WORKING: Own Modem - Draytek VSDL2 Modem/Router with Dynamic DNS

[richardhuish]

Jan 2017: I just thought that I would share my experiences with setting up my own modem router with Vodafone fibre home broadband so others may save time and stress when setting up their own system.

I recently moved from another ISP for fibre broadband (FTTC) to Vodafone fibre home broadband. As I have a fairly complex home network with separate subnets, VLAN's and isolated networks I was unable to take advantage of the provided Vodafone modem (what a shame 😛 ) so a week before my broadband was due to go live I went on the instant chat with Vodafone and explained I wish to use my own equipment, after a few moments and without debate I had my username and password 😊

For those who also wish to use their own equipment, you may find using the following key sentences may help:

“I'm after some details to help me to connect to your network. I have read the forums and see that I need to request PPPoE credentials to allow me to connect my third party existing network infrastructure. Is this something that you could help me with today?”

“For reference the third party equipment is approved for use on BT network and is BT SIN 498 MCT Approved.”

“I'm happy to accept all liability by using my own router and understand that I won't be able to raise technical support queries by doing so.”

The transition to Vodafone was simply a matter of adding in the login credentials to my Draytek Vigor 2860ac WAN interface, no other changes were required as the modem was already setup for PPPoE with the correct VLAN Tag, etc.

Everything was fine for the first day, however a day after I started to experience problems with my router failing to update my Dynamic DNS settings. After many wasted hours it turned out that because I'm using statically assigned DNS settings on the LAN (routed to my own LAN side DNS server, then to PiHole for ad blocking, then to Google DNS) at no point had a device inside my network ever connected to Vodafone’s own DNS system (E.G. 90.255.255.90). I temporarily set my PC’s DNS to point at Vodafone’s DNS and up popped Vodafones content controls settings, (http://www.vodafone.co.uk/contentcontrolpage/vfb-force-choice-page.html) which by default is set to Safe. Which by default seemed to blocks all dynamic DNS update queries, possibly Vodafone are just automatically blocking all redirect services which could be used to bypass their own DNS filtering by setting up redirects to those blocked websites.

Once I had clicked through the link everything was absolutely fine and the DDNS updated without issue. I thought it was worth posting this to save others the pain and anguish of my experience.

Setup photos to help others.

[Soofla]

There are no "special sentences" required. Anybody and everybody can get their PPPoE details via a simple online chat or phone call.

Don't get me wrong - it's always useful to see someone setting up 3rd party equipment, but if your post was also in part a "Look at me, I'm allowed to use my own equipment - nah nah nah nah nah" then the issue of Vodafone not giving details away was resolved around 5 months ago.

[richardhuish]

You're absolutely right I should have put a na na na na na look at me top. But seriously the entire purpose of this post was purely instructive, I'm not asking for any help or support, I'm simply sharing my experience.

When I was Googling the web, most of the results were going to this forum with people were saying they are still having difficulty getting their details from Vodafone. Plus there is little to no information about setting up DrayTek routers so I thought that it would be useful to post my settings along with my experience so that others don't go through the same pain.

The most critical thing for me was: if at no point you use the Vodafone router or their DNS, then you'll never have that dialogue pop-up which changes the default content filtering. My Vodafone provided modem has never been taken out of its box and I have never used Vodafones DNS.

[TJ]

@richardhuish Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. It's great to see a well thought out post, that's informative and could be useful for other community members 👍

[philguk]

Before I splashed out on a new 2860, I was going to test my connection my my old 2830

BUT not only won't it connect, I suspect it doesn't support whatever magic broadband needs these days

Can anyone suggest settings I need to change (if YOU have a 2830 working with Vodafone)

Otherwise I will have to try a 2860

Cheers

Phil G

PS And I know the 2830 is not in BTs approved list - but as I said, this was only going to be a test

[richardhuish]

For some reason my last post disappeared so I will do my best to remember what I said. 

You don't need to get a new DrayTek router if you don't want to.  However, your existing DrayTek router only has a built-in ADSL modem which is not compatible with the fibre VSDL2.

For about £20 off of eBay you can get the BT Openreach VDSL2 FTTC Huaweri Echolife HG612 modem. (Search for HG612)

You connect this to your phone line and plug it's network port to the WAN port of your router, enter the login details on your router and should be away! 

[Taylor95]

Hi Phil

I am trying to get my 2830n working as well but struggling. Did you have any joy?

Thanks

Taylor

[ctmkuk]

Yep, all working after vlan set to 911. What have you done so far? One top tip is to use chat window to get your username and password.  Support staff often mistake password creds!!

[Ian_Warren_77]

Using amongst others the post above and having got my username and PW from V, I was able to setup a Draytek 2850 series router (the Vn version with VOIP and Wifi N) to connect without issues.

If you get one of these and want screenshots of the settings just ask.

Cheers,

Ian

[CrimsonLiar]

That's a pretty old design now, so I would doubt that many will be getting such a modem/router at least for its WiFi 4 802.11n  (the ethernet side is pretty nice...).