UPC Cisco EPC3925: Enabling True Bridge Mode - A Simple How-to Guide

moonboy52

I am still holding onto my Scientific Atlanta EPC2203 modem @ 30Mb.

I would love to get a device from UPC that i could bridge to my Asus RT-N16. Waterford City only recently got speeds above 50Mb so i missed out on getting a 3925 from them.

The guys have managaed to get the Thompson to go into Bridge mode on the Thompson thread, but an update from UPC could stop that functionality.

I could get 120Mb for the cost i am paying now, but if i cannot bridge and change DNS etc then ill stick with 30Mb .

gavmcg92

moonboy52 wrote: »

I am still holding onto my Scientific Atlanta EPC2203 modem @ 30Mb.

I would love to get a device from UPC that i could bridge to my Asus RT-N16. Waterford City only recently got speeds above 50Mb so i missed out on getting a 3925 from them.

The guys have managaed to get the Thompson to go into Bridge mode on the Thompson thread, but an update from UPC could stop that functionality.

I could get 120Mb for the cost i am paying now, but if i cannot bridge and change DNS etc then ill stick with 30Mb .

Hopefully the repair guy will be sound and check if he has one in the van for me.

DECEiFER

moonboy52 wrote: »

I am still holding onto my Scientific Atlanta EPC2203 modem @ 30Mb.

I would love to get a device from UPC that i could bridge to my Asus RT-N16. Waterford City only recently got speeds above 50Mb so i missed out on getting a 3925 from them.

The guys have managaed to get the Thompson to go into Bridge mode on the Thompson thread, but an update from UPC could stop that functionality.

I could get 120Mb for the cost i am paying now, but if i cannot bridge and change DNS etc then ill stick with 30Mb .

You might not be able to bridge but you'll have no hassle changing your DNS servers. What you won't be able to do is change your MAC address to request a new IP from UPC so you'll be stuck with whatever IP they give you due to UPC's long DHCP leases. If the TC2700 router is better than the EPC3925 then it's not as big of an issue as it was before the EPC3925 could be bridged due to how terrible a router it is.

So if you were to get the Tehnicolor TC2700 you'd just stick your ASUS router in the DMZ but in a different subnet (something that's been termed as faux bridging) of it and do all your port forwarding etc. from the ASUS while DNS changes should be able to be accomplished from the Technicolor. You'll still get all the benefits of the ASUS as it'll handle all your local connections. I'm just saying that if it was me, I'd upgrade from the old 30Mb package because DOCSIS 3.0 > DOCSIS 2.0. The quality of the service should increase alongside the speeds. So the pros of the upgrade should outweigh the cons.

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Hopefully the repair guy will be sound and check if he has one in the van for me.

He might do. Fingers crossed.


Just a note to you both. Some people in the past have reported that if you tell UPC that you need WEP encryption that they can supply you with a 3925. The newer devices don't support WEP anymore so tell them you have a few old computers and you absolutely need WEP, beg, plead, and you could be in luck. The results have been mixed. Sometimes they just refuse but if they do, call back and speak to someone else. It could be worth it. I can't personally guarantee that it will work because I've never had to attempt it myself. In your case, gavmcg92, try to use that excuse with the tech who's calling out.

gavmcg92

Repair guy came this morning. Luckily he said it was a problem with the cable from the booster on the side of our house to the modem. Have a cable team booked for Wednesday. Keeping the 3925.

CMajor

Am looking to input a static route for a vpn on my upc router but can't find an option for it. Is it possible? Thanks

Just to let you know in case you missed it, genek on the Thomson thread has reported success with bridging the Technicolor.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88388508#post88388508

DECEiFER

Karsini wrote: »

Just to let you know in case you missed it, genek on the Thomson thread has reported success with bridging the Technicolor.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88388508#post88388508

Fúck da po-lice!

docentore

moonboy52 wrote: »

(...)

The guys have managaed to get the Thompson to go into Bridge mode on the Thompson thread, but an update from UPC could stop that functionality.
(...)

Since I've got my Thomson the firmware was never upgraded. Theoretically they could block it, but I don't think they will - too much hassle from their side to amend the MIB table.

Fiddlex

I finally bridged my epc3925 and everything is great. The only thing I've noticed is when I do speedtest.net with digiweb server I get great speeds but when I do the test again on the Vodafone ie server I get really lower results. This is with WiFi&LAN in Dublin. Anyone care to explain ? Both servers are within 5km.

