Router setup summary

Over time we've enabled and disabled various functionality on our internet router (a DrayTek Vigor 2860ac running firmware 3.8.6_BT), so here's a summary of what's what and why:

WANs

We have BT Infinity 1 FTTC as our primary WAN connection, with a cellular modem on the EE 4G network set up as a failover connection.

The setup for BT Infinity requires little configuration. Leave the DSL mode as Auto and Modem Code as Default. Set the Active Mode to Always On, and check the Load Balance box. For BT Infinity you should enable the VLAN tags in the VDSL2 Service cell in the table. Set the Tag Value to 101, and the Priority to 0.

The setup for the cellular modem is focused on the failover mode. Set Active Model to Failover, uncheck the Load Balance box, and set the failover on WAN Failure. Set the Active When option to Any, and ensure that at least WAN1 is checked.

Internet access via the WAN connections requires BT Infinity to be set up as PPPoE/PPPoA, and the cellular modem to be set up in DHCP mode.

Internet Access configuration for BT Infinity is minimal, just set the Username to bthomehub@btbroadband.com and the MTU to 1492.

Internet access via the cellular modem is also straightforward. We're using the EE network, so just set the APN Name to everywhere.

LAN

We have the router set up with IPv6 disabled, and located at IPv4 address 192.168.1.1. We're only using the 192.168.1.x address space, so the subnet mask is set to 255.255.255.0. The router hosts a DHCP server, but we manually allocate addresses 192.168.1.2 through to 192.168.1.149. The DHCP server leases addresses for 1 day (86400 seconds), and periodically clears the leases for inactive devices. The DNS servers are not specified, so the ones allocated by the active WAN connection are used.

Manually allocated IP addresses are bound to device MAC addresses. We do not use strict binding, i.e. if the device's MAC address isn't in the list then it is not allowed to use the network, as it would be a pain to have to register friends and family's devices every time they visited or changed.

WiFi

WiFi connectivity is provided by the router, as well as two additional access points. A single SSID is used at all three transceivers, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Additionally two more SSIDs are used, but hidden, one each on each band, for devices that struggle with the single common SSID.

To minimise the possibility of interference the router is on Channel 1, whilst the two other access points are on Channel 11 (to enable the WDS bridge), and all access points are set up in Mixed Mode with 20MHz channels.

Each SSID is secured using a Pre-Shared Key (PSK) exchanged with WPA2 only.

The extension of WPA2 called WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) is disabled due to known vulnerabilities.

In order to promote the use of the 5GHz band, to maximise the bandwidth available for the WDS wireless link from the house to the workshop, Band Steering is enabled. When the access points detect a device trying to simultaneously connect to the common SSID on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the device will be deliberately stopped from joining 2.4GHz for 15 seconds. By which time the device should have connected to the 5GHz band.

The setup for the 5GHz band is similar to the 2.4GHz band.

As the 20MHz channels in the 5GHZ band do not overlap with each other, the router uses Channel 36, whilst the other access points use Channels 40 and 44. These are in the A-Lower (5150-5250GHz) band, so Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and Transmission Power Control (TPC) do not apply.

Security on the 5GHz band is setup the same as the 2.4GHz band, and WPS is also disabled on the 5GHz band.

Hardware Acceleration

We do not use hardware acceleration, so that all traffic passes through the Data Flow Monitor and Traffic Graphs.

UPnP

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is disabled, as it is insecure by design and enables devices on the LAN to open up ports in the Firewall in order to communicate with external servers.

IGMP

The BT TV YouView PVR uses a combination of the terrestrial aerial to receive FreeView channels and IPTV to stream the other channels via Infinity. This means the PVR needs to be able to join IP Multicast groups, so the IGMP proxy must be enabled. Additionally to avoid swamping the WiFi with multicast packets IGMP Snooping and IGMP Fast Leave should be enabled.

Dynamic DNS

The router is dynamically assigned an IP address for the WAN interface, so in order to enable VPN access to the LAN via the router there are 2 dynamic DNS entries maintained. Every 1 day (1440 minutes) the router reconfirms the WAN IP address with the dynamic DNS service.

