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|---|---|
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I have a VM Hub4 which I run in modem mode. We had a loss of service a
few days ago which I believe was a local mains failure at the street cab
as the adjacent traffic lights went off as well but nothing else.
I ended up rebooting the Hub4 which turned its lights on but I cannot
turn them off again.
When in modem mode the Hub4 IP becomes 192.168.100.1 but my network and
all computers associated with it have a net IP address range of
192.168.x.y where x is a non-standard number.
I don't want to have to start readdressing an old laptop, so can anyone
give me a simple way to be able to talk from my desktop PC to the Hub4
in modem mode so that I can access it and switch the lights off? (Or for that matter knows any other way to turn the lights off?)
[The lights are an illuminated bar around the top of the Hub4 box and
can be white, red, blue, green or off and also have a variable
brightness 0-100% under software control.]
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
I have a VM Hub4 which I run in modem mode. We had a loss of service a
few days ago which I believe was a local mains failure at the street cab
as the adjacent traffic lights went off as well but nothing else.
I ended up rebooting the Hub4 which turned its lights on but I cannot
turn them off again.
When in modem mode the Hub4 IP becomes 192.168.100.1 but my network and
all computers associated with it have a net IP address range of
192.168.x.y where x is a non-standard number.
I don't want to have to start readdressing an old laptop, so can anyone
give me a simple way to be able to talk from my desktop PC to the Hub4
in modem mode so that I can access it and switch the lights off? (Or for
that matter knows any other way to turn the lights off?)
I've not used one since SH2 days, but the usual deal with VM hubs in modem mode is you can run your network behind your router how you want, let's say you number everything on the LAN side 192.168.1.x. But the hub is on the
WAN side, so if you go to http://192.168.100.1/ you can access that from a machine on the LAN just fine. Effectively the router thinks that 192.168.100.x is part of the 'internet' - the default route says that everything that isn't 192.168.1.x should go to the WAN port, the VM hub plugged in there answers and everything is fine.
[The lights are an illuminated bar around the top of the Hub4 box and
can be white, red, blue, green or off and also have a variable
brightness 0-100% under software control.]
Can you not access the hub settings using http://192.168.100.1/
?
Theo
On Thu 31/07/2025 23:04, Theo wrote:
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
I have a VM Hub4 which I run in modem mode. We had a loss of service a
few days ago which I believe was a local mains failure at the street cab >>> as the adjacent traffic lights went off as well but nothing else.
I ended up rebooting the Hub4 which turned its lights on but I cannot
turn them off again.
When in modem mode the Hub4 IP becomes 192.168.100.1 but my network and
all computers associated with it have a net IP address range of
192.168.x.y where x is a non-standard number.
I don't want to have to start readdressing an old laptop, so can anyone
give me a simple way to be able to talk from my desktop PC to the Hub4
in modem mode so that I can access it and switch the lights off? (Or for >>> that matter knows any other way to turn the lights off?)
I've not used one since SH2 days, but the usual deal with VM hubs in
modem
mode is you can run your network behind your router how you want,
let's say
you number everything on the LAN side 192.168.1.x.-a But the hub is on the >> WAN side, so if you go to http://192.168.100.1/ you can access that
from a
machine on the LAN just fine.-a Effectively the router thinks that
192.168.100.x is part of the 'internet' - the default route says that
everything that isn't 192.168.1.x should go to the WAN port, the VM hub
plugged in there answers and everything is fine.
[The lights are an illuminated bar around the top of the Hub4 box and
can be white, red, blue, green or off and also have a variable
brightness 0-100% under software control.]
Can you not access the hub settings using http://192.168.100.1/
?
Theo
Sadly no. The IP address is accepted but it just sits there with that annoying circle rotating., as it also does withe non-modem mode address.
I have a VM Hub4 which I run in modem mode. We had a loss of service a
few days ago which I believe was a local mains failure at the street cab
as the adjacent traffic lights went off as well but nothing else.
I ended up rebooting the Hub4 which turned its lights on but I cannot
turn them off again.
When in modem mode the Hub4 IP becomes 192.168.100.1 but my network and
all computers associated with it have a net IP address range of
192.168.x.y where x is a non-standard number.
