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@dblues wrote:
Is there any way to add more Ethernet ports ( e.g via a 3rd party switch) to my current 4-port Ignite router without disruption to any of my other services (TV)?
Thanks,
Yes, you can do this by adding a simple unmanaged LAN Switch. Back in the early days of Ignite TV, when we just had the XB6 gateway, which only had two Ethernet ports, Rogers techs used to give out a 5-port Gigabit Desktop Switch (a TP-Link TL-SG105) to anyone that needed more Ethernet ports.
@dblues wrote:
Is there any way to add more Ethernet ports ( e.g via a 3rd party switch) to my current 4-port Ignite router without disruption to any of my other services (TV)?
Thanks,
Yes, you can do this by adding a simple unmanaged LAN Switch. Back in the early days of Ignite TV, when we just had the XB6 gateway, which only had two Ethernet ports, Rogers techs used to give out a 5-port Gigabit Desktop Switch (a TP-Link TL-SG105) to anyone that needed more Ethernet ports.
I’d like to expand slightly on @-G-‘s comments. The XB7 and XB8 modems have a single 2.5 Gb/s port on them, with the other three ports supporting 1 Gb/s only. The 2.5 Gb/s port is port 4 and is marked with a vertical orange/red bar beside the port.
If you’re looking to run gigabit speeds thru a switch, then a simple unmanaged gigabit switch will do. Something like the following:
If you’re running the 1.5 Gb/s plan and you’re looking to run 1.5 Gb/s to more than one device, then you’ll need to use port 4 of the modem and connect a multi-gig switch. That switch will connect with the modem at 2.5 Gb/s. At the present time Rogers has an internet plan for 2.5 and 1.5 Gb/s, which the XB7 and XB8 modems should be able to handle without any problems.
Multi-gig switches can be seen in the following search.
So, at the end of the day, the choice of switch will depend on your modem, internet plan and any devices that are capable of running above 1 Gb/s.
@dblues wrote:
@-G- and @Datalink
Hi Guys one more question....can I used a managed switch like the Ubiquiti Layer 3 switches?Thanks!
Maybe? However, I would not recommend it... at least not without hearing more about which Ubiquiti products you plan to use how you would plan to deploy them.
If you plan to run the Ignite Gateway in "gateway" mode, then I would install the least expensive unmanaged switch (although from a reputable manufacturer) that meets your connectivity requirements. In this simple configuration, if you planned to use something like a Switch Pro 24 instead, first, you would not be able to use any of its L3 capabilities, you would need to configure the switch to carry LAN traffic on untagged VLANS, and if you plan to connect the switch directly to the 2.5 GigE port on the XB7 gateway, you would need to find an SFP+ transceiver that can establish a 2.5 Gb/s link, and not all of them can. Furthermore, most of Ubiquiti's L2 and L3 switches are geared toward providing 1 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to end stations, with a high-speed uplink, so any computer connected to those ports could still only communicate at 940 Mb/s.
@dblues here is Comcast's reference page for their modems:
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/broadband-gateways-userguides
Here is the link to the XB7 manual. This is the FCC submission by Technicolor during the modem approval process:
https://fccid.io/UIDTG4482/User-Manual/Users-Manual-4676983.pdf
This is draft revision 1.3 I don't know if there are further drafts.
@macman_canada : I'm sure @-G- should be along shortly with his insights. I have the following comments in the meantime.
1. The IgniteTV boxes typically use about 10 Mbps for HD and about 25 Mbps for 4K, so there are no real worries there. See the following link for typical bandwidth requirements. Most people vastly overestimate what they need.
https://www.rogers.com/support/internet/basic-internet-speedtest
2. Although it's nice to have high speeds to a single device like a computer, there are almost no circumstances where this brings any advantage over say 1 Gbps on a single device.
3. The main reason to have higher speeds above 1 Gbps to the home is if you have several heavy users in the home to give them each higher speeds than before. Even then, there are few applications that require hundreds of Mbps on most devices.
4. As I"m sure you're aware not all devices are capable of speeds above 1 Gbps (actually about 940 Mbps after overhead). This includes many switches, routers, computers. One needs to make sure that every device in the chain has capabilities over 1 Gbps.
@macman_canada, lets start with this statement: "So the senior told me I could add in a nulitgigbit unmanaged switch between the ONT and the XB8."
Nope, that will not work. The problem here is how Comcast designed the XB8. Port 4 is a WAN / LAN port, rated at a maximum of 2.5 Gb/s. More importantly, Port 4 is a firewalled port when its used as the connecting port to the ONT. So, in the case of a fibre connected customer, who is using the XB8, there is no choice but to connect the ONT to the Modem's port 4. That allows a maximum data rate of 2.5 Gb/s between the ONT and modem, but, as you have observed, the other modem ports only run 1 Gb/s. So, in nutshell, if you're running 1.5 or 2.5 Gb/s for your internet plan, you can't get those data rates running out of the XB8 modem via ethernet, you're limited to a maximum of 1 Gb/s via ethernet.
If you connected an unmanaged multi-gig switch to the ONT and filled the ports on the switch, connecting to the other devices in your home, only two of those devices would receive external IPV4 and IPV6 address from the Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS). So, depending on which devices communicated with the CMTS first, its possible that the modem may not have received its address as required for it to operate correctly. And, the other devices that did receive an external address would have been wide open to the internet, depending on their own firewall to protect them. So, that's a security problem.