DECEiFER

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. It's just occurred to me that UPC is against bridge mode (on their other devices as it's only available on the 3925, which is now issued to SME customers) because once people use their own routers for everything including Wi-Fi, they will switch off the Wi-Fi on their UPC device to avoid excess interference and the like. Then their whole Wi-Free spin goes up in smoke. Chances are they've had this service in the pipeline for quite some time and allowing customers to use their own routers easily would turn the service into a joke. It's not exactly a ground-breaking offering anyways so it's half way toward being a joke as it is. It's pure marketing, is all. "Sign up with UPC today and get all these useless extras free as a valued *cough* UPC customer."

gavmcg92

DECEiFER wrote: »

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. It's just occurred to me that UPC is against bridge mode (on their other devices as it's only available on the 3925, which is now issued to SME customers) because once people use their own routers for everything including Wi-Fi, they will switch off the Wi-Fi on their UPC device to avoid excess interference and the like. Then their whole Wi-Free spin goes up in smoke. Chances are they've had this service in the pipeline for quite some time and allowing customers to use their own routers easily would turn the service into a joke. It's not exactly a ground-breaking offering anyways so it's half way toward being a joke as it is. It's pure marketing, is all. "Sign up with UPC today and get all these useless extras free as a valued *cough* UPC customer."

Never thought of that. Haven't they said that when this new free wifi service comes in, customers can switch off access for others?

Can imagine that people would be more inclined to switch off this new service as opposed to figuring out how to use their own routers.

DECEiFER

Just to add this to further support the argument:

UPC: Reps wrote:

DECEiFER wrote:

Hi,

I've enabled the wireless on my Cisco EPC3925 but am not seeing any Wi-Free network apart from a neighbor's whose signal is very poor where I'm at. Do you need the Horizon box's modem for this to be enabled in your home?

I normally don't use the 3925's wireless as it's in bridge mode and I use a better router for that side of things. I'm just curious, is all. It's still in bridge mode, just so you're aware, so if Wi-Free is supposed to work on any modem, would the 3925 need to be in router mode? I can't really be had making the switch for the sake of a hunch as it involves changing a bunch of network settings so I can hook up to it and switch it back to bridge mode, so if you could please let me know, that'd be appreciated.

Hi DECEiFER,

Wi-Free will not be available on a modem that's in bridge mode.

Thanks,
Sinead

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Never thought of that. Haven't they said that when this new free wifi service comes in, customers can switch off access for others?

Can imagine that people would be more inclined to switch off this new service as opposed to figuring out how to use their own routers.

Turning off the wireless in the UPC device or getting into bridge mode will disable Wi-Free on your end. I think UPC would be against that as it would eventually out the fact that Wi-Free is useless and asking for a friend or family member's Wi-Fi password in reality has never really been a big problem. How many stangers' houses do people go into on a regular basis and stick around inside long enough to get Internet withdrawal jitters? It's solving a problem that isn't there but marketing can make people believe that they need something when they don't and UPC are going to use Wi-Free to generate sales. To hell with what we want.

I think you can switch it off in MyUPC, but I'm not sure if that just disables your access to the service elsewhere or if it actually stops the broadcast of the SSID altogether from your UPC device when wireless is enabled (in router mode). But even if they did allow you to turn off the broadcast on your end in MyUPC, it would be far worse for the fate of this shítty service to allow bridge mode because likely more people will bridge than will arsed to disable Wi-Free from MyUPC.

If most people had to choose, though, I reckon they'd choose bridge mode over Wi-Free in terms of which is more useful if the facts of both were explained in plain English to them. However, bridge mode doesn't work in generic marketing campaigns and you can't convince everyone that they need it as much as you can with something like Wi-Free. It will generate sales for them because people will believe that it's solving a problem when there really isn't a problem for it to solve.

whosedaddy?

Makes a lot of sense..
Wi-free makes no sense in the bulk standard semi-D residential area. why would you hang out in front of your neighbours.. because your BB is slow again? hang on neighbour is on UPC as well! doh....

Citycentre it might make sense if you can pick up free wifi on the go while say on Grafton or O'Connell street.
But then WIFI range out onto the street may or may not be enough...

next marketing ploy - standard installation of WIFI box will be as close to front door/window as possible.
For any other location you get subscription price increase... :-)

glad got 3925 and WIFI is disabled...

gavmcg92

What continues to baffle me is the fact that UPC in the continent happily allow you to bridge.

docentore

Regarding Wi-free - one can always take out the mini pci-x wifi card like I did in my Thomson?

