Replacing BT Router

I want to ditch the BT Router for something rather better, I guess a username and password for the service will be required; where would such information be obtained from? It is an FFTC service. Is there a webpage that provides essential settings to put into the router?

Thanks in advance for assistance provided.

Yes, it is within the hub itself ...

BT's Hubs are both a modem and a router combined.
Do you plan in using a separate modem and separate router or a combined unit?
Have you got anything in particular in mind?

The modem needs to support/be configured for VDSL2 Profile 17a.
Setting DSL mode to 'Auto' works on most modems.
It needs a VLAN/802.1p tag of '101'.
Set 802.1p to 0

On the WAN side (the router) there's no VLAN tag.
For BT residential the PPPoE credentials are generic.
Username: [email protected]
Password: BT (or blank)

A common mistake is adding the VLAN tag (101) to the WAN settings instead of the DSL settings on a combined unit.

It's actually not as difficult as my post makes it sound.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

BT's Hubs are both a modem and a router combined.
Do you plan in using a separate modem and separate router or a combined unit?
Have you got anything in particular in mind?

The modem needs to support/be configured for VDSL2 Profile 17a.
Setting DSL mode to 'Auto' works on most modems.
It needs a VLAN/802.1p tag of '101'.
Set 802.1p to 0

On the WAN side (the router) there's no VLAN tag.
For BT residential the PPPoE credentials are generic.
Username: [email protected]
Password: BT (or blank)

A common mistake is adding the VLAN tag (101) to the WAN settings instead of the DSL settings on a combined unit.

It's actually not as difficult as my post makes it sound.

The BT Hub was replaced with a Vigor 2865Vac with the accompanying booklet most helpful of the settings to use. It said nothing about the value for the MTU but there was auto adjusted down to 1492.

I am sort of inclined to force the use of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 but uncertain of the benefit it will bring. I wanted to VPN into my network for a number of reasons but found it necessary to create a ddns account as the WAN address changed so frequently. I've got an VoIP account with Voipfone which saves a fortune against BT call charges and it provides free calls to all other Voipfone subscribers.

My settings seem to need a minor tweak because a VPN session established drops out with LCP Time-out but I can't find the appropriate setting to stop that happening.

I matched the SSID settings to those used on the BT Hub, and that saved an awful amount of time in the switchover. Non email accounts are used so it places me in good position to move to another provider with the minimum of hassle as the contract comes to an end.

Connection speeds are much better than with the BT Hub and the wireless signal has a much larger footprint as well.

The DSL Status page is shown below, although the presentation is much better in the router!

ATU-R Information
Type: VDSL2
Hardware: Annex A
Firmware: 08-0D-01-0B-01-07
Power Mngt Mode: DSL_G997_PMS_L0
Line State: SHOWTIME
Running Mode: 17A
Vendor ID: fe004452 41590000
ATU-C Information
Vendor ID: b5004244 434da4a1 [BDCM]
Line Statistics

Downstream Upstream
Actual Rate 78453 Kbps 19999 Kbps
Attainable Rate 78763 Kbps 20973 Kbps
Path Mode Fast Fast
Interleave Depth 1 1
Actual PSD 12. 8 dB 7. 3 dB
Near End Far End
Trellis ON ON
Bitswap ON ON
ReTx 0 1
SNR Margin 3 dB 6 dB
Attenuation 16 dB 20 dB
CRC 533 0
FECS 0 s 0 s
ES 104 s 5752 s
SES 1 s 1 s
LOSS 0 s 0 s
UAS 27 s 14209 s

Feedback welcomed.

If you want to change the DNS you will need to disable BT Web Protect on your BT account, otherwise it will still use BT DNS servers, irrespective of what you configure on the router. This is because Web Protect works by intercepting DNS Requests and redirecting them to BTs servers.

It took me a while to figure this one out when I was a BT customer using my own kit.

In reply to a post by mikel543:

If you want to change the DNS you will need to disable BT Web Protect on your BT account, otherwise it will still use BT DNS servers, irrespective of what you configure on the router. This is because Web Protect works by intercepting DNS Requests and redirecting them to BTs servers.

It took me a while to figure this one out when I was a BT customer using my own kit.

An interesting feedback, thank you. What I would really like to known though, is the benefit you get by using 8.8.8.8. and 8.8.4.4 instead.

Main reasons people switch to alternative DNS providers are faster loading of pages due to faster name resolution (some ISPs servers are slow, Plusnet used to be slower than Google DNS),, privacy and filtering out undesirable web sites (OpenDNS provide this service).

This Techradar article gives a good write up on free alternative DNS providers.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-dns-server


https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-dns-server

This is a good tool that can benchmark DNS resolvers:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

You'll probably find that most other DNS resolvers are slower than BT's DNS servers. BT actually has pretty good DNS compared to some providers:

https://i.imgur.com/cvBmZxX.png

https://i.imgur.com/isdWRRi.png

In reply to a post by aidanh:

You'll probably find that most other DNS resolvers are slower than BT's DNS servers. BT actually has pretty good DNS compared to some providers:

The fastest are always on the local network, e.g. at your ISP.

