H660GM-A vs AOT-4221SR: Which is the Better ONT for Airtel in Bhopal?

[ryuk_]

Airtel CC is useless. I got the bridge mode enabled by myself. I am not using airtel now as my primary ISP so I don't know the firmware version but it was R3.9 iirc(was able to enable settings using the inspect element trick). You can drop an email to [email protected] and see if they might be of any help. I wasted a lot of time and effort in trying to get things done from Airtel's side so got it done by myself.
You can get your way through the sercomm router as well temporarily. Just restart it once or twice a day.

 

[UncleSamGoaWale]

Sold thanks mate @ryuk_

 

[UncleSamGoaWale]

Also @ryuk_ I'm not too familiar with Indian ISP's . Where I come from the ISP/RSP NDT's is installed in-house and we just chuck in the LAN from the enabled port (UN D1 for ex) to the wan port of the router and it just works and therefore get to control everything.

The question is - can I - while the issue/connection is fresh with Airtel and they (Area installation team manager who knows a thing or 2 about networking) have confirmed that bridging can be enabled on my ONT - have the bridging mode enabled from the backend but not config it locally on my ONT until I move houses and continue to use their ONT as normal? I can still try and get local config settings from their end but just apply it until I need to. Will that work? I mean I don't see a reason why it wouldn't since it's just a 'setting/mapping' that they locked down from the sounds of it and which they enabled from their end since they are the true admin of the ont/router. Do you envision any issues with this plan? I still haven't had the time to familiarize myself with how things work here. So I would truly appreciate yours or other input. Thanks in advance!

 

[ryuk_]

I will try to paint a picture. Indian ISPs(most of them) try to cut corners where they can. From providing cheap chinese ONTs to poor after sales support with their field technicians with no to very little knowledge about networking, they just know how to attach/splice fiber cables and get the connection working. If the internet is working and you're able to browse, they won't bother fixing any other kind of issue.
For getting bridge mode enabled, you need to put an email on [email protected] and it gets enabled via the NOC(network operation center). The installation and the area manager is even more clueless than any other customer like me and you.

I don't think there is any provision of getting the bridge mode pre configured and then enabling it later. Getting it enabled in the first place would be a big headache. I'd suggest you to continue using your ONT and get bridge mode enabled when you've moved houses.
One thing you can do is to get it enabled on any of the lan ports and still continue to use your ONT(dialing PPPoE). Once you've moved to your new place, you can simply plug in your personal router and dial PPPoE via that to get it working.

 

[UncleSamGoaWale]

@ryuk_ I am able to get ZTE - f1056dv9.0 over my existing aot-4221sr with bridiging enabled and noc also assisting SIP details, I should go for it yeah? and later will chuck my own industry-grade Asus router so don' care how locked down the ZTE will be, cheers

 

[pissairtel]

@UncleSamGoaWale
Airtel technician visited premise this morning to configure bridge mode but nor them neither their backend team were able to enable bridge mode on Sercomm AOT4221SR_R4.0.
I believe that option is locked by default. @ryuk_ how did you manage to unlock it by yourself?

 

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[UncleSamGoaWale]

@pissairtel I had my Sercomm AOT4221SR_R4.0 replaced with F670LV9.0 V9.0.10P18N2B. it's a refurbished device but heaps better than the sercomm not only in wifi coverage but also packet handling. The national escalation team NET took care of the bridge mode for me presumably by contacting NOC. I did't have to deal with NOC directly myself but I'm sure their email is mentioned somewhere on this forum. They do it for you and then you change the config on your ONT.

Apart from the WAN page, literally everything else is fully locked in the gui to play around with including port binding. I'm actually amazed at how unlocked it is. The airtel app says firmware up to date but I still don't want to factory reset it lol. my own DNS, port forwarding, DMZ , VLAN config you name it, it's all there unlocked ready to be configured. I'm just having fun mucking around with the settings have managed to increase range and speed to my room by changing modes, channels and frequencies, i'm using channel 108 (AU region) for 5ghz SSID. I'm a happy duck.

I womder if factory reseting would push a new fw on it but wouldn't that have happened at provisioning? oh the joys of refurbished units

anyone else with similar experience? thanks