Interesting modum/router issue

[Keith B]

The modems themselves are not junk, but the older models (3800 & 3801) are weak in their WAP capability IMO. There are reasons why the modems go bad, from storms to power surges, etc. And, the returns may also be people moving and disconnecting their Uverse service because it is not available in the location they are moving to.

I am surprised that they had you return the gateway yourself. Most of the time when the tech comes out and replaces a modem they will take the defective unit with them. Maybe this is a new method for returns since they now have an agreement with the UPS Stores to do the returns on the equipment.

I think we are talking about 2 different things. Our modem(they call it a gateway) is a model 3800HGV-B. That wasn't the piece of equipment that was giving us a problem.

The defective piece of equipment IS called a WAP(there's an AT&T sticker on it that calls it that.) It looks like a kind of, sorta, rounded off wedge of cheese that's about 4.5"H x 6"L x 1"-1/2"W. It's a Cisco Model# VEN401-AT. THAT was the thing he had to replace 2 times. On thinking about it, I think it's a kind of like an antenna for the wireless set up. It's a/c powered and connects to the modem. (you'd think an extra class ham would know those things, but it's been a long time since I've done anything ham related. call sign AA5LD. )

As far as me having to return it via the UPS store, I asked the service tech about it. He said it's because of inventory control reasons, and to be sure I don't get charged for it, to return it that way. UPS store is hooked up somehow to AT&T's distribution inventory control system.

Ahh, OK, it's the add-on WAP used for video over WiFI to a wireless set-top box. Those basically add 802.11n 5Ghz capability to the 3800 & 3801 gateways (which normally only have 802.11 b/g 2.4Ghz) and is optimized for the best throughput to make sure the video is handled properly. I don't have one because all of my set-top boxes are wired.

And, I guess they have driven the process to do all returns via the UPS return process to make the flow of equipment returns simple and as stated better control on the inventory and tracking of returns.

[92f-fan]

let me try to translate what the ATT people said

ATT: You have to use our router
ATT: That wont work

What they meant is that all they understand and support.

In the past people used to stick with the ISP provided solution because the ISP would help support it - Now as Charles has seen they pass you to "advanced " support which is paid 3rd party support. And because the 3rd party is referred by the ISP they often share the same Service level agreements and the same Limits - which means they wont offer any good other solutions for interesting issues because they cant. Most routers provided by most ISPs can be put in "bridge " mode so that DHCP and other features are turned off and in some cases they pass the external IP over to the router of your choice.

ATT and Fios both have installs that might require the Moca part ( coax ) of the router to be used - but at least in the case of Verizon you can just get a moca bridge to provide IPs to your Set Top Boxes ...

Even if you cant get the ISPs router in bridge mode you can still install a second router behind it and set the 2nd up with a different IP range. That MIGHT break some work VPN connections but most networking devices and VPNs have become more tolerant of nested networks in the past few years ...

[bigity]

Not an uncommon issue with them. They seem to get into a wifi network storm for some reason and need to be rebooted. I personally don't like the 2Wire wireless portion of the gateway, and I put a stand-alone access point on the network and disabled the WAP in the 2Wire gateway. Runs MUCHO better!!

One other note, it is possible someone might have gained access to your WiFi. Make sure you are not using WEP for security and have it set for WPA2 to be more secure. You also might want to change your password and even your WiFi SSID name.

100% agree. Disable the 2Wire wifi and get a third party solution for much better results.