I don't want to have to start readdressing an old laptop, so can anyone
give me a simple way to be able to talk from my desktop PC to the Hub4
in modem mode so that I can access it and switch the lights off? (Or for that matter knows any other way to turn the lights off?)
Woody wrote:
I have a VM Hub4 which I run in modem mode. We had a loss of service a
few days ago which I believe was a local mains failure at the street
cab as the adjacent traffic lights went off as well but nothing else.
I ended up rebooting the Hub4 which turned its lights on but I cannot
turn them off again.
When in modem mode the Hub4 IP becomes 192.168.100.1 but my network
and all computers associated with it have a net IP address range of
192.168.x.y where x is a non-standard number.
I don't want to have to start readdressing an old laptop, so can
anyone give me a simple way to be able to talk from my desktop PC to
the Hub4 in modem mode so that I can access it and switch the lights
off? (Or for that matter knows any other way to turn the lights off?)
You have to do exactly that - readdressing an old laptop.-a It's really
not difficult!-a Find an old laptop (or whatever) and a small network switch.-a Configure the old laptop for an IP in the range 192.168.100.x
with default gateway 192.168.100.1
Connect the network switch between the VM Hub4 and your normal router's
WAN port.-a So now from all your other computers you can connect to the internet as normal.
You now have a tiny network between your normal router and the VM Hub 4
to which you can connect your old specially configured test laptop.-a It will see the web page in the VM Hub 4 at 192.168.100.1 and shows you all
the details about it - hopefully including the page where you can
configure the lights.
More usefully - and generally where there is a router in modem mode -
you can see its WAN statistics such as sync speeds and SNR margins. I've
no idea whether this is relevant to the VM Hub 4 - does it implement a
cable or fibre connection?
When you've done just reconfigure the test laptop to work with your home network.-a Normally you would use the "auto" setting to use the DHCP
server in your normal router.-a If you don't use DHCP then you must have
a very specific reason for doing so and I would expect you to understand
why and be very familiar with setting a static IP configuration in a computer.
I've not used one since SH2 days, but the usual deal with VM hubs in modem mode is you can run your network behind your router how you want, let's say you number everything on the LAN side 192.168.1.x. But the hub is on the
WAN side, so if you go to http://192.168.100.1/ you can access that from a machine on the LAN just fine. Effectively the router thinks that 192.168.100.x is part of the 'internet' - the default route says that everything that isn't 192.168.1.x should go to the WAN port, the VM hub plugged in there answers and everything is fine.
Thanks all - cracked it!
I know not why but I tried accessing the Hub4 modem address from my (Android) tablet - and it worked, albeit not that fast. I was able to
change the lights setting to zero, and change the password and now all
is well.
Can you not access the hub settings using http://192.168.100.1/
?
Theo
Sadly no. The IP address is accepted but it just sits there with that annoying circle rotating., as it also does withe non-modem mode address.
No, that will not normally work.
Your router's WAN port is configured to get its IP from the remote
DHCP server in the VM network - or possibly it has a static
configuration told to you by VM relating to its MAC address.
Whichever, the default route (in your router) is explicitly to the
gateway IP provided by VM which it knows is accessible via its WAN
port.
I'm told that some routers will allow you to specify a static route
in the WAN configuration. This would allow traffic for anything
on the 192.168.100.x network to be sent out of the WAN port to the
gateway IP 192.168.100.1 (i.e. your VM Hub 4). Equally
importantly, replies from the VM Hub 4 at 192.168.100.1 will be
accepted and returned to the originating PC on your home network.
not difficult!-a Find an old laptop (or whatever) and a small network switch.-a Configure the old laptop for an IP in the range 192.168.100.x
with default gateway 192.168.100.1
Connect the network switch between the VM Hub4 and your normal router's
WAN port.-a So now from all your other computers you can connect to the internet as normal.
You now have a tiny network between your normal router and the VM Hub 4
to which you can connect your old specially configured test laptop.
Much as I appreciate the logic of what you say, there must be more
to it than that because mine works fine.
Is there anything I can do to improve this, bearing in mind that I have
no access to the SFR router's config?
