The QA Cafe team will bring the CDRouter USP test solution to assist participants in the next Broadband Forum USP Plugfest at the UNH-IOL facility in Durham, NH, the week of September 16th, 2019. Get a preview of USP certification testing with CDRouter! Keep reading

Built for testing The NTA1000v6 is a pre-configured high performance network test appliance optimized for use with CDRouter, the industry’s leading test solution for Wi-Fi routers and broadband CPE. The NTA1000 delivers CDRouter in a turn-key solution enabling rapid deployment of CDRouter in any test environment. The NTA1000v6 includes powerful key features: Support for 802.11ac Wave 2 4x4 The ability to simulate up to 128 Wi-Fi clients 2. Keep reading

How do you test devices that require a connection to the Cloud in order to work? Keep reading

Perform scheduled regression testing overnight in one easy step.

If you’re developing a device or deployment that uses the CPE WAN Management Protocol (TR-069), like managed Wifi or other services, what should you test for? What are the benefits of automating it with a dedicated test platform? What are the benefits of getting certified or asking your vendors to certify? Basic components of TR-069 If you’ve been through our TR-069 training series, you’ve seen an in-depth look at all of the pieces that make CWMP work. Keep reading

Though CDRouter contains thousands of test cases, much of its power comes from being a fully capable automation platform for your entire test process. In addition to automating CDRouter test cases, you can use the CDRouter API to connect with your continuous integration, external test tools, or other applications to make your testing even easier. How to interact with CDRouter CDRouter contains three methods for interacting with its automation engine, configuration, and test packages. Keep reading

DOCSIS test setups have many different parts that all must be configured, maintained, and interoperable in order to reliably test Cable Modems, eRouters, and more. Doing this manually can be time consuming, especially when trying to use shared lab resources. What are some best practices for simulating and automating a DOCSIS environment to increase your testing output and perform more tests in less time? Join the QA Cafe team as we show you: Keep reading

Earlier we posted about new issues we’ve discovered with ARP implementations in the areas of security and robustness. In CDRouter 10.5 we added new tests to handle these discoveries. Here’s how they work: Testing These Issues with CDRouter Basic Tests The first three tests in the new ARP module, arp_1, arp_2, and arp_3, are basic tests that are designed to verify that the Device Under Test (DUT) responds to different types of ARP requests from clients on the LAN. Keep reading

CDRouter is the world's best test platform for every stage of your testing cycle, including development, integration, regression, and security patching. Keep reading

Now that mobile data connections have reached speeds acceptable for broadband access, more and more devices are using LTE as either their primary or backup WAN connection. As more devices get pushed into the home, this number will likely increase by quite a bit. How do you test routers and gateways with LTE WAN connections, that have all of the same testing needs as other home and enterprise broadband gateways? Keep reading

CDRouter can automate an entire DOCSIS provisioning system. Focus on testing your cable modem and eRouter in a single test environment that can test every aspect of your devices from management to routing to performance. Learn more…

As the official test platform for TR-069 certification, CDRouter’s TR-069 add-on turns CDRouter into a scriptable ACS simulator with test cases for protocol functionality, data model validation, and security. Join the QA Cafe team as we show you: Building a configuration to run TR-069 testing The different TR-069 test cases CDRouter TR-069 vs. BBF.069 tests Testing the different TR-069 data models Setting up SSL certificates for testing

While IPv6 has been in development for more than a decade, the availability of residential IPv6 is still in its infancy. Traditional CPE devices running IPv4 with NAT are now adding IPv6 capabilities and 6to4 transition techniques even before native IPv6 connections are commonly available. CDRouter is IPv6 capable and provides vendors, ISPs, and test labs with a set of functional test cases to verify the IPv6 readiness of CPE devices. Keep reading

Devices that enhance consumer Wifi are becoming more and more prevalent, both off the shelf and deployed by service providers. A Wifi booster or Wifi range extender is sometimes a simple repeater, but more often they act as layer 2 bridges, and can still be tested for performance and management via TR-069 or SNMP. Isolating a node in a Wifi mesh When there are multiple repeaters forming a mesh, as is the case with a lot of consumer Wifi systems, it’s best to isolate the DUT that you want by telling CDRouter which BSSID in the mesh to connect to. Keep reading

CDRouter has the ability to build custom “scenario” tests to exercise the behavior of a DUT’s SNMP stack and MIB. Similar to our TR-069 scenarios test cases, this allows you to set up tests that perform SNMP get requests, set requests, etc. on MIB objects specific to your DUT to see if the correct information can be set and retrieved and that your DUT behaves as expected after configuration. Keep reading

Have you just started using CDRouter as a new customer or demo user, or want to know some immediate tips and tricks you can use to get testing quickly? Join our CDRouter support team as they show you the basics specific to CDRouter 10: How to create an initial test configuration How to create a test package for your test run Using the upcoming device manager How to run, loop, and monitor tests in progress

