@dmfan wrote:
Does Rogers have the rights and source code to fix software bugs in the XB7 firmware or do they pass the information on to Comcast and wait for them to rollout bug fixes?
As far as I know, Rogers only licenses the X1 products, technologies and related intellectual capital. They can customize those products to a large extent, apply their branding, have control over provisioning, and integrate Comcast's technologies with their own, etc. However, in other respects, they are just an end customer and need to work with Comcast to get bugs fixed and features added.
Rogers typically does not share any product deployment details or any information concerning their business agreements with other companies beyond what they choose to share in press releases and annual reports.
@TECHHEAD wrote:
Can these STB's be hardwired?
Yes, the Ignite set-top boxes do have Ethernet interfaces and work very well when wired.
I will be receiving Ignite TV hardware next week and have been reading up on it.
Almost makes me want to cancel my order and not move to Ignite from what I am reading.I do plan on using the modem in BRIDGED mode and turn WIFI off as I have built my network up with a couple of routers and an AP for full coverage.
Don't be too concerned by what has been discussed here. For what it is worth, I am equally critical of Bell's Home Hub all-in-one modems. 🙂
Ignite TV can also work over 3rd-party network gear, with Bridge Mode enabled on Ignite gateway. There is also an active thread with some tips on how to do this. However, this configuration is not officially supported by Rogers and you may be required to revert back to a supported configuration if you should ever need to work with Tech Support to resolve any issues.
Pet peeves notwithstanding, I also do not have any reason not to recommend running Ignite TV using Rogers' equipment in its default configuration.
@yyzguy wrote:
If running the XB7 in bridge mode, with the set top boxes hardwired, does IPv6 still need to be active on the router (pfSense in my case)? Or can IPv6 be disabled?
There's only one way to find out.
In an IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack network, the Ignite TV set-top boxes use IPv6 as their preferred protocol. IPv6 cannot be disabled on the Ignite gateways but the set-top boxes will fall back to IPv4.
Some users have reported success running Ignite TV over an IPv4-only network. Your mileage may vary. I have never tested such a configuration so I can't provide you with any first-hand advice on the matter. If it doesn't work, Rogers will tell you to disable bridge mode and connect your Ignite set-top boxes directly to the Ignite gateway. As an Ignite TV customer, you should always be prepared to run in a Rogers-supported configuration.
@tyreman there is a potential problem with your current configuration. With the modem in Bridge mode, any device connected to the ethernet ports should be protected by a firewall. The 68U provides the firewall for port 1, but port 2 doesn't have a firewall, so, the set top box should be wide open to the internet. I don't have any idea of how easy or hard it would be to hack the set top box, but, you should be aware that IPV4 addresses on Rogers network would probably see at least half a dozen external probes every minute. If you look at your system log, with the Firewall .... Logged packets type set to dropped, you should see the dropped external probes as they occur.
There shouldn't be any issue running the set top box thru the 68U, even if the 68U is running IPV4 only. There have been a number of posts from other customers indicating that they are running the same type of configuration, with the router running IPV4 only. I don't use the Ignite system, so, can't vouch for that configuration, but, previous posts indicate that the configuration does work.
If you look at the network map for the 68U, it will show the WAN IP near the top. With the modem in Bridge mode, I suspect that the network map will show a 174.xxx.xxx.xxx WAN IP address. If you drill down into the set top box settings to determine its IP address, I suspect that you'll see a similar IP address, indicating that the modem is supplying two different WAN IP addresses to connected devices when the modem is in Bridge mode. Rogers has historically allowed that, but, your post is the first indication that the XB7 appears to maintain that capability. Good to know 🙂
FYI: A few other customers with XB7 gateways have reported degraded speeds with Bridge Mode enabled: https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/Issues-in-Bridge-Mode/m-p/478014
Customers with Technicolor XB6 gateways also reported similar problems: https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/Using-the-Ignite-TV-Modem-Gateway-in-Bridge-Mode/m-p...
The XB6 problems were confirmed internally by Rogers, who worked with Comcast to get this issue fixed.
@Draconix If the problem does not reproduce (and you are able to download at full speed) when using your own router with Bridge Mode disabled on the XB7, then I would report your problem to Rogers as well. (When reading your post, I also wasn't sure what Internet plan you currently have, or whether you meant to say Mb/s (megabits) or MB/s (megabytes) when stating your transfer speeds.) Can you also confirm that you are performing your tests using a wired Gigabit Ethernet connection?
