@gp-se wrote:
Anyone notice that the XB6 is broadcasting 7 WiFi SSID's!
4 on 2.4Ghz
3 on 5Ghz
Yes, I've been griping about this for the past year. 5 of those SSIDs (3 in the 2.4 GHz band; 2 in the 5 GHz band) will remain active even with Bridge Mode enabled.
Why does it need to broadcast so many SSID's? Also I've noticed when my Apple devices (iPhone/iPad/MacBook) sleeps it will disconnect from WiFi, this only started happening within the last 2 weeks. Software/settings on iOS haven't changed, but I noticed this started when they changed the firmware on the XB6 changed parent controls to show ignitewifi.rogers.com
I haven't gone so far as to hack and unmask the SSID names and it is not easy finding out exactly what these are for. All I know is that Rogers insists that they are necessary for current and future services and they cannot be disabled. It has been confirmed that 2 of those are for the TV "Lost & Found" (LnF) service, I think two may be to support a Home Security service, and another remains a mystery. (Access for Field Techs? Future public Wi-Fi hotspot?)
@seadooxp30 wrote:
New Firmware as of March 28-2020
eMTA & DOCSIS Software Version:Prod_18.1_d31 & Prod_18.1Software Image Name:CGM4140COM_4.0p4s2_PROD_seyAdvanced Services:CGM4140COMPacket Cable:2.0
Have you noticed any new changes with the new firmware? Can we use custom DNS or not yet? Does it still broadcast 7 SSID?
@seadooxp30 wrote:
@ gp-se
Don't know about SSID, since I had to disabled wifi on my Rogers modem and using eero mesh system.
Not sure about custom DNS. Where is that option?
@seadooxp30 If you use a Wi-Fi scanner/analyzer, you will still see beacons for these hidden Wi-Fi networks coming from your XB6 even if you have Wi-Fi disabled or have Bridge Mode enabled. The network name will not be included in the beacons (that's what makes them hidden) but you will still see the MAC address, channel, signal strength, etc. On the Technicolor XB6, you will see a bunch of sequential MAC addresses on the scan. They are a bit harder to see on the Arris XB6 because it changes the first octet of the MAC address for these BSSIDs. In either case, they become very obvious if you place your analyzer right next to the XB6 and sort the display by signal strength. These hidden networks will (obviously) also all be on the same channel.
@gp-se These SSIDs are not there due to a firmware bug. They are there because they have been provisioned by Rogers and we currently do not have any way to turn them off or to disable the radios on the XB6. The only thing that we can do is to place the XB6 in a Faraday cage or some other shielded enclosure.
@seadooxp30 wrote:
@ gp-se
Micro freezing after 8 PM gone completely. Cant say for sure if it was just firmware or combination of firmware and something else on Rogers back end.
Don't know about SSID, since I had to disabled wifi on my Rogers modem and using eero mesh system.
Not sure about custom DNS. Where is that option?
Where are you located? I haven't received the update in Bradford, Ontario yet.
@gp-se For what it's worth, I just double-checked and my Technicolor XB6 is still running:
eMTA & DOCSIS Software Version:Prod_18.1_d31 & Prod_18.1
Software Image Name:CGM4140COM_3.14p10s5_PROD_sey
The 8000 ms freezes that I had been getting seem to have been fixed. I still get some minor jitter (and, from time to time, what appears to be some load related issues in my area) but nothing like what I saw before.
I do know that some significant network upgrades are being planned for my area (from the placement of the underground vaults, looks like it will be Remote PHY) and these ongoing network issues apparently are related to this upcoming work. However, whatever fix I got for the extreme latency spikes was not the result of the "4.0" firmware update.
I noticed today that my Technicolor XB6 got the new 4.0 firmware. I haven't noticed any differences, however I have it in Bridge Mode. I also disabled both bands before I put it into bridge mode and it is still broadcasting 7 SSID's. I read that some people put it into bridge mode and it won't broadcast, but others like me have it still broadcasting these hidden SSID's.
@gp-se wrote:
I noticed today that my Technicolor XB6 got the new 4.0 firmware. I haven't noticed any differences, however I have it in Bridge Mode. I also disabled both bands before I put it into bridge mode and it is still broadcasting 7 SSID's. I read that some people put it into bridge mode and it won't broadcast, but others like me have it still broadcasting these hidden SSID's.
One of those hidden networks is used for a service that enables a brand new Ignite TV set-top box to automatically discover and join your internal private Wi-Fi network. Anybody with Ignite TV who says they cannot see those hidden networks must either have friends in high places or does not have the tools to see those hidden networks. The other hidden networks that you see are not used by Ignite TV... they are for something else... so I presume that they would be active on Ignite Internet customers' XB6 gateways even if the Ignite TV-related services are not enabled.
