Calling ALL TC and Networking Experts, Need Help With Weird ARRIS SBG10 MR, Xfinity Issue

[Heat_Fan89]

I bought an Ebay $20 open-box ARRIS SBG10 modem/router(MR) for my Xfinity internet. When I received the MR, it looked new with the plastic film on the MR. So prior to the purchase I verified it is compatible with Xfinity. I went to my local Xfinity store and the sales rep, added the modem to my account. He said all I needed to do was activate the MR via the Xfinity app.

So the MR activates via the Xfinity app. I can see the MR name on my Mac Mini. I enter the WiFi password and my Mini connects to it. However when I attempt to go to any website or launch the Mail app, nothing happens and Safari, FF comes back and says i'm not connected.

Here where it gets weird. So I reset the MR back to factory default by pushing and holding the reset button on the back for 30 seconds with the power on and the cable was not plugged in. It goes thru its sequence, all the lights on the MR come on. It all looks normal but still no internet access. I ran a LAN cable from the MR to my Mini, no internet access. I tried it on my Windows gaming rig, no internet access. I tried it on an Ubuntu laptop, no internet access with WiFi and or LAN.

So I launch 192.168.0.1 and my ARRIS login screen has the username admin filled in but password blank. So I enter lowercase admin as the password because that's what the default password should be. I then get a message that the username or password is incorrect or I could be locked out from too many invalid password attempts. If the invalid password attempts was the problem, shouldn't a factory reset clear that out? And is lowercase admin the actual password?

I tab over to the operational tab and look at the device status and it shows i'm connected the number of devices I used to connect too and it shows Gateway status as: Router.

So 90% of this says it all looks good but I have NO internet access. Like I mentioned this out of the box ARRIS MR looked like it was never used, no fingerprints, plastic film on the modem. All the lights come on, Xfinity says i'm connected. I can connect my Mac and other PC's to it with the WiFi password on the bottom of the modem. But I have no internet access. TC and networking experts, any thoughts what might be the problem?

 

[Bigwaff]

But I have no internet access. TC and networking experts, any thoughts what might be the problem?

Launch terminal and issue these ping commands
ping 8.8.8.8
ping 1.1.1.1
If successful pings, change the MR router DNS settings to 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 instead of default (your ISP's DNS).

 

[Mrbobb]

NO internet access.

Be more precise.

When you tell your browser to go somewhere, what does it say exactly? If it says something-unknown, is a DNS (URL lookup) problem; if it says route not found then it's a routing issue.

Do a PING 8.8.8.8, what does it says?

Do u get all green lights on the modem?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Launch terminal and issue these ping commands
ping 8.8.8.8
ping 1.1.1.1
If successful pings, change the MR router DNS settings to 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 instead of default (your ISP's DNS).

It isn't successful with either. It sends out 56 data bytes and the response immediately comes back Request timeout for icmp_seq 0 and that continues incrementing

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Okay this is really getting weird, I was on this page with another WiFi connection then I switched to the ARRIS connection and I was able to Log in and reply to your message. However if I try to open another webpage I get a blank plag and nothing shows up.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Be more precise.

1) When you tell your browser to go somewhere, what does it say exactly? If it says something-unknown, is a DNS (URL lookup) problem; if it says route not found then it's a routing issue.

2) Do a PING 8.8.8.8, what does it says?

3) Do u get all green lights on the modem?

1) I get the message Problem loading page on the browser tab and that my internet connection timed out in that page.

2) Request timeout for icmp_seq 0, and I get a new line every second with the number increasing

3) Yes, All five lights come on: Power On, Send/Receive, Connected, 2,4Ghz WiFi, 5Ghz WiFi

As I mentioned in the previous comment, prior to replying to both comments, I had this webpage opened with another ARRIS modem router. I then unplugged the aging MR and connected via cable the ARRIS SBG10 and powered it on. Once I had my connection to that MR, I was able to login to and reply to both comments but I can't load any other webpage. I eventually get Problem loading page, and the webpage says connection timed out. The server at cbssports.com is taking too long to respond. That's what I get with any other website I try.

However, with this same connection I was able to log in and reply to both comments. STRANGE!!!

And I was able to to open the forums tab on MacRumors and it loaded just fine !!!!

 

[Heat_Fan89]

So I can go anywhere in MacRumors with the ARRIS SBG10 but no other new website connection.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I just opened a new FF tab on my Mini and since I am already on MacRumors, I decided to go there with the new Tab. Success but only because I am already logged into MacRumors. So the ARRIS SBG10 is working and I am sort of connected to the internet. This is really weird. 🤓

And the SBG10 is incredibly fast, MacRumors pages load almost instantaneously. Much faster than my aging ARRIS modem router.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I logged out of MacRumors. I opened a new Tab in Firefox and was able to log back in with no problems. I am going to Logoff, quit FF and relaunch it to see if I still have access to this website. If I don't update this, that means that I lost the connection to MacRumors by quitting FF.

Yup, I was able to access MacRumors again after quitting Firefox.

 

[Fishrrman]

You probably tried this already, but...

1. power down the Mac... all the way off
2. unplug the Arris... all the way off
now
3. plug in the Arris... give it about 5 mins to boot up and configure itself
4. finally, reboot the Mac.

Does anything change?

Do you have the xfinity-issued modem/router?
If you put that into place, does everything "come back up" like it should?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

You probably tried this already, but...

1. power down the Mac... all the way off
2. unplug the Arris... all the way off
now
3. plug in the Arris... give it about 5 mins to boot up and configure itself
4. finally, reboot the Mac.

Does anything change?

