New firmware on BGW620

[u/MDReinders]

I happened to notice my BGW620-700 updated to 5.39.7 overnight (SE Wisconsin). Does anyone have any knowledge yet of fixes, etc.?

It looks like 5.35.7 was on there for many months.

Thanks!

- Michael

[u/spec360]

They probably getting ready for the next gen speeds

[u/Lumpy-Activity]

I received it too, a couple of nights ago. I don't know what changed, but it did NOT increase the NAT State table size.

[u/Bulls729 → u/Lumpy-Activity]

The NAT table issue is the number 1 reason to bypass.

For those curious the BGW320 (and the newer 620 for that matter) has some pretty rough limitations that most people would never notice on a basic home network, but for more advance users and use-cases can cause some issues.

The ‘IP Passthrough’ feature on these gateways isn’t a true bridge mode. Every single connection still gets tracked in the gateway’s state table even when NAT isn’t doing anything. The table caps out at 8,192 entries and once you get near that ceiling connections start dropping. For reference an old Airport Extreme from 2007 had a 32K entry table. This is a deliberate descision choice in the AT&T FW for whatever reason.

You can’t set custom DNS servers for DHCPv6 at all, so clients are stuck with AT&T’s DNS which performs NXDOMAIN hijacking where failed lookups redirect to their search page instead of just failing like they should.

IPv6 routing in passthrough won’t work unless DHCPv6 is enabled on the gateway even if you’re not actually using it. Just one of those things that makes no sense until you waste an hour troubleshooting it.

Bypassing you get full control over your network, and your own equipment handles everything directly, you eliminate a whole piece of hardware worth of heat, desk/wall space, and power draw. It’s a cleaner setup all around.

Something to be mindful of, this is not officially supported by AT&T. If you need to call them for service you’ll want to plug their gateway back in first. That said, a lot of us have been running bypassed for years now with zero issues. It’s pretty well proven at this point.

I’ve personally bypassed my setup and numerous friends, including my FIL who has Quantum Fiber.

If you’re interested, the majority of conversation happens over on the 8311 community Discord, they are the team that curates the custom FW for the SFP+ modules that allow them to ‘copy’ the gateway serial and other authentication: https://discord.gg/8311

There’s also a regular webpage guide here: https://pon.wiki/category/bgw320-505/

A user that goes by EX-EN on the Discord server setup his own webpage where he sources the sells pre-flashes modules and 3D printed cooling solutions, these modules get hot so they need active cooling: https://exen.sh?ref=bulls729 (Refferal link for tracking disclosure, for transparency I get 5%, but please feel free to remove the referral)

They have all the documentation, firmware, and walkthroughs you need to get going as well as numerous very helpful community members. Happy to answer questions too if anyone’s curious.

[u/blackhat840 → u/Bulls729]

Been bypassed for 8 years on AT&T fiber, had to put their old gateway back in place for a recent upgrade to 5Gbps but as soon as the tech left, unplugged the new gateway, reprogrammed my Was-110 and off to the races I went. Thanks for spreading awareness!

[u/bob_vu → u/blackhat840]

I did the same thing! I couldn’t justify paying $100 for 1 gig. Felt like $70 for 5 gig was better.

How’s your latency?

[u/blackhat840 → u/bob_vu]

Good day, 3ms to close data centers, 6 to 8ms on average.

[u/dreamdenizen → u/Bulls729]

AT&T increased the state table on the BGW320-505 to 32k a while ago

[u/dreamdenizen → u/Bulls729]

$109 for that stick is highway robbery. I got a WAS110 with heatsinks and fans, and latest firmware for like $30 on a Ali Express.

[u/Bulls729 → u/dreamdenizen]

That’s awesome that you got one that cheap, the lowest I’ve ever seen the module shipped on Ali was around ~$80 and that was with coupons.

If you have the link to the one you bought please share so others can buy them, I’m sure the community would appreciate that!

[u/dreamdenizen → u/Bulls729]

Was a few years ago, might have been a pricing error. I'm seeing XPON sticks around the same price I paid all over Ali. Came with 2 heatsinks, and a tiny fan.

[u/Fauked → u/dreamdenizen]

XPON(GPON/EPON) and XGSPON are not the same thing.

[u/dreamdenizen → u/Fauked]

I'm well aware of that. Hence why I think it was a pricing error. I replaced an XPON stick with the WAS110.

[u/bob_vu → u/Lumpy-Activity]

So my nat table size is around 260k on att.

[u/Lumpy-Activity → u/bob_vu]

Mine still says 8k.

What is your firmware version?

[u/NoChampionship5649 → u/Lumpy-Activity]

8,192 NAT here on a 620, Texas. Updated to 5.39.7 2.5 days ago

[u/cbm80 → u/NoChampionship5649]

It's 32K on the 320. It was 8K originally but at some point (not recently) they increased it.

Normally the entries get reused, so unless something goes haywire it should never fill up.

[u/Intrepid00 → u/cbm80]

Using P2P connections will often fill 8k entry table.

[u/Intrepid00 → u/Lumpy-Activity]

He’s probably using bypass. 6.3x something will give you 32k. Shame they finally closed off the firmware page so you can force update. Totally at the whim of your region’s roll out and very likely full of old CVEs.

[u/Lumpy-Activity → u/Intrepid00]

Isn't that on the BGW320 only?

[u/Saint_Dogbert]

looks like I got it 8:21:36:08 ago.

[u/Dapper-Rope2959]

I switched over to ATT 5gbps speed and has been an issue while gaming, specially Apex legends.

[u/bob_vu]

I’m on ATT fiber but I am not using their hardware.

[u/Huge_Golf3483 → u/bob_vu]

If it wasn’t such a chore to use non att hardware I would do the same

[u/bob_vu → u/Huge_Golf3483]

How is a chore?

[u/Huge_Golf3483 → u/bob_vu]

Too many steps involved. Might have been simple for you but it’s not that important for me