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New 3GB install next month

Indie24

Casual Member
Hi

I could use some advice on a new install for the 3Gb service due next month. I currently have the Asus XT12 mesh system which has 2 x 2.5Gb ports and have 2.5gb switches at my home. Can I use this instead of their own supplied routers and does it have the relevant ports available? I know these are only 2.5gb and CF incoming is 3Gb so will lose a small amount of bandwidth which is ok. Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hi

I could use some advice on a new install for the 3Gb service due next month. I currently have the Asus XT12 mesh system which has 2 x 2.5Gb ports and have 2.5gb switches at my home. Can I use this instead of their own supplied routers and does it have the relevant ports available? I know these are only 2.5gb and CF incoming is 3Gb so will lose a small amount of bandwidth which is ok. Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
CF allows third party routers but they don’t support them. So any changes will need to be done by you once the installer leaves. Therefore you should have a suitable wired device ready to test your new connection connected to the provided CF router. This device should have a network card known to be able to transfer data at 2.5Gb. Some 10gb switches and network cards don’t sync at 2.5Gb so they are incompatible.

Whether you will be able to connect your own router directly to the ONT will depend on what ONT they leave you, what types of connections it has and what your router has too. Ask the installer if they have different options. I’m not familiar with Asus XT 12 mesh and whether it can also act as router. In terms of using your own router the general advice is to clone the CF’s router WAN MAC address in your own router to prevent any issues. So obviously your router needs to support WAN MAC address cloning which most do.
 
Good advice,

Worth noting that in my experience the MAC cloning isn't required (3Gb install in Sept) so don't stress about that step
 
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2.5 GbE is more like 2.3 after overhead, so you'll be losing 700 mbps, not exactly a small amount. But I guess if it's already way more than you need it may not be worth upgrading your equipment to 10 gig.
Good advice,

Worth noting that in my experience the MAC cloning isn't required (3Gb install in Sept) so don't stress about that step
It was required for me (Asus AX86U router), had a 1 gig install in October. Either that or call CF and they'll "clear the MAC table" or whatever and you'll instantly connect.

So for the 3 gig service they use a variety of ONTs? Haven't they converged on one already? The XT12 is a router by the way.
 
2.5 GbE is more like 2.3 after overhead, so you'll be losing 700 mbps, not exactly a small amount. But I guess if it's already way more than you need it may not be worth upgrading your equipment to 10 gig.

It was required for me (Asus AX86U router), had a 1 gig install in October. Either that or call CF and they'll "clear the MAC table" or whatever and you'll instantly connect.

So for the 3 gig service they use a variety of ONTs? Haven't they converged on one already? The XT12 is a router by the way.
Yes, the XT12 is a router. I wanted to know if the cable from the ONT simply plugs into a standard port on the router or is a special port required?
 
Yes, the XT12 is a router. I wanted to know if the cable from the ONT simply plugs into a standard port on the router or is a special port required?
It depends on the ONT. Some have 10Gbe RJ45 some have SFP+ optical. They most likely will have the RJ45 variant. The bigger question here is whether the ONT 10Gbe RJ45 port will sync at 2.5Gb as your router can’t do 10Gbe.
 
Just had my 3Gb installed a couple of hours ago. The installer was from CF and supplied an Adtran 631 and a Technicolor Router. Placed the ONT where I wanted.

Installer ran into an issue where the Technicolor would not get the Internet. He plugged an Ethernet cable from the Adtran and put a SFP adapter on the router end. Stayed for around 30 mins trying to get it to work. He tried to plug it into the RJ45 Wan port as well but no joy.

I asked him to plug the cable from the Adtran direct into my Asus XT12 Pro 2.5gb Wan port and it instantly picked up the Internet. A quick speed test and I was maxing out my port with 2.3Gb up and down. The installer told me to call CF and report the Technicolor was not working. He did all he could and left.

I played about with the Technicolor and reset the router (installer did this too) but this time I removed the adaptor from the SFP port (installer never removed this). I plugged the Adtran straight into the the RJ45 port and hey presto, it picked up the Internet. All good so unplugged and put it straight into the box as I was never going to use it anyway.

Pleased with the speeds I'm getting. Will make a huge difference when I upload files to the cloud. Just hope it's stable before I cancel my Virgin Internet. Wireless download speeds from my mesh are excellent 👌🏽
 

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Just had my 3Gb installed a couple of hours ago. The installer was from CF and supplied an Adtran 631 and a Technicolor Router. Placed the ONT where I wanted.

Installer ran into an issue where the Technicolor would not get the Internet. He plugged an Ethernet cable from the Adtran and put a SFP adapter on the router end. Stayed for around 30 mins trying to get it to work. He tried to plug it into the RJ45 Wan port as well but no joy.

