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

DECEiFER · 26-01-2016 12:51am

Tinder Surprise wrote: »

probably best asked here....

So I am guessing if my current setup; Cisco 3925--bridged-->Asus AC66u goes tits up then this new VM Compal modem is the way to go, as it allows bridge mode?

cause I am hearing/reading conflicting posts about Virgin no longer allowing bridge mode.

You'll be fine. They made a "mistake" a few months ago and rectified it quickly to allow us 3925'ers to bridge again and I can't see them taking it away again, even if their mistake was intentional, because even if that was the case, they soon realized that it was a bad move because of how quick they got it back to us again. I'm not worried in the least, so my advice would be to chill out if you're happy with how it works at present. But absolutely, the Compal is bridgeable in the UI also and Brian over in the VM Talk To board has been clear about its existence, while mentioning that it's not something you can get support for. However, at the moment anyway, you need to be on the 360Mb package to get it. They won't give it to anyone on a lower tier. I've already addressed this with Brian and said it's a mistake as even those of us on a snail's pace 240Mb can still do with 802.11ac (folks unlike us who aren't bridging who would benefit from the faster WiFi).

Chances are if you do switch out your 3925 for something else while on 240Mb, they'll send you a crappy Ubee or something else, so steer clear of switching unless you're absolutely sure it's a Compal, if you find a way around the above predicament of not being on 360Mb.

ED E · 26-01-2016 8:44am

Karsini already answered him.

Tinder: its frowned upon to post the same thing in multiple threads. Nobody likes junk mail.

Tinder Surprise · 26-01-2016 12:46pm

ED E wrote: »

Karsini already answered him.

Tinder: its frowned upon to post the same thing in multiple threads. Nobody likes junk mail.

Oooops my bad.

I had intended of deleting the original post..just forgot, but now done.

Doge · 30-01-2016 3:52am

DECEiFER wrote: »

January 2016 has been a rough month for deaths of icons. And this morning, my poor WNDR3700 died - an icon indeed. I woke up to seeing no WiFi on my phone, thought it was odd that the SSID was missing, and noticed my router powercycling over and over and even when it did settle for a moment before doing so again, I couldn't get into the web UI. It could be a transformer issue and I'm waiting to get my hands on a suitable one to test with (12V 2.5A). It's an American model as I got it on eBay in January 2012 as a refurb from the UK, so I'd say he got it from the States as the transformer is the original American one and it was glued to an el cheapo white travel adapter in the box. But it lasted 4 years and was a good router in its day. In the meantime I've taken the plunge and ordered an ASUS RT-AC68U through PC World for €135 (apparently down from €200 for the sale). It ain't any cheaper elsewhere. If a new transformer brings my WNDR3700 back to life, I'll put it to work as a wired-only router elsewhere.

Now I'm suffering the 3925 yet again after 4 years of bridging (and faux bridging) while I wait for the ASUS to arrive (next week sometime, I'd say). I do have an EnGenius ESR9850v2 that I got new and packaged from the back of a white va...but they're a P.O.S so I wouldn't even bother.

After bridge mode was officially unlocked I quickly snapped up a second hand ASUS RT-N66U for €50 quid on adverts, and the WIFI has not dropped since.

Absolutely delighted with the reliability of it and love the sleek Dark Knight carbon fibre look.

However the Download master app for torrents etc.. is pants and really slow so i dont bother with it.

Also I only get about 4 MB/s when writing to a 1TB USB hard drive attached over SMB,
and its too slow to stream full hd content, but its still handy to have the usb ports built in.
Its certainly no replacement for a NAS setup.

Other than those niggles i'm delighted with it.

Edit: seems to be streaming 1080p content fine now over SMB.

Mav11 · 01-02-2016 1:22pm

Anybody have any idea what to do if the Gateway Setup(Wan) option is not available? As far as I can remember it used to be avilable before.

Appreciate any help.

Thanks Mav

01-02-2016 1:42pm

I can't open your attachment, they seem to be broken since the site DDoS. Can you put it somewhere else instead and link to it?

Mav11 · 01-02-2016 2:05pm

Karsini wrote: »

I can't open your attachment, they seem to be broken since the site DDoS. Can you put it somewhere else instead and link to it?

Hi Karsini

I originally posted here http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057551740 and can still access the screen shot. It just shows the adminstration screen when I log into the modem.

Thanks Mav

Snake Plisken · 02-02-2016 6:01pm

Not sure if anyone has issues with telephone voice quality on the EPC3925, basically when you make a call or receive a call the voice is poor almost echoes a bit and its almost like it sounds to loud, as I said its like that on both incoming and outgoing calls. Broadband is fine I get over 200Mb all the time, spoke to support and all line levels are good. When I sign into the admin screen 192.168.100.1 under the voice tab I get the following

Telephone DHCP:- Completed
Telephone Security Disabled
Telephone TFTP Completed
Telephony-Reg with Call Server L1 Operational
Telephony-Reg with Call Server L2 Disabled
Telephony-Reg Complete : Pass with Warnings

Anyone know what the pass with warnings means?

I've had the EPC3925 for a couple of years, maybe it's telephony circuitry is starting to give up the ghost.

