An Update To A Bell HH4000 Firmware Update Breaking Advanced DMZ Functionality For Yours Truly
Earlier this week a firmware update that was pushed to my HH4000 modem that powers my Bell Fibe Internet broke the ability for it to use the Advanced DMZ functionality that I have been using for almost a year now. That forced me to resort to a double NAT setup which was not ideal. But it kept me from being killed by my wife.
At the time I figured that there was some sort of issue between that firmware, and an ASUS firmware update that came out in May that caused similar issues. Now I am not so sure about that. Instead my current theory is that Bell might have been doing something to how the Advanced DMZ functionality works that caused this setup to break. I say that because Bell doesn’t put out release notes for their firmware updates. And even if they did, there’s no way to block firmware updates from happening or roll them back if you don’t like what you read. So you’re kind of at the mercy of Bell. But to be fair, that’s true for Rogers as well as any other ISP.
In any case, back to my experience since this firmware update came out. I have things working now. And this is how I did it:
- Go to 192.168.2.1 using a browser and be prepared to type in your HH4000 password
- Click on “Advanced Tools and Settings”
- Click on “DMZ”
At this point I removed my router from the “Active Device” section as illustrated from the picture below by clicking the “x” to the right of the device:
Once I did that, I removed the checkmark next to “Advanced DMZ” and turned off “DMZ” and clicked save. Then I rebooted the HH4000. Once I did that, I then did the following, which by the way, will eventually become my new recommendation in terms of how to enable the Advanced DMZ functionality. Once I get around to rewriting the instructions:
- Go to 192.168.2.1 using a browser and be prepared to type in your HH4000 password
- Click on “Advanced Tools and Settings”
- Go to “DHCP” and ensure that your router has a 192.168.2.xxx IP address.
- Click “Cancel”
- Click on “DMZ”
- Turn on “DMZ”
- Put a checkmark next to “Advanced DMZ”
- Under the word “Device”, find the MAC (Media Access Control) address for your router. That address is usually looks something like this: 2C:54:91:88:C9:E3. And it is likely located on the back or bottom of your router. Once you find it, click the “>” so that there is not only a checkmark next to it (as is the case with the first item in the screen shot), but it also gets copied to the right as pictured in the screen shot under the words “Active Device”. Alternately, you can look for the IP address that you confirmed earlier to find it.
- Click save.
At this point, pull the power to the HH4000 and wait a minute or two before plugging it back in.
That’s what enabled me to get my setup working without issues. Again, that implies to me that Bell changed something in this firmware. But like I said earlier, I have no way of confirming this. Thus why this happened in the first place is still a bit of a mystery to me.
A request to Bell users who have the Advanced DMZ setup and who have an HH4000, did this firmware update break things for you? Or was it a non-issue? I’d love to know to see if I am an edge case, or if there’s something going on here. Please leave a comment share your experience.
September 2, 2023 at 8:55 am
[…] dropped a new firmware for the Gigahub this week. It’s version 1.19.1 and like the other firmware for the HH4000, there’s no release notes. Thus I am wondering what this firmware does and fixes. Thus if you […]
October 12, 2023 at 8:11 am
Hello, although this works, once you have a power outage or down connection the router freezes up. Is there another solution to use dmz?
October 12, 2023 at 8:26 am
The only other option is to use PPPoE Bypass as documented here:
https://itnerd.blog/2022/07/31/how-to-configure-pppoe-bypass-on-the-bell-hh4000-hardware/
The problem with that is that PPPoE has massive amounts of overhead that most routers cannot handle. And as a result, you won’t get the speeds that you’re paying for. So you basically have to choose speed or stability. You can’t have both.
One other thing that I should mention is that all my hardware is on a UPS. I mention that here:
https://itnerd.blog/2023/01/08/questions-and-answers-about-using-advanced-dmz-vs-pppoe-passthrough-using-bells-hardware-as-well-as-using-a-ups-with-your-bell-hardware/
This setup has allowed me to survive < 30 minute power outages with no issues. I have a larger UPS sitting in my storage locker which will triple (according to the math) my runtime. I need to get around to installing that.
October 13, 2023 at 10:43 am
Do we know if the issue that was happening with the ADMZ on the gigahub if its still an issue. Bell has now indicated they have no HH4000 in stock and are only giving out the gigahub. so i am wondering for those looking to use the ADMZ mode, does it now work with the gigahub or does it still do the daily reboot. (this was my issue setting up ADMZ and my asus xt8 as a router. it was rebooting daily so i was lucky to get a HH4000
October 13, 2023 at 11:20 am
This is a “your mileage may vary” thing. The majority of my clients have no issues (or more accurately, no issues now). But some do.
