BT smart hub - hidden bridge mode menu ?

[#1]

Apologies if this has been posted previously, but I'm told the regular 'home' variant of the BT Smart hub version may have a hidden 'bridge' mode option, which is normally offered on the BT Business Smart Hub when you wish to use a 3rd party wifi router.   Can anyone confirm it works?  (I don't own a smart hub)

https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/bt-smart-hub-bridge-modem-mode.9826/ 

quote:

The setting is on a page hidden on the home version.

Navigate Advanced Settings > Log in > Broadband > Internet

Change the /internet part of the address to /routing

This brings up a hidden page. At the bottom is a setting for Bridging.

[#2]

A friend with BT Broadband was kind enough to check their regular BT Smart Hub 1 (2016+) for me, but not able to test whether it actually works, as they don't have a 3rd party router.

Bridge mode does appear to exist on the Smart Hub. (Not Business variant)

Begs the question whether there is a similar hidden menu on the Home Hub 5A and Hub One....  I'll try and check later this week against a spare BT Business Hub 5 model.

[#3]

Update.

I could not find a hidden page called 'Routing' which may have offered the 'Bridging' option on a Home Hub 5A and Hub One.  I viewed pages 9100 through to 9150.

If there had been such a hidden 'Routing' page, I'm sure someone would have discovered it years ago.

[#4]

It works on my Business Hub 6, in fact it's not even hidden.

[#5]

hmm, I wonder whether the 'DNS Hosts' page is also hidden on the 'Home' version of the Smart Hubs?

Could you tell me what is the last part of the URL on your Business Smart Hub when you click on 'DNS Hosts' tab?

[#6]

it's dns-hosts - but you don't set the DNS lookup there it's under myNetwork/ip-address which I suspect has a different version for the home one.

[#7]

The question that comes to my mind is that having enabled this bridge mode in a residential Smarthub then how do you use it?

As my previous experiments with a FTTP Smarthub showed (https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-a-FTTP-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-FTTC-Service/m-p/165176...) the FTTC and FTTP Smarthubs use the same firmware.

My conclusion, which might well be wrong or oversimplified is that the Smarthub can be considered to be two separate devices, that is, a modem and a router, with a distinct internal WAN interface. The difference between the two models I concluded was that one of the LAN sockets has been disconnected on the FTTP version and instead wired to this internal WAN interface. This WAN socket can be used with either a FTTP interface or a FTTC modem. I have never tried using just the modem section with a different router.

So I come back to my original question, having found this internal switch then how do you use it on a FTTC Smarthub 6 without access to the WAN? Having said this it might be the key to using a FTTP Smarthub in modem only mode but I can't get my head around why this would be built into the firmware. Unless of course it's legacy code carried over from Home Hub 5s, which has this WAN interface on their FTTC hubs.

[#8]

Bridge mode has been available on Business Hubs since the original 2wire 2700HGV ADSL routers from 2006, to enable business customers to use their own routers (without built in modem).

With the FTTC smart hub in bridge mode, it should behave just like any other DSL bridge modem (like the discontinued Openreach VDSL2 modems).  Simply connect a 3rd party router to any LAN port on the hub.  Configure PPPoE (for BT, Plusnet etc) on the 3rd party router and it should connect to internet via the DSL port.  The remaining functionality of the hub (routing, and wifi) is not used.

I'm speculating, if the DSL port is known to work on the FTTP model in regular router mode, I would assume if you place hub in bridge mode, then any 3rd party router configured to use PPPoE and connected to one of the 3 LAN ports, can use the DSL port to access the internet.  

For FTTP customers who choose to use their own 3rd party router, there is no need to use a BT hub at all.  ie. Just plug 3rd party router into the wall mounted Openreach fibre modem.

https://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/categories/guide/a_id/43965/view/42397/c/5404/ 

[#9]

@bill888 

Thanks for the explanation. It never occurred to me that bridge mode would bypass the router section. Pretty obviously really if I look at an old BT modem.

So the question remaining is does it actually work on a residential Smarthub?  

[#10 · Accepted solution]

It looks like the 'Bridging' button simply does not work.

I found this posted on hotukdeals:

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I don't think the workaround for modem mode works. I just tried it with an old BT smart hub 6 and when you try to save the bridge settings it hangs.


Not sure if it was still broadcasting the SSID. I connected a laptop via ethernet into it. After trying to set bridge mode and saving (the save appears to hang) I eventually restarted the hub and after it was still in non-bridge mode. I also found on the Internet comments that trying to save bridge mode do not work. I think it would be more widely publicised if the workaround worked.

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Retrieved from:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/huawei-ws5200-ac1200-gigabit-wireless-router-ps2749-delivered-using... 

[#11]

Assuming it will work on the business hub though as it's a visible option

[#12]

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@bill888 wrote:

I'm speculating, if the DSL port is known to work on the FTTP model in regular router mode,

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It is, I have tried iboth a residential and Business FTTP Smarthub on my connection.

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... I would assume if you place hub in bridge mode, then any 3rd party router configured to use PPPoE and connected to one of the 3 LAN ports, can use the DSL port to access the internet.  

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My assunption is that as both the FTTC and FTTP models use the same firmware they work in exactly the same way. If previous posts are correct it probably works on the Business version and not on the Residenial ones.

What I wonder is if the WAN on the FTTP model can be used to connect to a Router instead of setting up PPPoE on the Hub router section.

To be honest whilst the Smarthub modem works perfectly competently, it is a bog standard device that can't be unlocked. Consequently I can't see why any-one would want to use a Smarthub, especially a Business version, simply as a modem.