bill_080's profile

Teacher

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18 Messages

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 6:24 PM

Backup 3600HGV Gateway

Two questions.

 

In case something goes wrong with my existing 3600HGV gateway, I want to buy a backup gateway.    The yellow tag on my existing gateway says:  SSID: 2WIRE358

 

1. When I look around for new/used gateways, they have a different number on the yellow tag.   Is that, or anything else, a problem, if I swap my existing gateway for a backup 3600HGV gateway?

 

2. If my existing gateway goes bad, what is the procedure to have it fixed?   Can you post a link?

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Official Solution

Guru

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428 Messages

11 years ago

2WIRExxx, yeah the XXX's are the last 3 digits of the serial number of the modem. Nothing special.

If you have your own modem at your house, you can call the 800 number, press 0 to speak with a live representative and specifically request uverse Tier 2 support. They can place a swap order on the account for the 'backup' modem as long as it's not provisioned to an active account.

Would I suggest this? No. Even though it's something that can be done, only a small amount of people will be fimiliar with the process.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Guru

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428 Messages

11 years ago

To clarify, modems are not 'hot swappable', they need to be provisioned. So you'd need to call in and get a swap (setting it up as a ghost swap kind of) through tier 2. Tell them you already have a modem at your house that's a 3600HGV and they can provision it to your account by doing a swap as a 'tech at premise' order.

It's a little bit confusing to understand, however the reason I wouldn't suggest a backup modem is that you can't swap them whenever you'd wish. You have to call in and probably be on the phone a lot longer than if you just needed a technician to come out the same day to swap it.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

11 years ago

1) You can't get a gateway from anyone other than AT&T.  If you do your just wasting your money.  They are stolen property from AT&T.  You could use it as a paper weight or a door stop but that's about it.

 

2) If your existing goes bad call AT&T at 800-288-2020 and they will either ship you one or roll a truck to change it. 

 

The SSID (Service Set Identification) are all different because that is the broadcast ID so you can connect wirelessly to it. 

Teacher

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18 Messages

11 years ago

1.  I bought my gateway ($100), so if I decide to sell it, it's not stolen property.    Likewise, everyone that I know that has U-verse, bought their gateway.   So, I'm assuming the gateways for sale on E-bay, Craigslist, etc, were paid for by the customer.      If I buy one of those, is there anything special about a 2WIRE358 versus a 2WIRExxx (where xxx is some other number)?

 

2. I've tried calling that "2020" number several times and all I did was wait (for more than 20 minutes) before I gave up.   I've never been able to get through.   That's why I'm trying to get the steps lined up now so I know what to do when it happens.

Teacher

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18 Messages

11 years ago

Next time I call the "2020" number, I'll try the "Tier 2" route.

 

I don't expect AT&T to swap out the backup modem that I'm about to purchase.   The backup will only be used when my existing modem is down.    Then, I'll send my existing modem back to be fixed.      When I get the existing modem back, it will replace my backup modem.

 

The problem is, the modem is my only way into the internet.   If it goes down, I'm screwed.    That's why I need a backup.

 

Anyway, you both have answered my questions.     Thanks.

Teacher

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18 Messages

11 years ago

Ooooh.    Thanks for clearing that up.

 

It looks like I'll have to rearrange my plans.    Without some kind of "in-hand backup", I may have to shift a lot of things to another service.

 

 

Thanks

New Member

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25.7K Messages

11 years ago

My apologies...I didn't read that close enough.  I now re-read your post and realized you said 3600 but I was thinking 3800.  Regroup!!  Smiley Embarassed

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