Set up Giga Hub and Linksys Velop router

[Tim2]

I recently switched to Bell fibre with Gigahub modem/router. Before that I had a cable modem attached to a Linksys Velop mesh router with with 2 satellites which covered my house quite well. I just connected the first Velop device to the modem, followed the bouncing ball to configure it and then add the other 2 devices via a Linksys app.

I want to have the Bell modem connect to the Velop and from there to a switch which picks up all of my ethernet drops.The Velop will attach all my WiFi devices. And I think it should also be the DHCP server.

This would have the Bell device acting solely as a modem.

The Velop tries to be very user friendly and insists on being connected to the Internet before it will configure, although I can connect to it at 192.168.1.1   My Bell router is on 192.168.2.1

To enable the 2 standalone pods, I need to use a Linksys app that hunts them down and configures them as WiFi extenders or something similar.

I have several options for the Velop: DHCP, Static IP, PPPoE, Bridge, Wireless Bridge and a few others.

1. Any suggestions of what I should do?
2. I have read about IP passthrough, but some posts here say the Bell modem doesn't support that (yet). Plus I have never used  IP passthrough.
3. I can get into the Bell router, but I'm cautious about changing stuff there lest I break my Internet connectivity and have to call Bell to bail me out.
4. I took a screenshot of the Velop connectivity options, but I cannot see a way to add it to this post.

If anyone has ideas but needs more info, I'll be happy to oblige.

Thanks

[dks]

There have been problems with using third party routers and the Giga Hub modem with older software. The latest release, 1.15.1 resolves the issue. I concur with the suggestion to join the Bell Forum at DSL Reports. There is a high level of user experience there. The fully private Bell Direct forum, with Bell staff who are top tier techs, can also help with modem and system technical issues. They can't help you configure your own hardware, however. Their support goes only as far as the modem. https://www.dslreports.com/forum/sympat

[ZaneP · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tim2 

You've given us a scenario with many moving parts, but here's some general comments (and use at your own risk!):

1. You can connect a 3rd party router to the Giga Hub using either PPPoE, ADMZ,(Ontario, Quebec) or DHCP (Atlantic Canada). 
2. If you want or need your router to be the DHCP server, you'll need to turn off that function on the Giga Hub and enable it on the router.
3. You'll also need the Velop to be handling wifi, so you'll have to turn that off on the Giga.
4. If you proceed with 1 and 2 above you can still log into the dashboard of the modem. You'll need an ethernet-connected device. Manually give it an IP address in the modem's range, and then log into the dashboard as usual.

For more detailed q&a on your scenario, go the DSL Reports Bell forum, as @dks and @Inf have recommended. I also recommend you look at the Bell Reddit. /r/bell has many posts about, and solutions for connecting to the Giga and other Home Hubs with routers.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted!

Cheers,

@ZaneP

[Tim2]

Thanks @ZaneP ,@dks and @Inf 

Each of you has given valuable advice. With the advice given here, I think I'll solve this.

Cheers!

[ZaneP]

Hope this goes smoothly! Good luck and let us know how it worked out.

Cheers!

[BJ1]

Why the wps not working to add the velop as a node?

[Steve_is_not_happy]

Hi Tim,

I have this exact set up and tried using the Giga hub in ADMZ and the router in PPPoE mode allowing the Velop to establish the IP, but it is no good. I finally figured out that setting the Velop to bridge mode only and using the Giga hub to establish the IP is working better. I hard rebooted the Giga and turned off the 2.4,5 and 6GHZ wifi. It is better with speeds at my device off the router wifi at 250MHZ but for some reason I haven't figured out yet, only 2.4 GHZ is available. I'll let you know if I can figure out a better set up. The DSL forums are useless. BELL won't provide ANY configuration options whatsoever for your router or Giga to work together, they just want to sell you their extenders, which won't work for me. I had better success on the Linksys page. 

[dks]

You are correct. Bell does not and never has supported third party hardware. Some here can make educated guesses, but that is about as far as it can go.

Thank you for saying that you found help in the manufacturer's support page. That's a good idea for anyone. https://www.linksys.com/ca/linksys-support/ . Reddit can be a bit chaotic, but it is also a viable option, too. 

[DLEE · Accepted solution]

SOLVED - have similar problem with connecting a 3rd party router onto GigaHub.  Solution for us is to turn off the WholeHome Wifi feature within the GigaHub console.   Thanks to tips from the reddit community.