Asus TUF AX5400 Router

[mpstevens]

Hi please can anyone help?
I have Vodafone superfast broadband and I want to connect with my Asus TUF AX5400 router.
I was advised by VodaFone that the superfast THG3000 router does not allow modem only access.
I am looking instead to connect a 3rd party modem to connect my TUF Router and would like to know what people on here recommend. I have looked at the MT992 Gfast modem (available on ebay for £10) however I am unsure if this would be compatible with Vodafone ? Alternatively is anyone successfully using an alternative 3rd party Modem with a non Vodafone Router?
I have connected my Asus Tuff to a friends MT992 Gfast modem who is with Talk Talk and it worked seamlessly out of the box, hence why i'm looking at this modem.
If anyone has a similar experience and resolved the issue i would appreciate any advice?

Many Thanks,
Mike

[Ripshod]

I used an openreach hg612 on superfast 2 - worked for sure. I think it's a safe bet the MT992 would be fine, it being of a similar era. 

[mpstevens]

Hi Ripshod,
Thanks for your reply.
I actually have a spare Echolife HG612 however i couldn't find a way to get to the admin panel to enter my pppoe username settings etc. I tried a hard reset of the modem but can't get to the admin page?

Do you mind me asking how you did it?

[Ripshod]

You set the pppoe details in your router which then controls the modem (a la bridge mode) .

I did eventually hack the modem to gain the gui, control port and telnet  to boost the resale price (some people still like to monitor their dsl stats).

If you want look for "unlocked openreach hg612 3b".

[CrimsonLiar]

The MT992 is a much newer modem than the Huawei HG612V3B, which should mean that it has a substantially longer life.  The problem is that if still locked it can have the firmware updated or disabled remotely using TR-069.

[Ripshod]

Great point @CrimsonLiar

II do remember having to disable TR-069 in the modem's gui.

Happy days

[CrimsonLiar]

Unfortunately on most BT-supplied MT992 modems you don't have access to its WEBUI and so cannot locally disable TR-069.  Unless things have changed the only way to gain access to the WEBUI is to find a copy of the unlocked firmware, and then having soldered serial programming pins onto the modem PCB flash it directly!  

[mpstevens]

Can anyone advise if there is an alternative modem I can use that will work with the Asus Tuf AX5400 router to configure the Vodafone settings as it seems that unless i can get an unlocked BT Modem this would be an easier option unless anyone can advise how I can unlock the BT modem without opening up the modem and messing with the motherboard settings.

Many Thanks

[CrimsonLiar]

Depends what you want to do!  It's possible to use a modem/router that can be put into a bridge mode as just a modem.

I've a ZYXEL GVM3925-B10C that can do this (eBay £20) as can many other devices (see https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?board=5.0 ).  The problem I found related to "buffer bloat", thanks to the buffers/caching of having such a device in line.  You can kind of cure this to a degree by using QoS on TUF AX5400, but it rather negates the "priority ethernet port" and lowers your overall speed by about 10%.  Untill using this device I'd never realised what an absolute pain "buffer bloat" can be.

Your other options are probably buying a fully unlocked MT992 from ALi Express, getting a second hand Draytek Vigor 165/166/167 from eBay (absolutely must be the UK spec varient!!!) or you can find the Draytek Vigor 167 at a not totally exorbitant price at shop.bt.com

*For myself I'm now in possession of a Draytek Vigor 166 (v3)...

[mpstevens]

OK i've managed to unlock my Echolife HG612 and can now access the panel but unsure what to do now?