One of the most common use cases for Wifi is the ability to set up a guest network alongside another network that is used by the home user, business, or other organization. It’s also a source of a lot of problems: guaranteeing that the Wifi router or AP can handle the number of clients connecting; making sure that the security in place for the guest network and other networks works correctly; and ensuring the policies you’ve put in place for guest access vs. Keep reading

By now we’ve all heard of the coming flood of network aware devices collectively referred to as the “Internet of Things”. While the term encompasses a wide variety of use cases that are not all clearly defined, we can come up with some rudimentary expectations on how this influx of connections will affect networks. For the home gateway, the most significant impact is how to handle an order of magnitude more connections than most are traditionally designed for - how well does it scale? Keep reading

Multi-service gateways are typically configured with two or more independent, logical WAN connections, or channels, for different services, such as voice, video, and data. These service channels are then aggregated onto a single physical WAN connection through the use of VLANs. This allows operators to easily manage, route, and prioritize traffic from a large number of subscribers. CDRouter can easily test gateways that are configured for multiple services, ensuring that your products can deliver them effectively to subscribers and businesses. Keep reading

This guide describes the IP multicast testing features in CDRouter and the role of IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) in CPE networks. CDRouter supports multicast testing using IGMP version 3. Although many CPE devices have support for IP multicast and IGMP, new functional requirements for set-top boxes and other IPTV multicast applications are pushing the adoption of IGMPv3 into the CPE networking space. IGMPv3 in CPE Networks Several different industry technology bodies including the Broadband Forum and CableLabs (DOCSIS) have defined the use of IGMPv3 for CPE devices. Keep reading

Fiber-to-the-drop-point testing New broadband access topologies come along every day that are making it easier for service providers to provide fiber quality broadband services without running fiber all the way to the home. One of these topologies is referred to as “Fiber to the Drop Point (FTTP)”, and does precisely this: allowing fiber to be run to a Drop Point Unit, where it is broken out into VDSL2 or G. Keep reading

RFC 6603(https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6603) (Prefix Exclude Option for DHCPv6-based Prefix Delegation) introduced a new DHCPv6 option OPTION_PD_EXCLUDE to allow exclusion of one specific prefix from a delegated prefix set when using DHCPv6-based prefix delegation. RFC 6603 Section 1 states: The prefix exclusion mechanism is targeted at deployments where DHCPv6-based prefix delegation is used, but a single aggregated route/prefix has to represent one customer, instead of using one prefix for the link between the delegating router and the requesting router and another prefix for the customer network. Keep reading

What is dual-stack? Dual-stack CPE devices typically enable IPv6 connectivity via native IPv6 connections on the WAN or via tunneling protocols that transmit encapsulated IPv6 packets over the IPv4 WAN. Protocols such as DHCPv6 (with and without prefix delegation), PPPoE (running DHCPv6 or autoconf for address resolution), autoconf, or static IPv6 addressing can be used to provide native IPv6 connectivity on the WAN, whereas the most common tunneling protocols are 6to4 and 6rd. Keep reading

The CDRouter TR-069 add-on module for CDRouter has the ability to test LAN-side devices, as defined in TR-181i1. TR-069 LAN-side devices are typically set-top boxes or VoIP endpoints that reside on the LAN side of the customer’s Internet Gateway Device (IGD) which may or may not support TR-069. The CDRouter TR-069 add-on supports automated testing for LAN-side devices. You can use this test setup to: Easily test TR-069 enabled LAN-side devices such as set-top boxes (STB) or voice-over-IP (VoIP) endpoints Can be used to test devices that are operating in both load-balancing mode or failover mode Automated PD-128 and data model profile testing for LAN-side devices CDRouter can test LAN devices that support Broadband Forum TR-104 (VoIPService data model), TR-135 (STBService data model), TR-196 (FAPService data model), TR-140 (StoargeService data model), and TR-181i1/i2 (Device root data models). Keep reading

CDRouter can be used with routers that have a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) interface through the use of an external MoCA bridge. the MoCA bridge is essentially a media converter with Ethernet on one side and MoCA on the other. It bridges packets from a MoCA network to Ethernet and vice-versa. ] In this setup CDRouter connects directly to DUT’s LAN interface and the MoCA bridge via Ethernet. The MoCA bridge is then connected to the DUT’s MoCA WAN interface. Keep reading

The world has spent a long time on the road to native IPv6. Fortunately, protocol advancements have mitigated the arduous task of deploying the next generation Internet. Essentially the software counterpart to the last-mile problem, deploying IPv6 to the CPE is “the last 90%” of the work. The core Service Provider networks have always been easier, and thus earlier, to receive both hardware and software upgrades. One idea that has gained momentum is to use the IPv4 Internet as a point-to-point network connecting IPv6 “islands” through stateless, automatic tunnels. Keep reading

The IPv6 Over PPPoE Model There are two distinct phases required to establish a successful IPv6 connection over a PPPoE tunnel. The first phase involves establishment of the point-to-point link. The second phase deals with IPv6 addressing. In the IPv4 world, IP addresses are typically negotiated between the client and server using various IP Control Protocol (IPCP) options. IPCP is a PPP Network Control Protocol (NCP) formally defined in RFC 1332. Keep reading

