How to access advanced modem settings on Gigahub 2.0

[jbw]

How do I do things like control band steering, disable the radios, and set different SSID for different bands?

[Vanadiel]

See here on how to access the home hub menu.

[dks]

And be aware that there are some hidden wireless bands which can’t be shut off as they are dedicated to Fibe TV. 

[jbw]

 @Vanadiel Thanks for your response. That link recommends the Bell WiFi app, which doesn't seem to do what I'm looking for. As far as I can tell all it can do is:

On the home screen:

1. Adapt: Change the single SSID name & password used for both bands
2. Internet Speed test (Doesn't seem to work - just shows the active device list) (next item)
3. Most Active Device(s): traffic history & Internet access schedule setup of just the wireless devices
4. "1 Access Point - GH2.0" animation : Tap to list all wired & wireless device currently online. Provides basic info & signal strength (for wireless) and allows setting access schedules (but only for those currently online ?)
5. View Network: Shows (Plume?) animation of dots circling a globe. Tap to show the same list as tapping the GH2.0 above
6. Guard: Enable or disable this
7. Control: Set freeze schedule for all devices "At Home" (or maybe specific devices - descriptions seem to conflict)
8. Set time-out: Brings up a list MAC addresses and (hostnames?), and allows setting temp access freeze for each

Then, via the Menu

1. Adapt: Same as on home screen
2. Control: Same as on Home screen. 
3. Guard: Enable/disable some firewall features, remote access, and Bell's collection of my traffic metadata
4. Notifications: Enable notifications of device connections (and maybe people)
5. Options: Buy more services
6. Access Points: GH2.0 - same as home screen
7. Support: Chat, Forum, FAQ, WiFi Checkup & Usage (using remote access via MyBell account), Reboot

So, unless I'm missing something the GH2.0 controls that Bell surfaces via the WiFi App do not support any of the functions I'm looking for.

I also logged in as admin to the gateway directly via browser. It allows me to disable things like UPnP and set DNS  but it also doesn't support any of the functions I'm looking for.

Am I missing something here, or do I need to get a third party firewall/router/WAP (and put a faraday bag over the gateway:) to do these sort of things?

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

[Vanadiel · Accepted solution]

You can split up the bands following this guide. 

As far as the radio's go there's 1 radio you cannot disable or remove, which is the radio used for TV boxes.

I also don't remember if band steering and not broadcasting SSID's becomes available after the SSID' are split up or not. Usually disabling the whole home WiFi option enables the advanced WiFI features.

[jbw]

@Vanadiel That's great - thanks.

By disabling "Whole Home" I can now enable, set the ssid, password, security type, channel bandwidth, and transmit power independently for all 3 bands.

Caveats:

1. When I disable "Whole Home" I can't use the Bell WiFi App & its "Advanced features" (I'm guessing Plume-related firewall stuff, but don't know what happens to anything I previously set), and mesh hubs. But the web interface has much better information and tools so I don't think I'm missing anything.
2. If I try to access the hub using the Bell WiFi App the hub reverts to Whole Home and band control vanishes so I need to set it up again. It will be interesting to find out what else will reset the setting (reboot for example).