If you're running Ignite TV set top boxes, there is a chance that the modem uses one of the external address sets (IPV4 and IPV6) for its own purposes, leaving the modem with the other address set to use. So, that's another complication to deal with.
Say you decided to connect a multi-gig switch to the ONT and then connected the modem and a router to the switch, that might work, depending on whether or not the modem needs two address sets to use for itself and the set top boxes. That's actually an interesting question that I never considered.
The reason that I never considered that configuration is that other users have simply disconnected the modem and connected a router in its place. You can do that, and still run the set top boxes properly as long as you have IPV6 running in the router. You still need to keep the XB8 modem on hand for troubleshooting purposes as that's the only configuration that Rogers supports ONT -> XB8 Modem -> (Xi6-A, Xi6-T, XiOne) set top box.
Here are some basic specs for the two Nokia ONTs that Rogers uses:
there are two Nokia ONTs in use from what we've seen in the forum. The product tag can be seen on the bottom of the ONT:
1. NOKIA XS-010X-Q ONT: has a single ethernet port.
Available data rates: 100 M / 1 G / 2.5 G / 5 G / 10 G Base-T interface with RJ-45 connector
Ethernet port auto-negotiation or manual configuration with
Medium Dependent Interface /
Medium Dependent Interface Crossover (MDI/ MDIX)
2. NOKIA XS-020X-A ONT: has two ethernet ports
Available data rates port 1: 1 x 1/2.5GE
Available data rates port 2: 1 x 10 GE
If you look at the back of the ONT, you'll know which model you have.
Depending on which ONT you have, you should be able to connect to ONT #1 at 100 Mb/s, 1Gb/s, 2.5Gb/s, 5Gb/s, or 10Gb/s, or for ONT #1, 1Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s or 10 Gb/s. If for example, you connected the ONT to a router port that runs 10 Gb/s, then you should see a connect rate of 10 Gb/s with a maximum tested data rate that matches your internet plan.
Using the ONT is much simpler than Bells Gigahub. There's no fighting with Bells PPPOE or trying to run some other strange configuration when you're trying to run the data rate that you're actually subscribed to. As long as Rogers provides the required bandwidth thru its fibre system, this should be a better installation than Bells Fibre system. Having said that there have been a few posts indicating less that expected data rates thru Rogers Fibre system. I don't have any explanation for that, just pointing out that other customers have pointed to the problem.
Fwiw, depending on what devices ended up with an external address, I'd restart all of the devices that were connected to the ONT thru the unmanaged multi-gig switch. You might have to run scans on those devices that have that capability, looking for possible malware or spyware.
Where are the ONT and modem located? If the ONT is in the basement, which appears to be a usual location that techs want to use, that means that you could park the modem upstairs, connected via ethernet, assuming that you have an ethernet run to a useable location, but, to run ethernet to the house network, you would have to have a second run going back downstairs to the structured wiring cabinet, which would be the normal location for a switch to run the house network.
If you never tested the house network, or had it installed an tested by a qualified installer, consider checking all of the cable runs yourself. You would need a network tester such as the one that is shown in the following test kit:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07W88S9RG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For that cost you end up with a whole install kit, or, you can simply buy a network tester:
Connected directly to the ONT thru the multi-gig switch, you would have ended up with a very strange network configuration across your network. It wouldn't be a case of throttling. Its typical for set top boxes and smart tv's to have 100 Mb/s ports.
That's why you should simply connect the ONT to the modem's port 4 at the present time, then connect to the rest of the network thru the modem's ports (1 to 3) or wifi, and restart any and all devices that may be been connected thru the ONT. That should return all of the devices to a normal network IP address and return your network to a normal operating state.
The question then becomes, ok, if I want to run faster ethernet data rates, I need to install a router that has multi-gig WAN and LAN ports. Of course, that requires money. But, thats always been the case ever since Rogers started running data rates over 100 Mb/s. I've been here since that time and its always been a simple equation: increased speed = more money invested in equipment by the customer.
Edit:
Looking at your D-Link DMS-107, I see that they have two 2.5 Gb/s ports, so, you're part of the way there. The next step would be to add a router with multi-gig WAN and LAN ports. If you go this route, don't buy a router that requires link aggregation to use higher data rates as Rogers modems don't support link aggregation.
D-Link 7-Port Multi-Gigabit Unmanaged Switch - DMS-107 – D-Link Shop Canada (dlink.ca)
Comcast has introduced multi-gig service, but, I haven't seen any earthshaking announcement on the modem side. The next evolution would probably be a modem with a 10 Gb/s port. But, I wouldn't count on Comcast supplying a modem with multiple multi-gig ports. You never know, it might happen, but I wouldn't count on it.
Don't forget to restart the ONT and modem. Pull the power, wait for about 10 to 15 seconds and power them back up.
@macman_canada from a previous post:
There is a setting for port 4 in the Gateway >> Connection >> WAN Network page. The drop-down should be on Auto, but you can select between DOCSIS and Ethernet. I'd personally select Ethernet if I was connecting thru an ONT.
Note: That when you have port 4 selected as the Ethernet WAN port, you can't run the modem in Bridge mode. The firmware won't allow it.
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