No local network after blocking internet access with Bell Wi-Fi App

[Jonathan]

Hello,

Im using the Bell Wifi application to block internet access to one of my ethernet device. The block work, but it also block all local network connection, the documentation say it should not block local network.  have try with IP address and device name. As soon as I unblock internet access it work.

I know it does not require internet to work, because it was my setup with my previous router (before I change for Bell Internet). Please help, I want my NAS to be avaibale on my local network, but not on internet (for security reason, the NAS is old and don't have access to security update). Thanks

[Jonathan]

I have done more testing, blocking internet to my PC also block me from printing. Local network should be available when blocking a device from the bell wifi app. I have the hub 4000. Please fix this problem or help. The bell documentation say it leave local network available, but its false. Also it would be much better to control mac address filtering from the modem dashboard just like we can with the dhcp, port forwarding, etc. The hub 4000 is very powerfull and I dont want to use a separate router just for a working internet blocking by device (mac address). 

[ZaneP]

Hi @Jonathan 

I use the Bell Wifi app on my android phone, logged in with "My Bell" user id and password. I can block or pause a device on the LAN from using the internet. The LAN is available as normal when a device is blocked.

I don't know why it's not working for you.  I have a Synology NAS, and it would be a big problem if it wasn't available on the local network.

Maybe you should contact Bell internet tech support: 1-844-310-7873. They should be able to troubleshoot this issue.

I agree with you, re MAC address filtering. This feature should be enabled in the HH4000 firmware. All we can do is reserve an IP address for a device already on the LAN.

Hope you get this problem resolved.

[Jonathan]

Thanks @ZaneP I already call 3 times, one did not understand, next told me its impossible and last one have open a bug with no feedback. At least its possible, but I dont understand why it block everything for me. Its not the NAS the problem, I test reverse and also with a printer, each time it block the local network too. Do you know if disabling the optimize my wifi to have separate 2G and 5G give me more control in the dashboard like MAC filtering? Also did you change something else like port forwarding or dmz for your NAS to work on local network without internet? Thanks

[ZaneP]

Hi @Jonathan ,

Sorry to hear you didn't get a solution from tech support.

There's an issue somewhere. The router function should work regardless of which device is being blocked. Have you tried disconnecting all your devices and rebooting the Home Hub? After a reboot, reconnect one device at a time, block it, and see if the local routing stops working.

MAC filtering is not available, even if you separate the wifi radio bands. The DHCP server on the Home Hub will hand out addresses regardless. 

My NAS is connected to a switch, which is ethernet-connected to the Home Hub 4000. I don't need to make it accessible via the internet and it's not accepting remote connections.

If the problem can't be solved, and you must block a specific device, then you'll need to connect a router to the Home Hub.Then you would turn off DHCP and WiFi on the HH and use your router for DHCP (with MAC address filtering) and WiFi. I know you would prefer not to do this.

[Jonathan]

@ZaneP I was about to reset the modem to factory, so I did disable Whole Home Wifi before to test. The Mac filtering option is now available in the modem dashboard. When using mac filtering it force me to disable WPS. But sadly the mac filtering is only for a white list of device that can access wifi, so no help here.

[Jonathan]

This is from my Hub 4000 dashboard page. with Whole Home Wifi disabled.

MAC filtering

Using the unique MAC address of each device, you can specify which devices are allowed to connect to your Wi-Fi home network.

Turn MAC filtering on or off:

• ON: Only devices specified in the list of allowed devices can connect to your Wi-Fi home network.
• OFF (default): All devices are allowed to connect to the Wi-Fi network.

IMPORTANT: When MAC Filtering is ON, new devices that attempt to connect to the Wi-Fi network will need to be added to the list of allowed devices.

[ZaneP]

Interesting. I haven't disabled whole-home wifi so I haven't seen this on the dashboard.

Are you saying that you can't build a list of devices before turning on MAC filtering? You must whitelist the ones that are already connected?

Has MAC filtering helped to solve your original problem? (Blocking a device made the LAN unavailable to all devices.) This seems like an annoying work-around to a problem that should not exist. I still think you should reboot your Home Hub. If the problem isn't solved then maybe do a factory reset. MAC filtering is the last resort, imo.

[Jonathan]

@ZaneP once you enable MAC filtering you have to build a whitelist of all MAC you want to allow on the wifi, it will reject all other wifi connection. It does not help with my original problem, because the MAC filtering on the H4000 is only to protect the wifi even more. Now I have decide to connect my old Asus router and it work as expected, my NAS only have access to LAN, but the WIFI is 2.5x slower. Is there a way to still use the Bell Wifi?

[ZaneP]

@Jonathan you wrote:

"Is there a way to still use the Bell Wifi?"

Try it. Disable wifi on your Asus.

Many people disable wifi on the Home Hub because they would rather use their own router for their existing mesh network, etc, etc. 

Overall I think you're getting further away from the original issue. You are trying to solve one problem (the entire LAN stops functioning when a device is blocked) by connecting your own router. But that solution has created another problem: poor wifi performance. And now you're trying to solve that. 

My advice is to keep trouble-shoot why routing on the LAN stops working when you block the internet connection for the NAS, the ethernet device mentioned in your first post.

If you disconnect the ethernet cable from the NAS and block another device, does the LAN stop routing? If it continues to route properly, you'll need a new NAS.

Hopefully other people reading this thread will get involved and offer some ideas!

[Jonathan]

@ZaneP yes I have try with my network printer but no luck, even after modem reset to factory. Bell support is no help, last one told me internet is required to print. I don't understand why it does not work for me. I have disconnect everything except my printer and pc, factory reset modem and blocking internet disable printing, unblocking make printing working again. Hope someone have the awnser, and thanks alot for your time. Next step is to buy a new router.

[Wakka197]

How did it turn out for new router . And they were no help support wonder did you get it working . 

[Jonathan · Accepted solution]

Hello @Wakka197 I did get some help from reddit forum and get it to work with my old router. The unknown part for me was to get the password for the PPPoE, you need to set it from the main Bell Portal WebSite. Now it all work great with my old router, nothing special to do (only need to connect with PPPoE). I use both wifi, the one from Bell Modem for Guest and the one from my Router 5G only to avoid interferance.

[Wakka197]

good to hear that you are doing better for internet .

[Jonathan]

The password is unique to the B1 and can be reset in your MyBell account

The password is NOT the serial number of the modem/password to log into the HH4k page

Note: If you change your B1 password and still want to use the Bell modem you will need to update the password in the modems GUI.