Can I replace UPC's Cisco with Netgear N300

ssa2010

I recently switched over to UPC 15MB service, but the wireless connection over the Cisco modem/router had been sh*te. It would switch off intermittently for several times a day. There seems to be a pattern of it switching of about 9pm in recent days. This is quite annoying as where my router is located is not accessible or convenient for LAN cable connection + I also have an Xbox 360 for online gaming upstairs.

We've done every thing from disabling the modem's firewall, IP flood control etc to switching over across available channels (1,6 and 11). When I rang UPC last week, the lad even had to reconfigure my setting giving me a new password but the problem of breakage in wireless connectivity persists.

A friend had suggested I buy Netgear N300 router to replace the rubbish cisco modem but i am not sure if UPC would allow me to replace their modem. Also not sure if the Netgear N300 would need configuration and if so, would UPC be happy to do this for me as i am not all that techy. Now the router will cost me about Er150 to buy so I want to be sure that it will solve my problem before I spend such a hug amount. I will also appreciate any other suggestions that may be of help cause the UPC guys seem to be up to the wall at this stage.

RoyalMarine

upc will not help you at all if you use an alternate device.

but there are plenty of tech heads here that should give you some decent tips on fixing it.

have upc offered to replace the cisco modem as the wireless seems to be faulty and their tech support have tried to solve the issue.

dont forget you are in a lifetime warranty with the cisco modem, as it remains their property all the time.

pizzahead77

You cannot replace the Cisco modem supplied by UPC as only devices supplied by UPC can be provisioned on their network.

It should be possible to turn the Cisco modem into a bridge and then conect another wireless router to it - there are many posts about this exact issue here on Boards.

Spear

ssa2010 wrote: »

I recently switched over to UPC 15MB service, but the wireless connection over the Cisco modem/router had been sh*te. It would switch off intermittently for several times a day. There seems to be a pattern of it switching of about 9pm in recent days. This is quite annoying as where my router is located is not accessible or convenient for LAN cable connection + I also have an Xbox 360 for online gaming upstairs.

We've done every thing from disabling the modem's firewall, IP flood control etc to switching over across available channels (1,6 and 11). When I rang UPC last week, the lad even had to reconfigure my setting giving me a new password but the problem of breakage in wireless connectivity persists.

A friend had suggested I buy Netgear N300 router to replace the rubbish cisco modem but i am not sure if UPC would allow me to replace their modem. Also not sure if the Netgear N300 would need configuration and if so, would UPC be happy to do this for me as i am not all that techy. Now the router will cost me about Er150 to buy so I want to be sure that it will solve my problem before I spend such a hug amount. I will also appreciate any other suggestions that may be of help cause the UPC guys seem to be up to the wall at this stage.

You cannot replace the UPC modem with your own. The best you can do is put the Cisco into bridge mode, so that all routing activities will be done by the Netgear instead. Note that this won't work with the phone service though.

ssa2010

Spear wrote: »

You cannot replace the UPC modem with your own. The best you can do is put the Cisco into bridge mode, so that all routing activities will be done by the Netgear instead. Note that this won't work with the phone service though.

Thanks. My phone service and internet connection via LAN cable are ok just the wireless transmission messing up. I know this may sound dumb, but would anyone be kind enough to show me how to put the router in bridge mode. I got an old Netgear WGR614 from a friend this evening, I want to use it to bridge the sisco and see if it makes any difference. Tnx

vibe666

there's a bunch of posts in this forum giving details of how to set up bridge mode if you do a search, but it may not work if you have a UPC phone, or you've been updated to the newer firmware as it looks like UPC have disabled the option being as bridging the cisco appears to kill the phoneline.

this should sort you out though: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67433905&postcount=18

BUT a lot of the wireless problems i see are down to people using overcrowded channels with lots of other wireless equipment in nearby houses already using them.

before you go spending any money on a new router, download inSSIDer from HERE and install it on something with a wireless card in it (preferably a laptop so you can wander around your house easily) check to see if any other wireless devices are using either the same wireless channel or nearby overlapping channels and if there is then try and pick a channel that has the least overlapping signals on it and change the wireless on your router to use that channel.

you'll get a nice little screen like this showing you what wireless channels are in use and where they overlap and which is strongest to give you a better idea of the clearest channel to be on and more importantly what channel(s) to avoid.



if there's anything wireless connected to it at the time, you might have to manually disconnect and reconnect them, but give that a go and see how it is.

ssa2010

Thanks vibe666. I will download the inSSIDer and see if it make a difference. I will also search for the thread re bridging. I do have UPC so I would hope my phone services are not affected if i decided to bridge. I hope the inSSIDer option helps. Tnx a mill.

KennyLegend

ssa2010 wrote: »

Thanks vibe666. I will download the inSSIDer and see if it make a difference. I will also search for the thread re bridging. I do have UPC so I would hope my phone services are not affected if i decided to bridge. I hope the inSSIDer option helps. Tnx a mill.

I had similar problems today after getting UPC broadband installed. I got kicked out of xbox live a twice in half an hr and I couldn't get streaming to work through my xbox.

Here's what I did:
I disabled wireless on the cisco, connected another wireless router (Intellinet 150n) to the cisco with an Ethernet cable and let the imtellinet handle the wireless side of things.

vibe666

ssa2010 wrote: »

Thanks vibe666. I will download the inSSIDer and see if it make a difference. I will also search for the thread re bridging. I do have UPC so I would hope my phone services are not affected if i decided to bridge. I hope the inSSIDer option helps. Tnx a mill.

the first link in my previous post is to a post by watty that gives you an alternative to bridging that has the same effect but won't affect your phoneline.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67433905&postcount=18