UPC Cisco EPC3925: Enabling True Bridge Mode - A Simple How-to Guide

Adam wrote: »

Any suggestions on routers lads? I've just gone up to the 50 meg package and got the 3925, have a wrt54gs with ddwrt but that doesn't support the 50 meg connection, getting about 25 out of it wired. Without spending a fortune, and recommendations on a router that will see me through and potentially up to 100 meg if I decide to upgrade further?

What's your budget? That router is very old with 100Mb/s Ethernet and over WiFi you'd only get about 25Mb/s also.

It's very difficult to find a Gigabit Ethernet wireless router for less than €80, much less one without dual-band and all that stuff you said you didn't need. I've been looking at the Linksys EA2700 and the Netgear WNDR3700v1 (which I own - bought it refurbished from eBay on the cheap for about £50 from a UK seller back in January - and would happily recommend). Both routers can be expensive from ordinary retailers (over €100), but on eBay you'll find reasonable prices (or maybe elsewhere if you shop around).

I've looked on both Linksys' and Netgear's websites and there's not much (or nothing else) there in the low- to medium-end wireless router range with Gigabit Ethernet.

Results for the EA2700 only from the EU sorted by price ascending:
http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?LH_Price=50..%40c&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=3&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=EA2700&_fln=1&_mPrRngCbx=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283

Results for the WNDR3700 also only from the EU sorted by price ascending:
http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?LH_Price=50..%40c&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=3&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=WNDR3700&_fln=1&_mPrRngCbx=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283


Both of these choices should be perfect for your needs today and in the future. They key is not to spend too much dosh on either. In the low- to mid-end market, I'm not personally a fan of any other manufacturers (or none are racing to mind right now). I've had ZyXEL devices in the past and hated them all and I've had a D-Link device...they were all cheap and not-so-cheerful (and by cheap I mean less than €100 but still over €50).


EDIT:

Also, here's a list filtered to wireless cable routers with 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports, so you can have a look to see what's available for roughly what price:
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopSearch.asp?CategoryID=389&t=49,2#T

Modem no, router yes. The modem must be provided by UPC. Finding a cable modem for purchase isn't that straightforward but it can be done. However, it'd be a waste of your money since it wouldn't be able to authenticate with UPC.

You can bridge the Cisco EPC3925 with your own router. Your current Netgear I presume is a ADSL modem/router combo, so I wouldn't be too optimistic about that working. You'd still use the EPC3925 to connect to the Internet (as a modem) but you'd wire one of the Ethernet ports from the EPC to a suitable cable router's WAN port and then you should be set. If you read through this thread you'll find mine and others' recommendations as far as what devices are good purchases and there have been posts assisting people who needed help bridging. There's also the option of using your Netgear as an Access Point (AP), but that will depend on your Netgear having such a feature. More help is available if you need it, but first you need to try your Netgear and if that fails, post again with as much specifics pertaining to your problem and your needs.

If you switched out your old modem for a new one, they probably unauthorized it and authorized your EPC in its place.

I had no idea that the USB port wasn't working until you mentioned it as I have never once used it. My Netgear WNDR3700 (the router I bridge with the EPC) has a USB port and I do use that from time to time. Maybe someone else could shed some light on the USB issue, or perhaps ask the UPC representatives in the UPC board?

Marcin_diy wrote: »

I have bridged epc3925, everything but phone works fine.

Looking at the settings that DECEiFER has on his router ( DECEiFER's picture attacehed) settings looks different on my box.

Every option is disabled. Line status 1 and 2 is down.

how do I change these settings?

You can't change them. In addition, the status' as seen in my image is regardless of whether a phone is connected to the device or not.

What does your page look like when you're in Router mode?

gdon wrote: »

Hi

I am using the EPC3925 modem in bridge mode with the Asus
RT N66U. My UPC package is 150mbit. I noticed slow ping times
to both devices anywhere from 7 to 20 ms. All settings such as upnp
DNS wireless etc have been disabled on the Cisco. I haven't been able to test with hardwire as my laptop is broke. I use a galaxy nexus tablet on 2.4ghz wireless or Samsung S3 on 5ghz wireless. I have spent time optimizing the wireless config in the Asus. I have tested the speed multiple times using a USB hard drive connected to the Asus router. Using the the S3 with wireless n and 5ghz most I ever transfer is 80megs. Although theoretically speed can be up to 600megs. Is there something I am missing here?

Thanks
Ger

Hopefully someone familar with ASUS routers can be of assistance to you. I've never once used one and I'm not sure how reliable the WiFi drivers on the Nexus 7 or Galaxy S III are for testing. A computer would be more ideal.

But I can tell you this. On Android (ICS and JB), if you go into Settings > Wi-Fi and tap on the connected SSID, it should show you the WLAN link speed your device is getting. If you could post the numbers back on those for both devices, it might be of help.

Marcin_diy wrote: »

apologies for the late reply. it looks exactly the same all disabled, both lines down.
should I contact upc?

Yeah, absolutely, I don't think there's anything we can do for you here. Let us know what they say? (if they say they'll replace the modem, don't let them give you the Thomson!)

You have no chance at 65Mb/s of getting anywhere near your top speed, and at 135Mb/s, unlikely also. Internet at 150Mb/s over wireless is a tall order. You'd probably need to be right beside the router with link speeds nearing the 300Mb/s mark. So unless you're planning on wiring devices to the router, you're really paying extra for nothing - maybe the 100Mb pack may be better suited. That's just my opinion...

Markus Cuddly Busboy wrote: »

Internet experience is so much better now bridging to the Asus Rt-n66u . Wireless range extremely better and no connection drops. Take note UPC!

Excellent! Glad you're all set now. At least UPC has stopped disabling Bridge mode on the Cisco EPC3925, that's one step in the right direction.

Markus Cuddly Busboy wrote: »

This router is a beast of a thing.

Yeah I heard ASUS were good but I've never had the pleasure of using any of their networking devices so far, but I always get ASUS motherboards when I build a custom PC (I'm currently using a P6T from the early Nehalem Core i7 days) or when I recommend specs to others.

What are you throwing at the router right now?

gramo wrote: »

Hi Guys

I just had my old router replaced with this Cisco EPC3925.
I have a wndr3700 that I have always used for my routing with the old one in dmz mode.

I noticed that there is a setting in this one to use it in router mode or bridge mode.

Can I just put it in bridge mode and still have the phone working?

Yes. No problem. It will work. I have the exact same setup as you.

Yeah it was only made available in October. When I wrote all that stuff in the first post it was necessary to add some HTML code into the page to see the option.

I'd have edited it but the timespan for editing the post has expired and I have to ask a mod to do it for me and that's not a quick process, and I'm sure Cabaal is sick of me asking him to edit in revisions for me at this point.

Just slap it into Bridge mode and let the Netgear get all IPs dynamically and you'll be online no problem. Make sure to disable Wireless in the EPC3925, though, before you switch over. Also there's no danger in trying it out, you can always switch back to Router mode. So even if it did break the phone service (which the old EPC2425 did), you can always switch it back and everything would be alright.