Using Your Own Router And Homechoice

gorby928 · 17-01-2006, 17:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by martintillyer
I went with the Netgear box that Homechoice supply. Got it from ebay buy it now for around £32. There is bugger all to setup, just plug in and off you go.

The bottom line is, most people who want to use thier existing router won't be able to. The box you need must have an appropriate uplink ethernet port which the Router can route to when it need to pass packets to the Internet. 99% of ADSL Modem Routers are setup to pass packets to the Internet via the inbuild ADSL modem link and are therefore not suitable.

I have a network card on my PC,I checked it last night in the control panel and it said it was working just not connected to anything yet,so I guess thats where I plug in the netgear router when I get it ? And has anyone used there own router and if so how much did Homechoice charge you for installation.Also will I need any extras like adapters or does it all come with the WGR614.

DrinkingBuddy · 17-01-2006, 18:01

Yes, you just need to connect your router to your PC with an ethernet cable. HC won't do it for you though, they will only install a router that you buy from them.

They will connect your HC STB direct to your PC (via ethernet). All you are likely to need to do is unplug that cable from the STB and plug it into a user port on your router, then plug a second ethernet cable from your STB to the in port on your router (they will be clearly labelled). There is very rarely anything else you need to setup on your router to get started, although sometimes you do need to tincker with the inbuilt firewall to use things such as Bit Torrent or MSN.

TaG Eledhel · 17-01-2006, 22:22

i use a linksys befsr41 router, plugged staright in, no problems at all, no loss, cost only £30 and works a treat, has built in hardware firewall that causes no problems and probably one of the most user friendly setups ive seen among around 20 different routers ive tried, p2p, msn, online gaming, ftp all fine with no issues whatsoever and even if you do need to open ports its so easy a 5 year old could do it with this router. definatly one id recommend if you wanted to have upto 4 pcs hooked up to your homechoice

johnnyrocker · 17-01-2006, 23:46

drinking buddy you cannot AFAIK use both ports at the same tim from the stb

johnny.

primal_opus · 18-01-2006, 02:16

just one additional piece of advice power of the set top box with the on/off button on the box not the remote while you plug the router in. the set top box locks onto the mac address of what ever device is plugged into it for about an hour unless you power it on/off.

DrinkingBuddy · 18-01-2006, 08:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyrocker

drinking buddy you cannot AFAIK use both ports at the same tim from the stb

johnny.

Didn't say you could, if you read my post I said unplug the cable they will already have connected to the computer. I said plug a second ethernet cable into the STB and into the router, not use the second port.

johnnyrocker · 18-01-2006, 12:13

apologies i mis read it as it is wriiten in a manner likely to confuse

johnny.

gorby928 · 18-01-2006, 13:43

Ive just been reading the wireless setup manaul on the homechoice site and as you guys have said everything plugs into the router via the PC.But how do you set it up when like me your PC and master socket are in the hallway and your TV is in the living room 50 foot away.I only ask as I wish to go wireless as to avoid cable runs around the flat and so far all the replys seem to describe hard wired st ups.

masai · 18-01-2006, 14:42

Ethernet cable plugs into the router from the STB thats it! No need to connect a wire from the PC, otherwise it wouldn't be wireless.

gorby928 · 20-01-2006, 11:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by masai

Ethernet cable plugs into the router from the STB thats it! No need to connect a wire from the PC, otherwise it wouldn't be wireless.

At the risk of looking completely stupid how can I plug the ethernet cable from STB into the router when my phoneline is in my hallway( Im guessing thats where the router goes ) and my TV +STB will be fifty foot away in my living room ?

martintillyer · 20-01-2006, 11:31

The Router connects directly to the STB in the Network port, not the phone line and so you don't have to worry mate!

DrinkingBuddy · 20-01-2006, 11:48

Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of?

martintillyer · 20-01-2006, 13:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrinkingBuddy

Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of?

I don't think this is what he was getting at. I think he has a STB under his TV as he mentions. I think he was under the impression that he needed to also plug the router into the phone line which is not the case.

gorby928 · 21-01-2006, 13:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrinkingBuddy

Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of?

