Change of Modem / Router
 

I'm changing providers to reduce costs. New ISP, new modem / router.
My house is now fairly automated and I really don't want to go through everything and connect it to a new WiFi access point.

Can I:

1. Name the new WiFi the same as the old, use the same password and clone the Mac address?

2. Use the new unit as a modem only, hard wire it to the old router using that as the WiFi access point.

3. Do something clever that I haven't thought of because I'm a numpty!

TIA

CtL

I'm doing #2.

Which provider have you found?

Most of the stuff should work with just having the same SSID and password on the new router unless you have some firewall rules setup on router for access from outside.

That being said I have my own Unifi WiFi network and newer use WiFi from providers router.

I'm switching from EE to 3. I've been paying £61 pm for 200Gb and 3 are doing an unlimited data sim for £18 pm on a two year contract.

Mike

Are you using the equipment supplied by your current ISP, or stuff you’ve bought yourself? If the latter you should be able to enter the credentials (if any are needed) to access the new service provider’s network

We moved from Virgin Media to Sky when we moved house, but I’ve got all my stuff running through an expensive Asus router, so wanted to continue with that when I realised how limited Sky’s kit is. Ended up with a BT modem which does
The handshake bit with the network and the ASUS router needed a Merlin firmware installing to allow me to enter Sky credentials that satisfy the ISP

If you do end up setting up the same WiFi access details to avoid setting up everything again, be aware it probably won’t work for all devices. Some appear smart enough to know when the source of the WiFi signal has changed and want you to re-enter passwords or delete settings before being recognised

Thanks for the advice.

I have a very capable TP Link router that I use to use when my BB came over copper. When I switched to the EE 4G ISP I hard wired the router to the EE supplied unit and that worked up to a point. My security cameras and NAS however use DDNS so I can access them away from home. This failed as the cameras were reporting the WAN IP as the address of the TP Link router not the EE modem. In the end I dropped the TP Link unit and ran everything via the EE router.

As an experiment, could I fire up the TP link unit with the SSID of the EE unit and switch off the EE WiFi to see what connects? If everything connects to the TP Link router then job done?

Hiya

I'm not sure, to be honest. Until you get the kit from the new supplier and find out how open/limited it is to working with other kit, it's difficult to predict unless someone with the same service is on here (which if you're relying on 4G for access is unlikely!)

Whatever kit they supply, you should be able to link another router off that one but you need to be able to set the new one to bridge mode and faff about with settings I've never needed to use. Once that's working you can rely on the wifi you've already got.

How tied down is the router you're using now? Many I've played with recently that come from the ISP give you next to no control over anything beyond the most basic of settings.....

Another vote from me for the #2 option; use ISP-supplied router in modem-only mode and pipe 'tinterweb' through to your own router.

That's what I'd do as well. Number 2 all the way. +++

Most 'dumb' devices will reconnect without issue to a different WiFi infrastructure if it uses a 'known' SSID and password, although the subnet and gateway addresses may need to be the same in some cases (especially if you have any devices with static IPs). However, some devices (such as Windows-based PCs) will detect that the router's MAC and/or NetBIOS are different, which will default the network type to public/untrusted. But you can easily switch it back to private of course.

ISP-supplied modem/routers are terrible and the built-in WiFi capabilities of most routers are quite poor/limited. Also, just like using an ISP-based email account, using and configuring an ISP's router is a bad idea because it puts reliance on the ISP and makes switching to another ISP more difficult.

I don't do residential IT, but for my smaller business customers (and my own/home setups), any ISP-supplied router goes straight in the bin. I instead obtain the broadband connection details (inc. any login credentials) and connect a business-grade firewall/router directly.

For WiFi, I always disable any router WiFi features and install Access Points instead (usually Ubiquiti/UniFi units), which makes extending a WiFi network simple. Access Points also provide a far superior WiFi service and are easy to replace or upgrade when newer/faster models become available. For smaller setups, I usually use DrayTek routers. Ubiquiti also make some very good routers (and an all-in-one product called a 'Dream Machine', which incorporates a router and an Access Point controller) but I'm yet to use one (mainly due to their current limitations in handling multiple public IP addresses). Some of the DrayTek routers support mobile broadband (LTE) directly. Some models have a SIM slot and LTE antennae, while some cheaper models use compatible mobile broadband 'dongles' instead.

Something to bear in mind with most mobile broadband providers is that they usually don't provide you with a public IP address. Instead you'll receive a pre-NAT'd connection with a private IP address (I think Three tend to give you a private IP in the 10.0.0.0/24 range). You need to speak to them if you need a public IP address (which you will need if you need to forward ports for cameras, etc).