Got new router from spectrum (old router’s battery back up died). Spectrum decided this was the way to fix.
It auto configures WiFi etc on startup.
Just use the info on sticker to access WiFi.
But…managing router is now done via a phone app. ( your kidding me.)
I’m thinking the app sends data to spectrum and they then connect to your router to do what you asked for via the phone app.
So router opened to internet? Probably.
First thing you do on new modem/routers is disable access to outsiders so bad actors don’t get into your router/modem. Guess spectrum figures you don’t need that anymore.
Option now is to buy a modem and fight spectrum into allowing it’s use.
With apple devices not having physical ports, let alone network jacks, an app to configure over the phone would make a Very useful tool for Normies, in addition to a lan accessible ui
You could just have the router start as an unsecured network, where you create an account and set up the security. This makes it easy to configure on a phone/tablet, and is how most consumer routers work.
Well, in my experience. Of a grand total of three routers. But yeah, all of them started with unsecured WiFi and routed any traffic to the router initial setup page.
Also on my ASUS router the initial setup page let me use Cyrillic in the network name, with the actual setup page still refuses to do.
I have configured quite a few and they all pretty much work like this. Some times the wifi network has a default password on it, but still pretty much the same idea.
I have no experience with this ISP and their box … the only thing I can add to the discussion is that if you are going to buy a router, I would suggest choosing something that can have OpenWrt installed, for example.
As for whether a given box is open to the world, you can check for yourself by scanning your public IP address.
For the first setup, yes. Once you’ve set a password it’ll let you out onto the internet and only take you to the router settings when you go to the router’s IP.
It renders a static looking page providing some info on the router. nothing to click on or do.
ie. no 198.168.0.1 admin web page to use at all. Have to use mobile app.
Some NETGEAR soho routers have similar solutions. They are set to work with the app but after logging in they have the option to go completely to the web panel and not use the app anymore…
I know breezeline doesn’t care what router you use. only thing they care for is a specific brand / model of cable modem and then the mac address is locked to the port assigned to you on their end. Not a deal breaker there. Biggest complaint with them is their pricing - keeps going up every year in september.
Frontier fiber also doesn’t care about what hardware you use. outside of the ont everything else is my own equipment and setup to the best of my abilities! If someone has a way to check / configure the ont I’m happy to give it a go. And sofar the pricing is cheaper than breezeline for 4 times the download speed (500 down / 50 up vs 2gb down / 2gb up)
I just switched to Alta Fiber (Cincinnati Bell) from Spectrum. When I had Spectrum I only need their modem. I used my Asus RT-AX88u router. Didn’t need any spp on my phone to set up their modem or my router, used Chome to log in and set up my router.