Thats what I thought but you where the first person to say it.If I run my own phone extension to the TV can I just use the standard 4 or 6 phone cable or do the engineers use some thing different

johnnyrocker · 21-01-2006, 13:45

unless it has changed from when mine was installed the cable is CAT5

johnny.

M_at · 22-01-2006, 09:24

Yes - you can use a domestic internal extension kit with 2 or 3 pairs. You do not need to purchase Cat 5.

You'll find that the HC engineers are very neat with their installs however and will probably get the job done just as tidily and much quicker if you leave it to them.

They'll also probably just extend the DSL portion of things as a badly installed extension can seriously affect line quality.

stu_69 · 27-01-2006, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaG Eledhel

i use a linksys befsr41 router, plugged staright in, no problems at all, no loss, cost only £30 and works a treat, has built in hardware firewall that causes no problems and probably one of the most user friendly setups ive seen among around 20 different routers ive tried, p2p, msn, online gaming, ftp all fine with no issues whatsoever and even if you do need to open ports its so easy a 5 year old could do it with this router. definatly one id recommend if you wanted to have upto 4 pcs hooked up to your homechoice

I have this router and the only way I could get it to work was give it a static IP (I plugged the cable from the STB into my laptop, go connected. Did an Ipconfig /all and I then reconnected to the router and imputed all the data manually). Is this how you did it? If not what did you do?

It seems to be working but I am afraid that my IP will change and I will have to the procedure all over again.

Stu

johnnyrocker · 27-01-2006, 16:01

your homechoice ip addy will change next time you boot up. try a full re boot ie power off everything in the chain power on stb from switch on the top, wait approx 30-60 seconds then power the router which will boot the stb (evident by blue light coming on) and establish connection then when steady power up laptop and it should then automatically find your router and off you go.

johnny.

M_at · 27-01-2006, 16:15

An older Buffalo router of mine got a little confused if the IP address changed because of the STB power down.

You should be able to prod the router to restart - there's usually an option in the config screens - which should fix the problem for that session if not the Johnny's solution is the way to go.

stu_69 · 30-01-2006, 12:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyrocker

your homechoice ip addy will change next time you boot up. try a full re boot ie power off everything in the chain power on stb from switch on the top, wait approx 30-60 seconds then power the router which will boot the stb (evident by blue light coming on) and establish connection then when steady power up laptop and it should then automatically find your router and off you go.

johnny.

I hav done this but it keeps losing connection to the STB. I presume the router should be able to keep the router on?

After about 20/30 minutes the router loses the ip address from the STB and I have to reset everything to get it back up and running.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Stu

M_at · 30-01-2006, 12:48

Is there anything behind the router generating internet traffic to keep to connection up?

stu_69 · 30-01-2006, 12:53

yep. I am dling some stuff from bittorent.

M_at · 30-01-2006, 14:03

Sounds like a STB problem to me. I have my box on 24x7 and never notice any disconnects.

dilboy · 31-03-2006, 15:07

Hi there,

Had a look around but couldn't find a definitive answer on this topic.

Just ordered HomeChoice but wanted to avoid paying their extortianate fees for wireless broadband.

I am thinking of buying this wireless router:
Linksys WRT54G-UK Wireless-G 54MBPS Broadband Router

Moreover, I would like to add a laptop at a later date:
Linksys WPC54G 54Mbps Wireless-G Cardbus Adapter

Firstly, will this setup work? Has anyone had problems configuring as I am pretty new to this wireless world?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

red_g00ner · 02-04-2006, 09:29

Hi Dilboy,

I am using a WRT54G and it works with Homechoice. The router will support 4 wired clients and also wireless clients, so no probs there.

Just make sure that the router is running the latest firmware.

Any probs PM me

17-01-2006, 17:39	#1
gorby928 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: London- Foresthill Posts: 11	Using Your Own Router And Homechoice Quote: Originally Posted by martintillyer I went with the Netgear box that Homechoice supply. Got it from ebay buy it now for around £32. There is bugger all to setup, just plug in and off you go. The bottom line is, most people who want to use thier existing router won't be able to. The box you need must have an appropriate uplink ethernet port which the Router can route to when it need to pass packets to the Internet. 99% of ADSL Modem Routers are setup to pass packets to the Internet via the inbuild ADSL modem link and are therefore not suitable. I have a network card on my PC,I checked it last night in the control panel and it said it was working just not connected to anything yet,so I guess thats where I plug in the netgear router when I get it ? And has anyone used there own router and if so how much did Homechoice charge you for installation.Also will I need any extras like adapters or does it all come with the WGR614.

