Cisco DPC3825 Modem Owner's Thread

[Interocitor]

We've had the Shaw Broadband 50 with the Cisco DOCSIS 3.0 DPC3825 installed for a couple of weeks now. The primary computer located in the family room works great directly connected to the Cisco box.

I have a Compaq Presario CQ56 Notebook PC with an Atheros AR9285 and I was having continuous disconnects since switching from our previous Shaw Internet service.

I've been reading this forum, as well as others searching for a solution when I stumbled across something on a Dell forum. It pertains to my particular network adapter, the Atheros AR9285. (see post below)

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I don't have the definitive answer, but I do have a laptop with the Atheros AR9285 wireless card.

I have just installed the "lastest" driver and my received signal level has dropped 10db.

I use a program called InSSIDer and it shows how many networks are around you. On the old driver it detected 15 but

with the new driver it only finds 6! And out of 4 it found on channel 1, none are showing anymore!

My point is, that the driver you use can definitely affect signal strength, so it may be worth finding an older driver.

The one that works best for me is v.8.0.0.238 A google search will locate it for you. This is specifically for the Atheros AR9xxx series

Good luck.

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I went out and found the older driver, installed it, and bingo I'm having almost no problems at all anymore. I have still had one or two disconnects since the driver rollback, but nothing like what I was experiencing before.

I hope this helps somebody else.

Regards,

Exeter

[tux]

To take advantage of the 2nd IP, you will need to bridge your modem. When the modem is not bridged, it is acting as a router, and all of your computers will be NAT'd and receive internal IPs in the 192.168 range.

Once you bridge the modem, you can connect up to 2 computers the modem's ethernet ports to take advantage of both public IP addresses. Your hub should no longer be needed.

Whether the modem is in "router mode" or in "bridged mode", the available bandwidth is the maximum speed off all data passing through the modem. For instance, if you're using Netflix HD on one computer, this reduces the remaining bandwidth available for your other computers.

The modem's USB port won't support NAS. As with most modems, the sole purpose of the USB port is to allow wired network connectivity on computers that do not have ethernet adapters. Use of the USB ports is deprecated and discouraged due to speed and reliability issues involving USB connections, but the drivers should still be available on the installation CD or through the Cisco website, should you wish to connect via USB.

[kidknicky]

Thanx for the reply tux. I guess it goes without saying that in bridged mode you will lose 2 ports off the Cisco.

I guess the best way to share storage on the network (streaming) is still a dedicated box.

Speeds are still good and the extra bandwidth to the NNTP is nice. Also using wireless with fairly good results. So far so good (Okanagan).

Regards,

[crp18]

I'm a new BB50 subscriber and they gave me this modem/router. Originally asked the CSR to install in bridge mode but I don't believe it is since i can access the router function (plus the wi-fi was working off the bat).

My issue is this:
The wireless-N speed is seems to be faster than the wired speed. Running the speedtests I get the desired 43-50mbps when using wifi-n. However, when I hardwire it I get an initial speed of 43-50mbps then the speed would decrease to about 25mbps (about half). Resulting score is about 30mbps. My wired is connected at 100mbps. I am beginning to think that it is because of the CAT5 I'm using. Would upgrading to CAT6 fix this "throttling" issue?

[khulit]

Hi new BB50 customer, and I have a question about this modem, the installer placed it my basement inside the ceiling tile as my previous setup with MTS was the same... they also had a wireless router built-in with the DSL modem but I enabled DMZ mode and connected my Linksys E2000 router to it (effectively making it function as a plain DSL modem, but with wifi access ability in case I need to reset the modem)

With the DPC3825, I made the DMZ setup, pointed it to the E2000 IP address, and it does seem to work as my main router servicing my internal network, but it doesn't seem to provide a public WAN IP address to my E2000...

From what I gathered from the posts here, most people are saying I should call Shaw and have them change the DPC3825 to bridge mode (or flash firmware to enable just modem and disable router)... which is what I can do, but since the device is a bit inaccessible for me, I would prefer to keep the WIFI running on the DPC3825 in case I need to reset it...

Is DMZ not working properly in the DPC3825 or am I doing something wrong? For the MTS DSL modem/router, all I did was turn on DMZ mode and it immediately gave a public IP to my E2000 router...

[WetCardboard]

I have Optik but my parents have Shaw;

I'm having the same issue where I can't piggyback my original router off of the new Shaw modem. I would like to use my own router instead because it's N and has three antennas, I was quite shocked to see that this Shaw modem only supports the G band and doesn't have any external antennas?! For some a "modern" piece of technology I expected more. I haven't been able to test the range out but it seems fine so far using devices upstairs and the modem/router combo is downstairs. The Telus modem/router has multiple antennae.

