Gigahub 1G LAN ports - strange behaviour

[JustPlainTired]

Recently got Bell internet, using Gigahub.

Have three devices plugged into LAN ports, one on the 10G, two on ports 1 and 2 of the 1G.

10G port is working, but seeing very strange behaviour on the 1G ports. The lights are showing activity, and the system logs show that the devices appear to have negotiated a connection.

2022-12-13 18:44:13

INF

LETH

An Ethernet port is now connected (1/1000/FULL)

2022-12-13 18:44:19

INF

LETH

An Ethernet port is now connected (2/1000/FULL)

In fact, investigating further, I can SSH into one of the devices which has a static IP. The hub doesn't acknowledge, outside of system logs, that either device is connected or ever was connected (don't show up under disconnected devices). 

I could almost live with this, but one of the devices needs to have its IP dynamically allocated which kind of requires that it acknowledges that it exists.

Already spoke to phone support, which was an excruciatingly painful process where:

• I was told repeatedly the 10G port doesn't exist
• Placed on hold for 15 minutes
• Told that the 10G port does exist but is non-functioning and purely a future provision (despite it being the only working port)
• Asked to go to a Bell store to replace the modem

Before I go trudging through the snow would like to try to resolve this. Hoping the people of this board might have some ideas, or suggestions. Questions I have are:

• Is it possible to do a MAC based DHCP reservation? I don't think this would work given that the hub doesn't seem to acknowledge the connection, but worth a try.
• How can one see the firmware version running on the modem? where can we get updates?
• Why can't I find a single piece of documentation on the modem? Sagecom doesn't even appear to have the model listed.
• Is it possible to connect to a better tier of support? I'm not convinced there is anything physically wrong with the device.

Only things I have done since receiving were disabling UPnP and changing the router IP to the 192.168.0.XXXX range.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[dks]

I believe most of your questions can be answered best by the Bell support techs at the DSL Reports Bell Canada Direct forum. 

https://www.dslreports.com/forum/sympatdirect 

You will have to create account for DSLR, but I have been a member there ( there are numerous other forums, including other support forums) for 23 years and can recommend it as an excellent source of rock solid support by Bell people who know what they are talking about. You will not get an instant answer (not seconds or minutes), but they are very good at response. They also have all the relevant technical tools at their fingertips. Your post is visible only to them and yourself. It's not a public forum, although many other forums are public.   

[ZaneP · Accepted solution]

Hi @JustPlainTired 

Here's some answers to your questions, in hopes you can avoid a walk in the snow!

MAC- based address reservation

Both the HH4K Hub, and the latest iteration -- the Giga Hub, allow address reservation, with limitations. You can't build a MAC address table and restrict device access by MAC addresses. But you can do this:

• Log into the Hub dashboard
• Click on My Devices
• Click on Advanced
• Click on the pencil icon in the Settings Column, to select a device
• Change IP Type from Dynamic to Reserved
• Save change(s)

This may be of value for devices which you want to have a constant LAN IP address. But if you need it to have a frequently-changing LAN address, this won't work.

I may be misunderstanding your requirement: as you know a DHCP server will assign an address to the device when it first connects, and that address will rarely change. You can clear the Lease Table (in Advanced Tools and Settings/DHCP), but that could change the IP address for all devices.

Firmware Version

To see the version currently applied on your Hub:

• Log into the Hub dashboard
• Click on Advanced Tools and Settings
• In the Modem column, click on About

Typically Bell pushes out firmware updates late at night. Unfortunately they don't publish a change log so it's difficult to know the changes that have been made. The latest firmware for the Giga is being deployed to subscribers who have this modem, according to Forum Moderator @BellPatricia . If you're not seeing it in a timely fashion, you could post in this forum that you want the update.

The Giga Hub is the Sagemcom 5689e, afaik. There is very little documentation and no manual.

You can connect to a better tier of support, although you'll need to request it quite firmly in a call with the first tier person you're speaking with. 

Hope this helps. Let us know your progress.

Cheers,

ZaneP

I don't work for Bell, I'm just a customer