Snake Plisken · 02-02-2016 6:01pm

Not sure if anyone has issues with telephone voice quality on the EPC3925, basically when you make a call or receive a call the voice is poor almost echoes a bit and its almost like it sounds to loud, as I said its like that on both incoming and outgoing calls. Broadband is fine I get over 200Mb all the time, spoke to support and all line levels are good. When I sign into the admin screen 192.168.100.1 under the voice tab I get the following

Telephone DHCP:- Completed
Telephone Security Disabled
Telephone TFTP Completed
Telephony-Reg with Call Server L1 Operational
Telephony-Reg with Call Server L2 Disabled
Telephony-Reg Complete : Pass with Warnings

Anyone know what the pass with warnings means?

I've had the EPC3925 for a couple of years, maybe it's telephony circuitry is starting to give up the ghost.

02-02-2016 6:02pm

I've had Pass with Warnings for ages. I think there's an error in their config file that they haven't corrected.

DECEiFER · 03-02-2016 12:25pm

Karsini wrote: »

I've had Pass with Warnings for ages. I think there's an error in their config file that they haven't corrected.

Same here but I don't use a hardwired phone and haven't done in ages, so I can't tell if there are quality issues.

Be careful how you proceed on this one as if they offer a replacement modem, it will 100% certainly not be an EPC3925 and you'd lose your ability to bridge. The new Compal modem they're issuing has an option to bridge but you must be a 360Mb customer to get it without exception at the time of writing this.

Alun · 03-02-2016 12:29pm

Mines always given that error, and my phone service is perfect. Are you sure it's not the phone itself that's at fault? Maybe try another one to rule that out as a possible cause?

DECEiFER · 03-02-2016 12:30pm

Alun wrote: »

Mines always given that error, and my phone service is perfect. Are you sure it's not the phone itself that's at fault? Maybe try another one to rule that out as a possible cause?

Absolutely the best option. Borrow before buying one if you can.

Snake Plisken · 03-02-2016 1:46pm

Alun wrote: »

Mines always given that error, and my phone service is perfect. Are you sure it's not the phone itself that's at fault? Maybe try another one to rule that out as a possible cause?

Hi lads

Yes I have a Panasonic handset connected to it and I also tried a Siemens handset on it and both the same issue. I will probably upgrade to the 360 plan in the coming months and that's what I told the help desk chat. Possibly ther circuitry is beginning to fail. Or maybe Bridge mode is affecting it.

Alan3002 · 08-02-2016 11:09am

Alun wrote: »

Mines always given that error, and my phone service is perfect. Are you sure it's not the phone itself that's at fault? Maybe try another one to rule that out as a possible cause?

Same here. Have the error but the phone has been perfect.

Definitely don't rule out the phone itself.

DECEiFER · 08-02-2016 2:06pm

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Hi lads

Yes I have a Panasonic handset connected to it and I also tried a Siemens handset on it and both the same issue. I will probably upgrade to the 360 plan in the coming months and that's what I told the help desk chat. Possibly ther circuitry is beginning to fail. Or maybe Bridge mode is affecting it.

Revert to Router Mode and give it a go? You should be easily able to switch back. Even if you did a factory reset, you could switch it back to Bridge Mode. Worth it to rule out any software issues before jumping to conclude that it must be the hardware - or, maybe it could be the "line" itself, too.

frash · 19-02-2016 10:08am

Haven't posted in this thread in a long time and actually stopped following it but if it's ok I'm back with a question that might have been answered already.

I did the whole 'switch to bridge mode' hack a couple of years ago and it was running away with no issues.

I've upgraded to the 360MB line now with the snazzy new router which I just automatically stuck into bridge mode again.
Is this still the thing to do?
I know I did it with the EPC3925 cos the wireless range was bad.

I have a Netgear N600 acting as the main router now.

19-02-2016 10:12am

frash wrote: »

Haven't posted in this thread in a long time and actually stopped following it but if it's ok I'm back with a question that might have been answered already.

I did the whole 'switch to bridge mode' hack a couple of years ago and it was running away with no issues.

I've upgraded to the 360MB line now with the snazzy new router which I just automatically stuck into bridge mode again.
Is this still the thing to do?
I know I did it with the EPC3925 cos the wireless range was bad.

I have a Netgear N600 acting as the main router now.

I've heard very mixed reports about the Compal so I just bridged mine. Some report that the speeds aren't great unless in true AC mode, others report the wireless randomly dropping.

gocur1 · 19-02-2016 7:01pm

Hi there,

May I ask you for uploading an *.gwc config backup file with bridge enabled from EPC3925?

zom · 04-06-2016 10:28pm

There is 81 pages of discussion so let me know if it was already mentioned.
I managed (with VM help) to put my Cisco EPC3925 into bridge mode, but now I can't access it at all. I tried on 2 different routers (netgear and d-link) and they can't see Cisco and also there is no internet accessible on them. I tried hard-reset (press back hole for 10 sec) and after that it turns into router modem for a moment (with 192.168.1.1 as a gateway) but then automatically hard-reset back into bridge again. So I tried DHCP pools for 192.168.1.1 on both routers but couldn't get it.
What I possibly do wrong?

bealtine · 04-06-2016 10:59pm

zom wrote: »

What I possibly do wrong?

