US Telco Support > AT&T > AT&T U-verse > Uverse installers do not know networking

Uverse installers do not know networking

AT&T used to give away at time of install these:

»www.att.com/equipment/accessory-···q_model=

To expand the ethernet connections, so one patch cable from one port of the 2 wire to this for the non u-verse traffic and have the set tops be pluged in directly, with last resort on the switch.

reply to IP Address
»192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C_1_1

There's a section that allows you to add a router/netmask for a secondary network... I assume it'll bridge the two routers so you can plug in other things (like STBs) downstream.

I'm not using it so I can't confirm it will work, but since you know networking, I'm sure you can figure it out.

My UVerse installer was not exceptionally adroit with networking, either. The first thing he did while configuring the network from a laptop was turn the wi-fi off. Not that I minded, but he was using the wi-fi connection at the time...

reply to IP Address
You should be able to go here:

»192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C_2_3

and just change it to match your current DHCP range. I'm guessing since you already have cisco stuff all over the house you know what you are doing but you should be able to do it all right there.

reply to IP Address
Do you have the iNID equipment? I've heard of some install techs who's managers force them to do iNID installs on only coaxial, because the IPTV over ethernet used to require a manual setting that customers were losing after factory resets.
It's the same caveat if you change the subnet on the 2Wire. If it ever resets, you'll lose all TV and have no chance of any ATT employee knowing how to fix it.
You are also going to be hard pressed finding a router/firewall that supports the IP multi cast properly. Your solution would require a dumb switch to put only the receivers on.

reply to SHoTTa35
I tried changing the IP range for my 2wire 3600HGV but could never get it to accept the new settings. Always reported an error without providing any info on what might be wrong. I've decided that it's easier to let the 2wire stay as 192.168.1.254 and just modify all my static IPs from 192.168.254.x to 192.168.1.x, and remove my old router/firewall from the network.

reply to IP Address
most new homes have patch panels in the wiring closet, right?

Route the cat6 cables for your uverse boxes from the patch panel to the back of the RG instead of the .6 switch or use a switch just for uverse equipment.

sometimes I connect 1 uverse tuner to my internal network. To get it to work with my Dell 2824 switches, I had to set IGMP Snooping Status to enabled.

reply to Forosnai
that is totally not true. I have iNid install and all my boxes use cat5. Ive had numerous power outages due to weather and have done hard resets and never have I "lost all TV and have no chance of any ATT employee knowing how to fix it."

reply to IP Address
Unless the iNID got a recent firmware update that i'm ignorant about, the ethernet port on the iNID is disabled by default, you either don't use it to serve your ethernet receivers (you probably have a rj11 connection to an i38HG, then ethernet from there), or the iNID has never been factory reset. Also, no matter how you cut it, if you set up receivers behind a 3rd party DHCP server it would require a non default NAT setting in the RG that would have to be manually reconfigured after a factory reset.

I think for simplicity sake and keeping network seperated completely I will run new cat6 cable to each STB. This will keep everything nice and text book. It is hard to believe that Cisco/ or Uverse / 2Wire would not make this more friendly like turn on transparency in their equipment. This way customer can use existing cabling and network.

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. You guys rock!

reply to IP Address
True the home installers don't always know the most about networking, however it is a little unfair to expect them to be CCNA experts. For my needs I was more concerned about their ability to fish wires and provide raw materials (ie. big box of cat5e).

Honestly I wouldn't try mixing two networks like that. Sounds like you have an existing DHCP server already on your network. When I did my install I just swung everything over to the 192.168.1.x network as somebody else mentioned.

Sound like your going to run them in parallel so that's cool. Honestly you don't really want to inject that multicast traffic into your cisco network. It can cause some really goofy scenarios.
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I would love it if it were just as easy as changing my network to 192.168.1.x but I have several VPN's setup that rely on my subnet to be 192.168.6.x If i change my network then I will need to change router VPN settings at several places, not to mention one of the networks that I VPN into already use 192.168.1.x

I dont expect the installers to be CCNA or even all that network savy but I would expect someone higher up at ATT to have some basic flow charts the techs can follow. For instance if customer already has network in the 192.168.1.x network then do this...

I dont think having 5 STB's and 6 PC's would be able to saturate a Gigabit network and cause problems. Besides the Uverse app that is avail for iOS requires that your iOS device be on the same network as the STB's. Who in their right mind would want to use the Uverse 802.11 B/G wifi that is included in the RG unless that someone does not care about speeds and moving files around their internal network.

Just saying, maybe I should not have made the switch to Uverse from Dish and Broadband but I wanted better more reliable Internet Access (lower latency) and felt like a dedicated connection to the CO would be better than shared bandwidth.

I am very happy with the Uverse Internet so far but the Video services that Uverse has to offer leaves little to be desired.

Thanks again for the comments.

You shouldn't have a problem setting your own subnet.

I for example use 172.16.20.xx ranges in my internal network on my AT&T crap-verse 3600 router.

You should be able pick manual configuration on the DHCP and apply anything so long as it is in the privet ranges and 192.168.x.x is.

reply to kytech

reply to IP Address
What you should do is connect the STBs via ethernet to the 2wire and then connect the the 2wire to the WAN port of your router.
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reply to IP Address

reply to Kytech
Sadly the whole amalgam of TV and internet services has it's drawbacks.
It won't be too long before the receivers completely disappear and the smart monitors running Android, windows and iOS, force the restructuring of the provider/subscriber relationship.

reply to IP Address
You can change it and others have pointed you to the right place.

It is completely unfair to expect the installers to accommodate your network. Besides the liability issues, everyone loves low cost specialized labor.

When I had my install, they ran cat 5 because I didn't have any to the points needed and their crimping job was terrible but they worked. Also they connected one laptop to it but they couldn't log into it (because I told them to call me to do the Internet portion and all my machines were locked) and it received the standard 192.168.x.x address which was fine. I connected the desktop, verified the speeds were as requested and sent them on their way.

Within 5 minutes I had my untangle box in and the rest of my network back to the way it was. If the crimps were an issue I redid them but for the most part as ugly as they are they work.

reply to kytech