I asked him to plug the cable from the Adtran direct into my Asus XT12 Pro 2.5gb Wan port and it instantly picked up the Internet. A quick speed test and I was maxing out my port with 2.3Gb up and down. The installer told me to call CF and report the Technicolor was not working. He did all he could and left.

I played about with the Technicolor and reset the router (installer did this too) but this time I removed the adaptor from the SFP port (installer never removed this). I plugged the Adtran straight into the the RJ45 port and hey presto, it picked up the Internet. All good so unplugged and put it straight into the box as I was never going to use it anyway.

Pleased with the speeds I'm getting. Will make a huge difference when I upload files to the cloud. Just hope it's stable before I cancel my Virgin Internet. Wireless download speeds from my mesh are excellent 👌🏽
What does it say on the ONT's ethernet port? - It sounds like you've been given a 2.5Gb ONT but have 3.3Gb of speed so you're missing out on almost a gigabit.
 
What does it say on the ONT's ethernet port? - It sounds like you've been given a 2.5Gb ONT but have 3.3Gb of speed so you're missing out on almost a gigabit.
No, my ONT is 10Gbe. What's limiting me at the moment is my 2.5gb wan port on my Router (Asus XT12 Pro) mesh system. I will upgrade this in the coming months to a 10Gbe wan router which is compatible with my mesh.
 
No, my ONT is 10Gbe. What's limiting me at the moment is my 2.5gb wan port on my Router (Asus XT12 Pro) mesh system. I will upgrade this in the coming months to a 10Gbe wan router which is compatible with my mesh.
Ah okay, I guess the SFP+ to RJ45 adapter they gave you is just faulty then.
 
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As detailed here the rj45 WAN port is gigabit only.


1711911947674.webp


  • The yellow ports are for Local Area Network (LAN) connections up to a maximum of 1 Gbps.
  • The red port is for a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection up to a maximum of 1 Gbps.
  • The silver port <...10...> is for a LAN connection up to a maximum of 10 Gbps., however it will deliver the maximum speed of your 3 Gbps package on the LAN side of the network.
  • USB port – to connect a printer or an external hard drive for sharing on the network
  • The Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) port is for a WAN connection up to 10 Gbps, but it will deliver the maximum speed of your 3 Gbps package when establishing a connection with the ADTRAN modem
 
As detailed here the rj45 WAN port is gigabit only.


View attachment 12794

  • The yellow ports are for Local Area Network (LAN) connections up to a maximum of 1 Gbps.
  • The red port is for a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection up to a maximum of 1 Gbps.
  • The silver port <...10...> is for a LAN connection up to a maximum of 10 Gbps., however it will deliver the maximum speed of your 3 Gbps package on the LAN side of the network.
  • USB port – to connect a printer or an external hard drive for sharing on the network
  • The Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) port is for a WAN connection up to 10 Gbps, but it will deliver the maximum speed of your 3 Gbps package when establishing a connection with the ADTRAN modem
Ahhh, thank you. Better call them on Tuesday to get a working Sfp adaptor just in case I use the supplied router in the future. Thank you!
 
The engineer should never have left you without a commissioned 3gbps service verified with a speedtest. I would complain on Tuesday, demand an engineer completes the job properly, and a free service until it’s resolved then another month free on top for the inconvenience. As you’ll need the supplied router working in the future for troubleshooting if there are any issues.
 
Just out of curiosity, how will CF test I'm getting the full 3Gb speed via a speedtest (as theres no built in speedtest in the router)? Will they have their own 5 or 10gb gear to plug in as mine is all 2.5gb limted at the moment?

Update - I blew into the SFP afaptor and made sure everything was snug and the Internet now works on the Technicolor via the SFP port; dont k ow if this helped or not. Just need to see if speed is provisioned as above!
 
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Just out of curiosity, how will CF test I'm getting the full 3Gb speed via a speedtest (as theres no built in speedtest in the router)? Will they have their own 5 or 10gb gear to plug in as mine is all 2.5gb limted at the moment?

Update - I blew into the SFP afaptor and made sure everything was snug and the Internet now works on the Technicolor via the SFP port; dont k ow if this helped or not. Just need to see if speed is provisioned as above!
The speed would be provisioned as far as the ONT and from its point of view nothing changed: still the same Ethernet port.
 
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Well got hold of a 5gbe usb adaptor and plugged it into my laptop direct into ONT. Speedtest website said servers were in high demand so ran it from the CF website. Looks like everything is good and ONT is set for 3Gb rate. Download is a little slow but it may be due to high demand.
 

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I've been monitoring my connection over the last few days and I've noticed some lost packets using BQM from think broadband. I've attached a screen shot of today. What could be causing this? I've done a speed test now and my download is fine ut my upload has dropped to around 130mbps. Normally it's OK see other graph.
 

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If it becomes a habit could be a bad splice in your drop. That's the usual suspect for upstream only loss as the upstream seems more sensitive than downstream on XGSPON.
 
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