dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
91093
apanihi1
join:2012-03-16
Los Angeles, CA

apanihi1

Member

[TWC] How to run a Motorola SBG6580 in Bridge mode.

After talking to 3 different reps at level 3 tier support for TWC (1-866-508-1157) and being told that "bridge mode is not supported" and told other lies, I gave up and fixed it on my own. Basically what they refuse to tell you is that the modem has 2 MAC Addresses, 1 for the actual modem (WAN MAC) and 1 for the internal router (LAN MAC). They provision the MAC address (LAN MAC) of the internal router to have access on their network and any other MAC Address such as that of your PC or router, will simply not work.

When you enable bridging mode and turn the device into a cable modem, you're then passing along your computers and/or routers MAC Address, which is not provisioned in their system. They will refuse to provision a new MAC address over the phone and your modem wont go online. To fix this and have your modem go online, follow these steps:

1. Unplug coax cable from Motorola

2. Hold down the white reset button on the back panel with a pen for 30s. This resets all settings to factory defaults. The modem will be auto-reconfigured once you plug in the coax cable.

3. When modem is back on plug in a computer with an Ethernet cable into the modem.

4 Connect to »192.168.0.1 and login with "admin" / "motorola"

5 Now you will make some changes:

-Wireless -> Primary Network -> Disabled
-Basic -> Setup -> NAPT Mode -> Disabled
-Basic -> DHCP -> No
-Advanced -> Options -> Rg Passthrough -> Enable
-Copy and save the LAN Mac Address from the Basic > Configuration Section
-Advanced -> Options -> Passthrough Mac Addresses -> Add LAN MAC Address of the SBG6580 Found in the Basic > Configuration section.

Save all settings and plug the coaxial cable back into the modem and power cycle it.

You should now be online with the Motorola SBG6580 into Bridge mode and you can use your own router to forward ports correctly or directly connect it to your PC and configure your firewall.

I'd like to give a shoutout to the TWC Tier 3 support in Colorado. Thanks a lot for not helping anyone on this issue. It's policy to not support it, but it's down right rude to argue with customers over it instead of admitting fault. Since you guys suck at customer service, I have provided the solution here for free.

The reason this works and other solutions do not is that TWC has to provision the MAC Address of the SBG6580 router portion on their end. If the MAC Address of your Router and/or PC is not provisioned in their system you will not get an external IP Address. They will not tell you this, because they don't want to go through all the above steps to make it work right!

If the problems continue, try to change the MAC Address of your network card they may have blocked/black listed this as well.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin

Premium Member

"It's policy to not support it, but it's down right rude to argue with customers over it instead of admitting fault."

Support does differ across the regions but putting a D3 modem into bridge mode is bulk standard troubleshooting for a Tier 3 group in the East. Modems are provisioned using the the modems Mac address. Once the modem is provisioned it will work and a small internal change is then made to the modem settings to enable bridge mode. Internal Mac addresses, Router Mac addresses and Mac addresses of CPE's are not entered anywhere in the provisioning system.
I am not sure what you mean but unfortunately I believe your post is inaccurate and confusing, if you read the threads there are many who had modems put in bridge mode by just calling.

Hob
apanihi1
join:2012-03-16
Los Angeles, CA

apanihi1

Member

They changed their policy. If you call and ask about bridge mode they will tell you they don't support it. I kept telling them I want the SBG6580 as a modem only and when I put it in bridge mode it would give me a network access Denied. The only way to fix it is to clone the internal LAN MAC as described above. It's the only way I got back online. Without doing that the modem would not give network access. They refused to fix it and kept saying its not supported, it used to be but they will no longer troubleshoot it.

You're welcome to call the # and find out they will tell you the same. They will refuse to help you put it into bridge mode. They used to help with it in the past, but policy changed fast due to this modems problems with port forwarding.

