UPC: IP Changing

They arent static, but the way the system renews them they rarely change.

If you really wanted to change, leave your router off for 24hrs and somebody else will probably pick up yours, giving you a new one.


If this is for gambling reasons as in another thread, dont be a scummer. If this is for nefarious reasons this really isnt the place.

DublinC wrote: »

Skype invulnerabilities

FYP


First off, if skype is getting hit I'd turn it off, for gaming surely you'd use Vent/TS/Mumble.

Then I'd work on making your net resistant to floods. The odd time I'll see DoS attempts in our logs, but it never hampers our connection. If you offload DHCP etc to another router as per the bridging guide you may well see some increase in stability, I dont know enough to be sure. From the way I look at it the DMZ should reroute every packet without any determination to the second router, which should be able to deal with them if its half decent(unlike the EPCs).

kaku777 wrote: »

I thought it changed if you just leave your router off.

It does. I was away recently for a week, had my router off, and when I returned my IP had changed.

DublinC wrote: »

Hi,

Leaving it off for a week really isn't an option!

Maybe not for you.
I was just confirming that it does work.

Mine was the same address for over a year (despite its having been off for over 2 weeks due to holidays). It changed a few months ago, after their major outage (June?) and has been the same since (including another period of the modem having been powered down due to holidays).

I have found a way to put the EPC3925 in true Bridge mode, none of that double NAT'ing. This will enable you to use a cable router with the EPC3925 to handle your connected devices exclusively and if the cable router you have has an option to set its MAC address, you can get a brand-new IP after the settings apply and the router resets just like with the old Scientific Atlanta DOCSIS 2.0 standalone modems that UPC used to supply.

I've written up a guide on how to make this happen, it's actually quite easy and you do not need to do anything intimidating to achieve it. Just note that if you're a UPC Phone customer, your phone will cease to work while the EPC3925 is in Bridge mode (a known drawback and this is possibly the reason why the option was removed in the first place). You can of course switch it back to Router mode just as easily as you Bridged it (and all your old custom settings will be retained), or do a hard-reset (but you will lose your settings).

There's absolutely nothing dangerous about giving it a go, there's no firmware flashing, nothing that can brick the device. If you're not happy, Lever Brothers will give you your money back! Or, in other words, you can switch back to Router mode just as quickly.

Just remember, if you're a UPC Phone customer, the chances of your phone functioning while the EPC3925 is in Bridge mode is very slim to none. By all means, give it a whirl to see if it does work and go back to Router mode if it doesn't. Anyone who either doesn't care about their phone service or is not subscribed in the first place, this is really for you.

In the meantime, here's some screen-shots to offer proof that I'm not talking out of my ass and give you an idea of how it's done. If you're iterested, head over to my guide.

DublinC wrote: »

Hey DECEiFER,

Appreciate the response. But I have a Thompson router..! I had the Cisco, but due to wi-fi issues the technician switched it for the Thompson which he said is a better router... Is that guide still useful?!

Cheers

Hi. Unfortunately one of the guys posting on my guide thread has said it isn't because they actually did remove the functionality from it. But if you have a standalone cable router, perhaps ask for the EPC3925 back and you won't have to worry about its crappy WiFi or anything else, as the cable router you'd use would handle all of that. The EPC3925 would essentially be a modem and nothing else while in Bridge mode. Just remember, it's not going to be much good to you if you use UPC's phone service.

Sorry I can't be the bearer of good news regarding the Thompson.

Have you tried plugging yourself in and doing a speed test over Ethernet to rule out an overall poor service or bad signal? Before I purchased a standalone cable router, I did use the EPC3925 exclusively and over Ethernet I was able to achieve my full 50Mb/s, at the time. I can still do it today (I'm on 60Mb/s now and I get between 60Mb/s to 65Mb/s). I haven't tested it much over WiFi as I wanted the standalone router for that purpose since the range sucks on the EPC. So remove WiFi from the equation and see if it's your actual connection that's at fault.

Also, if you can see the noise levels in the Thompson router, the downstream SNR for each channel should be 30dB or more and the higher the better. I'm all good at ~36dB here for each channel (I have the signal split twice before it reaches the modem upstairs so I'd be closer to 40dB if I removed one of the splitters, but there's a TV upstairs that needs a signal too).

As for the downstream power levels for each channel, the ideal range is between -15dBmV to 15dBmV, but I read somewhere that it's better again between -8dBmV to 8dBmV. My channels are -13dBmV to -10dBmV, which would improve again if I removed the second splitter upstairs.

Regarding the upstream, there is only one channel and a power level lower than 55dBmV is stable (~50dBmV when the second splitter is removed). The lower, the better. The EPC3925 doesn't show upstream SNR but if the Thompson does, the same applies as per the downstream SNR, above 30dB is stable.

So if you use my SNR and power levels as a benchmark, if you're getting lower than mine or even worse, lower than the minimum levels, you should call UPC and have them look at the signal coming into your home and the internal wiring (this is why you pay a connection fee - they sometimes half-ass this but they are normally willing to come back out and do a better job if need be and it won't cost you a penny).

DublinC wrote: »

Also, I've used an ethernet directly and the internet speed is the full 120mb/s, no issues at all. Just when using wireless it's shockingly bad and unstable.

Those are great results.

When on WiFi, how close are you to the router? What is the link speed? Also is it possible that you're getting any interference from, say, electrical equipment or perhaps you're WiFi channel is being used by neighbors? I use an app from Google Play on my Android to show me a graph of all nearby WiFi signals and what channel they're using vs. signal strength from my position. If you're using Android, here's the app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en

DublinC wrote: »

Link speed? :P

Sorry, I meant the WLAN connection speed stated within the Network and Sharing Center (in Windows).

Okay, there's a lot of activity in your area so here's an idea.

I think you should turn the ZyXEL off for a moment and set the Thompson to broadcast on channel 5. There's a nice gap between channels 3 and 7 that can be filled so 5 is right in the middle and the best bet. There's someone else broadcasting on 11 nearby with a strong enough signal that could cause interference. I'm not an expert but I've had complaints of interference (slow or dropped connections) by past housemates (while I was wired) and when I switched the channel to something more appropriate, it seemed to fix the issue every time.

While back on the Thompson, can you post the WLAN connection speed that I mentioned before?