October 26, 2023 at 2:56 pm
I finally found some time to get this working, with ADMZ, however my internal IP on my ASUS router becomes 192.168.2.1. How do I get around accessing anything on my network from remote locations. Asus is running on 192.168.1…… Port forwarding does not work.
October 26, 2023 at 3:24 pm
Assuming you didn’t change the default settings of the router it makes no sense. Where are you seeing this in the router exactly?
October 26, 2023 at 3:45 pm
My WAN IP becomes 192.168.2.1, as it takes the IP from the Bell Hub. How can I port forward stuff as it goes through the bell router first, how does it get through the ASUS router as my WAN IP is different. When using PPoE we receive an exteranl IP from Bell different from the GigaHub and it allows remote connections.
October 26, 2023 at 3:53 pm
That makes zero sense based on the fact that the Bell hardware uses 192.168.2.xxx as the internal IP address space. Thus if it is getting an internal IP address which is what you are describing, it should be getting anything but 192.168.2.1. Dumb question. Is the router set to DHCP or PPPoE? If it is the former, what happens if you reboot ONLY the Bell hardware.
Also what firmware are you using? Bell is apparently rolling out new firmware to the Gigahub.
October 26, 2023 at 4:07 pm
I have it set to automatic (which is dhcp). and not PPoE. I will need to check the firmware when I get home. How can the asus router get an external IP if going through ADMZ? The IP is coming from the bell GigaHub.
October 26, 2023 at 4:08 pm
If you did things as per my instructions it should be automatic. This is why I asked what happens if you reboot the Bell hardware alone.
October 26, 2023 at 4:17 pm
okay, I did follow your instructions, except for pulling the power part. Last time I pulled the power everything froze. I will try that tonight. My question to you is, under “Network Map” on the asus interface where it says connected, What IP are you showing under WAN IP. I have the asus router set to “automatic” and get an internal IP from the GigaHub. Are you getting a Bell External IP or a 192.168.2.xxx?
October 26, 2023 at 4:19 pm
Every time I have done this for a client, I get an external IP. And I have always got external IPs for my home connections. (I have two)
October 26, 2023 at 4:25 pm
Correction: One time I did not. But that was due to a HH4000 with a bad 10Gb port.
October 26, 2023 at 4:33 pm
Okay, I will reboot my router once its all set up, perhaps that’s what give the external IP. I will report back.
October 26, 2023 at 4:35 pm
Not the router. The Bell hardware leaving the router on and connected.
October 26, 2023 at 6:18 pm
Well, much thanks. The reboot gave me the external IP. Everything works like a charm with full speeds that my Asus is rated for. Now, just to get a power backup and I can leave this setting on as is.
Thanks again for all your help
October 26, 2023 at 6:31 pm
Well, I spoke to soon. The bell modem gets wanky. It assigned an IP address of the asus router to 169.1.1.1 . And the internet keeps cutting out. Ever see this?
October 26, 2023 at 7:20 pm
This happens when for whatever reason the HH4000 or Gigahub doesn’t place the router in the DMZ properly. What fixes it for me is to unplug the Bell hardware, leave it for a minute or two and then plug it back in. Though I should note that the Gigahub can still misbehave even with that. The HH4000 doesn’t seem to be as temperamental.
November 27, 2023 at 1:11 am
My Asus is on 388.1 and hh4000 is 1.7.11. No issues on my end. I set up my router from one of your old blog posts from last year and it’s been working flawlessly since.
February 19, 2024 at 10:50 pm
mine just started doing this the last 2 days. any fix for this? updated the Asus router and access points this week also.
April 7, 2025 at 10:01 am
Advanced DMZ not working
I have Bell Giga Hub Firmware 2.13 connecting to a Ubiquiti Unifi UDM-SE switch at 3 Gbps. On the Giga Hub I have DMZ turned so my switch receives 192.168.2.10 and Internet works. If I turn on Advanced DMZ with the external IP WAN address my UDM switch then says it has no Internet access. The Giga Hub does not support PPPoE so DMZ is the only option. Anyone have suggestions to get the external WAN IP address working as there are a few services I have that need that (actually need double NAT turned off).
April 7, 2025 at 11:21 am
This seems to be a thing on Reddit where I checked as a number of people are having issues with ADMZ at the moment.
April 7, 2025 at 11:45 am
I read somewhere that on the HH4000 you can enable bridge mode. I’ve seen videos of people doing this however in Ottawa I’ve tried it and it does not work. Maybe it’s specific to certain regions who knows…