US Telco Support → Frontier Communications > Unoffical Frontier FAQ

Re: Unoffical Frontier FAQ

I'm out in the sticks, too! The copper is just in REALLY good shape out here, and it's 24 Gauge. Awesome stuff they've got out here. I'm on an ADTRAN DSLAM, which when first installed used to run off of several T1s. It has Fiber feeding it now, but I'm good to go for some pretty good speeds in the future if Frontier decides to offer them to Residents. My Verizon line doesn't even have this much capacity...

My area, you pretty much have a choice of PPPoE or PPPoA. I can switch between the two at will, and I can also bridge a PPPoA session into a PPPoE for another router to manage. Switching between PPPoE or PPPoA, however, does require a modem reboot. Same with adjusting the MTU (I'm running 1500 on PPPoA right now).

They have installed the ADTran DSLAM in Ridgely, but here in the Romney CO we are still on the old stuff and only 4 old copper T1's for over a 100 customers in my area.

4 T1s? Ouch! They need to get rid of those T1s and get Fiber up and running ASAP. Our CO here has an OC3 feeding it, and they've had no issues with congestion at the CO level since installing it. Same with the remotes in this area, which are on Fiber as well. The congestion we see is further up the stream towards Rochester, and takes place early in the morning (7-9AM) and also from 5PM and gradually gets worse towards 10:30PM, where the line will start to come back up to speed pretty quickly.

I have a 14GB download running on my line at the moment as well as a video game. The speeds are jumping around anywhere from 40KB/s to 390KB/s. Here's a traceroute. I guess you can see where the problem is ;D. 74.40.62.37 is in a POP in Rochester, NY.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
 
C:\Users\>tracert www.google.com
 
Tracing route to www.l.google.com [74.125.113.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dslrouter.westell.com [192.168.1.1]
  2    17 ms    17 ms    16 ms  74-37-224-1.dsl1.hlcm.ny.frontiernet.net [74.37.224.1]
  3     *       76 ms    80 ms  74.40.62.37
  4    73 ms    91 ms    67 ms  ge-3-1--0.ar04.roch.ny.frontiernet.net [65.73.205.5]
  5    56 ms    79 ms    57 ms  ge--7-1-0---0.car01.roch.ny.frontiernet.net [74.45.102.5]
  6    75 ms   126 ms   122 ms  xe--2-2-0---0.cor01.roch.ny.frontiernet.net [74.40.5.73]
  7   116 ms   103 ms    99 ms  ae3---0.cor02.asbn.va.frontiernet.net [74.40.5.18]
  8    98 ms   110 ms    90 ms  ae0---0.cbr01.asbn.va.frontiernet.net [74.40.2.178]
  9    76 ms    91 ms    91 ms  72.14.213.133
 10    89 ms   104 ms    90 ms  216.239.46.248
 11   202 ms   143 ms     *     209.85.241.222
 12    92 ms   118 ms    85 ms  209.85.251.228
 13     *       82 ms     *     216.239.47.250
 14   116 ms   114 ms   123 ms  vw-in-f104.1e100.net [74.125.113.104]
 
Trace complete.
 
C:\Users\>
 

I pulled a new previously not configured 7500 out of the box this evening. I ran into the situation with this REV E modem as you did. I was not able to log in and configure anything until I let the initial use auto configuration Wizard run. I was able to configure the modem user ID and password plus the carrier log-in information prior to placing it on-line to finish auto configuration.

After it auto configured I then placed it in Bridge Mode using the instruction I previously provided you. There was only one area where there is a step missing with this 5.02.00.07 firmware.
It is now operating in Bridge Mode and as with some other modems the Internet LED remains off when bridged.

I upload some screen shots for the areas where information changes when in Bridge Mode.

Thanks for the screenshots.

What I found interesting is, you didn't even have to enter in a valid PPPoE login for the auto configuration. Basically, as long as the modem got sync, it'd let you do whatever at that point.

Maybe I forgot to send one of the screen shots as I did have to enter a valid login to complete the auto-configuration wizard. But once it is bridged the login is hosted on the ZyXel USG-100.

The user information shows in the Full System Status screen shot.

Hey dudes, I added some small bits of information to the FAQ and also worked on making it a bit more Search Engine Friendly. Just need to wait for Google, BingBot and Slurp to stop by and re-index it at this point. I am working on a user manual for the Netgear 7550 now that I've familiarized myself with the device, so expect that to be coming soon.

I have ordered a new internet max connection at my apartment. I already have a motorola 2210-02 DSL modem. can you tell me if this modem will work with frontier's service?

That modem will work fine. Make sure it is set up for PPPoE and the VPU/VCI of 0/35 (standard for most of Frontier's areas), which I believe West Virginia uses when you connect it.