The CDRouter Multiport add-on includes support for static NAT configurations. CPE devices that support this functionality will have two or more public IPv4 addresses. One public address is typically assigned to the primary WAN connection and one or more additional public IPv4 addresses are also assigned. These additional IPv4 addresses are used to allow a host on the LAN side of CPE to have its own public IPv4 address on the WAN. Keep reading

CDRouter is the ideal tool for testing the higher layer functionality of DSL based CPE. With a few additions to the basic test setup, CDRouter can be used to test CPE utilizing any type of DSL or G.fast devices. Overview The test setup for DSL CPE devices is similar to the test setup for typical Ethernet-to-Ethernet routers, with one exception. Since CDRouter does not have the ability to terminate the CPE device’s DSL connection directly, a dedicated DSLAM must be included in the test setup. Keep reading

CDRouter includes support for testing basic Layer 2 bridging devices including wireless access points, broadband access devices, and Ethernet switches. CDRouter can be used to verify the following functionality of a DUT operating in bridge mode: IPv4 and IPv6 forwarding TR-069 client 802.1x port based authentication VLAN functionality Basic Configuration To enable bridge mode within CDRouter, set the testvar forwardingMode to bridge. This testvar supports two values, route for routing devices or bridge for Layer 2 bridging devices. Keep reading

CDRouter includes support for configurations involving 802.1X authentication on the WAN. 802.1X is typically used by service providers to authenticate a client or device and open a port on an 802.1X enabled DSLAM or switch for CPE traffic. CPE devices that support 802.1X on the WAN must include 802.1X supplicant functionality in addition to common IPv4 and IPv6 WAN connectivity options such as DHCP and PPPoE. About IEEE 802.1x IEEE 802. Keep reading

Yes, although CDRouter does not support the termination of DSL interfaces directly. If the WAN interface on your router is DSL-based (ADSL/2/2+, VDSL/2, SDSL, SHDSL/SHDSL.bis, G.fast, etc.) as opposed to Ethernet-based, you have two main options. Option 1: Use an Ethernet/IP DSLAM and connect the Ethernet uplink port of the DSLAM directly to CDRouter’s designated WAN interface. In this configuration the DSLAM must be configured to terminate the ATM connection on the DSL interface and bridge all network traffic from the DSL interface to the uplink port. Keep reading

Here are solutions to a few common TR-069 SSL-related issues. The CPE does not have a time source Some CPE devices will not validate a SSL/TLS certificate from the ACS until a time source is established. TR-069 states that devices should skip date validation of certificates if a time source is not established. However, in practice some CPE devices simple end the SSL connection. A common symptom of this problem are DNS requests to an NTP server which is not configured. Keep reading

CDRouter’s pre-defined test modules make it easy to quickly test and evaluate a CPE implementation’s integrated DHCP server. In addition, CDRouter’s flexible configuration options allow a wide variety of DHCP server scenarios to be simulated and tested in a consistent and repeatable fashion. The base version of CDRouter includes two test modules designed specifically for verifying a CPE’s DHCP server functionality. The first module, dhcp-s.tcl, includes targeted functional test cases while the second module, scaling. Keep reading

CDRouter includes test cases for the following NAT ALGs: FTP DNS ICMP H.323 (outbound and inbound) MSN Messenger RTSP SIP IPSEC (IKE and IPSEC ESP) PPTP CDRouter also runs several applications through the device under test that do not require a full NAT ALG. These include: HTTP HTTPS SMTP POP3 TFTP

CDRouter includes port scanning test cases in the firewall.tcl module which will probe the WAN interface of the DUT for open TCP and UDP ports over IPv4. These open ports provide services either by the DUT or forwarded to internal LAN clients. Users of the CDRouter IPv6 add-on will find they can also perform similar tests over IPv6. Although there are certainly legitimate uses of port scanning, the vast majority of it occurs on the public Internet and is directed toward the WAN ports of random CPEs. Keep reading

Several methods to resolve storage service hosts CDRouter Storage allows a test engineer to execute various storage protocol tests against a storage-enabled device. In order for CDRouter to know the IP address of the storage service to be tested, it must either be told with an explicit IP address, or be given a DNS or NetBIOS name, or discover it using multicast DNS (disabled by default, with instructions to enable it included below). Keep reading

IPSEC pass through is a technique for allowing IPSEC packets to pass through a NAT router. By itself, IPSEC does not work when it travels through NAT. Newer IKE and IPSEC implementations support NAT-Traversal which is a technique to detect NAT and switch to UDP encapsultion for IPSEC ESP packets. However, many router vendors have developed a “pass through” technique that allows IPSEC packets to pass through NAT without NAT-T support. Keep reading

CDRouter is the ideal tool for testing the higher layer functionality of DSL based CPE. Keep reading

CDRouter is the perfect test tool for verifying the higher layer functionality of devices in a GPON system. Keep reading

How do you get TR-069 Certified? CDRouter is the official test platform for performing the TR-069 certification testing. Watch our in-depth webinar on how the certification program works and how to use CDRouter for pre-testing.