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[smallal]

A few months ago a friend went onto BT Ultrafast (G.Fast) but was unable to blag a free MT992 modem from the Openreach engineer.
Apparently ISPs that still need them (such as Talk Talk) now have to order them as part of the install & it's a chargeable item.
He didn't like the BT router (or the silly money being asked for a MT992 on fleabay) & other options such as the VIGOR 166 were also pricey.
So he asked me if I could source him a cheaper modem to use with his own TP-Link router.
The answer (after some research) was yes, the BT BUSINESS Smart Hub 2. (MUST BE THE BUSINESS VERSION!)
The firmware in this version has the magic bridge mode switch (in the advanced broadband menu) which turns it into a modem.
I was asked to supply another recently, they sell for around £20-£30 used / £40-£50 new on fleabay, a fraction of the going rate for a MT992
As an experiment, before handing it over, I plugged it into a Talk Talk 150 G.Fast line & it worked fine, so they're not locked to BT when used as a modem.

[meritez]

Interesting, how do you stop it from calling home?

[smallal]

Not sure if they do call home in modem mode, but if they do it hasn't stopped either of them from working so far, the oldest one has been going since October 21 without any issues.

[j0hn]

It isn't possible for it to call home.
Without purposefully adding a static route in your router there's no way for a bridge modem to access the WAN at all.

[smallal]

Well there you go, so there shouldn't be an issue (as all router functions are disabled in bridge mode)
I've read elsewhere that only Zen & Talk Talk still need G.Fast modems to be installed, which is probably why the supply of MT992's has dried up.
Hopefully this solution will help people who don't want to fork out £100+ just so they can use their own router.

[underzone]

Do they still force a 2 week resync like the BT consumer routers used to?

[tubaman]

Do they still force a 2 week resync like the BT consumer routers used to?

Even if they do it'd hardly be the end of the world on G.Fast as it uses SRA so should always get back to a good sync quite quickly.

[smallal]

Do they still force a 2 week resync like the BT consumer routers used to?

I've spoken to both owners & they haven't noticed anything like that happening.
However, with the router functions disabled most of the menus (inc. broadband stats) are also disabled, so it's hard to monitor.

[underzone]

When in bridge mode, does the wifi get turned off completey?
So that there is no shared BT hotspot?

[Alex Atkin UK]

When in bridge mode, does the wifi get turned off completey?
So that there is no shared BT hotspot?

Does the BUSINESS hub even have that?  I wouldn't think it would, unless its enabled if you try to use it on a residential line.

[smallal]

When in bridge mode all router functions are disabled as it becomes a 'dumb' modem