You're correct VPI/VCI 0/35.

i am trying to login to my fontier account and i dont know where the password is on the back of my modem... It asks for password to Frontier8267 which is the correct modem #.

marty

The default password is usually admin/admin for Frontier modems.

Notes on Netgear 7550 for your faq.

Autoconfig asks you to setup an admin password first time through.
There is no default admin password you must set it.

The default firewall setting is NONE be sure you change it!

Max firewall is VERY restrictive and will block Steam, and other services such as RDP, Yahoo Messenger etc.

Medium is the same as Max but you are able to setup port forwarding.

NOTE! Port forwarding is partially broken - If you setup every rule manually it works as it should. If you want port forwarding to work based on who created the packet the configuration returns the error that the ip address is not in range. I suspect it is in need of a firmware update.

Currently the web address to check for firmware updates is also blank by default. anyone know the correct address to enter for firmware updates?

Before I forget:

Software Version: VER:06.03.02
Transceiver Revision: 4.4.9.13.1.1
Model Name: B90-755044-15
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXX
Broadband Connection Status: Connected
Broadband IP Address: 50.36.xxx.xxx
Broadband MAC Address: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Broadband Connection Type: PPPoE
Active Status: 0:22:27:30
Configuration: 096-900300-00 A

Was looking for some info on frontier as they happen to be the telco where I'm looking to buy a house.
All I can find on their website says speeds are one of three choices.
6mb 12mb or 25mb all having the "up to" next to it of course.

What I'm wondering is what are the upload speeds on those tiers?
Do they actually deliver close to advertised speeds? (I know how DSL works so no lessons necessary...just a general question)
Do they have any type of usage cap with their service?

Thanks

It depends on the area and your location. Upload speed will be around the 700kbps end for the low end, and 2Mbps for the upper end tier. Also, unless you are in a former Verizon area, most legacy Frontier areas seem to max at an upload of 384kbps with 3Mbps download, or 6Mbps download.

As for delivering the actual speed, this again varies per area. Many former Verizon areas have seen speed issues, and the legacy areas tend to have issues. My area had congestion issues for the longest time which are now "resolved" so I do get my 3Mbps/768kbps quite reliably.

As for data caps, there are no known set in stone caps but they have been known to trial phantom usage caps. So far I haven't heard of any news on one officially for roughly two years.

There are a couple of issues I'm having with the Netgear 7550 from Frontier.

1 - is there anyway to configure DHCP so that it will allocate the same IP address for a particular device (i.e. IP address assignment via MAC)

2 - In the typical security configuration for the firewall, it is blocking OUTBOUND tcp traffic to port 993, which is what iOS gmail uses. when I change to minimal security, everything is fine. Security logs also validate this. How can I enable outbound traffic for port 993 when my firewall is set to Typical Security.

See my notes above.

You need to set it up to medium firewall and then set your outbound rules manually. When setup correctly ports will only be open if initiated from your internal network and any machine can open the port. Opened ports are temporary and session based.

This router has some weird quirks that really need to be fixed I'm still hoping that someone will eventually reverse engineer the firmware and fix these issues and then give everyone an unofficial firmware update.

You can access the firmware without deactivating the garden by just hitting cancel while in the wizard. The address to the garden switch is

»192.168.254.254/redirect.asp

This setup wizard is for all intents and purposes is the walled garden of sorts and so it is automatically set to disabled (i.e. the button will read "enable" ) following a successful PPPoE authentication from within the wizard.

You can also tell if it is disabled from the main f/w page Left hand column "My Gateway". If it is still enabled and the wizard has yet to be successfully run it will read "Need to run setup wizard". If the garden is disabled it will say "Gateway status Go! Your gateway is ready for internet access" or possibly(if there are connection issues), "Connecting! Your Gateway is not ready for Internet access!".

Yes the wizard would reactivate after a factory reset. You can also click "re-run setup wizard" in the firmware on the bottom left of the main page "quick links" or from the "Advanced" menu.

I'm sure it has been covered elsewhere on this forum, but fyi, the firmware option in the advanced menu to reset to defaults will not completely reset the modem to factory. For instance, the PPP username and password will not be cleared. It is more of a soft reset. To Hard reset the device, hold the reset button (button inside the little tiny hole) down for about 30 seconds. A quick push of this button(4 - 6 secs.) should just reset the modem password to default and leave the rest of the users information intact as well ( wireless info etc. ). True factory default modem login is admin / password

I tried your procedure, if I hit Cancel in the Wizard, it just starts the Wizard over again. Can you tell me what version of firmware your modem has?

Hit Cancel in the wizard and then go to walled garden and hit the disable button. Should not load setup wizard again unless you tell it to or hard reset.