NOC during these periods will allow you to browse when you otherwise cannot.

Why would you not want to? Browsing to a Web site without the Web Accelerator is slow. You will also experience browser hesitation (explained below) and more frequent "Red Xs" on Web pages.

To set up Turbo Page Server (TPS) bypass mode: You need to statically assign either (1) an invalid IP address as the Turbo Page server in the modem software, or (2) an invalid port. The valid port for HughesNet web accelerators is 86, all others are believed to be invalid. Since using a valid IP but an invalid port can be disruptive to the IP you choose, the method of assigning an invalid IP address is the one described here. Browse to the "HN7x00S Advanced Configuration and Statistics" page and click on the Turbo Page Configuration link on the left side. In the HN7x00S modem click on the "Advanced Cfg" page on the left side. The page says that the "Turbo Page Advanced Configuration is disabled", but you'll still be able to set up bypass mode. Put a dot next to "Use Turbo Page Server configured below", enter a "bogus" server IP address such as 10.10.10.10 (any address in the Private IP address range will do), port 86, and press the "Teardown TurboPage Connection" button. The unit will try to connect to the bogus server the next time you start browsing to sites on the internet. The Event Logs accessible on the "DW7000 Advanced Configuration and Statistics" page will show that the DW7000 attempts to connect 3 times, fails 3 times, and then goes into bypass mode (a straight TCP connection). This takes about 35 - 45 seconds from the first connection attempt to finally going into bypass mode, so there's a 35 - 45 second lag on the initial browsing attempt to a Web site on the internet. Subsequent browsing to sites will have no lag ... for a while. The DW7000 unit will try to reconnect to the Turbo Page server at the NOC periodically, and a lag in any browsing to a Web site during the reconnect attempt will be noticeable (and annoying).

To get the HN7x00S out of bypass mode: Browse to the "HN7x00S System Control Center" and press the Restart HN7x00S link. The HN7x00S will reboot and will connect to a Web acceleration proxy the next time you attempt to browse.

We've found that using the Web Accelerator Keep Alive program for the Direcway 6000 Modem (the 6000WAKA utility) available from the DatastormUsers.com Web site helps when operating in bypass mode. When the 6000WAKA utility is running on a PC, the utility causes the DW7000 to attempt the reconnection to the bogus server "in the background", largely un-noticeable to the user. Users will only experience the annoying lag in browsing when they are unfortunate enough to browse while the DW7000 is going through the reconnection procedure. However, the overall browsing experience to the user is smoother (fewer noticeable hesitation intervals) when using the 6000WAKA utility than when operating without it. An explanation of how to use the program and a download link is provided HERE. Set the program's "Fetch interval" to 1 minute. If you have a LAN with more than one PC, the program only needs to be running on one PC, and the program expects to find a very small web page. You must have a site on the internet to host such a page, one that won't mind getting hit once every minute by the program running on your computer. If you have a dialup ISP as a backup connection to the internet, the ISP may offer personal Web space that could be used for this purpose.

Will the 7x00 in bypass mode be like turning the proxy off with a DW4000 modem? No. The 7x00 user who sets up his unit in TPS bypass mode should never expect to get the same experience that DW4000 users have when browsing Proxy OFF (with the proxy disabled in the browser). The experience is similar, but the 7x00 user will have the hesitations when browsing. The hesitations can be made less obvious to the user by using the 6000WAKA utility but, in general, bypass mode should be used for troubleshooting and as a mode of "last resort".

Other considerations: When the 7x00 is in TPS bypass mode, browsing to a Web site on the internet via the HTTP protocol is established via a straight-through TCP connection. This means that if you have a 7x00 on a service plan that has NAT enabled, the public IP address of the 7x00 unit is exposed to the Web host, not the address of a Direcway Web proxy server. If you have a 7x00 with a static IP address assigned to your PC or router, the static IP address is exposed to the Web host. If you use an IP reflector site such as www.whatismyip.com or the IP reflector in BBR "Tools", it will show the IP address of a 7x00 unit that has NAT enabled, or the address of the PC or router connected to a DW7000 unit with a static IP address.

We wish to thank Red Baron for testing out the bypass mode procedure on his DW6000 unit and the newer HN7000S. The references to HN7x00S and 7x00 Modems above apply to the DW7000 as well as the HN7700S.

By Spinnaker and dbirdman.

Updated 11/12/06 to include the HN7x00S systems.


Feedback received on this FAQ entry:
  • To the last poster: Here instructions updated for HN7000S -Open your HN7000S System Control Center -Click the little man to the right of "What do these controls mean?" in the grey bar near top of screen -click Turbopage" on left -click "Advanced Cfg" on left Alternately, you can go straight to the URL by typing: /fs/advanced/advanced.html

    2013-05-13 22:19:58

  • We have a HN7000S modem and there is no "HN7x00S Advanced Configuration and Statistics" page link at 192.168.0.1. Can anyone help?

    2013-03-07 15:35:47

  • Need to update to include the 9000 modem which is now being used my many.

    2011-10-06 12:05:37 (bobl5 See Profile)

  • This was very helpful when updating my Logitech Harmony remote control because the Logitech software update process requires Turbo mode to be turned off.

    2010-09-01 22:10:36 (scobbz See Profile)



Expand got feedback?

by Spinnaker See Profile edited by Red Baron See Profile
last modified: 2006-11-12 13:25:18