dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1577
dmagerl
Premium Member
join:2007-08-06
Woodstock, IL

dmagerl

Premium Member

How do I purchase a new Modem?

Here's the back story.

My uverse DSL service has been slowly degrading in speed over the last several months. Last Saturday a tech came out and pronounced my Motorola 2210 modem as being bad and swapped it with a new NVG510 modem. Service is back up to normal speeds.

However, the NVG510 has a built in router that I cant use. I have a gigabit network and the modem's is only 100Mb. I can just plug it into a port on my existing router, but then I'm forced to use the really poor DHCP server built into the modem instead of the more capable server in my router.

I have two solutions to my problem:
1. Put the modem in passthrough mode. There are numerous instructions on the web on how to do this, but I've not been able to make them work.
2. Buy a replacement 2210 modem. I figured this was the easiest course of action but I was wrong.

I started at the local ATT store. I walked in with the bad modem and said, "I want to buy a new one of these", and pointed to the modem. The helpful clerk said, "no problem", and walked to the storeroom and came back with a normal non-uverse modem.

I told him it was the wrong modem and he claimed that's all they had and said I should call the ATT sales phone number and order one from them.

I just spent over 2 hours on the phone with ATT, had the call dropped 4 times, talked to sales, engineering, technical support, people with foreign accents, people without foreign accents, been transferred to landline repair, and finally, finally I was told I had to go to my local ATT store and buy it there.

So how do I buy a replacement modem? I'm convinced it cant be done.

All I want is a replacement modem without a router built in. Do they even sell the 2210 anymore? no one's been able to tell me. The ATT uverse store webpage doesnt list any modems at all.

I'd rather have a root canal than have to deal with ATT's phone support again..

rolande
Certifiable
MVM,
join:2002-05-24
Dallas, TX
ARRIS BGW210-700
Cisco Meraki MR42

rolande

MVM,

If you are on Uverse, whether it is the IPDSL or VDSL flavors, you don't have a choice. You must use AT&T's provided RG as it uses a device certificate to authenticate/authorize onto the Uverse network with 802.1x. You should be able to disable the DHCP feature on that 510 so you can use your own.
dmagerl
Premium Member
join:2007-08-06
Woodstock, IL

dmagerl

Premium Member

Yeah, I know I'm locked in. I just dont know if they still sell the 2210 and then how to buy it.

I've disabled DHCP on the 510 but none of the DNS addresses or gateway addresses get propagated down to the DHCP server in my router. Thats what passthrough is supposed to do but there are no instructions on how to set up passthrough that have worked for me.. I suppose I'll have to figure out how to manually set those addresses up if I'm stuck with the modem..

But why is it so hard to buy a new modem? Its like they go out of their way to keep from making a sale.

Inthere
@sbc.com

Inthere

Anon

The 2210 was replaced by the 510. Your only hope is finding a lonely tech out on the road that has a 2210 on his truck that he never used.
dmagerl
Premium Member
join:2007-08-06
Woodstock, IL

dmagerl

Premium Member

I was hoping not to hear that.. Bummer..

Thanks.

brookeKrige
join:2012-11-05
San Jose, CA

brookeKrige

Member

There's this: »Rooting the NVG510 for true bridge mode

but would hope this forum can still help you solve your passthrough setup (post some screen shots, with sensitive's redacted). (I never used a NVG510).
dmagerl
Premium Member
join:2007-08-06
Woodstock, IL

dmagerl

Premium Member

Rooting the modem is a bit scary to me.

I did get it working, though.

I put the modem in passthrough dhcp-fixed mode and entered the MAC address of the WAN side of the router. That allowed the WAN broadband IP and gateway IP addresses to be passed to the router, but the DNS address was passed as the modem's IP address, which didnt work. I had to manually enter ATT's DNS addresses into the router to get everything working.

I am still amazed at how difficult it is to deal with ATT over the phone. Every time I heard the phrase "I'm going to transfer you", I just waited for the call to drop. It happened every time.
SCADAGeo
Premium Member
join:2012-11-08
N California

SCADAGeo to dmagerl

Premium Member

to dmagerl
said by dmagerl:

Yeah, I know I'm locked in. I just dont know if they still sell the 2210 and then how to buy it.
---
But why is it so hard to buy a new modem? Its like they go out of their way to keep from making a sale.

For future readers: eBay.
dmagerl
Premium Member
join:2007-08-06
Woodstock, IL

dmagerl

Premium Member

Not all of those will work with Uverse . It has to be a 2210-02-1ATT.

I was going to turn to ebay but with the high failure rate of this modem, I figured the odds of getting a bad one were pretty high. I still might, just to get a spare for when the NVG510 dies.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David to dmagerl

Premium Member

to dmagerl
Why not just put the router behind it in the DMZ mode, I believe if you disable the firewall and put your routing device in the IP passthru listing it's supposed to pass right through.

least that's the writing of many on forums.att.com when I read on occasion.