My sister is moving over to FTTC with PlusNet having previously also been on ADSLx2 with them. For connectivity, we have previously used a Draytek 2920 and Vigor 120 v2 modem.
She now has a shiny PlusNet Hub One but does not wish to use it (at my behest) as her gateway router as it lacks the sophistication of the Draytek router (think LAN to LAN VPN and the like).
It so happens that I have a spare BT Openreach ECI modem and I happen to know that the relevant cab to which she will connect is ECI variant (I am sure you can see where this is going)
I noted that the Hub One apparently has an "ac" wireless capability and is also dual band which is a step up from the "n" functionality on the Draytek 2920 and I pondered whether I could use the LAN side of the Hub One for Wi-Fi access.
I decided to have a play at my home and to set the scene my home network runs on 192.168.123/24 The Home Hub has been left on its default of 192.168.1/24
In my naivety, I imagined that I would be able to assign the WAN side of the Home Hub with a static IP on my internal home network. I left the DHCP server running on the Home Hub so that any clients connecting wirelessly to the hub would obtain an IP address on the local subnet (192.168.1.0) and then for internet access would be routed onto my home network (192.168.123)
I have been playing this morning to see if I can get the Hub One to act as a Wi-Fi gateway and I am baffled with the results.
I Plugged the Hub One WAN port into my home network (which also runs a DHCP server) and then connected to the Hub One via Wi-Fi (iPad in this case).
As you would expect the iPad is assigned an IP address on the 192.168.1.0 range) but on attempting to open a web browser on my iPad to (say) bbc.co.uk I am immediately presented with some form of router web page, presumably domiciled on the Hub One whinging about there being no internet connection and opening some form of trouble shooter. I suppose this will be effectively on 192.168.1.254 (which is where I would have been going to configure the WAN settings anyway)
I was hoping to configure the WAN interface of the Hub One with a fixed IP address on my home network (192.168.123.0) but as far as I can ascertain the only option is to input a User name and password for (what I imagine is a PPPoE connection).
No luck there then.
(I should add that the Hub One shows a continuous orange light and broadband light is flashing red)
I then idly removed the WAN Ethernet connection and connected the Home Hub to my network via one of its LAN Ethernet sockets, not expecting anything to happen, but was amazed to discover that my iPad now had an IP address assigned wirelessly on my local network (192.168.123.0) and I can browse the internet.
So, success one might say .... but I am uncomfortable as to what is going on.
Port scanning my local network there is no sign of the Hub One router (either by MAC or IP) having been assigned any local IP address and likewise DHCP tables are blank.
If I turn off all other Wi-Fi access points on my home network, I still have internet access via the Home Hub
So, the question I have is how on earth is the Hub One routing its Wi-Fi clients onto my home network?
Any insight would be appreciated.
Cheers
Alan