These are provided by the free service No-IP.com, and are set up with a Domain Name, Login and Password provided by No-IP.com.

VPN

The router runs a VPN server so that we can connect remotely to the home network via smartphone or laptop in order to access the security cameras, or geo-locked services such as the BBC iPlayer when travelling abroad. We use the Draytek Smart VPN Client, which has clients for the two OS that we use: Android and Windows.

First we will enable VPN via an SSL Tunnel.

Then add a Remote Access user account, with access via the SSL Tunnel enabled, and a 5 minute timeout.

If you create more than one Remote Access user account, you can individually activate and deactivate them.

When the user connects remotely this is indicated with green text, rather than red text.

More detailed stats on the connection are also available.

On a Windows PC you need to install the Smart VPN Client, and then Insert a new Profile for the router that uses the SSL Tunnel and supplies the same credentials as the Remote Access user account.

Once connected Windows sees a new virtual network connection called DraySSLTunnel.

On an Android phone the Smart VPN Client is available through the Google Play App Store, and once installed is available either via the app matrix or via the VPN Settings.

As per the Windows setup, first create a Profile using the + symbol at the bottom of the screen.

 

Then pressing on the Profile connects and disconnects the phone to the router via the SSL Tunnel.

BT fibre shambles

Fibre has arrived in our neck of the woods! Wohoo!

Now, let the fun and games begin. So, off to the BT website I go and look at the packages available. First a bit of a speed check:

So given that I'm currently paying £45.99 per month for my copper broadband and BT Sport (for the MotoGP) via an app, when I see that I could go to fibre, get BT Sport in 4K UHD, and 100-odd other TV channels with a PVR for £54.99 per month I'm definitely up for it. Even though it appears I could get the 76Mbps service, it is £10 a month more expensive than the 52Mbps deal, and a quick reality check shows that 52Mbps is more than sufficient.

And this is where the disappointment begins. So first of all, this deal is only available to new BT customers. If you're an existing customer, then you have to pay more. I'm not sure why you'd penalise your existing customers and incentivise them to check out the competition, but there you go.

As an existing customer I can get fibre for £44.99 per month, and BT TV with all the channels for £19.99 per month, for a total of £64.98. And these two deals are only available if you phone BT, rather than use their website, which are about £1 per month more expensive. I found this out when I phoned them up to find out why I couldn't get the banner deal on the website. Eventually I managed to get the bad taste out of my mouth, and Sky is even more expensive, so phoned back and placed the order.

Six days later ParcelForce arrive with the VDSL2 router (which I'm not going to be using) and the PVR (which I am). But the PVR is the YouView+ box, rather than the YouView Ultra HD box.

Given how much money this is all costing, I definitely want the full monty PVR, so I get back on the phone with BT. The first person on the line puts me through to someone who can check the status of my order, and confirms my fear that the order has placed incorrectly. But their job is only to report on the status of orders, not do anything about issues, and I'm informed that there are two options. Let the order proceed and then upgrade to the UHD box, or cancel the order and start again. As they can't confirm whether I'd be charged for upgrading to UHD from HD, I decide that cancelling and starting again is the way forward, so I'm transferred to the cancellation department. There's a brief glimmer of hope when they realise that this should be easy to sort out, but after a chat with the manager I'm told that cancelling is the only option. And... I have to wait for 24 hours to make sure the entrails of this order have fully passed through BT's system before I try and place an order again.

So I arrange for ParcelForce to come back and take the YouView+ box away, take the Smart Hub to the Post Office, and two days later start the whole process again. This time I see that the website is offering an upgrade for £34.99 per month, which given the BT TV Max bundle is £20 per month, means we're back to £54.99 all in. Confused? Me too.

This time I decide to take things one step at a time. Get the fibre broadband first, then add the TV package. So I placed the broadband order online and got my confirmation email, with further details to come.

Then... nothing.

