Compatible router with IB2/Swisscom TV

    • Hello everyone,

    I have been using my trusty WNDR4000 behind the current Swisscom box for several years (I have moved several times in the last few years and have had Swisscom and Cablecom as the provider for various reasons) and only use the Swisscom box as “WAN access ”. This has worked perfectly so far, but no longer works with the IB2, Swisscom TV freezes after about 10 minutes. IGMP proxying is activated, DDoS detection is deactivated, DMZ is set up on the WNDR and, as a test, the WNDR is also set up as a DMZ on the IB2, without success.

    Since I have one port too few on the part anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone could recommend a model that has more than 4 gigabit ports, offers WLAN at least ac and supports Swisscom TV (i.e. IGMP proxying) properly?

    Thanks & greetings

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    @chefseiler

    If you currently want to invest in a broadband router again for several years, I would also take the upcoming Wi-Fi 6 with you.

    The latest Asus has everything you need in addition to 8 LAN ports, and at least the predecessors (I couldn’t check this myself for the latest model) could also be configured very well for operation with Swisscom TV.

    [https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/asus-rt-ax88u-router-9886445?supplier=406802&tagIds=7](https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/ asus-rt-ax88u-router-9886445?supplier=406802&tagIds=7)

    By the way, the price is volatile and varies depending on the provider.

    It was sometimes CHF 50 cheaper in special offers.

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    Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom

    @Werner I looked at the AC88U, but was skeptical because of a Knowledge DB article from Asus, as it explicitly stated that the AC86U is not IGMP supported and then became a bit skeptical as to whether the same applies to the AC88U. It was also not conclusively clear whether this was only related to WLAN or also to LAN. But due to a lack of sensible alternatives (I don’t like it either visually or with all the “gamer bells and whistles”) I bought the AX88U and everything works perfectly.

    Thank you for the input:thumbs_up:

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    @chefseiler wrote:

    Hello everyone,

    I’ve been using my trusty WNDR4000 behind the current Swisscom box for a few years now (I’ve moved several times in the last few years and have sometimes had Swisscom and sometimes Cablecom as a provider for various reasons) and I only use the Swisscom box as a “WAN” box. Access". This has worked perfectly so far, but no longer works with the IB2, Swisscom TV freezes after about 10 minutes. IGMP proxying is activated, DDoS detection is deactivated, DMZ is set up on the WNDR and, as a test, the WNDR is also set up as a DMZ on the IB2, without success.

    Just out of surprise on my part: did you also connect the TV-Box to your second router or directly to the IB2?

    Thomas

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    @chefseiler

    Thanks for the positive confirmation that the new WiFi 6 router Asus RT-AX88U is fully compatible with Swisscom TV.

    Since there are still few practical reports on WiFi 6 routers, it would be nice if you would perhaps post another review of the new device here after 2-3 months.

    The fact that the AC86U is the only other model of the newer Asus routers that stands out in terms of multicast and IGMP must actually be a design error on Asus’s part and was certainly not intended that way, especially since it is already around 4 Years older predecessor model AC68U could already handle IGMP without any problems.

    With the faulty AC86U, it is not clear whether the multicast problem is software or hardware related. So if someone has problems related to Swisscom TV on the specific device, my recommendation would be to try the extended Asus Merlin firmware instead of the standard Asus WRT firmware:

    https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/

    I personally always use Asus Merlin on Asus routers and have had very good experiences with it - but the standard Asus WRT firmware has certainly become much more stable in recent years and that’s why you can currently use it (if no unexpected problems arise with it). It’s also good to leave it with the standard Asus WRT.

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    Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom

    @kaetho The second router is behind the IB2 (LAN port on the IB2 to WAN port on the second router):

    Glass connection -> IB2 -> Second router (RT-AX88U) -> TV/Playstation/PC/etc.

    @Werner I can do it. I also found the limitation on the AC86U irritating, here is the link to the relevant article:

    https://www.asus.com/de/support/FAQ/1011708/

    On second reading, however, it may be that IGMP only doesn’t work if the built-in “IPTV function” is activated for preset providers.

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    @kaetho

    For years I have been running an HD box and then a UHD box for my second TV behind an RT-AC68U that is no longer brand new.

    With the correct multicast settings on the Asus router, this works easily over both LAN and WLAN.

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    Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom

    If this is a problem with the IB2, then another downstream router is unlikely to make a difference - especially if the IGMP proxy in your Netgear has worked so far (e.g. with the Internet Box Standard). IGMP proxy functionality is nothing new at all (although a few platforms have been late to properly implement the topic). Why should a new router bring a change?

    If I saw it correctly, SWISSCOM still offers the Internet Box Standard today, e.g. if the shape of the IB2 doesn’t fit. I run an old router behind an IB standard. The DMZ in the IB makes no difference. Works perfectly.

