Howto replace the KPN Experia Box v8 with an Asus RT-AC66U

I am using a KPN 100Mb/100Mb fiber connection at home. I am very happy with it, except for the KPN Experia Box v8. I bought a Asus RT-AC66U Gigabit router to replace it. When I bought it, a year ago, it was in the top of all Gigabit router charts.

First I tried to replace the KPN Experia Box by using the pre installed firmware on the Asus RT-AC66U. That didn’t work. Then I tried to use DD-WRT, and after a lot of tweaking, it worked almost. My phone and TV worked OK, but my Internet connection didn’t. After rebooting, I lost a lot of settings.

Then I found the solution. I installed Tomato Version 1.28 by shibby, Tomato Firmware 1.28.0000 MIPSR2-121 K26AC USB AIO-64K to be exact. You can download it at Tomato.Groove.pl/download. This version does everything what is needed, and it is a lot faster than all other firmwares available (faster in saving and activating settings). Please note: Your KPN Experia Box will still be needed when you are using an analog phone line!

This is the install instruction you can follow. Connect your PC directly to one of the LAN ports of the Asus device.

1. First install the firmware. I assume that you can find out this yourself.

2. Write down the MAC address from your KPN router. You will need this here.

3. Login on the router, mostly on http://192.168.1.1/ with username root and password admin (my suggestion is that you change that password right away)

4. Change the basic network settings

  • Choose type “PPPoE”
  • Choose username “XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX@direct-adsl” where XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX is your Mac Address from your KPN Router
  • Choose password “KPN”
  • Fill in the settings at the LAN Settings (see the screenshot for a working suggestion). The “IP Address” you are using will be needed later. (I am using this IP settings because I can switch back to my old setup fast when needed)
  • Click “Save”

Wan-Internet

5. Clone your Mac Address

  • At “WAN Port”, fill in the MAC Address from your KPN Router, use this format: “XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX”, and click “Save”

MAC-Address

6. Reboot your router, wait for a minute or 3, and logon again, now using the IP Address you earlier added at the “LAN” section of the “WAN/Internet” screen. In my case: http://192.168.2.254

7. Setup your VLAN Settings, using the exact settings in the picture below, and click “Save” after adding the settings.

Vlan

8. Now you can shutdown your router, using the menu.

9. Connect your router, and please note that the ports displayed on the screen are in the opposite order (so 1=4, 2=3, 3=2 and 4=1)

  • The UTP cable from your Fiber Modem goes into the WAN port
  • On port 4 (port 1 in the picture above) you connect your TV device
  • On port 3 (port 2 in the picture above) you connect your KPN router (to the WAN connection on the KPN router)
  • On port 2 (port 3 in the picture above) you connect your Internal Network
  • On port 1 you can add an extra TV device if needed.

10. Now turn on your router and enjoy! You can change all other settings now, like Wireless, port forwards etc!

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17 Comments

  1. Hello,

    I am on a quest to replace mine experia box from KPN with a WDR3600 from TPLINK. Do you perhaps have experience setting it up on open WRT? Or you think Tomato is only way to go? Since there are some information on the web but not many is directly tested using the combo of that router/switch and vlan setting for Open WRT or DD-WRT

    Your help is much appreciated and thanks for the reading (blog post)

    Best regards,
    Terry

  2. Hi Benjamin.

    Why do i have to assing a port tot the iptv?

    At thuis moment i have the experiabox., a cable goes to the livingroom. There i have a simple switch and at the switch i connect the Motorola box for iptv and other device (mediaplayer,ps3,wifi extender) witch internet use.
    I wan t tot replace the experiabox with a asus rt66u. But i cannot understand how tot setup a vlan…
    Can you help me?
    Gr.

  3. Hi,

    I set everything up following this and it works. But now i only achieve a speed of arround 200 mbit up and down instead of 500mbit. Do you know where to look for this issue?

    • Well, I don’t have expirience with 500Mbit. What I do know is that the capacity of your router can limit the maximum bandwidth. I tried my example on an old Linksys WRT54 and it limited by bandwidth to 20Mbit while it is an 100Mbit router. Things like NAT take up capacity too!

  4. Hi,

    First of all , thanks for this very informative post.

    I’m trying to replace my KPN Experia box v9 with a Netgear r7000 running Tomato Version 1.28 by shibby (http://tomato.groov.pl/download/K26ARM/128/tomato-R7000-ARM–128-AIO-64K.trx).

    I followed your instructions, but at the end my pppoe is not able to create a connection.
    Because there was some uncertainty about the credentials, I placed a switch between the fiber modem and the router, tagged two ports vlan6 and started sniffing on the mirror port.

    To my surprise the pppoe suddenly started completing the connection sequence.
    Unfortunately it only does this when the switch is in between, without is does not work.

    Any idea what could be going wrong?

    Thank you,

    Gr, Justin

  5. Hi, great tutorial! I have quick question though.

    Will this also work with the Experia Box V9? I’m planning to get KPN Glasvezel next month, but chances are I’ll get the V9. My guess is it won’t matter since you don’t need to change anything in the Experia Box itself. However, I would love an answer from you, just to be safe!

    Thanks!

  6. Liked your post, so if i am correct with this you can set either Vlan 4 and Vlan 6 on the same port correct ?

    So i can have internet AND iptv on one cable ?

    Grts Mike

  7. Heey , als ik op me xbox een online game speel zoals call of duty , word ik vaak gedissconnect en dan staat er connection interrupted , dit gebeurt heel erg vaak , ik heb kpn experia box v8 wie kan me helpen ??

  8. Hi benjamin, werkt de setup nog steeds goed? Je kan dan wel zelf vpn en poorten naar wens open zetten?

    Werkt iptv nog goed?

    Mvg sander

    • Hi Sander, Ja alles werkt goed, behalve routed IPTV. Tot nu toe heb ik geen enkel probleem met poorten ervaren. Ik ben ook geupgraded naar de nieuwste versie van Tomato.

  9. Hi Benjamin,
    Are your settings still usable in combination with routed IPTV?
    Otherwise I want to try it on my ASUS RT-N66U and Experiabox v10.

    Thanks!

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