There is no advantage to using Google's public DNS (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4) but if you were to use Quad 9's (9.9.9.9) or CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) then they filter malware domains.

For info see https://quad9.net or https://1.1.1.1

Edited by jchamier (Mon 23-Aug-21 18:12:03)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

The fastest are always on the local network, e.g. at your ISP.

You'd think so but you'd be amazed how many ISP's screw up DNS.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

There is no advantage to using Google's public DNS (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4) but if you were to use Quad 9's (9.9.9.9) or CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) then they filter malware domains.

I just remembered another advantage which is why I'm not exclusively using BT's DNS resolvers, they don't properly support DNSSEC which is important for ensuring the validity/integrity of DNS. If you use Google's public DNS, Quad 9 or Cloudflare's DNS you will get DNSSEC validation assuming your client device is configured correctly (you can test with this helpful website: https://dnssec.vs.uni-due.de/).

In reply to a post by aidanh:

If you use Google's public DNS, Quad 9 or Cloudflare's DNS you will get DNSSEC validation assuming your client device is configured correctly (you can test with this helpful website: https://dnssec.vs.uni-due.de/).

The link is trying to resolve including the ")." at the end, I think https://dnssec.vs.uni-due.de/ will work better.

In reply to a post by aidanh:

In reply to a post by jchamier:

The fastest are always on the local network, e.g. at your ISP.

You'd think so but you'd be amazed how many ISP's screw up DNS.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

There is no advantage to using Google's public DNS (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4) but if you were to use Quad 9's (9.9.9.9) or CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) then they filter malware domains.

I just remembered another advantage which is why I'm not exclusively using BT's DNS resolvers, they don't properly support DNSSEC which is important for ensuring the validity/integrity of DNS. If you use Google's public DNS, Quad 9 or Cloudflare's DNS you will get DNSSEC validation assuming your client device is configured correctly (you can test with this helpful website: https://dnssec.vs.uni-due.de/).

Well that's quite interesting about DNSSEC with a "Jack and Jill" explanation available on the Internet. And yes BTs DNS addresses do not support it, which IMHO opinion they should. Earlier in this thread there was mention of a tool to use to find the fastest DNS servers which when used shows the BT router failing miserably. Google DNS was much better but even they were surpassed by 47 others of which 9.9.9.9 was one.

Personally I would prefer to use a DNS server located in the UK which supports DNSSEC but they appear to be few and far between. It is noted that to use another DNS server then this thread says what needs to be disabled within BT.. Please be aware that this swap out is in a friends house who believes that BT is the bees knees when it is obvious that it isn't.

Add into the mix of problems of private domain names having difficulty in getting their emails through to BT email accounts and I would only wish end users would select a different ISP.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Add into the mix of problems of private domain names having difficulty in getting their emails through to BT email accounts and I would only wish end users would select a different ISP.

The best advice to give everyone is never to use ISP email, so you have freedom in moving.

Ditto for ISP provisioned landline / VoIP.

Indy every time.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Ditto for ISP provisioned landline / VoIP

Exactly, I have corporate quality email for £3/month and AAISP's VoIP service is £1.20/month. These things aren't expensive

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Ditto for ISP provisioned landline / VoIP

Exactly, I have corporate quality email for £3/month and AAISP's VoIP service is £1.20/month. These things aren't expensive

You are preaching to the converted here. I help a lot of people with their internet issues and when I even suggest something along those lines you are almost shown the front door.

We are all here on this forum to learn of best practices for a trouble free internet experience. Your average man in the street does not know much more than what comes with the package they get from the ISP and would not know where to start to escape from that straight jacket. Although some have accidently side step the issue by using Gmail and the like.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Your average man in the street does not know much more than what comes with the package they get from the ISP and would not know where to start to escape from that straight jacket. Although some have accidently side step the issue by using Gmail and the like.

In the USA it was common to only get one email mailbox for an ISP subscription, even in the dial up days, whereas in the UK we had 5 or 8 or even 10 mailboxes. This is one reason why webmail services generally started in the USA, back to the original HoTMaiL (capitalisation deliberate).

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

... and when I even suggest something along those lines you are almost shown the front door.

We are all here on this forum to learn of best practices for a trouble free internet experience. Your average man in the street does not know much more than what comes with the package they get from the ISP and would not know where to start to escape from that straight jacket. Although some have accidently side step the issue by using Gmail and the like.

Really? How odd. Perhaps that's a hang up from a time passed by, when most folks only ever knew of what an 'ISP' could provide them. Slightly ageist comment I suppose. Maybe there is some sort of security in keeping an old ISP issued email address.

On the other hand the average 30 year old and under in my experience, is pretty savvy when it comes to tech and awareness of alternative platforms.