DECEiFER

I wouldn't say UPC happily let you bridge on the continent. The manual for the Technicolor TC2700 obtained on UPC.nl has no option noted to bridge but some, perhaps old, help pages on UPC.nl do. It's hard to know without asking someone in NL what the current story is. But you'll see posts in here from other UPC territories like NL and RO who can't get their EPC3925 into bridge mode at all with the HTML injection hack. So it seems that the attitude overall by UPC toward bridge mode throughout Europe is a negative one.

demanufactured

DECEiFER wrote: »

I wouldn't say UPC happily let you bridge on the continent. The manual for the Technicolor TC2700 obtained on UPC.nl has no option noted to bridge but some, perhaps old, help pages on UPC.nl do. It's hard to know without asking someone in NL what the current story is. But you'll see posts in here from other UPC territories like NL and RO who can't get their EPC3925 into bridge mode at all with the HTML injection hack. So it seems that the attitude overall by UPC toward bridge mode throughout Europe is a negative one.

Why....We'll never know.

DECEiFER

demanufactured wrote: »

Why....We'll never know.

They'll never tell us but it makes sense that their Wi-Free service might have something to do with it. A sacrifice by us for their marketing campaign to offer this useless service to people who will be manipulated into believing that it'd be of benefit to them. A free extra that no other ISP is offering. All part of the UPC experience. "Nobody does broadband like UPC."

DECEiFER

docentore wrote: »

Regarding Wi-free - one can always take out the mini pci-x wifi card like I did in my Thomson?

You can turn it off in MyUPC but doing that or taking out the Wi-Fi card (if possible) would change any device's lack of bridge mode situation, such as the Thomson or the Technicolor, without following the instructions in the other new thread that a user kindly shared.

mrplop

I wondering if you guys can help me as I'm not in the least bit au fait when it comes to networking.

What I wanted to do was connect a second router to the 3925 so I can use the DNS settings from my VPN provider to view 'on demand' content on the Freesat box that I own (locked down DNS settings on the FS box) I'm connected to the Freesat box with a homeplug.

Apologies if this is an immensely dumb question...

DECEiFER

mrplop wrote: »

I wondering if you guys can help me as I'm not in the least bit au fait when it comes to networking.

What I wanted to do was connect a second router to the 3925 so I can use the DNS settings from my VPN provider to view 'on demand' content on the Freesat box that I own (locked down DNS settings on the FS box) I'm connected to the Freesat box with a homeplug.

Apologies if this is an immensely dumb question...

It's not at all dumb and that is a perfectly legitimate use. I can't remember if you can add custom DNS' to the 3925 (you obviously can't in bridge mode and I haven't looked at router mode in ages so I just cannot remember). If not, then a second router while the 3925 is in bridge mode is just the answer!

mrplop

Thanks DECEiFER

mrplop

As it turns out, the 3925 that I have already had bridging enabled, it also allowed me to change DNS.

Sorted!

DECEiFER

mrplop wrote: »

As it turns out, the 3925 that I have already had bridging enabled, it also allowed me to change DNS.

Sorted!

Good stuff. But just remember that it is a crap router and should you wish to spend money on a better router that you can still change your DNS and get better Wi-Fi and support more simultaneous connections. I've heard that the 3925 doesn't even handle two gaming consoles on the LAN properly, and though I'm unable to test this out myself, I don't doubt it.

What I love about UPC is their tendency to take advantage of the less knowledgable. The 3925s are still being issued...but only really to business customers. Let me grab you some quotes from a thread that I started to inquire about the small business package in December on the UPC forum.

UPC: Eamonn wrote: »

Regarding the question you have about the use of your own modem; UPC Business provide a well-tested, pre-configured modem exclusively used for the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) market.

DECEiFER wrote: »

Can I get the model number of the modem on offer off you, please? Do UPC allow bridge mode on it?

At this point I was expecting some industrial powerhouse modem to be specified by UPC given what was said above. But no...

UPC: Brian wrote: »

Hi DECEiFER,

The modem model supplied on business accounts would be the EPC3925 which can be bridged.

Thanks.

DECEiFER wrote: »

Either that statement above is full of bulls**t marketing or we residential 3925 users are a cut above the rest of 'em!

But the 3925 should be fine. However, I was expecting, based on Eamonn's above statement, a €200 rock-solid modem made of titanium. Oh how I loathe marketing sometimes...

The 3925 is a cheap and not-too-cheerful modem/router. And this is what they deem fit for business customers. At least it can be bridged because as a standalone modem it does the job. Not everyone would know that, however, and it's just pure cost-cutting on their part.

