Reusing an old Internet-Box Plus as wifi access point

lucaberta

I wanted to share an experience coming from an idea sparked by user @Gulleucheusch41 who did something similar just today, and we exchanged ideas in this thread:

  [Using internetbox2 as WLAN-Box](https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Router-Hardware/Using-internetbox2-as-WLAN-Box/m-p/643204#M464)

It turned out that my old Internet-Box Plus (and not an IB2 like I mistakenly wrote) can also be used as a wifi access point, with some careful changes in the router configuration.

First of all, save yourself time and DO NOT DO A FACTORY RESET of the box, like I did.

Because if you do, the IB will need to be re-provisioned again by Swisscom, and you will need to connect it to the ADSL/VDSL line in order to download a configuration from our ISP. Wasted a lot of time doing this, but hey, it was a test!

You need to reconfigure the box from its web interface, available either at http://internetbox.home or the old IP address used by the box as a router. You might want to use an ethernet cable to avoid any issue with wifi, should you have the same wifi setting on both the new and old routers, like it was my case (of course!).

REMEMBER: use one of the yellow switched ports to connect to your LAN!

Since I reprovisioned the box from Swisscom, I also needed to create a new admin password, which is easily done from the login page at:

http://192.168.1.1/#login

once the box has completely booted, in case it has been restored to factory settings, or kept to the default IP address.

Then, you will need to change the IP address of the box to a new address in the same subnet where your new router is. Use a manually assigned IP address, as shown here:

Then, to avoid huge issues on your LAN, you MUST make sure that you disable the DHCP server on the old IB box, like so:

The LED will keep flashing red, because the box will not have an ADSL/VDSL connection, but that doesn’t matter, and the access point works great.

As a matter of fact, most of the features in the firmware work well, including the network topology and the wifi details for those stations which are using the IB to connect to wifi:

As you can see, IPv6 also works well.

The good news is that I now have a free Wi-Fi 5 device I can use. Too bad it doesn’t support VLANs!

Hopefully this writeup is useful to some, who can benefit from an old router, instead of trashing it or giving it away.

Thanks again to @Gulleucheusch41 for the inspiration!

Ciao, Luca

Gulleucheusch41

Thanks for this excellent guide @lucaberta

I have the same settings as you and everything is working perfectly. 😀

Pippi--Grunding

Is there a way that the internetbox2 can be used as a wifi repeater?

In particular, can it connect to a different router via wifi, and then forward the connection over ethernet locally?

Black Mamba

thank you @lucaberta for this knowledge sharing, it’s great!

Merry Christmas!

Gulleucheusch41

@Pippi--Grunding As I understand it, I don’t think it’ll be possible as the software does not support it.

lucaberta

Hi @Pippi--Grunding, like @Gulleucheusch41 says, the firmware in the Internet Box products does not support that feature, so I doubt that what you ask can be done with these boxes.

I am afraid you’ll need to use the extenders that Swisscom provides in order to do what you ask for.

Bye, Luca

Alanz

Hi @lucaberta

I was thinking to use my IB2 to create an alternative network which is connected to the internet via the embedded “Internet Mobile Connect” functionality (not sure if the IBplus supports it).

Mainly this would serve as a backup for the alarm system in case of the main internet going down.

Do you think that is also a possibility?

Keinnuprautt97

A bit late to the party but brilliant and simple advice. Much appreciated!

Destauneu27

Hi Luca, I wish I could seen your post before. I did a factory reset.

i got the IB nr from swisscom.

how do i perform the next steps?

(i did plug the old box to the dsl…but not sure what to do as from then. Internet and wifi do not work when plugged to the old box.

thank you.

Greifreyo32

Hello

Did you ever receive a message on this? I think I am in the same spot you were in. I have everything properly connected and can see the IB2 on my topology.

What I don’t understand is how to get to into the old IB2 settings to change the things listed.

When I use the access address or IP address it brings me to the new IB3.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

bitracer

Did you use the IP address that you manually assigned to IB2?

Greifreyo32

No, as that is why I am trying to access it ie manually change the IP address of the IB2 and remove DHCP flag.

With the post above, it was not clear to me if it should have been done before or after the new IB3 was connected.

I assumed that was to be done after and although I see it on my devices, I cannot access it to make those changes.

Do I need to disconnect my IB3, reconnect my IB2 as the principle IB and then make the changes to IP address and DHCP?

Thanks.

r00t

Hi @Greifreyo32

Just disconnect the IB 2 from the IB3 and connect it directly to a computer.

You can then access the Webinterface of the IB 2 and change the settings - no need to connect it to the Swisscom network 😉.

Best

r00t

Greifreyo32

Excellent. Thank you @r00t
Have turned off DHCP and now to “change the IP address of the box to a new address in the same subnet.”
If I understand correctly, the available addresses in the subnet are 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254.
I chose and updated the IP address within that range but still no joy.
I see the IB2 on my MySwisscom topology and I see the IP address as I had updated it but the topology image shows it is not emitting a wifi signal.
Seems I am still not doing something I need to and probably something to do with the IP address I chose, although it is in the range above.
Thanks immensely for the help.

Greifreyo32

Ok I think I have it working.
The address I had chosen was within the DHCP address range so I chose another outside that range.
On the new IB3, I also created a line item for the “Assign static IP address automatically” portlet.
Rebooted everything.
On the MySwisscom app it doesn’t show emitting a wifi signal or having devices connected but it does in the access page of the actual IB2..
Thanks again.

lucaberta

Hi @Greifreyo32, happy you were able to sort out the issue!

Bye, Luca

Destauneu27

@“x”#36351aberta, Thank you for the tip. Finally I made it work. The IB3 works perfectly as AP for the main wifi network. However, even though the Guest Network shows up, it does not have connection.

Any idea /suggestion? I do not see in the IB3 a port manager where VLAN 1977 can be authorise.

Rgds,

r00t

Edit: see https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Home-Networking-WLAN/Guest-Wifi/m-p/843543#M297