18-01-2006, 13:43	#8
gorby928 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: London- Foresthill Posts: 11	Still confused about the wireless conection? Ive just been reading the wireless setup manaul on the homechoice site and as you guys have said everything plugs into the router via the PC.But how do you set it up when like me your PC and master socket are in the hallway and your TV is in the living room 50 foot away.I only ask as I wish to go wireless as to avoid cable runs around the flat and so far all the replys seem to describe hard wired st ups.

20-01-2006, 11:24	#10
gorby928 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: London- Foresthill Posts: 11	HC Set top Box & Router Set up Quote: Originally Posted by masai Ethernet cable plugs into the router from the STB thats it! No need to connect a wire from the PC, otherwise it wouldn't be wireless. At the risk of looking completely stupid how can I plug the ethernet cable from STB into the router when my phoneline is in my hallway( Im guessing thats where the router goes ) and my TV +STB will be fifty foot away in my living room ?

21-01-2006, 13:08	#14
gorby928 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: London- Foresthill Posts: 11	Phone cable & STB Quote: Originally Posted by DrinkingBuddy Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of? Thats what I thought but you where the first person to say it.If I run my own phone extension to the TV can I just use the standard 4 or 6 phone cable or do the engineers use some thing different

31-03-2006, 15:07	#24
dilboy Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 7	Setting up my own wireless network to a HC STB Hi there, Had a look around but couldn't find a definitive answer on this topic. Just ordered HomeChoice but wanted to avoid paying their extortianate fees for wireless broadband. I am thinking of buying this wireless router: Linksys WRT54G-UK Wireless-G 54MBPS Broadband Router Moreover, I would like to add a laptop at a later date: Linksys WPC54G 54Mbps Wireless-G Cardbus Adapter Firstly, will this setup work? Has anyone had problems configuring as I am pretty new to this wireless world? Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers

17-01-2006, 18:01	#2
DrinkingBuddy Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 161	Yes, you just need to connect your router to your PC with an ethernet cable. HC won't do it for you though, they will only install a router that you buy from them. They will connect your HC STB direct to your PC (via ethernet). All you are likely to need to do is unplug that cable from the STB and plug it into a user port on your router, then plug a second ethernet cable from your STB to the in port on your router (they will be clearly labelled). There is very rarely anything else you need to setup on your router to get started, although sometimes you do need to tincker with the inbuilt firewall to use things such as Bit Torrent or MSN.

17-01-2006, 22:22	#3
TaG Eledhel Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: surrey Posts: 296	i use a linksys befsr41 router, plugged staright in, no problems at all, no loss, cost only £30 and works a treat, has built in hardware firewall that causes no problems and probably one of the most user friendly setups ive seen among around 20 different routers ive tried, p2p, msn, online gaming, ftp all fine with no issues whatsoever and even if you do need to open ports its so easy a 5 year old could do it with this router. definatly one id recommend if you wanted to have upto 4 pcs hooked up to your homechoice

17-01-2006, 23:46	#4
johnnyrocker Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 340	drinking buddy you cannot AFAIK use both ports at the same tim from the stb johnny.

18-01-2006, 02:16	#5
primal_opus Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: London Posts: 55	just one additional piece of advice power of the set top box with the on/off button on the box not the remote while you plug the router in. the set top box locks onto the mac address of what ever device is plugged into it for about an hour unless you power it on/off.

18-01-2006, 08:16	#6
DrinkingBuddy Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 161	Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyrocker drinking buddy you cannot AFAIK use both ports at the same tim from the stb johnny. Didn't say you could, if you read my post I said unplug the cable they will already have connected to the computer. I said plug a second ethernet cable into the STB and into the router, not use the second port.

18-01-2006, 12:13	#7
johnnyrocker Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 340	apologies i mis read it as it is wriiten in a manner likely to confuse johnny.

