Ignite WiFi Gateway – Change/Disable DHCP/DNS/IPv6

[aeromedved]

Incomplete DHCP4 functionality in Technicolor CGM4140COM:

Hi all, I was getting an error message when assigning DHCP reservation for my device, and then when I try to assign it again I get a message that the IP address had been already reserved. But the reservation didn't work and there's no way to view DHCP reservations. 

So I decided to run my own DHCP server, but can't find a way to disable the built-in DHCP4 server in the gateway. Does anyone know how to do it?

*Added Labels*

[-G- · Accepted solution]

@aeromedved There are are certain functions that you cannot disable on the Ignite gateways, and DHCP is one of those.  Nor can you disable IPv6 or specify alternate DNS servers.  The only thing that you can do is to enable "Bridge Mode" and then install your own router/firewall.

[DoctorTom]

Disabling IPv6 on Ignite - Workaround?

When we were on the Hitron router, we could disable IPv6 and this would cure some issues within our Windows domain.  Having moved to Ignite, the issues have returned.  Unfortunately, the Ignite gateway doesn't permit us to disable IPv6.  (We need to have IPv6 enabled on the machines, though.)

I was wondering if it is possible to connect a router to the gateway, without bridging the Ignite gateway.  The reason for this is that I want support from Rogers for TV and internet issues, which can't happen if bridged.  By having the router, I could disable IPv6 on it and can connect my Windows devices to it and my other devices to the "Ignite LAN".  Windows devices don't need to talk to non-Windows devices and vice versa.  I do need to be able to VPN to a Windows server, however, so port forwarding could be an issue.

Has anyone tried this?

[-G-]

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@DoctorTom wrote:

I was wondering if it is possible to connect a router to the gateway, without bridging the Ignite gateway.  The reason for this is that I want support from Rogers for TV and internet issues, which can't happen if bridged.  By having the router, I could disable IPv6 on it and can connect my Windows devices to it and my other devices to the "Ignite LAN".  Windows devices don't need to talk to non-Windows devices and vice versa.  I do need to be able to VPN to a Windows server, however, so port forwarding could be an issue.

Has anyone tried this?

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You can do this.  It's not a great solution because any systems that are connected to your router, that access the Internet, will be traversing two IPv4 firewalls that each perform network address translation.  This "double-NAT" situation is known to cause issues for certain applications and may cause problems for your VPN connections.  You will have to test to see whether or not this configuration works.

It's too bad that you cannot configure static routes in the Ignite gateway because otherwise, a better solution for creating an IPv4-only island on your in-home LAN would be to configure your internal router as a simple IPv4-only router, with its firewall disabled.  Unfortunately, this configuration will not work because there is no way to configure a route in the Ignite gateway, so the Ignite gateway will not know how to route packets back to your IPv4 island.

[QueenBee2]

I've browsed the settings in both my gateway and the Rogers Ignite hub, I'm able to view both DNS servers but it doesn't give me an option to change them. How can I change my DNS servers?

[Biollw]

Not in the gateway. You can set your ip and dns as static in your ip settings of your device.

[andrew1971]

So when you enable bridge mode and use your own router/DNS, does that mean only the wireless connections on your network will use your DNS servers and the Rogers Ignite Modem will use Rogers DNS?

[-G-]

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@andrew1971 wrote:

So when you enable bridge mode and use your own router/DNS, does that mean only the wireless connections on your network will use your DNS servers and the Rogers Ignite Modem will use Rogers DNS?

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When you enable bridge mode on the Ignite gateway, it disables Wi-Fi; all of your in-home devices will need to connect through your own router... and they will obtain and use whatever DNS servers that your router provides them, or whatever DNS servers that you manually configure into them.

[andrew1971]

Thank You. I apprieciate the reply. 

Its a real shame I have to enable bridge mode. It makes no sense to me why Rogers locks down the modem and claims they are providing T1 hardware. Its hardly T1 when you do not have choices such as your own DNS provider to protect your network and have to purchase additonal hardware to do so.

[really3]

Absolutely agree. It's a shame and should be corrected by Rogers. You need to provide your own router/firewall/wifi device(s) in order to configure alternate DNS settings as it's not possible to either specify alternate DNS addresses nor disable DHCP in the Rogers white desktop "Ignite Hub" as of January 2023. Hopefully Rogers will change this but for now, setting the Rogers device to Bridge Mode and using your own router/firewall/wifi is the only way. 

[ve3nrt]

This sucks. Even if I reserve an IP it still serves it. I need to load custom parameters into some of my devices, including a local DNS so I can reference my own devices using their names. This modem was billed as "Advanced", but can't do the functions that my 10 year old SmartRG was able to do. 

In short, disabling the capability to use a separate DHCP server is a really bad idea. That's now two things I'm unable to do that I was able to do before I got this "service".

[ve3nrt]

Does anyone know if Bell Fibe modems have this restriction? I'm second-guessing this decision to go with Ignite because I can't connect to my local devices using their names. This is quite important for my work. Most of what I've experienced in the few days I've had Ignite has been good, but this restriction is going to create a ton of work for me and still be a step backwards.

My DHCP server sets up DNS Servers, NTP Servers, TFTP, etc. Either allow that in the modem or let me turn off DHCP and do it myself. 

[ve3nrt]

To answer my own question, Bell Fibe modems allow disabling of their DHCP function. Sadly no Fibe at my house so Rogers has the monopoly on Gigabit here.