ISP router guide: Airtel, Tata Play Fiber and JioFiber

Home fibre providers in India supply their own router or ONT (optical network terminal), and what you are allowed to change on it varies a lot. This guide helps you find out what your unit allows, and gives a ranked set of workarounds when it is locked down.

How reliable is this guide? There is no official provider documentation for most of these settings. What follows combines general networking knowledge with reports from users on public forums (linked at the end). Router models, firmware versions and provider policies differ by city and change over time, and providers can update routers remotely. Treat every provider-specific statement as "commonly reported, verify on your unit". The test procedure in section 12.2 tells you the truth about your own router in about ten minutes.

#12.1 Identify your router

1. Read the label on the router or ONT: model name, admin address and (usually) the admin username and password. Do not assume defaults; many units have a unique password printed on the label.
2. Find the address from a connected computer: ip route | grep default (Linux), route -n get default (macOS) or ipconfig (Windows). It is often 192.168.1.1, but check.
3. Log in from a browser at that address. Note the model and firmware version; they decide what is possible.
4. Take a screenshot of each page you change, so you can undo it.

Some providers also manage the router remotely (the standard mechanism is called TR-069). Where that is the case, a setting you change can be reset later by the provider.

Do not factory-reset a provider router unless the provider told you to. A reset can remove provisioning that your connection depends on and may need a technician visit to restore.

#12.2 Test what your router allows

Go through this list on your router's admin pages. The answers decide which setup in guide 4 you can use.

Record the results; the next section uses them.

#12.3 What users commonly report, by provider

These are reports, not guarantees. Use them to know what to try first.

#Airtel (Xstream Fiber)

• DHCP and DNS settings are frequently reported as locked or greyed out on Airtel-supplied routers, and users say the unit is controlled by the provider remotely. If tests 1 and 2 fail, plan for a workaround rather than fighting the firmware.
• Users report that bridge mode is available only if support enables it, after which you connect your own router and log in with details the provider gives you. This is not something to attempt without the provider's confirmation, and it may affect any bundled services.
• Unit models vary by region and over time; read your label.

#Tata Play Fiber

• Some users report that custom DNS and LAN address settings can be changed on their unit. Others say the options depend on the ONT model and firmware, and that firmware may not be updated automatically (a faulty unit can be swapped for one with a newer firmware).
• There is little reliable information about bridge mode or DHCP reservation. Ask support, and rely on test 4 above.
• Some providers bind your connection to the registered router's MAC address. If you put your own router directly on the provider line, you may need to clone that MAC. Ask the provider.

#JioFiber

• Users report that DNS can be changed on the Jio router but that many other settings are hidden in its web panel.
• Bridge mode is generally reported as not user-accessible. One widely shared method (enabling a bridge on a LAN port with a specific VLAN ID, then tagging your own router's WAN port with the same ID) worked for some people, while others reported that the connection dropped the moment they enabled it. Do not try this while anyone depends on the connection and without a way back (see the rollback in guide 4, section 4.5). Using your own router behind the Jio router (below) avoids the risk entirely.
• Users report that Jio uses CGNAT: many customers share a public address, so inbound connections and port forwarding are not possible. See test 6.

#Other providers (ACT, BSNL, regional ISPs, and so on)

Behaviour varies by model. Apply the test in 12.2 and use the same workarounds. If you confirm exact steps for your provider and model, please contribute them (section 12.8).

#12.4 Pick your path

Based on your test results:

A locked provider router does not stop device discovery. The built-in scanner reads the LAN directly, so Stage 1 of the install works with any router.

#12.5 Setup A2: monitor behind your own router

When the provider router will not let you change DNS or DHCP, put your own consumer router behind it and make that the router your devices use.

Internet ── provider router (Wi-Fi OFF) ──WAN── YOUR ROUTER ──┬── Wi-Fi devices
                                                              ├── wired devices
                                                              └── monitor box

What you need: a basic router that lets you set DHCP DNS and address reservations (most retail routers do), and an Ethernet cable.

Steps

1. Connect a LAN port on the provider router to the WAN/Internet port of your router.
2. On your router, use router mode (the default) with a LAN subnet different from the provider's: if the provider uses 192.168.1.0/24, use 192.168.50.0/24 for yours. (Two routers on the same subnet cause conflicts.)
3. Set your router's DHCP DNS to the monitor box's IP (once Pi-hole is installed; until then leave defaults).
4. Reserve a fixed address for the monitor box on your router, for example 192.168.50.2.
5. Move your devices to your router's Wi-Fi and LAN ports, using the Wi-Fi name and password they already know.
6. Switch off the provider router's Wi-Fi (or keep it only for guests or devices you do not need to monitor).
7. Plug the monitor box into your router, then follow guide 5. In the app set the subnet to 192.168.50.0/24 and the gateway to your router's LAN address, e.g. 192.168.50.1.

What you get: everything from Setup A (devices, alerts, and Pi-hole web activity, since you control DHCP DNS). Only devices on your router are monitored; anything left on the provider's network is invisible to the scanner.

Trade-offs: double NAT (provider router and yours). This is fine for browsing and streaming but can affect game consoles, voice calls and port forwarding. If your provider uses CGNAT these were already limited. Your router's firmware becomes the network's weak point, so keep it updated.

#12.6 Other workarounds when the router is locked

#12.7 IPv6, extenders and mesh

• Many provider routers advertise IPv6 DNS to devices in addition to IPv4, so devices can bypass Pi-hole. Turn off IPv6 DNS advertisement or IPv6 on the LAN if the router allows (test 5). If it does not, web activity will miss some devices; Setup A2 gives you that control on your own router.
• Extenders and mesh nodes supplied by providers often run their own network. Devices behind them can appear under one address or not at all. Use access-point (bridge) mode, ideally wired, so devices keep addresses from the main router. See guide 4, section 4.3.
• Guest networks are usually isolated, so devices there are not visible to the scanner.

#12.8 Help improve this guide

Provider firmware changes, so confirmed details from real units are valuable. When you have tested your router, record it in this format and send it as an issue or pull request to the project:

Do not include passwords, serial numbers, MAC addresses or your public IP.

#12.9 Sources

Community reports used for the provider notes above (retrieved October 2026). They are user discussions, not official documentation, and may be out of date:

• Airtel router LAN DHCP greyed out? (TechEnclave)
• Are Tata Play and Jio Fiber routers as locked as Airtel Fiber's? (TechEnclave)
• Can Jio Fiber modem be made into a dumb modem (bridge mode)? (TechEnclave)
• How to connect to Jio Fiber ONT router in bridge mode? (OpenWrt forum)

Next: back to Placing the monitor in your network or on to Install and configure.