A week later I phone back to find out what has happened to my order, and they can't find it in the system. I'm transferred to the Customer Options team, who start the order process again, for the 4th time. This time the chap on the phone offers me fibre for £34.99 and the Max bundle for £15, the cheapest combination yet. After a couple of explicit queries to confirm this includes the Ultra HD box, I went ahead with the order. Just as the chap was completing the order his system wanted to boost the price of the fibre up to £49.99, so I was back on hold while he talked to his manager. The manager agreed to apply an In Flight Save, to bring the monthly cost of the fibre back down to £34.99, but I'm warned that the confirmation email will reflect the higher price.

Over the next few days some confirmation emails come in from BT. They confirm the activation date for both the fibre and the TV, and inform me that the kit will arrive the day before the activation date. Which, of course, it doesn't. This isn't a major issue, as the DrayTek router is set up to automatically switch to the cellular modem when the copper broadband is disconnected, and then switch back to the fibre as soon as that is connected. BT were helpfully imprecise with letting us know how long the switchover would take, and when during the day it would happen: "anytime up until midnight". But if you were a regular domestic broadband customer, you'd be left without any internet while you waited for ParcelForce to deliver the new Smart Hub.

To give BT some credit, the service did actually switch over on the day they predicted, and the switchover took about 15 minutes from ADSL disconnection to VDSL connection. The cellular modem kicked in as predicted, albeit it did drop the VoIP phone mid-call, but all in all the switchover was about as smooth as I could have hoped for.

Everyone I had spoken to at BT had gone to great pains to let me know that the fibre speed would fluctuate over the first 10 days of use, so if I didn't get the contracted speed immediately I shouldn't worry. But also, if it wasn't up to speed after 10 days to get in contact so they could troubleshoot it. Given that I had asked for the 52Mbps service I was surprised to see that the modem initially connected at 80Mbps, with a 20Mbps upload rate!

However the DrayTek diagnostics page was even more optimistic, with an "Attainable Rate" of over 100Mbps for downloads and over 30Mbps for uploads! Given that previously the router was connecting to ADSL kit in the exchange over a mile from house, whereas now the router is connected to VDSL kit in the cabinet less than a quarter of a mile away, it is no surprise to see much lower SNR on the line, so those speeds are entirely believable. I'm sure that at some point in the next 10 days BT will artificially cap the connection speed, once they're happy that the line is trouble free.

Later in the day ParcelForce did turn up with the YouView Ultra HD PVR, but not the Smart Hub. The PVR was fairly straightforward to set up. I did my usual thing of binding the PVR's MAC address to a predefined IP address, and also enabled the router's IGMP proxy. Outside of the FreeView channels coming in via the terrestrial aerial, the other channels are streamed in via IPTV. This means the PVR needs to be able to join IP Multicast groups, which by default the DrayTek router does not pass through from WAN to LAN. But with one click the proxy can be enabled, and the full channel lineup become available.

Now I'm left to wonder if/when the Smart Hub will arrive.

(Edit on 27-Nov-2017: Having given it a couple of weeks and no Smart Hub I called BT. Somehow the hub had been missed off the fibre broadband order, so a new order was created and a couple of days later the Smart Hub arrived.)

(Edit on 1-Dec-2017: The first bill from BT since placing the order has arrived, and sure enough the In Flight Save I was promised when placing the order has gone missing in action. Instead there's a £3 "special offer discount", bringing the monthly broadband fee down from £49.99 to £46.99. Additionally the router is still connecting at the 80Mbps/20Mbps speeds of Infinity 2 rather than the 52Mbps/10Mbps speeds of Infinity 1. I fire up the chat window with BT and get talking with Aparna, who just confirms what my bill has already told me, and so she connects me to the Retention Team. Another chat with a manager ensues and I'm promised that the original £34.99 deal will be honoured and my bill updated.)

(Edit on 7-Dec-2017: Money has now left my account and the £46.99 for Infinity has been taken. Started a chat window with Robin and asked him to transfer me to the Retention Team. Yet another conflab with a manager, and I'm told that there isn't the option on their system to charge me £34.99 per month for 18 months anymore, so by way of an apology I'm going to be put on a £30.99 tariff for 12 months. If I'm automatically bumped up to the £49.99 tariff after 12 months then I'm going to about £50 worse off over 18 months. But I guess I'll have the option to depart BT after 12 months and go elsewhere if there isn't a better deal available.)