    I would first make sure that the IB2 is not the problem. You can also turn off the WiFi in the Netgear and put a modern access point behind it; it also supplies the missing LAN port on its switch.

    I’ll avoid ASUS in the future. For me, their focus is too strong on WiFi optimizations. Even AsusWRT-Merlin can’t change that; At most, bugs are fixed there and additional features are offered.

    And there’s too much movement in WiFI for me to combine it with a professionally configurable router today. It is better to divide both functions between different devices.

    That’s why my approach is very clear for the time being: There is a router on or behind the uplink and behind it one or more access points that are tailored to the needs (transmission power, LAN ports) and can serve VLANs for the SSIDs and also on the LAN switch . Here too, AsusWRT (-Merlin) is too special for me and I rely on OpenWRT-capable devices.

    If my IB or my router behind it no longer works properly, the two will be replaced by an ER-X SFP or similar.

    Even if I hoped that the IB2 wasn’t the problem, I would take an ER-X and an OpenWRT-AP behind it. You can certainly enjoy a router for longer than these constantly changing WiFi standards. (Many of which don’t automatically bring much in practice anyway.)

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    7 months later

    @chefseiler I have the RT-AX88U myself and will become a Swisscom customer this month.

    WHAT exactly should I set so that the IPTV etc. runs over the router?

    BZW, any other tips on what I should set on the Swisscom modem so that it is recognized correctly?

    Until now I was only a WWZ customer without IP TV…

    Thanks

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    @huede82 wrote:

    @chefseiler I have the RT-AX88U myself and will become a Swisscom customer this month.

    WHAT exactly should I set so that the IPTV etc. runs over the router?

    BZW, any other tips on what I should set on the Swisscom modem so that it is recognized correctly?

    Until now I was only a WWZ customer without IP TV…

    Thank you

    Yes, do you still need the RT-AX88U because the Internet box is a router with LAN and WLAN?

    What exactly does the RT-AX88U do now with your existing installation?

    Show original language (German)

    Installationen, Netzwerk, Internet, Computertechnik, OS Windows, Apple und Linux.

    So, in terms of hardware, I have a stable LAN & WLAN network with this part, and I don’t want to give that up.

    And then I also use DynDNS from Asus.

    Until now I’ve only had modems without WiFi from other internet providers and so on…

    I would ideally like to simply “just” swap the modem by switching to Swisscom and leave the rest with the old one…

    does that answer your question?

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    • Werner has responded to this post.

      huede82

      If you want to continue using your Asus as a full-fledged router, you have to consider three things:

      - The pure modem mode (bridge mode) is not available with the Swisscom Internet boxes.

      To avoid conflicts when assigning IP addresses, you must clearly separate the address ranges of the two routers. The Internet box uses 192.168.1.1 as the router address by default, the Asus also does this by default.

      So you have to assign a different address range to one of the two routers. If you have not already assigned many fixed 192.168.1.x addresses in your own network, I would assign the Asus a new address range, e.g. 192.168.13.1 as the router root address, otherwise you can also assign a different root address to the Internet box.

      Since you are now in a router cascade with double NAT, you have to define individual port forwardings on the Internet box (if there are a few) or the DMZ mode with bundled forwarding of almost for access to your home network from outside the Internet Turn on all ports on your home network router.

      - Since the Internet box will never forward the public IPv4 to the Asus, you either have to activate the Swisscom DynDNS directly on the Internet box and then use it, or you have to use the previous Asus DynDNS from WAN-IP to an external method change.

      - For Swisscom TV you definitely need multicasting.

      You can either connect TV boxes directly to the Internet box, or if you want to put them in the Asus network, you must first activate the IPTV features in the Asus config:

      F59EAE81-8FA4-43CB-922E-04B614C85991.png

      IGMP Proxy and IGMP Snooping are important. That’s enough for the LAN.

      However, if you want to connect a TV-Box via the Asus’s WLAN, you should also activate IGMP Snooping under the advanced settings of the 5GHz WLAN.

      Correctly configured, with the RT-AX88U you have your own network that is independent of Swisscom (of course you can also switch off WiFi on the Internet box) and it runs stable and performant.

      If you’re not using it yet, just a tip: In addition to WiFi 6, the Asus RT-AX88U also offers a great Open VPN server with up to 200 Mbit/sec performance and also very good DLNA and Samba services, if you do because you want to connect 1-2 streaming HDs.

      For a router, the box really has power.

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      Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom

        @Werner Hey, thanks for the detailed help.

        Yes, with the router I am able to use the full bandwidth of my home network for the first time… I can finally push my data to my NAS via WLAN at +100MB/s… etc…

        At first I wanted to have the router because of the AI ​​Mesh, but one alone was enough for my apartment.

        I hope I’m still as happy on Monday when I’m activated.

        mfg

        Martin

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        Thank you again, everything is going great.

        I’ve still activated DMZ, and there’s no stress so far, except that the DynDNS is now used by the Internet box…

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