Jason Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 I have a WISP that's wired into my apartment via the phone jack. I want to hook up my own router but the plug that goes into the ISP-provided router is an RJ11 connector. Of course every router you look at only has RJ45 on the WAN port. And apparently this isn't as simple as just buying a physical RJ11->RJ45 adapter. Does anyone know where to even start on this? I can't just hook up my own router to the ISP router because 1) the ISP router doesn't have bridge mode so you get into a fucked up double NAT situation and 2) the ISP router only has megabit ethernet ports despite my service being greater than megabit, which is why I want to replace it with my own router--to get gigabit ethernet connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cusideabelincoln Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 RJ45 has twice as many wires as RJ11's four, and any Ethernet standard faster than 100 megabit uses all 8 wires while the standard for less than 100Mb only needs 4 wires. If your ISP is only using RJ11 with 4 wires and able to provide >100Mb to the router they provided you, then afaik they must be using some other tech (a version of DSL? proprietary?) in their equipment they gave you to achieve this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbsolutSurgen Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 A quick google search tells me that people in the past have been able to use their own router with Starry by either giving the MAC address of their router to Starry, or cloning the Starry Router's MAC address with their own. The current hardware claims to have 2 Gigabit ports on it: A New WiFi Experience - Starry Station Touchscreen Router STARRY.COM Replace your existing router with visible, touchable, faster-than-fast WiFi, understand your Internet health, track your speed, and much more Only spent about 5 minutes looking into it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 On 12/31/2023 at 2:52 PM, AbsolutSurgen said: A quick google search tells me that people in the past have been able to use their own router with Starry by either giving the MAC address of their router to Starry, or cloning the Starry Router's MAC address with their own. The current hardware claims to have 2 Gigabit ports on it: A New WiFi Experience - Starry Station Touchscreen Router STARRY.COM Replace your existing router with visible, touchable, faster-than-fast WiFi, understand your Internet health, track your speed, and much more Only spent about 5 minutes looking into it though. Yes I found the discussions of cloning the MAC address, but nothing about the RJ11 WAN connection. And I believe you have to pay an extra monthly fee for the newer router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 On 12/31/2023 at 11:20 AM, cusideabelincoln said: RJ45 has twice as many wires as RJ11's four, and any Ethernet standard faster than 100 megabit uses all 8 wires while the standard for less than 100Mb only needs 4 wires. If your ISP is only using RJ11 with 4 wires and able to provide >100Mb to the router they provided you, then afaik they must be using some other tech (a version of DSL? proprietary?) in their equipment they gave you to achieve this. So you think I probably can't make this work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbsolutSurgen Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 59 minutes ago, Jason said: Yes I found the discussions of cloning the MAC address, but nothing about the RJ11 WAN connection. And I believe you have to pay an extra monthly fee for the newer router. Misread your initial post. You probably need a modem in your apartment. Your ISP likely has provided you a combination modem/router. You haven’t shared the equipment they’ve given you, so it’s hard to be sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cusideabelincoln Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 1 hour ago, Jason said: So you think I probably can't make this work? Seems unlikely that you can plug in a standard router, as @AbsolutSurgenpointed out they probably gave you a modem combo box. Perhaps you can get a standalone modem that will work, but your ISP would need to approve it, and then you can use whatever router you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 47 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said: Misread your initial post. You probably need a modem in your apartment. Your ISP likely has provided you a combination modem/router. You haven’t shared the equipment they’ve given you, so it’s hard to be sure. They call the device they gave me the Starry Launch, there isn't a ton of information available about it online. 4 minutes ago, cusideabelincoln said: Seems unlikely that you can plug in a standard router, as @AbsolutSurgenpointed out they probably gave you a modem combo box. Perhaps you can get a standalone modem that will work, but your ISP would need to approve it, and then you can use whatever router you want. They say they won't block you from hooking up your own equipment, but are refusing to provide any information about what I would need to use my own equipment. Maybe a DSL modem would work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cusideabelincoln Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I don't know of any other conventional way they can provide >100Mb speeds through an RJ11 port besides DSL . What download speeds are you getting with your Wifi devices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 8 minutes ago, cusideabelincoln said: I don't know of any other conventional way they can provide >100Mb speeds through an RJ11 port besides DSL . What download speeds are you getting with your Wifi devices? It's a 200/200 connection, which it typically hits in both directions on wifi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cusideabelincoln Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Yeah I think the most likely thing they are doing is pumping Internet into your building through high speed Wifi, and then distributing that throughout the building with DSL. In this case you would need a compatible DSL modem, and then your ISP would need to register that modem to allow it access on their network. Is there an RJ11 port on the current router? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 1 hour ago, cusideabelincoln said: Yeah I think the most likely thing they are doing is pumping Internet into your building through high speed Wifi, and then distributing that throughout the building with DSL. In this case you would need a compatible DSL modem, and then your ISP would need to register that modem to allow it access on their network. Is there an RJ11 port on the current router? Yeah the connection from the wall to the current router is RJ11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 Well apparently it's basically impossible to buy your own DSL modem. Everything I'm seeing online is used ISP-provided equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cusideabelincoln Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Megabit ethernet ports are just unacceptable, so it's surprising they don't have better equipment available. It's definitely complaint worthy; maybe start a petition in your building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 On 1/8/2024 at 2:42 AM, cusideabelincoln said: Megabit ethernet ports are just unacceptable, so it's surprising they don't have better equipment available. It's definitely complaint worthy; maybe start a petition in your building. lol I'm a dummy, I was absolutely convinced the problem was with my ISP's router but it looks like the problem was actually the motherboard on my old computer (mobo was 10 years old) only having megabit. Noticed just now that I was getting my full advertised speed downloading games on Steam over ethernet on the new computer. Still not the best router and only WiFi 5, but it moves into good enough territory knowing the ports are actually gigabit. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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