Do you have the xfinity-issued modem/router?
If you put that into place, does everything "come back up" like it should?

Yes I have and thanks for the suggestion. Last night I had enough troubleshooting and shutdown the Mac and the ARRIS SBG10 for several hours. This morning I turned on the Mac Mini with the old ARRIS SBG6700AC modem router. I left it on this webpage and unplugged the SBG6700AC and powered on and connected the SBG10. I was able to access this website in its entirety.

No I own my own equipment, the aging SBG6700AC and the newly arrived SBG10. If I connect the SBG6700AC, I can go anywhere on the internet. With the SBG10 not so, with the only exception of MacRumors because of my experiment of getting to this website first with the SBG6700AC and then swapping it with the new SBG10.

 

[Bigwaff]

No I own my own equipment, the aging SBG6700AC and the newly arrived SBG10. If I connect the SBG6700AC, I can go anywhere on the internet. With the SBG10 not so, with the only exception of MacRumors because of my experiment of getting to this website first with the SBG6700AC and then swapping it with the new SBG10.

Your "new", open-box SBG10 WiFi router settings are messed up. You need to log into the web admin console and review the settings against the same settings on the working SBG6700AC.

 

[Fishrrman]

waff (as usual) is onto something.

What you could do:
Put the OLD modem/router back into place.

Log into it, and view each settings page.
and as you do this...
TAKE A SCREENSHOT of each page.
Then, print these out.

Now you have a printed reference in your hands of the "settings that work".

Next, replace the old modem/router with the new one.
Again, log into it, and start going through ALL the setting options.
On each page, review the settings vis-a-vis the settings on your printed pages.
Do you find any discrepancies?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Your "new", open-box SBG10 WiFi router settings are messed up. You need to log into the web admin console and review the settings against the same settings on the working SBG6700AC.

That's the problem. When I go to 192.168.0.1 for the SBG10, the Login page shows admin lowercase. The password is blank. Supposedly the default password is also lowercase admin. Once I press enter I get the error message login or password is incorrect or I am locked out from too many failed login's. I tried the WiFi security password and I get the same message. I was under the impression that the factory default resets the password back to admin.

Do you have an idea what my Login settings should be for the SBG6700AC? I tried admin admin and I got an invalid username/password. I then tried admin and the WiFi password and I got the same invalid username/password. I don't want to get locked out of that by mistake.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

waff (as usual) is onto something.

What you could do:
Put the OLD modem/router back into place.

Log into it, and view each settings page.
and as you do this...
TAKE A SCREENSHOT of each page.
Then, print these out.

Now you have a printed reference in your hands of the "settings that work".

Next, replace the old modem/router with the new one.
Again, log into it, and start going through ALL the setting options.
On each page, review the settings vis-a-vis the settings on your printed pages.
Do you find any discrepancies?

I've been back using the old SBG6700-AC modem router for several hours.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I got in and the default password for the SBG10 is lowercase password. I was able to change it. I tried accessing using the SGB6700-AC with Firefox, Brave, Chrome, Microsoft Edge but I get a security message about some an unsupported security protocol.

Safari was the only browser that let me get to the Login screen and once I logged in, it gave me a mostly blank page with 3 boxes with ? inside. I reloaded the webpage with lower protection and no change. So I am unable to copy the SBG6700AC settings over to the SBG10. I will have a look at the settings on my Nintendo Switch and see if that will work.

The last option is to visit an Xfinity store in hopes they can dig up that information. The reps there don't typically have the expertise for that. So I may need to have a chat with a support rep on their website.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Delightful news! I tried something different and even though it took some time, it's all good now. I got to thinking that when you activate a modem router the ISP automatically sets all the network settings and protocols. So I reactivated the SBG10 but this time I scanned the barcode. I had everything disconnected at that point and just waited for the App to say, connect cable, then power.

After I was up and running I noticed I was getting a few more websites to access that I wasn't before. So I decided while everything was connected, I reset the modem/router back to factory settings. Then I decided just to wait it out thinking it will take some time for Xfinity to perhaps start updating my modem/router with their service.

That was the trick as after about an hour I was getting to more and more websites. Now I can access everything on my Mac. I need to try it on my consoles just to make sure those are okay but that was crazy how it turned out.

A HUGE big thanks for everyone's input and suggestions!

 

[erihp]

Delightful news! I tried something different and even though it took some time, it's all good now. I got to thinking that when you activate a modem router the ISP automatically sets all the network settings and protocols. So I reactivated the SBG10 but this time I scanned the barcode. I had everything disconnected at that point and just waited for the App to say, connect cable, then power.

After I was up and running I noticed I was getting a few more websites to access that I wasn't before. So I decided while everything was connected, I reset the modem/router back to factory settings. Then I decided just to wait it out thinking it will take some time for Xfinity to perhaps start updating my modem/router with their service.

That was the trick as after about an hour I was getting to more and more websites. Now I can access everything on my Mac. I need to try it on my consoles just to make sure those are okay but that was crazy how it turned out.

A HUGE big thanks for everyone's input and suggestions!

Sounds like the new modems MAC was not provisioned/activated on the xfinity system.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Sounds like the new modems MAC was not provisioned/activated on the xfinity system.

That's quite possible. When I visited the Xfinity Store a couple of months ago. I brought the SBG10 to their store and the Rep checked that is was compatible on their Network because I was going to return it to the Ebay seller. He also added it to my account by scanning the Barcodes on the bottom of the SBG10. He said it's ready to be activated.

So I expected everything to work immediately and instead it was the opposite. But all my game consoles have connected to the SBG10.