I think they want Motorola to fix the issue of the modem only forwarding the 1st rule on the list, rather than actually helping people put their modems in bridge mode.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew to apanihi1

Premium Member

to apanihi1
said by apanihi1:

The reason this works and other solutions do not is that TWC has to provision the MAC Address of the SBG6580 router portion on their end. If the MAC Address of your Router and/or PC is not provisioned in their system you will not get an external IP Address.

Just about every cable provider limits modem configs to allowing 1 public IP address (which is issued based on MAC address). So it's pretty standard on cable that after you change the device (MAC) getting the public IP address, you powercycle the modem to clear the original MAC address from the modem memory which will allow the new device to connect. It has nothing to do with the cable company "provisioning" the router or PC after the modem.

If they didn't want end users to put the modem into bridge mode they'd just reset the config on sync up.

...and Motorola should really fix the port forwarding bug no matter what TWC does on it's end to work or not work around it. It costs TWC and it's customers time and money to work around something they shouldn't have to.
apanihi1
join:2012-03-16
Los Angeles, CA

apanihi1

Member

Well the workaround here basically clones the MAC that's allowed and puts it in the pass through, so that's what's being reported as being used.

This trick they wont tell you over the phone. They will not even go through any diagnostic steps. They repeat the same line they've been told "We don't support bridge mode, I can't help you with that."

When I first got the modem and I called in to report the issue I spoke to a couple of techs that used their skills to help me out. I called in as of late and they refuse to help you put a modem in bridge mode. Anyone is welcome to call, I have no reason to lie.

Motorola really does need to fix that bug though.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin to apanihi1

Premium Member

to apanihi1
"They changed their policy. If you call and ask about bridge mode they will tell you they don't support it."

I talk to all the tier 3 groups in the east daily, I have never heard this. I think someone is confused somewhere.

Hob

leadfoot93
@mycingular.net

leadfoot93

Anon

I didn't have a problem when I called last month. Told them I wanted to use my own router, got sent to level 3.

obgow80
@rr.com

obgow80

Anon

I also had that modem, and when I called time Warner with a slow internet issue they told me that the problem with the internet was due to me using this cable modem in bridge mode and that they would have to reset the modem to the default settings to fix the internet speed issues. I prefer my router to the crappy router in the sb6580, and since they wont support the modem in bridging mode I had time Warner come and replace it with a cisco 2100 which is a modem only. And it still did not fix my internet speed issues.
SuckItTWC
join:2012-03-21

SuckItTWC to apanihi1

Member

to apanihi1
Thanks so much, I adopted your technique for the Arris TG852. Whiule the tech guy was here, I was able to log into its web settings and change wifi password using the default log in admin and password. Once the cable modem went live, which took 10 mins, I was no longer able to log into these settings. TWC clearly does download something that prevents log in. From all the settings that I saw there is nothing bad that I could have changed. People had the right to turn off the wifi, change the wifi name and password.

When I have time I will post detailed instructions how I did this to help all of you, although it wasn't hard following your basic directions.

SuckItTWC

CptGemini
Inside your computer
Premium Member
join:2004-11-29
Corpus Christi, TX

CptGemini

Premium Member

It's all in the config file that is downloaded to the modem each time you power cycle it.
apanihi1
join:2012-03-16
Los Angeles, CA

apanihi1 to leadfoot93

Member

to leadfoot93
Sorry but the keyword there is last month. I called them 2 weeks ago and they were cool with helping then too. The policy change is very recent. They wont help you with bridge mode anymore, you're welcome to call the phone # I posted and ask.

excelx
join:2004-07-06
Los Angeles, CA

excelx to apanihi1

Member

to apanihi1
this worked! thanks =]

btw: how much is twc charging for the Motorola SBG6580 rental in los angeles?