192.168.100.1 is the best in bridge mode

zom · 04-06-2016 11:12pm

bealtine wrote: »

192.168.100.1 is the best in bridge mode

192.168.100.1 is mentioned at the first page of this thread and I tried it already few times with no success.... Also I never set Cisco to have 192.168.100.1 IP in 192.168.100. pool - is it what is set automatically while turned in to bridge mode??

My understanding was that I am setting gateway IP like that:
http://screenshots.portforward.com/routers/Cisco/EPC3925/LAN_Setup.jpg

and then turn Cisco into bridge and it keeps its IP, just not routing (like network printers)? But I created test networks with other routers on 192.168.100.1, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 pools and Cisco was never accessible??

ADDED - Just found on http://superuser.com/questions/859490/how-do-i-access-my-modems-gui-when-its-in-bridged-mode that I have to have router running DD-WRT to access IP and GUI of bridged routers - is that true? How people here access their routers?

ADDED2 - I just came across IP reservation settings - will it help if I set DHCP reservation for Cisco's IP (on added DHCP router)? I can see Cisco's MAC address in switching settings so layer 1 and 2 can can recognise it.

degsie · 05-06-2016 12:11am

Take a step back. Factory reset the 3925. Wire connect to the Cisco on a LAN port with no other connections. Check you have Internet connectivity. Using the command prompt check you have a private IP address (192.168.x or 10.x). Now set the Cisco into bridge mode and reboot your wired PC/laptop. Check if you have Internet connection and also check if you now have a public IP address. This is assuming you have dhcp set on your PC/laptop.

zom · 05-06-2016 12:26am

degsie wrote: »

Take a step back. Factory reset the 3925. Wire connect to the Cisco on a LAN port with no other connections. Check you have Internet connectivity. Using the command prompt check you have a private IP address (192.168.x or 10.x). Now set the Cisco into bridge mode and reboot your wired PC/laptop. Check if you have Internet connection and also check if you now have a public IP address. This is assuming you have dhcp set on your PC/laptop.

Factory reset is automatically firing next reset back to bridge mode (thank you Virgin Media

. But for a split of time while it works in router mode I have internet connectivity and my PC gets IP 192.168.1.x with 192.168.1.1 gateway (so this is Cisco's IP).

While in bridge modem I connect it to test network with additional DHCP router - I don't have internet and can't see Cisco in IP pool, but can see its MAC address in switching settings on that routers (so it's connected). Test networks works fine, my PC gets dynamic IP and can access other IPs - but not Cisco.

I used two different routers (netgear and dlink) but never tried DHCP from my PC - I know I can set it up, maybe it is worth to try...

05-06-2016 12:44am

Something's not right here. A bridged modem should give you a public IP. What is connected to the Cisco, is it just your router?

ED E · 05-06-2016 1:06am

My guess is you're using DSL routers which don't have ethwan so in effect they are switching not routing the bridged connection.

zom · 05-06-2016 1:21am

I got Cisco EPC3925 as a part of upgrade of business UPC/VM connection. It was set to block bridge mode so I called VM and they set it up into bridge.

First of all - it doesn't work in router mode anymore. It keeps automatic hard reset back into bridge mode each time I hard reset it manually.

When in bridge mode it is not routing so when I connect PC it gets 169.x.x.x IP. There is no ping back on 192.168.100.1.

Then I connect Cisco and PC to additional router (Netgear on IP 192.168.100.5) routing DHCP pool 192.168.100.x. PC gets IP from that range and 192.168.100.1 is not in use - still there is no ping back on 192.168.100.1. If I go to Netgear switching settings I can see Cisco MAC addres.

(last step I tried with different scopes - 192.168.100.x, 192.168.1.x, 192.168.0.x - no succes. Can't connect to Cisco at all).

zom · 05-06-2016 1:29am

ED E wrote: »

My guess is you're using DSL routers which don't have ethwan so in effect they are switching not routing the bridged connection.

You may be right, both routers I used are bottom-level hardware and I can't relay on them. I'm going to get WRT router and try to reach Cisco with it.

ED E · 05-06-2016 1:42am

Simply do they have 4 + 1 ethernet ports or 4 ethernet + 1 DSL? If its the latter don't bother flashing them as you can only use them as access points not routers.

zom · 07-06-2016 2:27pm

I got more confused.
I set static IP 192.168.100.5 to laptop and connect it straight to Cisco EPC3925 (ONLY). Got ping back from 192.168.100.1 but it has Netgear MAC address?? I tracert it too and it shows it comes from some external IP!! I tried this IP 192.168.100.1 on the browser and got blank page with heading "Find ASUS Device" ????

I scanned 192.168.x.x range for PINGs and found nothing except range if IPs responding with my Cisco box MAC address?
192.168.33.1
192.168.34.1
192.168.35.1
192.168.36.1
192.168.37.1
192.168.38.1
192.168.39.1

But there is no web GUI working on these IPs. Have no idea what to do next - probably call VM for different box if possible.

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

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