Nashua R139.00 "Deal"

[Syndyre]

Dave, I just realised I have obviously missed a few posts on this thread and just read them now.

May I ask where this script will change the username? Is it on the router itself? Will we still not be able to put the Billion into bridged mode, as I currently do that with my SMC and then use RouteSentry to dial up my two connections?

Any scripts or information will be much appreciated as the Billion is currently sitting gathering dust.

Another positive from the above posts is mention of Nashua being happy to unlock the router after 12 months, so at least in 9 months at least I will have a useful wifi router!

Do you need to use the Billion if you have your SMC? If its just for Wifi you might be able to connect to ADSL via the SMC and just use the Billion as a wireless access point.

 

[LancelotSA]

Do you need to use the Billion if you have your SMC? If its just for Wifi you might be able to connect to ADSL via the SMC and just use the Billion as a wireless access point.

Yeah I tried this route before with the help of someone on here, apologies for not recalling the name without looking, but after making all the necessary changes I was unable to retrieve emails and some other little issues. So decided to be lazy for now and just switch back to wired for no until a better solution came along. It was also not ideal having two routers as my Telkom connection is in my entrance hall..

 

[Syndyre]

Yeah I tried this route before with the help of someone on here, apologies for not recalling the name without looking, but after making all the necessary changes I was unable to retrieve emails and some other little issues. So decided to be lazy for now and just switch back to wired for no until a better solution came along. It was also not ideal having two routers as my Telkom connection is in my entrance hall..

Ok thought that might be a way around it.

 

[Daveogg]

Ok i have managed to put together a script file that will automate the ISP change. If anyone wants drop me a mail at David at Ogg.co.za. Its nothing special but works. You need to edit a txt file with your username and password for your non - nashua isp.

 

[Nashua101]

Hello

Our bandwidth is Verizon unshaped bandwidth so I am sure you agree the price is very good.

 

[zek 2371]

Continuing the fight

Everyone who uses them should complain... it says nothing in the advertising about it being a locked router. What are you meant to do after the 12 months if you no longer want to use Nashua? You have a fancy door stop?

Does anyone know where you would complain to?

I have used the Billion BiPAC 7300G for the last 3 weeks. It has the latest firmware: PCRange-7300GA-V1.36-698-80.3_sso_billion.afw.zip which is newer than what is available from the Billion SA website.

According to an email from NM Billion supplies them with the modems locked. I quote directly from their reply to me :"We don’t unlock the routers. That Billion router was specially designed for Nashuamobile when they went on the Internetlessness campaign.

It can not be unlocked as it means going back to the manufacturer for them to try to unlock it."

You would think that a firmware upgrade would do the job as Johnson seem to have done. Maybe it only works with models that have older firmware.

And finally; a quote direct from Datasupport:

"Good day



The Billion Routers are locked; you cannot use Mweb or Telkom username



Kind regards

Data Support Consultant

Tel :0112078017

Fax 011 207 9017

Datasupport@nashuamobile.com"

I have subsequently informed them that I want to cancel my contract as there was no mention of a locked modem before I signed the contract.

There is a clause in their Terms and Conditions that says: "19. You hereby agree that this agreement or the Services is not conditional upon the continued operation or use of any Products purchased, hired or acquired from us or a third party for use in conjunction with and/or to access the Services."

This clause seems to prevent you from cancelling because you cannot use their modem with any other ISP's. However, I feel that this clause would only be applicable if you knew beforehand that the modem was locked. One of the salespeople in the shop indicated to me that the salespeople were informed at the launch of the advertising campaign that the modems were locked. As Lancelot and myself have noticed, nowhere does it get mentioned that you will have locked modem - not in the fine print or by the salespeople. I only discovered this after reading some of the comments in this forum.

I will let you guys know when and if I can get my contract cancelled and the procedure would be.

 

[Daveogg]

The Billion Routers are locked; you cannot use Mweb or Telkom username

Yes you can now!! Just Telnet into the router and change it as johnson described, or if you want a script to do it just mail me as above.

 

[Daveogg]

Hello

Our bandwidth is Verizon unshaped bandwidth so I am sure you agree the price is very good.

I would not describe the price of any bandwidth in South Africa as "very good". In fact its all "very bad" but i get your point. On another matter, as you seem to be our "Nashua rep", are you or verizon still having DNS issues. I have had to switch my friends router over to web africa as things went a bit "off" last night.

 

[jjv]

Thank you for the work-around guys, it works great!

What happens when you set your username and password manually using the telnet interface?

Try this:

1. Telnet to 192.168.1.254 (or your router's IP)
2. Enter user: admin, pass: (yourpass)
3. type: wan proto pppoe userpass (username) (password) [note: this command can be abbreviated as: w p p u]

where (username) is someone@notnashua.co.za.

For this to work, your telnet access to your router must be enabled (Configuration->Advanced->Device Management). When I do this, I get some rubbish debug output, but it does change the username and password. Let me know if this works.

