Using a WiFi Hub as an Access Point

[TrevorWF]

I have recently moved from Gigafast 900 (with Vodafone WiFi Hub THG3000) to Pro Fibre 2 (with the Vodafone Ultra Hub) and while the internet service is fine I cannot connect my 2.4Ghz "smart" devices. I've tried setting them up as far away from the router, using my mobile phone tethered to a 2nd mobile phone and trying to connect an iPhone 4 to the Ultra Hub all with the same results - no smart devices.

As I have the THG3000 I wondered whether it can be attached to the Ultra Hub as an access point, but don't appear to be able to set up the gateway on the THG3000 to point at the Ultra Hub.

Can anyone explain how it's done and advise which settings in the online portal console need to be changed.

I have a substantial investment in smart devices and I can't move them away from my router as some are in the same room an the router location is dictated by the fibre entry into the house.

Thanks in anticipation

[Jayach]

---

@CrimsonLiar wrote:

That's the whole problem, it shouldn't become a switch.  So a device on the subordinate device receives an address request outside of its own subnet, it'll route it via the WAN port and not any of the LAN ports.

---

I don't understand that. Why would any devices on the 2nd router (don't forget it's not connected via it's WAN port, so isn't acting as a router) get addresses outside of its subnet. They will all have addresses issued by the main routers DHCP.

I had a THG3000 running like that for a couple of weeks while I was testing. Any non local addresses will be routed via the gateway address, which will be given via the main router.

Using old ISP routers in this way is quite common.

[Jayach]

Just to show it does work, I've connected a 2nd THG3000 to my main THG3000 (I don't have a Ultra Hub) and configured it as the OP requires. The laptop I'm using is currently connected to it's 2.4 band (5Ghz is turned off, and everything seems to work fine.

Just some pics to show it. 

 

 

I'll leave it connected like this for a few days and see if any problems crop up. (I don't think they will)

The only possible problem is if the 2nd router can still contact the ACS (auto configuration server) and may get its configuration overwritten, because it's not possible to turn CWMP off in the crippled firmware.

Here is how I configured the Wi-Fi: 

 

  

[essjay6320]

This is interesting, Thank you for running the test.

how did it fare? 

[Jayach]

It's still running now, to be honest I forgot I set it up. I'm till connected to the secondary router.  

 I did have a problem early on, in that I couldn't connect to the USB share on the main router, but I solved that by turning off the sharing options on the second router. 

I suspect both router's claimed to be \\vodafone.broadband\.

[markspark]

Have you tried switching on 'compatibility mode' on the Pro Fibre 2 router (can be done via the App). This adds a 2.4GHz band, as well a 6Ghz 6E wifi band.

[abid-33]

Just in case someone stumbles on this in the future...

I followed the video from the first reply and had success in using the router as a WiFi access point. But, I tried to use it as an ethernet switch alongside AP which didn't seem to work - I saw a connection on my PC but no Internet.

What I did was change the Host Name (Settings > Local Network > Host Name) from "vodafone" to something else (e.g. "vodafone2"). Maybe I have a weird network setup or something but it works as expected now!

[Jayach]

If you still have a Vodafone router as the main one that also probably has Vodafone as the host name so they will clash.

When I was testing using the THG3000 as a AP it caused the USB sharing on the main router to fail. I think I just removed the host name altogether.