18-01-2006, 14:42	#9
masai Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: London Posts: 452	Ethernet cable plugs into the router from the STB thats it! No need to connect a wire from the PC, otherwise it wouldn't be wireless.

20-01-2006, 11:31	#11
martintillyer Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 28	The Router connects directly to the STB in the Network port, not the phone line and so you don't have to worry mate!

20-01-2006, 11:48	#12
DrinkingBuddy Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 161	Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of?

20-01-2006, 13:47	#13
martintillyer Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 28	Quote: Originally Posted by DrinkingBuddy Not sure if you realise that you're going to have to have a cable going from your phone line to your STB. If you phone socket is in the hallway, then that is where the cable will have to come from. HC will pin it round the skirting for you, but it does sound like you may have a long wire round your house that you're not aware of? I don't think this is what he was getting at. I think he has a STB under his TV as he mentions. I think he was under the impression that he needed to also plug the router into the phone line which is not the case.

21-01-2006, 13:45	#15
johnnyrocker Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 340	unless it has changed from when mine was installed the cable is CAT5 johnny.

22-01-2006, 09:24	#16
M_at Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 550	Yes - you can use a domestic internal extension kit with 2 or 3 pairs. You do not need to purchase Cat 5. You'll find that the HC engineers are very neat with their installs however and will probably get the job done just as tidily and much quicker if you leave it to them. They'll also probably just extend the DSL portion of things as a badly installed extension can seriously affect line quality.

27-01-2006, 14:43	#17
stu_69 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 35	Quote: Originally Posted by TaG Eledhel i use a linksys befsr41 router, plugged staright in, no problems at all, no loss, cost only £30 and works a treat, has built in hardware firewall that causes no problems and probably one of the most user friendly setups ive seen among around 20 different routers ive tried, p2p, msn, online gaming, ftp all fine with no issues whatsoever and even if you do need to open ports its so easy a 5 year old could do it with this router. definatly one id recommend if you wanted to have upto 4 pcs hooked up to your homechoice I have this router and the only way I could get it to work was give it a static IP (I plugged the cable from the STB into my laptop, go connected. Did an Ipconfig /all and I then reconnected to the router and imputed all the data manually). Is this how you did it? If not what did you do? It seems to be working but I am afraid that my IP will change and I will have to the procedure all over again. Stu

27-01-2006, 16:01	#18
johnnyrocker Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 340	your homechoice ip addy will change next time you boot up. try a full re boot ie power off everything in the chain power on stb from switch on the top, wait approx 30-60 seconds then power the router which will boot the stb (evident by blue light coming on) and establish connection then when steady power up laptop and it should then automatically find your router and off you go. johnny.

27-01-2006, 16:15	#19
M_at Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 550	An older Buffalo router of mine got a little confused if the IP address changed because of the STB power down. You should be able to prod the router to restart - there's usually an option in the config screens - which should fix the problem for that session if not the Johnny's solution is the way to go.

30-01-2006, 12:06	#20
stu_69 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 35	Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyrocker your homechoice ip addy will change next time you boot up. try a full re boot ie power off everything in the chain power on stb from switch on the top, wait approx 30-60 seconds then power the router which will boot the stb (evident by blue light coming on) and establish connection then when steady power up laptop and it should then automatically find your router and off you go. johnny. I hav done this but it keeps losing connection to the STB. I presume the router should be able to keep the router on? After about 20/30 minutes the router loses the ip address from the STB and I have to reset everything to get it back up and running. Any ideas what could be causing this? Stu

30-01-2006, 12:48	#21
M_at Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 550	Is there anything behind the router generating internet traffic to keep to connection up?

30-01-2006, 12:53	#22
stu_69 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 35	yep. I am dling some stuff from bittorent.

30-01-2006, 14:03	#23
M_at Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 550	Sounds like a STB problem to me. I have my box on 24x7 and never notice any disconnects.

02-04-2006, 09:29	#25
red_g00ner Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: UK Posts: 790	Hi Dilboy, I am using a WRT54G and it works with Homechoice. The router will support 4 wired clients and also wireless clients, so no probs there. Just make sure that the router is running the latest firmware. Any probs PM me

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Using Your Own Router And Homechoice