2nd Public IP address

[ksihota]

Recently I upgraded to Ignite 1.5GB internet. Previously I had a XB6 on a lower plan and had the modem in bridge mode in order to obtain 2 public IPs from Shaw.

When I set up the new XB7 modem I put it into Bridge mode in order to get the 2nd IP address but I was only able to obtain 1.

I read this info on Rogers site:
"When the Ignite Gateway is in Bridge Mode, the internal LAN ports are "bridged" together with the WAN ports, providing them with direct access to the Internet with no firewall. That will allow a router (or whatever hardware you have connected) to obtain a public IP address. However, Rogers only allows only two devices to obtain a public IP address; one is used by the Ignite gateway itself, because it still has services running on it even while Bridge Mode is enabled, leaving only one other address available for a device that is connected to a LAN port."

Is this what is happening with the Shaw setup? Is a 2nd public IP address no longer available? I specifically chose Shaw originally because they offered the 2nd IP address. I certainly hope they are not revoking that ability.

I am going to try setting the modem into bridge mode once more and using ports 1 and 2 which was suggested by a Shaw advisor when I contacted them but I am a little concerned after reading the info on Rogers.

I really do not want to have to reconfigure my whole network and server setup again if this is the case.

Does anyone else have their XB7 set up to obtain 2 separate public IP addresses, and if you do can you explain how you configured it to do that?

Thanks for any assistance.

[rstra]

@ksihota   Maybe Rogers removed the second ip when they upgraded your account, contact them.

[ksihota]

Yes I have been in contact with Shaw Support (they still appear to be who is handling Internet although it is called Rogers Together with Shaw) and they couldn't tell me much. They suggested I try again using ports 1 and 2 and did say I would get 2 IPs. Crossing my fingers. I can't do any changes until no one is needing Internet access as it brings down my whole system so I am hoping to test this out tonight after everyone has gone to bed. I was just curious if anyone else was using 2 IPs and if so how they had it set up using the XB7.

[ksihota]

For anyone else switching to the XB7 modem and running 2 public IP addresses.

After talking with tech support, I set the modem back into bridge mode. This time I made sure my network cables were connected to ports 1 and 2. This time when the modem rebooted I was able to obtain 2 separate public IP addresses.

I am not sure why this did not happen the first time I did this. I admit that I am not sure if I actually had port 1 and port 2 connected and I know I had a single IP so maybe that was the issue. On the other hand as was suggested by @rstra , maybe they had only a single IP address available to my new setup and when I contacted support maybe they enabled a 2nd? Since I have no idea how the system works from their end I guess I will never know.

At least for now I am getting 2 public IPs so I can get my system back up and running again.

[sanjusaroha]

heya, I'm kinda in the same boat. i tried contacting their support and was told they have limited support on this issue, and I can try to find my own solutions. i was told that shaw only provides one IP address allocated dynamically.  Could you let me know if you're still using the same setup? and in bridge mode, do you connect two different routers to the two ethernet ports on the modem? also was there any specific department you reached out to? 

[ksihota]

Yes, I am still running my system with 2 dynamic IPS from Shaw (or is it Rogers now???)

I had to request the 2nd IP originally, but that was a few years ago. I don't think you automatically get 2 IPs just by connecting the hardware. I think they have to enable something on their end, but this is just speculation on my part. As far as I recall I just contacted support and asked to have a 2nd dynamic IP address added to my account. I tried to get a static one to save me some hassle with DNS but they only give them to business accounts and they charge an arm and leg. I had originally planned on switching to Telus fibre but when I asked about a 2nd IP address they told me I could not have one. My only work around was to pay for 2 separate accounts (not happening.)

With the Router in bridge mode, port 1 and port 2 are each assigned an IP (if available?). As I posted earlier I was unable to get the 2nd IP until I did the process a 2nd time. It might have been needing both ports already connected when the router booted or possible that they had revoked my 2nd IP when I switched over and only reinstated it after I complained. I was never given any information regarding any changes they may have made but it did work as expected the second time around.

My setup has a server connected to one of the IP addresses (ports) where I store all my 'cloud' files, accessible to friends and family, and a 2nd IP (port) connected to a switch/router setup that allows me to create multiple vlans. I then have an access point that provides wifi to all the vlans. The vlans allow me to keep my HomeAssistant and all IOT devices on its own lan. All of my IOT devices are running locally so I am not relying on 3rd party servers and accounts, although this required me to flash firmware (Tasmota) on some of my devices. Other hardware, like my BC hydro energy hub, I am able to connect via MQTT and other that use Zigbee can connect naively.

Rather than the switch/router/AP setup you can replace it with a wireless router that does the same thing. You could add one to each port (1 and 2) so you could run 2 different lans that way as well.

[mdk]

@ksihota wrote I tried to get a static one to save me some hassle with DNS but they only give them to business accounts 

Typically, the Rogers/Shaw DHCP-servers assign the same IP-address each time that the same MAC-address is sent within a DHCP-request.  So, you get what is "seemingly-static", as long as your device is sending the same MAC-address, each time that it sends a "DHCP-renew" request.

So, you may not need to pay to get a "static" IP-address.

Note that when you receive an IP-address, the DNS-server adds a FQDN:

Name: S0106749be812b0c3.gv.shawcable.net
Address: 70.67.224.2

The name always starts with "s0106". The next 12 characters are the MAC-address of your device.

Your remote clients can connect to your device by the "name", rather than by the "address".

So, even when your IP-address changes, the "name" does NOT change -- a benefit to your clients.  🙂