A guide for swapping the Hawaiian Telcom-supplied gateway for a personal UniFi Dream Router 7, on the fiber (ONT) connection in Oʻahu — without losing bundled TV service.
Dad’s internet runs over fiber through a Hawaiian Telcom-installed Nokia ONT, and he wants to use his own router (a UniFi Dream Router 7) instead of Hawaiian Telcom’s gateway. TV service is bundled on the account, and Hawaiian Telcom’s own terms say their gateway is required to keep TV working — so this isn’t just a plug-and-play swap. There are two versions of the same guide below, written for two different readers.
Plain language, no jargon, step by step — written for Dad. Includes exact scripts for what to say when you call Hawaiian Telcom.
Open the simple guide → TechnicalFull technical detail — PPPoE/VLAN specifics, terminal steps, and every claim cited back to its source. For Joshua, or anyone troubleshooting on Dad’s behalf.
Open the verbose guide →Dad: start with the Simple Guide. If anything feels confusing or doesn’t match what you’re seeing on screen, stop and call Joshua instead of guessing.
Quick reference pages for the terms that come up in both guides above — read these if you want a bit more background, not required to get set up.