I've been given an old 2wire 1701HG ADSL modem/router, which I wanted
to test as a possible spare for my aging Cayman 3546. The 2wire has
a case with a vaguely bowtie-like profile, not the more modern rounded
cigarbox shape of the later models.

The unit powers up and the lights make sense: Power flashes, then settles
on steady green, LAN flashes at first then settles on steady green, DSL
flashes a while, then turns red and eventually turns off since there's no
DSL cable connected. The device was working when taken out of service, so
I don't think it's fried, but it hasn't been used in at least five years.

I was able to do a factory reset, connect a computer and ping the default
address of 192.168.1.254. However, a web browser pointed at that address
brings up nothing useful. An old browser simply stops, a later version of
chromium reported "connection refused". That seems odd, one would expect
the controller to answer, even if DSL is down. Could it require a DSL
connection to fire up the admin web server?

As a last resort I decided to examine the board for physical faults, like
bad/cracked solder joints and leaky capacitors. Alas, the case has no visible
means of assembly. I think it snaps together, but can't find any tabs that
might release it.

If anybody's got a hint how to make further progress please let me know.

Thanks for reading!

bob prohaska

On Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 11:34:27 PM UTC-8, bob prohaska wrote:
I've been given an old 2wire 1701HG ADSL modem/router...

I was able to do a factory reset, connect a computer and ping the default
address of 192.168.1.254. However, a web browser pointed at that address
brings up nothing useful.

My 2701HG has the control panel at 192.168.0.1/setup which might be worth a try.
I downloaded firmware from the local ISP that improved the available features
noticeably, but that was 5 years ago; they've decided these old models are obsolete
now (probably because the WiFi is WEP-only).

Depending on the ISP, yours might have some custom firmware. Only the original
supplier ISP would be able to document it or supply updates.

whit3rd wrote:
On Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 11:34:27 PM UTC-8, bob prohaska wrote:
I've been given an old 2wire 1701HG ADSL modem/router...

I was able to do a factory reset, connect a computer and ping the default
address of 192.168.1.254. However, a web browser pointed at that address
brings up nothing useful.

My 2701HG has the control panel at 192.168.0.1/setup which might be worth a try.
I downloaded firmware from the local ISP that improved the available features
noticeably, but that was 5 years ago; they've decided these old models are obsolete
now (probably because the WiFi is WEP-only).

Depending on the ISP, yours might have some custom firmware. Only the original
supplier ISP would be able to document it or supply updates.

Digging around on the Net I found a thread dealing with using an old 1701 without
DSL as a wireless router. It was mentioned in passing to connect the 1701 to a
computer first, then apply power. That did the trick; the admin web page came up
and I was able to look around. However, on standing a while the connection quit
working. I don't know if that was a timeout of some sort, or a malfunction, so
more testing is needed.

In any case, it's alive and I can tell it's not a drop-in replacment for the
residential gateway I'm using now, a Cayman 3546 with one-to-one NAT. It still
might be usable for testing, or in an emergency with some reconfig of my net.

Thanks for replying!

bob prohaska

I used one of those to try to share an internet connection. I lost my cable down to the basement and took my laptop down so it could pick up the wireless and then used the 2WIRE to connect to the basement PC. It worked but at a very slow speed and then quit. The internet quit and then even the file sharing quit.

I don't know why but I guess it is just not made to work that way and then when it finds out it is it just stops.

I have also tried multiple NICs in PCs with almost zero success. Everything reads right in device manager and all that, each one works but when it comes to using both of them at the same time **** happens.

Hey, I am not the worst. A supposed PC guy thought that you could plug two DSL MODEMs into the same phone line. He didn't work there long...

I've heard of people setting this up having all kinds of connections through one PC and all that, I just could never get it done.

wrote:

I have also tried multiple NICs in PCs with almost zero success.

I have used multiple (probably eight at most) NICs in multiple PCs with
complete success.

"I have used multiple (probably eight at most) NICs in multiple PCs with complete success. "

How ? And what OS ?