David Rance wrote:
[snip]
Is there anything I can do to improve this, bearing in mind that I
have no access to the SFR router's config?
There's no easy solution to this.-a For performance, you need the LAN-to- LAN connection.-a So the public IP address which is the endpoint of the
VPN must be the WAN port of the Draytek router.-a So you must change the device which terminates the fibre for a modem.
This might mean changing the FTTP supplier in France.
either supplied by Openreach (or in one sad case I know of, by Trooli).
By contrast FTTP from County Broadband in the case I know of is
delivered using a Fibre Gateway Model GR241AG, and moreover, used CGNAT.
So if I wanted to connect to the County Broadband user's network I would
be baulked by the router and CGNAT.-a The only option would be to ditch County Broadband
By contrast FTTP from County Broadband in the case I know of is
delivered using a Fibre Gateway Model GR241AG, and moreover, used CGNAT.
So if I wanted to connect to the County Broadband user's network I
would be baulked by the router and CGNAT.-a The only option would be to
ditch County Broadband.
In view of that, I wonder that I get a VPN connection at all!
Woody wrote:
[snip]
Thanks all - cracked it!
I know not why but I tried accessing the Hub4 modem address from my
(Android) tablet - and it worked, albeit not that fast. I was able to
change the lights setting to zero, and change the password and now all
is well.
Does your Android tablet have an Ethernet connection?-a I suspect not, I suspect it only has WiFi.
What that probably means is that the VM Hub 4 generates a WiFi signal,
and your tablet connects directly to that.-a Clearly this is potentially very confusing, since WiFi devices can connect to it but will not get a route to the internet.
When configuring a router into modem mode it is good practise to disable
its WiFi capability.
David Rance wrote:
[snip]
By contrast FTTP from County Broadband in the case I know of is
delivered using a Fibre Gateway Model GR241AG, and moreover, used CGNAT. >>>
So if I wanted to connect to the County Broadband user's network I
would be baulked by the router and CGNAT.-a The only option would be
to ditch County Broadband.
In view of that, I wonder that I get a VPN connection at all!
You haven't said how you configured it.
On the Draytek router you can set up a variety of VPN types: PPTP,
IPSec, L2TP, SSL, etc.
what yours in France does.-a So it dials into your home router in the UK either continuously or on a schedule, which gives you access to the
network at your place in France.-a My experience is - like yours - that
the dial-in VPN is very slow; so slow that access to some services fails completely, but it's generally OK for Telnet.-a But I don't know why it
is so slow - somebody can perhaps explain.
static public IP address and a modem or professional router (perhaps
Cisco) that can implement a LAN-to-LAN VPN.-a I imagine this might be
quite a lot more expensive.
to explain that requirement!-a I think County Broadband in England couldThat is why I try to avoid asking technical questions! Yes, I'm fairly fluent in French but, when it comes to technical questions, if you don't
do the same, but I never found anybody there who understood the question when I asked.
-aThat is why I try to avoid asking technical questions! Yes, I'm fairly fluent in French but, when it comes to technical questions, if you don't
use the correct terms that they use, it's hopeless. I used to rely on my late wife to help me (she was bilingual French/English) but even she was stumped when it came to technical terms!David
On 01/08/2025 08:09, Graham J wrote:
-a > You have to do exactly that - readdressing an old laptop.-a It's really
not difficult!-a Find an old laptop (or whatever) and a small network
switch.-a Configure the old laptop for an IP in the range 192.168.100.x
with default gateway 192.168.100.1
Connect the network switch between the VM Hub4 and your normal
router's WAN port.-a So now from all your other computers you can
connect to the internet as normal.
You now have a tiny network between your normal router and the VM Hub
4 to which you can connect your old specially configured test laptop.
I have a similar setup over in France. A couple of years ago I upgraded
to FTTH with SFR (I already had FTTH in England). Before the upgrade I
was using a Draytek 2860 to connected to an ADSL line. When the SFR
fibre line was connected I could no longer use the Draytek directly for several reasons and so I had to connect it to the SFR-supplied router
with a PPP connection. The SFR router has its own DHCP - thus the "tiny network" between the the two routers.
