No matter what the sales people say, in bridge only ONE e...

[Upfront6891]

No matter what the sales people say, in bridge only ONE ethernet port will work on the BlueCurve POS modem

Not only that. Even if buy a router network switch, you need to bridge your modem. Which means you won't be able to use wifi should you need wifi compatibility. 

[rstra]

If you bridge the BlueCurve, or any other Shaw modem/router, it will simply become a modem, why would you expect the other port(s) to continue to work? It is quite simple, bridge Shaw’s equipment if you want to use your own router, don’t bridge it if you want to use the Shaw router.

[mdk]

> Even if [you] buy a router network switch, you need to bridge your modem. 

Did you purchase a router (one incoming IP-address, and multiple Ethernet/WiFi outputs) or did you buy a switch, such as a  TP-LINK ?

The TP-LINK relies on the Shaw "non-bridged" router to provide DHCP-services for each connected computer. Compare it to a hotel, that has one entrance, and multiple rooms, where all guests enter the hotel through the same entrance. There will be traffic from multiple IP-addresses carried over the one Ethernet cable between the Shaw router and the TP-LINK. Instead, if you connect a router, only one IP-address reaches the "up-link" port on the router.

[Upfront6891]

@rstra I expected the other ports to work because I was told they would 🙄

BTW, I seem to have lost the capability to insert quoted text?

[Upfront6891]

@mdk Sorry, I think you're over-complicating things here.  I merely made the point that if one should buy an ethernet switch you must bridge it but you will lose wifi functionality from the BC modem.

I will not waste my money buying a switch. I was given one by Shaw which is normally reserved for business customers. It was a large netgear beast. I was told it would need to be bridged and I would lose wifi functionality.

At the time I thought I would just unbridge and bridge as necessary when wanting to use wifi. As this was too much work, I returned it back to Shaw. People need to be aware that just plugging in the ethernet switch will sacrifice their wifi connectivity and you can't rely on Shaw tech support level 1 to provide you accurate information. 

Also, as I mentioned above, I have lost the ability to insert quoted text when I reply to posts.

[mdk]

>  I merely made the point that if one should buy an Ethernet switch you must bridge it ...

That is not correct, if you have a switch, instead of a router. There is a difference!

A proper switch receives/transmits multiple incoming IP-addresses on its "uplink" port.

Those multiple IP-addresses are supplied by the DHCP-server inside a "non-bridged" Shaw cable-modem/router device. Outgoing traffic goes through NAT (Network Address Translation), so that the receiving web-server sees only the "public" IP-address of the Shaw router, not the "private" IP-address of the sending computer on the LAN (Local Area Network).

Then, the switch "switches" the incoming traffic to (just) one of the LAN ports on the switch. In contrast, a "hub" device would broadcast all the incoming traffic to all the active ports, and it becomes the job of the Ethernet adapter inside each device to just "drop" all traffic not intended for the device's current IP-address.

In fact, if you "bridge" the modem, then only one computer connected to the switch will receive an IP-address (from Shaw's DHCP-server), and Shaw's DHCP-server will not assign IP-addresses to any of the other switch-connected computers, unless your account with Shaw has been upgraded to allow multiple IP-addresses.

Switch: a hotel has multiple guests entering its lobby from the shared parking-lot, and each guest is allowed to enter only one room, but only by going through the lobby.

Hub: a motel has a shared parking-lot, and each room opens directly to the parking-lot.

> I was told it would need to be bridged and I would lose WiFi functionality.

Sigh. You were wrongly informed.

> People need to be aware that just plugging in the ethernet switch will sacrifice their WiFi connectivity ...

That is not correct. Bridging the Shaw cable-modem/router does sacrifice the built-in WiFi.

> you can't rely on Shaw tech support level 1 to provide you accurate information.  

True, but only some of the time. Blame that on that "Level One" CSR (customer services representative) not being trained as well as a "Level Two" CSR. That "Level One" CSR needs to learn to "escalate" when their training has not sufficient to correctly answer a "Level Two" question.

[thesmilingcanuc]

I just talked to Shaw on this as well and got the same info, it can't be done on the bluecurve like you could on the hitron, you have to connect a second router and lose your wifi in the process. This bluecurve is an absolute piece of garbage - DO NOT GET IT, DO NOT UPGRADE to Gigabit if you want to use a PS4 or XBOX without a NAT 2 or worse. 

[mdk]

> ... you have to connect a second router and lose your wifi in the process.

This is not correct.

1. Set the BlueCurve to "non-bridged" mode.
2. It will obtain a "public" IP-address from Shaw's DHCP-server.
3. Each of your WiFi devices can obtain a "private" IP-address from the BlueCurve's DHCP-server.
4. Two (or one) of your Ethernet-connected devices can obtain a "private" IP-address from the BlueCurve's DHCP-server.
5. One (or even two) of your wired devices can be your wired (or wired/wireless) router.
6. Any device connected to your own router will obtain a "private" IP-address from your own router.

The "trick" here is that the range of IP-addresses handed-out by the BlueCurve must be different from the range of IP-addresses handed-out by your own modem.  For example, the BlueCurve can hand-out IP-addresses like "10.0.0.xxx", and your own router can hand-out IP-addresses like "192.168.xxx.yyy".  NAT (network address translation) will convert outgoing traffic from one of your devices, e.g., "192.168.1.23", to an IP-address like "10.0.0.45", and send the traffic to the BlueCurve. The BlueCurve will convert the traffic to the "public" IP-address given to the router by Shaw's DHCP-server. The traffic will go out to the Internet, and will be returned to the IP-address of the BlueCurve. The BlueCurve will translate the incoming response back to "10.0.0.45", and send the traffic to your own router. Your own router will translate the incoming response back to "192.168.1.23", and send the traffic back to your device.

If you want the absolutely-best performance for your "gaming" device, connect it to one of the Ethernet ports on the BlueCurve, instead of connecting it to an Ethernet port on your own router. Your own router will connect to the other Ethernet port on the BlueCurve.

It probably is better to connect your WiFi-enabled smart-phone (or iPad) to the WiFi network on the BlueCurve. Connect your computers to your own router, so that they can communicate with each other, routing the traffic through your own router. If you have a wired/wireless printer, connect it to your own router, so that any of your computers can print to it, again by routing through your own router.

[Upfront6891]

@mdk 

Survey says..... you lose your wifi.

Shaw tech support's response is the same whether you have a switch or router — you must bridge your modem.

Furthermore, the steps you outlined (whether they work or not is irrelevant) are wordy, not to mention overwhelming. It can give someone a headache and cough. They might think they're infected with covid-19. Remember, keep things simple! 😉

While we can argue the competency of Shaw's Tier 1 tech support, what they're telling their customers is consistent.  I suggest you "set Shaw straight" by  liaising with their technical support team.

Moving forward, the official position from Shaw, unless the moderators here say otherwise is you must bridge your BC modem to give access to a switch or customer supplied router. The latter only makes sense because you can't have two wifi access points in this manner.
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Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across.

Guy Kawasa

[mdk]

@Upfront6891 -- ... you can't have two wifi access points in this manner.

Simply put, you are not correct.

I will briefly say that my personal setup (WiFi from the "non-bridged" Shaw cable-modem/router, and simultaneous WiFi from my own router) works fine.  There is no technical reason that it will not work for you. Google-search for "double NAT".

Missouri is the "show me" state.  🙂