Connect PC directly to Huawei ONT modem

[User8336]

Hey everyone, I need your insight, help, and guidance with my problem.

My setup:
Bell Fibe Internet service (FTTH) to my condo unit. The communications cabinet has a power supply, fiber modem, and one Ethernet cable from the Huawei fiber modem through the walls to my Bell Home Hub 2000 in my living room. Only one wall ethernet jack in the living room - the only one in the condo. My den, where my PC is, is not close to the living room. My den only has a coax port by it. I currently use wifi to connect my PC to the Home Hub 2000 for internet.

My want:
I want to know if it is possible to enable another LAN port on the Huawei fiber modem so that I can directly connect that to my PC for internet. I would basically replace the coax line by my den and fish through an ethernet cable to the communications cabinet so I can have ethernet to my PC.

My concerns:
Is connecting my PC directly to the fiber modem advised? Right now LAN ports 2,3,4 are not providing internet as I have tested them. I don't want to use MoCA as it has a speed limit - same with powerline connections. Also, how do I access the interface to configure the Huawei fiber modem?

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Any help or guidance on how I can do this would be greatly helpful!
See attached photo for the communications cabinet layout. Note the 2nd blue cable goes to a phone jack in the bedroom

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[BellPatricia]

Hi there @User8336,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the Bell Community 🙂
You can certainly use a direct Ethernet connection going from your computer to the Home hub 2000. You can access your modem GUI by using the following address: 192.168.2.1

All 4 Ethernet ports should already be active on your modem. What exactly happens when you test a different port? 
 

• When you plug the cord into a port, are the lights above the port lit up?
• Can you test another Ethernet cable as well as another device?
• What do you see when you log in to your modem GUI and check the connected devices?

Looking forward to your reply.

- Patricia

[User8336]

Hi Patricia,

when I plug an Ethernet cable from the Huawei modem to my PC, windows says ‘unidentified network’ - it’s unable to obtain an IP. A green light will show up for the port I plug the cord into on the modem, but no internet. That goes for all of the free yellow Ethernet ports on that modem.

the Bell home hub router works no problem though then I connect it to my pc via Ethernet. 

Also entering that IP address you mentioned does not bring me to the GUI of the Huawei modem. Nothing happens. I tried while wired (and not connected) and via wifi. 

Is it true to think that that Huawei modem isn’t handling the connection but rather sending it to the router to handle internet connections? 

For my setup, it’s crucial to have a working internet connection from that cabinet so I can fish Ethernet through the conduit over to my den. 
Would it be better to have my home hub placed in the cabinet so I have working Ethernet ports there? 

Plugging my PC into LAN1 on the Huawei modem directly also doesn’t work. So only the home hub is what I can get a connection from. 

Not sure how I can also have that modem get connections like the router does.

Dustin

[User8336]

Perhaps the Huawei modem is in bridge mode passing the connection to the home hub router. If so, how can I change this? 

[BellPatricia]

Hi there @User8336, thanks for your reply.

When you refer to 'Huawei modem', is that a third party piece of equipment that you're using, separate from your Home Hub 2000?
What's posted above (192.168.2.1) would only bring up your Bell modem GUI. 

- Patricia

[User8336]

The Huawei modem is Bell equipment, it is the FTTH ONT Fibre Optic modem - Bell sticker on it. It is in the cabinet with the power supply box and fibre optic cable into the condo. It is separate from the Bell Home Hub router. I’m pretty sure that Huawei modem is in bridge mode leaving all traffic and IP done through the home hub. I’ve tried everything to get access to the GUI of that modem to change settings to make the other lan ports not be in bridge mode. 

[BellPatricia · Accepted solution]

Appreciate the clarification @User8336.

Our best recommendation would be to run the Ethernet cable directly from your Home Hub 2000, and not from any secondary equipment that is there.

- Patricia

[User8336]

That is what I am avoiding as it is temporary. Because I don’t know how the fibre modem is configured it’s hard to know what’s possible. 

[AlexS]

Have you tried to request an upgrade to hh 3 or 4000? This modem’s manufacturer’s background is clearly problematic.

[User8336 · Accepted solution]

Update:

so today I upgraded my Fibe internet speed, which in turn meant I needed new equipment. I got the Giga Hub. In doing so, the tech was able to leave it in the cabinet. No longer was the old Huawei fibre modem needed. So now I can plug in Ethernet into the new Giga Hub, through conduit to my den. This solved the issue.