Also I don't think Shaw changed the speeds on the account yet since I'm only getting max 18Mbps down, however the upload is just under 3Mbps now. We were on Xtreme(25Mbps) before but decided to get the BB50 since it's the same price under SPP. Odd how our speeds are less with the new modem than with the old one, waiting to hear from tech support now.

Thanks for any feedback, really want to get my original router up and running.

[Plinka]

I have gone through a few pages of this discussion forum and done a search, but can't seem to find anyone having the same issue.

I would like to limit Internet access using the time of day feature built into the modem/router however I cannot get it to work. It never goes off.

I notice that my modem time is off (by two hours in setup --> LAN settings, and by 8 hours in Status).

I called shaw and they are not sure why the time is off, but that they do not support what I am asking because it is outside their scope. The suggested I try to adjust my time to disable accordingly but it still won't work.

Has anybody tried this themselves and had success. I need to enable the time restrictions and it seems very straight forward.

Thanks

[forrunner]

Hi all, my first post here.

I searched for the manual for this modem but strangely the manual has no instructions for setting up any of the VPN protocols. I've only done a handful of vpn setups and have never actually committed the protocols function to memory so when I got and look at the VPN setup interface I don't really know where to start.

My VPN provider is too lazy or inept to give me a basic primer on setting up any of their protocols so I'm stuck looking for information elsewhere.

I got this modem from shaw and have yet to try calling their support because I've had wait times calling them that were ridiculous and my bet when the support person answers will most likely be that they don't support that feature. In other words the risk/reward ratio for trying their support line is too high.

Anything anyone (who knows what I'm talking about) can tell me would be helpful. My security needs are not outlandish so pptp or l2tp are both secure enough for my purposes. l2tp may be a little faster and would be preferred. Any other VPN protocol this box supports are probably acceptable as well.

Thanks.

PS. I'm not looking for a VPN passthrough solution. I know how to access VPN services by configuring my pc's. I don't want that. I want to be able to enable the router portion of this gateway to handle the vpn connection so that any non-vpn configurable device can be plugged in and access vpn services.

[Daan]

Many talk about using the Cisco DPC3825 as a modem only for higher speed SHAW connections. One advantage would be using another (more performing) router.

1. Any other advantages ?
2. Is there a way in DHCP table / Connected Devices Summary to assign names to the reserved devices ?
3. Is there a way to change default internal IP table 192.168.x.x to let's say 10.0.0.1 ?
4. What is the DDNS Service ?

[tux]

1. If you need a public IP address (or two) rather than a private (192.168) IP address, you would need to have the modem in Bridged mode.
3. No. You're forced to use the 192.168.0.0/16 private range.
4. DDNS is Dynamic DNS. It allows other people to connect easily to your computer without knowing your IP address, even if your dynamic IP changes. You'd get your own 3rd level domain (such as mycomputer.dyndns.org ), enter the information in your router's DDNS settings, and your router updates the DNS when your IP changes.

[Daan]

Thanks and Happy New Year Tux

[JBCurtis]

Any update and or success on the DLNA issues? Wireless devices connected to modem/router can stream DLNA media but cannot stream between wireless and wired connections. Frustrating.

[rp_guy]

does anyone know if it's possible to get a dpc3825 without being on a BB50+ package?

i was one of the first owners of the motorola docsis 2.0 modems, but i would love the extra LAN ports to split my connection (currently using an extra switch to do the same function)

[S.Chan]

Originally Posted by rp_guy

does anyone know if it's possible to get a dpc3825 without being on a BB50+ package?

You have to be on BB50 or SPP for a free wifi modem rental. Or you can buy one outright for $68.

See: http://www.shaw.ca/Internet/Wi-Fi-Modem/

[Westcoaster]

0) Are ~ 40Mb download speeds (Shaw Speed test) representative of the BB50 connection?

1) When the modem is in bridged mode is only the one port available for Ethernet connection?

2) What about the second IP?

3) I read about speed limitations when using a WRT54G, was this just for the wireless connections? I would have thought that the wired connection could transfer at full available speed through the modem?

4) I have a NIB Linksys E4200 that I bought on Boxing day, I had planned to replace the WRT54G to get better throughput (Gigabit ports) and wireless N... is it worth the upgrade or should I return it and save my money? I have a growing number of wireless N devices (tablet, phone etc.) will they benefit by the E4200 connected to the Cisco DPC3835 modem?

Thanks!