Hello Tony,   
      
   On Tuesday April 24 2018 07:49, you wrote to me:   
      
    MvV>> Ah, that is good. Here the best they can do is disable the   
    MvV>> router function in the CPE they give you. Then you can use your   
    MvV>> own router, but then you are IPv4 only. There is an EU law in   
    MvV>> the making that will compell ISPs to allow customers to buy   
    MvV>> their own modem/routers but at this time it is unclear how that   
    MvV>> will evolve. In Germany a law against "Zwangsrouter" has been in   
    MvV>> effect for some time now. About a year IIRC. It seems to work.   
      
    TL> Interesting.  Here, different ISPs do different things.   
      
   Hmm.. I see that I should have been more specific than "they" in the 2nd   
   sentence of the quote above.   
      
   I was talking about my ISP. Here there is just one ISP on the cable. That is   
   the "they" I meant above. But there also is xDSL available on the old copper   
   from the POTS era. On the old POTS copper one has a choice of about a dozen   
   ISPs. Albeit at lower speed...   
      
    TL> The supplied router is often tweaked specifically for an ISP,   
    TL> sometimes with customised (often "brain dead") firmware, but I am yet   
    TL> to encounter a case where I couldn't substitute a third party router.   
    TL> When I was on cable (pre-2010), the modem was only a bridge, so I   
    TL> could add my own router to it (which in those days was a customised   
    TL> Linux box :) ).   
      
   My first cable modem was a Motorola Surfboard. Indeeed just a bridge after   
   which I had my own router. The modem was on loan from the ISP, the router was   
   my own. Now "they" only have modems with a build in router. They do not sell   
   them, you get them on loan.   
      
    TL> My own ISP does sell routers, but you're not compelled to use their   
    TL> offerings. If you buy from them, the router comes configured so it   
    TL> will "just work", and they guarantee all of the gear they sell is IPv6   
    TL> capable.  But there's nothing stopping you from using anything else if   
    TL> you prefer.   
      
   Most xDSL providers have the same or a similar policy. Some of them even offer   
   full stack native IPv6.   
      
   The reason I stay with the cable is that they have an attractive "all in one"   
   offer. TV + Telephone + internet. With much more bandwith than xDSL.   
      
   No fiber in this area...  And no IPv6 on any of the mobile providers...   
      
      
   Cheers, Michiel   
      
   --- GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20170303   
    * Origin: he.net certified sage (2:280/5555)