To JohnsonCT and Daveogg - you're the best!

Just to confirm - I've used the script and it works well, thank you very much. I found that after running it the router would not automatically connect. It requires you to log into it, using the web interface, and click on "Connect" in the WAN section of the Status page.

Strangely it connects automatically if you change (and applied) your username and password to point to Nashua again.

 

[McGuywer]

, as you seem to be our "Nashua rep",

LOL,

Reps don't seem to last very long....



A Certain Neo...something, comes to mind.

 

[Debbie]

Just a heads up for anyone considering signing a 12 month contract with Nashua, in exchange for the Billion router, the router is "locked" to nashua - you wont be able to authenticate with any other ISP.

If you require additional bandwidth you will be paying Nashua R95.00 / Gig for shaped bandwidth that does not roll over.

The Convergence Bill (passed as Electronic Communications Act) initially made it illegal to network lock end-user equipment, but unfortunately that fell by the wayside

 

[Jaaks]

I had a run in with Nashua a while back and burnt my fingers so i am not going near them ever again!

 

[scabs01]

Hey, does anyone know the telnet cmd to change username/password for the billiion 4701VGP.

I have tried the cmd in this thread but it doesn't seem to work.

Thanks

 

[PseudZ]

Both MWEB and Nashua lock their respective BILLION routers
I Also have the 4701VGP and my contract is almost up.. was wondering whether i should try the recovery utility

My firmware is from dec 2006, seems very outdated to me

 

[HandyTechTipper]

Dealing with NashuaMobile + no telnet on the latest "Nashua 7300GA" Billion 7300G??

Mmmmmm, seems like the latest "Nashua 7300GA" Billion 7300G routers *don't* have the Telnet option - or am I wrong?

I got mine last week and I'd like to share my experiences.... apart from getting 3 over-eager (?) NashuaMobile consultants calling me to get the documentation signed... it was a smooth experience.
I was surprised that they presented me 3 different "Terms and Conditions" documents - which referred to "Cellular phone" agreements and had a 3 month notice period to terminate!! - the web page's T&C's referred to 1 calendar month.
Luckily the 1 month version applied.

The forms asked for "Delivery details" - but I landed up collecting from one of their branches

I was hoping to get a couple of those line-filters (Telkom provide 2 for free)... but there were none in the box.... I believe only Telkom Client centres sell them? BTW: it works fine without them, altho there's a slight hum on the telephone line (I need to turn the router off when speaking).

On the positive side: the (first) sales-lady that dealt with me regarding the contract really assisted me well and answered all my questions very promptly... I filled in the application form on the web page on 15July, then signed the forms on 18July, and on 29July they called to tell me to collect the router.

The setup of the Billion router was easy and quick. Wireless worked first time.

Then I needed to call the 0861 number to activate the service - that was a call to their 0861 number and after 7 minutes I was told that it would be enabled in 30mins...
5 minutes later I was connected and surfing the web

Wow! and I didn't even speak to a single Telkom person... Wow!

Ok... now, how do I get the router connected to another ISP? I really don't want to fall into that "use it, or lose it" trap (re: topup bandwidth)!!!

I've tried downloading the latest firmware, but I get an error (after 2%): "Upgrade firmware error!!!", "Reason - wrong firmware"

I've tried to connect using telnet as follows: "telnet 192.168.1.254" but I get an error "Connecting To 192.168.1.254...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed"

I've tried to enable telnet using the "Configuration->Advanced->Device Management" but I don't see anything to do with Telnet - I only see settings for: "Embedded Web Server", "Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)"
and "SNMP Access Control"????

From an earlier post (by Paul_S on 17-08-2007, 06:52 PM) on using bridged mode - I also think that this is not possible on this "locked" version of the firmware since the "RFC 1483 Bridged" option is missing:
"Configuration => WAN => ISP
On the Main WAN Connection Configuration => Click the Change link
On next page select RFC 1483 Bridged and click Next.
"

Any ideas on getting telnet to work... or other ways of getting the router unlocked would be gr8!

Thanks in anticipation......

 

[sn3rd]

Mmmmmm, seems like the latest "Nashua 7300GA" Billion 7300G routers *don't* have the Telnet option - or am I wrong?

I got mine last week and I'd like to share my experiences.... apart from getting 3 over-eager (?) NashuaMobile consultants calling me to get the documentation signed... it was a smooth experience.
I was surprised that they presented me 3 different "Terms and Conditions" documents - which referred to "Cellular phone" agreements and had a 3 month notice period to terminate!! - the web page's T&C's referred to 1 calendar month.
Luckily the 1 month version applied.

The forms asked for "Delivery details" - but I landed up collecting from one of their branches

I was hoping to get a couple of those line-filters (Telkom provide 2 for free)... but there were none in the box.... I believe only Telkom Client centres sell them? BTW: it works fine without them, altho there's a slight hum on the telephone line (I need to turn the router off when speaking).