Lastly, please also log into your XB7 gateway, go to "Gateway > Connection > Rogers Network", scroll to the bottom, and check the number of "Uncorrectable Codewords" errors; they should be zero (or close to zero) across the board. If you are getting a HUGE number of uncorrectable errors, then you are getting packet loss and that will also degrade your real-world transfer speeds as well.
Tagging @RogersGordon on this as well.
@Draconix wrote:
I should have mentioned that I'm on the Gigabit Plan, and I always used a wired Cat6 Ethernet connection. My max download speed on the CODA was 100 Megabytes per second. My max download speed on the XB7 is ~65 Megabytes per second but it usually fluctuates between 30 Mb/s and 60 Mb/s, with huge spikes showing in Task Manager.
I'll test a direct connection to the modem later tonight when I have more time. As for the "Uncorrectable Codewords", everything is 0 except for column 32 which shows the number 25. Were the XB6 Bridge Mode issues fixed? If so then Rogers should look into the XB7 as it's probably a similar problem. I'm assuming this can be fixed by a firmware update at some point?
Thanks for clarifying that. Yes, the XB6 issues did get resolved. It took some time but it did get fixed with a firmware update.
Your power levels on the downstream channels are a little high but still well within the acceptable range. No issues with the error stats either. The huge number of Correctable errors on the D3.1 channel is normal and expected.
Be sure to use the "Computer -- Your Router -- XB7 -- Rogers Network" arrangement when performing the speed tests, so that the only thing that changes is enabling/disabling Bridge Mode on the XB7. That way, nobody can point to your router for slowing down the connection.
The other weird thing about the XB6 issue was that the problem only manifested after rebooting the XB6 while Bridge Mode was enabled. If you rebooted in Gateway mode, then enabled Bridge Mode after, the XB6 ran at full speed. If you rebooted again with Bridge Mode enabled, things would slow down again. I have not heard whether this "workaround" works with the XB7.
If you do get full speed in Gateway mode (Bridge Mode disabled) be sure to report it to Rogers and please update us here as well.
Best of luck with your testing and troubleshooting!
@Draconix wrote:
Thank you for your help, I was able to do some testing and with your recommendation I kept the connection as is (going through the Asus RT-AC86U). Unfortunately the results seem to be about the same, with file download speeds still fluctuating between ~35 MB/s and ~60 MB/s. The only thing that shows a good speed is Speedtest.net (at ~900 Mbps) but that doesn't help me with real file downloads. The CODA modem did well on Speedtest.net too, but also gave me excellent real file downloads at around 90 to 100 MB/s. I took some screenshots of my Task Manager during file downloads and Speedtest.net:
What results do you get with your computer directly connected to the XB7 gateway, with Bridge Mode disabled?
Have you also tried running your tests with a different computer and/or with a different web browser?
It's hard to say what the problem actually is without analysing the network traffic with sophisticated tools.
You can also infer what the problem might be by looking at the download progress indicator. (Is the download progress bursty, or appear to start/stop randomly? Is it slower but steady? Does it slow down over time?)
The CODA modem showed a nice consistent download speed in the Task Manager. I am almost 100% sure that the router is not a fault here, because the RT-AC86U has been extremely solid for me and it performed exceptionally well when paired with the CODA-4582. I still wonder if I got a defective XB7 because I've read lots of praise for the Technicolor XB6 and XB7 for its use of the Broadcom chipset. I think my latency in games is slightly more consistent than the CODA's Intel Puma 7, but the download speeds are significantly worse.
Unfortunately, too much of what is out there comes from people with emotional/confirmation bias, flawed test methodologies, or who only have half a clue about what they are talking about. (There is also no shortage of bad advice out there when it comes to optimizing networks or making performance tweaks to Microsoft Windows.)
The Puma 6 chipset deserves its bad reputation. The problems may have been fixed to a large extent but issues still persist. The Puma 7 is a different chipset.
The Broadcom BCM3390 chipset is generally well-regarded but there is no guarantee that the product using it will be good.
Latency and jitter will always be an issue on residential networks carrying mixed traffic; it will vary with traffic loads in your area and can also be made worse when Rogers (or any service provider) makes network changes that don't work out quite as well as they hoped.
A defective modem is always a possibility. However, if you are just going to use the XB7 in bridge mode, you will be better off switching to the (slightly older but much more stable) XB6.
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