I needed to keep the Draytek in use because I had a LAN-to-LAN VPN
between that and my Draytek here in England, something I can't do with
the SFR-supplied router. With the old French ADSL line this worked beautifully. But now I have to go through the SFR router and, although
the VPN connects between the two Draytek routers the data transmission
is very, very slow, taking several minutes to complete the transfer of
just one screen page. France to England is so slow that it's unusable; England to France is a little better and is just about usable with
patience!
Is there anything I can do to improve this, bearing in mind that I have
no access to the SFR router's config?
David
Theo wrote:
[snip]
I've not used one since SH2 days, but the usual deal with VM hubs in modem mode is you can run your network behind your router how you want, let's say you number everything on the LAN side 192.168.1.x. But the hub is on the WAN side, so if you go to http://192.168.100.1/ you can access that from a machine on the LAN just fine. Effectively the router thinks that 192.168.100.x is part of the 'internet' - the default route says that everything that isn't 192.168.1.x should go to the WAN port, the VM hub plugged in there answers and everything is fine.
No, that will not normally work.
Your router's WAN port is configured to get its IP from the remote DHCP server in the VM network - or possibly it has a static configuration
told to you by VM relating to its MAC address. Whichever, the default
route (in your router) is explicitly to the gateway IP provided by VM
which it knows is accessible via its WAN port.
I'm told that some routers will allow you to specify a static route in
the WAN configuration. This would allow traffic for anything on the 192.168.100.x network to be sent out of the WAN port to the gateway IP 192.168.100.1 (i.e. your VM Hub 4). Equally importantly, replies from
the VM Hub 4 at 192.168.100.1 will be accepted and returned to the originating PC on your home network.
I needed to keep the Draytek in use because I had a LAN-to-LAN VPN
between that and my Draytek here in England, something I can't do with
the SFR-supplied router. With the old French ADSL line this worked beautifully. But now I have to go through the SFR router and, although
the VPN connects between the two Draytek routers the data transmission
is very, very slow, taking several minutes to complete the transfer of
just one screen page. France to England is so slow that it's unusable; England to France is a little better and is just about usable with patience!
Is there anything I can do to improve this, bearing in mind that I have
no access to the SFR router's config?
That is why I try to avoid asking technical questions! Yes, I'm fairly fluent in French but, when it comes to technical questions, if you don't
use the correct terms that they use, it's hopeless. I used to rely on my late wife to help me (she was bilingual French/English) but even she was stumped when it came to technical terms!David
David Rance <david@spamoff.invalid> wrote:>> That is why I try to avoid asking technical questions! Yes, I'm
fluent in French but, when it comes to technical questions, if you don't
use the correct terms that they use, it's hopeless. I used to rely on my
late wife to help me (she was bilingual French/English) but even she was
stumped when it came to technical terms!David
One useful feature of companies insistence on live chat is it's written medium, so you can write your response in English then run it through Google Translate to get the French version and paste that into the chat. If you get Google to translate the French back to English you can check the technical meaning is correctly represented.
David Rance wrote:
[snip]
-a-aThat is why I try to avoid asking technical questions! Yes, I'm
fairly fluent in French but, when it comes to technical questions, if
you don't use the correct terms that they use, it's hopeless. I used
to rely on my late wife to help me (she was bilingual French/English)
but even she was stumped when it came to technical terms!David
Back in around 1980 the company I worked for had a French agency, and my contact there was Philippe.-a He spoke very good English, and liked to
show off his knowledge of obscure English sayings that he had learnt
while studying at Harrow polytechnic - a Fine Arts course.
Our business was in phototypesetters and related equipment, and a
newspaper customer in Nancy had a system with an IBM mainframe and some
IBM 3270 terminals.-a-a We wanted to emulate a 3270 connection and were struggling to get the protocol to work properly.
So the technical people from the newspaper and myself tried to
communicate through Philippe - not very successfully.-a We had to explain the technical problem to Philippe, make sure he understood it, then get
him to translate the question and response.-a His non-technical
background hindered him in this.
My French at the time was from a good 'O' level and some holiday
experience; and my French colleagues had obviously studied English at school.-a Very quickly we found we understood each other well enough to resolve questions about the CICS protocol, so Philippe was sent out to
buy coffee and croissants.