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

$0 for now. There's been some discussion of a new modem rental fee, but supposedly if you've already got it, you're grandfathered in.
Sdimonvii
join:2012-04-06

Sdimonvii to apanihi1

Member

to apanihi1
Confirming that the original poster's claim is true. I ended up buying a modem on Amazon so I wouldn't have to deal with this port forwarding crap, but it turned out that you can only use the modem that they give you for wideband Internet. They transferred me to "advanced tech support". The guy noticed that I knew what I was talking about and 1. Said he can't give me any information on port forwarding or bridge mode, but alluded to their team being aware of the port forwarding issue, and that what I am looking for may be online. Thanks to the original poster for posting these instructions (joined the forum after so many years of browsing to thank you), I'm going to give it a try. I don't understand why TW gives you 0 options here?

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

3 edits

Anonymous_ to djrobx

Premium Member

to djrobx
they are charging us $5 ($4.95)(Wireless networking fee because we can.)

I'll be buying a new one at the store soon
it will self pay for it self in about 2 years.

»www.bestbuy.com/site/Mot ··· p=1&lp=1

excelx
join:2004-07-06
Los Angeles, CA

excelx to djrobx

Member

to djrobx
excellent! thank you.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

What about those who are currently grandfathered into the old way? What about those who want to have the modem in bridge mode, with no wireless, with our own router? What about the cost then? No $4.95 wireless fee? Will they finally be offering a modem-only modem, as in one that has no router part of it?

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_

Premium Member

said by trparky:

What about those who are currently grandfathered into the old way? What about those who want to have the modem in bridge mode, with no wireless, with our own router? What about the cost then? No $4.95 wireless fee? Will they finally be offering a modem-only modem, as in one that has no router part of it?

I did request a modem only they did not have any........

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to Anonymous_

Premium Member

to Anonymous_
said by Anonymous_:

they are charging us $5 ($4.95)(Wireless networking fee because we can.)

That's different from the equipment rental fee. You can choose not to pay for wireless and still get a connection, minus wireless.

You're better off leaving wireless disabled, bridging it (effectively converting it into a modem-only), and buying router. The SBG5680 is a horrible router anyway.

-- Rob

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

1 edit

Anonymous_

Premium Member

said by djrobx:

said by Anonymous_:

they are charging us $5 ($4.95)(Wireless networking fee because we can.)

That's different from the equipment rental fee. You can choose not to pay for wireless and still get a connection, minus wireless.

You're better off leaving wireless disabled, bridging it (effectively converting it into a modem-only), and buying router. The SBG5680 is a horrible router anyway.

-- Rob

SBG6580 works fine even the router part (Manually configured it.)

Everthing works good

Port frowarding
WPA secruity

etc....

got it all working properly

If there is any issue it's the person between the chair and keyboard .

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

There is a known issue with UPnP in the SBG6580. It fails the XBOX 360 UPnP test.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_

Premium Member

I do not have a xbox to test but it works fine on my ps3

maybe the xbox test is broken it self?

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

said by Anonymous_:

I do not have a xbox to test but it works fine on my ps3

maybe the xbox test is broken it self?

Could be.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_

Premium Member

I'm not going to lie I did have issues With PSN disconnecting
but after manually configuring it everything works, good no disconnects at all. (could have been a PSN issue it self as it was right round when they had just put out a update.)
I get NAT type 2 with UPnP available.
isp3
join:2003-12-02
Chillicothe, OH

isp3 to apanihi1

Member

to apanihi1
Just got off the phone and a "wireless specialist" told me that it was $10/month extra to use the built in router functionality of the sbg6580. Something about "we'll be supporting more devices" ....

That's fine if you want to offer that, but come on it should be able to play nice with the customer's own router. Regular joes aren't going to know how to bridge the modem to the router when it's configured like this.

excelx
join:2004-07-06
Los Angeles, CA

excelx to apanihi1

Member

to apanihi1
I live in Los Angeles and TWC was charging me $4.95 for Wireless Home Networking ( Motorola SB6580 ) and after 6months $2.50 for modem, a total of $7.50 =(

I sent it back and i bought a new Motorola SB6141 ( called them told them mac address and it was up and running in minutes )
hooked it up to my d-link router and it's been running great ( no signal drops ) this new modem rocks!
Easy to access menu to view power levels. rock solid. =]