On the positive side: the (first) sales-lady that dealt with me regarding the contract really assisted me well and answered all my questions very promptly... I filled in the application form on the web page on 15July, then signed the forms on 18July, and on 29July they called to tell me to collect the router.

The setup of the Billion router was easy and quick. Wireless worked first time.

Then I needed to call the 0861 number to activate the service - that was a call to their 0861 number and after 7 minutes I was told that it would be enabled in 30mins...
5 minutes later I was connected and surfing the web

Wow! and I didn't even speak to a single Telkom person... Wow!

Ok... now, how do I get the router connected to another ISP? I really don't want to fall into that "use it, or lose it" trap (re: topup bandwidth)!!!

I've tried downloading the latest firmware, but I get an error (after 2%): "Upgrade firmware error!!!", "Reason - wrong firmware"

I've tried to connect using telnet as follows: "telnet 192.168.1.254" but I get an error "Connecting To 192.168.1.254...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed"

I've tried to enable telnet using the "Configuration->Advanced->Device Management" but I don't see anything to do with Telnet - I only see settings for: "Embedded Web Server", "Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)"
and "SNMP Access Control"????

From an earlier post (by Paul_S on 17-08-2007, 06:52 PM) on using bridged mode - I also think that this is not possible on this "locked" version of the firmware since the "RFC 1483 Bridged" option is missing:
"Configuration => WAN => ISP
On the Main WAN Connection Configuration => Click the Change link
On next page select RFC 1483 Bridged and click Next.
"

Any ideas on getting telnet to work... or other ways of getting the router unlocked would be gr8!

Thanks in anticipation......

In Cape Town, you should be able to get ADSL microfilters from Esquire, or if you don't have access to an account, speak to people at computers shops and ask if they can get for you.

Considered getting a cheapo router and doing what I did:
PCs <-> Locked Billion Router with Wireless capability <-> Wired-only Router with ability to change accounts (and have multiple PPPoE connections) <-> ADSL line

Basically I am using the Billion router as a wireless access-point ONLY

 

[JohnsonCT]

I've tried to enable telnet using the "Configuration->Advanced->Device Management" but I don't see anything to do with Telnet - I only see settings for: "Embedded Web Server", "Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)"
and "SNMP Access Control"????

From an earlier post (by Paul_S on 17-08-2007, 06:52 PM) on using bridged mode - I also think that this is not possible on this "locked" version of the firmware since the "RFC 1483 Bridged" option is missing:
"Configuration => WAN => ISP
On the Main WAN Connection Configuration => Click the Change link
On next page select RFC 1483 Bridged and click Next.
"

Any ideas on getting telnet to work... or other ways of getting the router unlocked would be gr8!

Thanks in anticipation......

@HandyTechTipper: On my 7300G, the Telnet Configuration heading is definitely under Configuration->Advanced->Device management. They must have removed this option from the latest firmware.

As far as PPPoE relay configuration goes, you enable that under Configuration->WAN->ISP. Click edit on the PPPoE Routed entry under the Main WAN Connection Configuration heading. At the bottom of the list of options that appears, there should be an option reading PPPoE Relay which you should obviously set to Enable.

If the option exists, you should be able to use your router as an ADSL modem using PPPoE.

Hope that helps.

 

[JustGadgets]

Just a heads up for anyone considering signing a 12 month contract with Nashua, in exchange for the Billion router, the router is "locked" to nashua - you wont be able to authenticate with any other ISP.

If you require additional bandwidth you will be paying Nashua R95.00 / Gig for shaped bandwidth that does not roll over.

Suddenly this "deal" is not so attractive anymore.

Locked !!! That is CRAZY

 

[mujabees]

Ethernet to Serial cable

"Has any one tried the method of connecting the router directly to pc via Ethernet serial cable? According to a support consultant this can be done on the 7400 via connecting to LAN port 4 and then serial connection to pc and then terminal service. Going to be getting cable tomorrow. Has anyone tried this previously or does any one know what's the plausibility of this working in order to change the firmware?"


Scratch the above. Sorry guys didnt see that something similar was posted previously. Have an ethernet to serial cable and gonna scratch around this weekend.

 

[Daddy Dog]

@HandyTechTipper: On my 7300G, the Telnet Configuration heading is definitely under Configuration->Advanced->Device management. They must have removed this option from the latest firmware.

As far as PPPoE relay configuration goes, you enable that under Configuration->WAN->ISP. Click edit on the PPPoE Routed entry under the Main WAN Connection Configuration heading. At the bottom of the list of options that appears, there should be an option reading PPPoE Relay which you should obviously set to Enable.

If the option exists, you should be able to use your router as an ADSL modem using PPPoE.

Hope that helps.

I am also unable to find the Telnet Configuration.
So I guess I wont be able to use my router with a different ISP