Using Uverse STB for WAN connection

[RichB]

I have AT&T Uverse for my ISP. The residential gateway is in my basement, but if I put the router (RT-AC68U) in the basement, I don't get good wifi coverage in the back of my house. I have a Uverse set top box in my living room that's connected to the RG via coax cable. I realized that I can use the ethernet port in the STB as the WAN connection for the router, and with the router in my living room, I get good coverage in my whole house. The one problem is that when the STB is on (as opposed to standby), it floods the WAN of the router with packets. Given that my TV is almost always on (my in-laws love TV), I was concerned about wear and tear on the router.

It is a gigabit router, and the bandwidth of the packets from the STB is about 10 Mbps, so it would seem like it's safely in the designed operating range of the router. Can anyone else with a similar setup comment on long-term performance?

 

[L&LD]

Your concern is ill placed. The router will become obsolete before it gets worn out.

 

[sfx2000]

Quick primer on uVerse as a triple play option...

ATT/uVerse cloud --> Fiber to the Node/Premises --> ATT Network Interface Device (NID) --> Ethernet (HomeRun) to the Residential Gateway (RG) --> POTS/Video/WiFi/Ethernet

RG provides MOCA IPTV to the Set-Top boxes, and RJ11 for POTS/Dialtone - RG also provides RJ45's for broadband wired access (in uVerse speak, this is HSIA), along with 802.11 for WiFi...

The RJ45 on the back of the STB's are not for regular networking - it's for RG to STB if COAX is not available...

If one wants to run their own WiFi Router/AP on a uVerse install - connect the Router/AP to one of the LAN ports on the RG, and DMZ the Router/AP.

Shouldn't try to get in "front" of the RG, as the RG has QoS for VOIP/Video Services - that QoS also allows for committed HSIA speeds - e.g. if one is subscribed to 45MBits/Sec, this is a committed service rate outside of VOIP/Video services - so it's an honest bit-rate...

Trying to "bridge" the RG is only going to hurt, not help, all services on the uVerse...

I'm a bit surprised that the uVerse tech located the RG in the basement, as most know this is also a WiFi AP, and it needs to be where the people are - but if the customer...

FWIW - the most recent uVerse RG's are very good on the WiFi side - still not a lot of custom options, but with 11ac, and very good QoS - they're an improvement on the old 2Wire boxes they used to provide...