BT 2 Wire HG1800 Advanced Features Setup

[#1]

Ian
Thanks for the reply, I shall get an output from the system summary tonight and see if we can get any further from their then.
The 2wire does indeed seem to be a very good comprenshive good bit of kit, just getting used to it and this little annoyance of the wireless is all i need to do next.
Thanks
Andy

[#2]

Ian,
I agree with you, the 2wire kit is really good. I've been running a 2700HGV ( aka BT Business Hub ), obtained via ebay, for a while now and its excellent. It syncs rock solid at 8128 kbps with a 8db SNR whereas my old Belkin struggled to hang on at 6500kbps at 6db. A friend of mine tried one on a VERY long line ~ 63db attenuation, and whereas his supplied router from talkTalk would struggle to sync at 512k and constantly disconnect, the 2700 synched first time at 1m and held on to the connection.
I haven't seen any problems with wireless either although, like you its rarely disconnected ( I think its been up for about 3 months now!!).
On the Content and Access Controls , mine didnt originally have them available but once it had contacted the BT servers it was enabled ( not that I use it as all my kids have grown up ). Since both my 2700HGV and the 1800HG are BT branded I guess BT must have paid 2wire for the options.
My 2700HGV has also upgraded its firmware automatically at least twice now from the BT servers, but I'm unsure about firmware versions for the 1800HG.

[#3]

Quote from: andyrogers

Hi I have taken delivery yesterday of a HG1800 2Wire thankyou PlusNet. From the instrucations provided it shows thier is a feature of content screening/Access Control on the router but I cannot find it once I have logged into the router. Am i doing something incorrect? Andy

Hi Andy, it sounds like the firmware upgrade glitched. The routers we tested at PlusNet didn't have any trouble automatically updating their firmware. Out of interest, does the web interface now describe your HG1800 as a HG1801? This was something that caused confusion when we recently tested it. I'm told that the actual HG1801 has a different set of status lights, but maybe the 1801 firmware is being applied to the 1800 when it first connects, which might account for the apparent feature discrepancy.

[#4]

Hi Mark
My router does indeed report HG1801 when iam in the management console.
Andy

[#5]

I have managed to get my wireless mode now enabled upon switch on of the router thank goodness.
I managed to get this be getting a firmware upgrade from 2 Wire.
I had to email support@2wire.com and then within a day, they had pushed a firmware upgrade available for my router only.
Apparently they will only issue firmware's via their website, on a per router basis.  You have to contact them and give them your serial number, then afterwards when they have made it available the router then can pickup as an available upgrade.  I am now on firmware version 4.25.19 which i currently have no problems with now.
Just one further question now, is the Web Remote Access function available on these routers which I read about in their manuals, and on thier website?  I saw this option available initially on the router, but am unable to find it again since getting the Content Screening & Parental controls options.
Thanks
Andy

[#6]

My console also says 1801.

[#7]

Andy,
Yes, myself ( and a few other people ) noticed with the 2700HGV that the 'Remote Management' option disappeared in later firmwares. It appears to be enabled by default and you cant now turn it off. This may be similar to your 'Web Remote Access' on the 1800HG. As far as I can see its not a problem although I would like to have the option to not allow 2wire ( or BT ) to remotely access my router. Check in the detailed log file to see if there are any periodic connections logged from the configuration servers. ( go to http://home/mdc , enter your password and then select 'Detailed log' ). My router seems to be contacted every day ( securely by https it would seem )  to relay its stats.
Ian

[#8]

Whats this.
Time Since Last Boot: 1  days  18: 29: 30
Last ID Post: Thursday, January 1, 1970
00:00:00 AM

[#9]

Remote management and the TR-69 client on the 2wire box (Which is what BT uses for the updates) are two different things. If you look in the provisioning settings area in the 2700 MDC, you will see a big list of settings, some of which will hold settings for 'ACS' (Auto-configuration Server). It is these settings which determine the contact address, whereby the box will phone home to see if there are any updates periodically. You can't disable that easily (You have to do the DNS poisoning trick documented elsewhere). By contrast, the remote management just makes it possible for you as a user to login into your boxes interface via HTTP.
Personally, I can't see the downside of having your box set itself up and keep on top of the firmware revisions etc. While it would be possible for the ACS to make other changes and allow access to the unit from an authorised support person, that's not in the remit of what BT do currently. They have no motivation to mess around under the hood without telling you in any case. I've personally spoken to the two guys responsible for the process at BT and I assure you their intentions are damn straight when it comes to running the system.
My own work on TR-69 would see us take quite a different approach - One where we put the customer more in control of the system and take advantage of some of the areas that BT haven't tapped into yet. I think it's one of the hottest technologies of the decade from an ISPs and a customers perspective (although most customers will have no idea what the technology is, they will appreciate the outcome), and I'm really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition.
Ian

[#10]

Sounds exciting.

[#11]

Quote

Quote from: pierre_pierre Internet criminals are targeting home broadband routers in an attempt to control users' internet connections. To see the whole article, please go to:shopper-news

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Internet criminals are targeting home broadband routers in an attempt to control users' internet connections. A recent attack in Mexico proved that attackers can change settings in certain routers, redirecting users to malicious sites to steal their online banking details and other personal information.

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After the code runs, it attempts to compromise the router. There are a number of ways it could do this, including brute-forcing the administrator password or using a list of manufacturer default values. In the Mexican case neither of these methods was necessary due to a design flaw in the 2Wire router that was targeted. A cross-site request forgery vulnerability allowed the malware to simply send a URI to the router in order to crack it. This technique can be used to set a password, add names to the DNS, disable wireless authentication and set dynamic DNS - and it doesn't need to use a password to gain access to these settings.

[#12]

Pierre - the vulnerability that you're mentioning actually affects many other types of router, especially when the default password is still set.
However, the advantage of the TR69-type routers is that the ISP can push a firmware update to the router to fix it.  For other routers, it relies upon the end user to actually upgrade their own firmware.
How many of an ISP's average customer are actually comfortable with upgrading the firmware in their router  (and are actually aware that it should be done in response to vulnerabilities like this?).  My guess would be closer to 'None' than 'All'
B.