Fibre installed, but the router is beyond basic

Hi all, after a few months of waiting Be fibre is now installed and up and running, after a few hiccups.
Install was due Monday 25th July but the guys came on Thursday 21st to fit an eye bolt on the exterior and then Friday 22nd to run the new fibre line across the road from pole to the property.
Sadly there was a fault on the fibre line with no light being found on the line. The line was replaced on Monday 25th with the router installed later in the afternoon by the engineer.
Sadly once again, we had frequent drops in service due to something to do with the IP address and the router time set by server PDT time -9 hours BST. The IP address issue was resolved on Tuesday 26th with no further drop outs noticed, fingers crossed, but the PDT time still exists.

I have asked Be fibre for more info on the router but a lot of features have been removed/ hidden by their firmware, I am VLAN, QoS and any decent log ability to check for drops in service. I have also asked if I am able to use a third party router because the supplied one is beyond basic, making the Plusnet hub one look like state of the art.

I hoping someone could recommend something in case I am able to buy my own router to replace the Adtran 854-v6, on paper this router looked to be ok, but has been almost ruined by the ISP.
I'm not going to rush out and buy anything, just be good to look at options looking forward if I am allowed to use third party equipment.

Once again many thanks
Lee

Do you have a separate ONT, or did they provide the Adtran 854-v6 with an SFP+ GPON/XGSPON module that connects directly to the fibre, meaning the ONT function is integrated into the router?

In the latter case, I'd say your options are extremely limited. Most routers which have an SFP+ port won't take a PON module.

You could ask Be if they can put the Adtran into some sort of bridge mode, making it behave like a dumb ONT - or if they can simply replace the 854-v6 with an Adtran ONT. Then in principle you can connect your own router to that. Even then, you'd also need to determine the parameters to connect (e.g. is it PPPoE or IPoE/DHCP, do you need a specific PPPoE username/password, etc) and they may not have the support resources to help you with that.

In the absence of this option, I'd be inclined to set up your own router which handles the VLAN/QoS part on your LAN, with a WAN uplink into the Adtran router, using that only for Internet connectivity. If the Adtran lets you add static routes, then you can avoid 2 levels of NAT (turn off NAT in your own router); otherwise, double NAT may be a necessity.

It has to be said that most altnets have business cases predicated on volume. They want lots of simple installs to non-technical users with basic needs, and they are not interested in serving the relatively small volume of highly technical users. But I don't have any direct experience of Be, you'll have to find out what they're prepared to do for you.

Hi Candlerb
The router is connected to the fibre line using the SFP+ port underneath.

All sounds a lot more technical and possibly not cost effective, for my needs.
Just don't see the need to use said equipment then hide majority of features away.

I am still waiting for a response from Be support but why should I be accepting that the time will always -9 hours and to alter any scheduling accordingly, due to them not being able to fix it.

I've asked them if I can use third party equipment, so fingers crossed, I don't think I am asking too much, even viewing logs is an issue with it only showing the last hour lol or scrolling a graph minute by minute.

Thanks for the advice
Lee

In reply to a post by highlander317:

but why should I be accepting that the time will always -9 hours

Probably because very few people care what time the router thinks it is. You do of course, since you're looking at log messages (I'd say all logs should be UTC-timestamped, but that's just my opinion). Whilst it's annoying, you can compensate for it, and it doesn't affect your Internet traffic in any way.

There are more serious weaknesses in Altnet services that I can think of, like being behind a CGN and without any IPv6.

I had a similar issue with plusnet a few years ago , when their router firmware didn't have the ability to change to BST always on GMT, but the mesh system I was using took the time from the router and therefore everything had to be altered accordingly, I know it's not the end of the world stuff, but surely a basic requirement.

The PDT timing issue has now been resolved and correct time in place, the support is now asking how I log into the router using what details, er using the details I told the engineer when he inputted them, and allows me to log into the router to see dashboard etc. lol

He also said "The router options internally should be fully available to you, VLAN and QoS are not missing but they are features for the WAN that we recommend you do not touch as you can lose connection and we will need to send someone there out (engineer) to reestablish it.

In terms of the router itself currently, we do not allow the use of third-party routers however this has been noted that many people out there would like a choice of being able to use their own router, this may be something we can offer in the near future." lol many people, would you not take the hint?????

Lee

I'm with Hey!Broadband, but from the outset I knew they provided a very locked down router with poor performance. I asked for it to be set up in bridge mode so I could use my own router, so this may be an option for you.

In my case they actually installed a little ONT(Adtran 611), and I'm happily using my own Asus RT-AC86U router.

Hi Andy, due to the fact "many other people" from Be fibre would also like to use their own equipment, I am going to wait a short while and see what happens. Being they are pretty new to the area, hopefully as uptake increases, possibly the quicker they may allow third party usage, who knows????

I was drifting towards a mesh system that would simply plug into the Adtran and then give me the wifi 6 throughout the home, had a tenda mw3 (3x) with plusnet router, worked ok but the ethernet is only 100mbps, I will get round to trying it out, certainly not going to spend £1000 on an orbi mesh.

Thanks for the idea of the bridge mode

Lee

I have a pre order with Be There and as it stands unless they change their mind on forcing you to have these routers I will be declining the installation and cancelling the order..

I have spent too much time and effort making a reliable, secure and manageable home network to hand over the edge router to a questionable product that has been locked down to the point of being useless to a power user..

I have asked, and they do not support bridge mode but the more a look into Be There and the router used the less I want it and I would rather stick with BT FTTC and my own gear and wait it out for open reach FTTP to finish being deployed.

Furthermore, I email support a few times, and they claim "for support reasons" they do not allow own equipment, I would be more than happy if they did not support my equipment, if they wanted me to connect the [censored] router to get support that's fine.

I am tempted to get the service at the discounted rate and see if I can reverse engineer it and get my own router working, the discounted price over 2 years work out about the same price as paying for BT FTTP while still keeping my FTTC until the end of the contract

Got some thinking todo

In reply to a post by TimLaduk:

I have a pre order with Be There

I assume this is nothing to do with the ISP BeThere that I was with a few years ago that went belly up?

BeThere original was part of O2 early on, and then much much later sold to Sky whom closed down the BeThere section. The founders moved to Hyperoptic.

This new outfit is unconnected.