It's like this new My UPC "discount" thing. As dub45 points out constantly over on the UPC forum, it's nothing but a levy for not registering with My UPC. Register and save €3.50? No. It's more like don't register and we'll have to add an extra €3.50 to your bill every month for no reason except to rake in more cash. They don't admit to that but it's the truth. A "self service discount" is what they're calling it. It's not like you can do a lot on My UPC, you'd still need to call them and make use of their human resources to make any real changes to your account. Again, they just speak in marketing and it's very tough to get the truth from them. The reps' hands are clearly tied and they can't cave into our multiple demands to tell it how it is.

ukiii

Hi All,
I'm looking to get answers to couple of questions re broadband. I have UPC 50MB with phone, and was wondering if I could change my EPC3925 to a different/better modem.
I do a lot of online gaming, and have been playing Diablo 3 for a while, but have had quite few disconnects (so called error 3007), which apparently might be caused by drop-outs/poor modem.
Would it help to get a better modem for this purpose?
And another question, how does UPC sees setting static IP address for residential customers?
Thanks in advance for help on this one.
Cheers.

ukiii

ukiii wrote: »

Hi All,
I'm looking to get answers to couple of questions re broadband. I have UPC 50MB with phone, and was wondering if I could change my EPC3925 to a different/better modem.
I do a lot of online gaming, and have been playing Diablo 3 for a while, but have had quite few disconnects (so called error 3007), which apparently might be caused by drop-outs/poor modem.
Would it help to get a better modem for this purpose?
And another question, how does UPC sees setting static IP address for residential customers?
Thanks in advance for help on this one.
Cheers.

You can't replace the 3925 but you can enable bridge mode on it. This would allow you to connect another router of your choice.

I don't think they provide static IP addresses unless you're a business customer.

ukiii

Karsini wrote: »

You can't replace the 3925 but you can enable bridge mode on it. This would allow you to connect another router of your choice.

I don't think they provide static IP addresses unless you're a business customer.

Thank you Karsini. I will look into this. Any decent routers you'd recommend?
Cheers.

Donald-Duck

I seem to have a different firmware version to others and copying the HTML into the Opera 12 edit just messes up the page. From reading the replies it sounds like some areas need to be uncommented but nothing I did actually added working mode in. The best I got was IGMP Proxy.

Current Software Revision: epc3925-E10-5-v302r12911-100831cs_upc
Firmware Name: epc3925-E10-5-v302r12911-100831cs_upc.bin
Firmware Build Time: Aug 31 2010 17:36:22

http://pastebin.com/rYAkNQfW

DECEiFER

Donald-Duck wrote: »

I seem to have a different firmware version to others and copying the HTML into the Opera 12 edit just messes up the page. From reading the replies it sounds like some areas need to be uncommented but nothing I did actually added working mode in. The best I got was IGMP Proxy.

Current Software Revision: epc3925-E10-5-v302r12911-100831cs_upc
Firmware Name: epc3925-E10-5-v302r12911-100831cs_upc.bin
Firmware Build Time: Aug 31 2010 17:36:22

http://pastebin.com/rYAkNQfW

That HTML is not well-formed. Did you copy my pastebin in the first post? It contains the whole page's code. You need not uncomment anything.

In Opera, select all the existing code and replace it entirely with mine. You should see everything regardless of what firmware you have, as most of the elements are text-based bog-standard DOM elements with some JavaScript control that would show up on any browser, once the HTML standard is correct and is well-formed.

With the firmware version you have, there's no certainty that the functionality provided by the HTML will trigger bridge mode but at the very least you'll see the elements on the page just fine, as that's a client-side issue. So give it a try by all means and let us know if your 3925 responds to the HTTP request for bridge mode.

If you have any other questions, be sure to read through the first post if you haven't already, in case it's answered there. Otherwise, please let us know we'll do our best to help you out.

DECEiFER

ukiii wrote: »

Hi All,
And another question, how does UPC sees setting static IP address for residential customers?
Thanks in advance for help on this one.
Cheers.

No but they have very long leases on IP addresses and are more fixed than xDSL IP pools run by Eircom, etc. This seems to be the thing with cable ISPs.

Business packages on the other hand are not cheap. You pay more for less broadband and some other fluff you probably don't need (2 phone lines as standard, Office 365...). But you do get a static IP.

http://business.upc.ie/your_business/small_to_medium_enterprises/

Remember, prices there are ex. VAT.