Virgin Superhub...Modem mode, anyone tried it?

visidigi

Just had a superhub fitted last week and it really is as bad as everyone says 50mb connect is 49mb on wired, 6-12mb on wireless stood NEXT to the hub - which is really irritating as my last setup (old NTL blue modem and DLink 615 was rock solid).

Anyway, was fiddling with the advanced settings and notice you can set the superhub to modem mode only, allowing you to setup your own wireless using your own router - anyone tried this? Any pitfalls to look out for?

Might try out my 615 on the network again or get a high gain router for better range - but before I do wondered if anyone else was running in this mode?

Neil_Jones

Shouldn't be any pitfalls in using the Superhub as a modem only, as that was previously the way things had to be done before the Superhub anyway. It appears to be a rebranded Netgear, the Superhub.

Give it a go. Can always change it back later.

kwikbreaks

The D-Link 615 has an excellent reputation so go for it. I've seen no complaints about modem mode apart from some reporting bugs when > 4 downstream channels are in use and most won't even look at the stats anyway.

VfM4meplse

When I renegotiated my VM package I was advised by the salesperson to not to take the superhub as "a lot of people have had problems with it". The standard modem works fine.

visidigi

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Shouldn't be any pitfalls in using the Superhub as a modem only, as that was previously the way things had to be done before the Superhub anyway. It appears to be a rebranded Netgear, the Superhub.

Give it a go. Can always change it back later.

Yeah I was looking for anyone who had actually tried it - I run mac filter and all sorts, so its quite a change to set up all 32 devices in the house.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

The D-Link 615 has an excellent reputation so go for it. I've seen no complaints about modem mode apart from some reporting bugs when > 4 downstream channels are in use and most won't even look at the stats anyway.

Indeed it never let me down at all - in saying that the only thing it wasn't so good at was range - but if it works I can always copy the config over to a newer box.

VfM4meplse wrote: »

When I renegotiated my VM package I was advised by the salesperson to not to take the superhub as "a lot of people have had problems with it". The standard modem works fine.

Would have loved to have stuck with the normal modem, but apparently they don't 'do' 50mb service+ - I even gave the engineer back the spare modem VM had sent me in case my old blue NTL modem died one day.

Guess I'll have to dig it all out again and give it a go - if anyone has actually done this themselves and has any more info please share

kwikbreaks

VM now only supply one type of equipment - the Superhub. The functionality and WiFi performance are both poor but since the last firmware upgrade it's possible to set it to act as a modem only and use your own cable router with it.

There are still bugs and VM have said on their forum that they are working on a fix for the frequent resetting some people have reported.

Whether it is good, bad, or indifferent is pretty much irrelevant now - if you want a new cable account it's all you can get and if your existing modem breaks you'll get one too once stocks of the old ones are exhausted which probably won't take long.

visidigi

Ill be honest, I don't want to have to buy my own kit and I am quite tempted to call virgin and have a go for this - its been down more times since thursday that it has for the previous 6 years.

But if 90 quid will give me a decent wifi signal and access point (the latter I would have needed anyway...) then thats what needs to happen...

visidigi

Just an update for those interested...

Get virgin to supply you with the DLINK 615 routers that they used to ship when getting a superhub.

Turn the superhub into modem only mode - and connect up the 615.

My wireless speed has gone from the 6-12mb range to the 28-33mb range. Stood in the same place as tested on the superhub. Not only that but my Skype and Cisco IP Communicator problem has gone away too.

VERY happy and didn't need to buy any equipment in the end - glad I kept hold of the old faithful when the engineer left