DG834GT + WRT54GL - Modem Only?

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

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Hi guys,

My Linksys WRT54GL arrived today - awesome service from OCUK as always :D Anyways I'm having a bit of trouble getting it all set up :( I've upgraded the WRT to Tomato firmware (win!), but I can't for the life of me work out how to basically use the DG834GT as a modem only, with the WRT doing the router stuff.

My setup went like this:

BT socket > Microfilter > Cable > DG834GT... Ethernet cable from port 1 on the DG834GT to the WAN port on the WRT54GL. Then an ethernet cable from port 1 on the WRT to the PC. I'd set the DG834GT to "modem only" mode in the DGTeam firmware.

Initially I could access the WebUI for both the DG (192.168.0.1) and the WRT (192.168.1.1)... But then the connection to the DG died out (unreachable / no ping response from the PC despite the DG still having SYNC) and the WRT's WebUI showed "not connected" on the WAN. I'd set the WRT to "DCHP" btw, which I think is wrong. I'm on UK Online who use PPPoA - but the DG is what's getting SYNC, not the WRT - I just need that to connect to the DG as a modem.

I was just told by a mate to leave the DG834GT in normal router mode, but DISABLE the DHCP and wireless etc and assign the WRT a static IP address, and then use the WRT as a router, ignoring the DG altogether.

Only thing is that part loses me - I'm stuck :o Does anyone have any suggestions? I have three routers now, but really only want to use the WRT. I can't afford to shell out another £25 for a standalone modem at the moment, but would consider selling the DG834GT and my old BT Voyager 2091 to recoup the cost at a later date.

In the meantime, can anyone explain in simple-ish terms how to get this working? I HAVE tried Google, btw ;) Thanks in advance :)
 
The second option means you turn your DG834GT back to how it was when you didn't have the WRT, then connect the WAN port on the WRT to one of the switch ports on the DG834GT. The DG's web interface might disappear, but the internet should work. You can still use DHCP et al on the DG834GT though, just don't connect anything to it and the WRT will get an IP from there.

Either way, you really want to use the WRT's WAN interface to get the full benefit.
 
OK I got the WRT connected to the DG, and my PC is connected to the WRT. The internet works fine (yay) but for some dumb reason the WRT thinks the WAN IP is the IP the DG is giving it from DCHP.

So now my status page on the WRT lists the internet connection mode as DCHP, and the WAN IP as 192.168.0.100 (the IP the WRT has on the DG). My net works, great! But because the WRT thinks a DG LAN IP is actually the "real" internet/public WAN IP, none of the UPnP services work! :(

They all try to forward external PCs to 192.168.0.100 or 192.168.1.118 (the WRT's lan IP as seen by the DG, and my PC's IP as seen on the WRT respectively). ARGH LOL This means remote assistance on WLM/MSN, and all other apps relying on UPnP no longer work for me. I can't find a way to get the DG to give the real WAN IP to the WRT, or for the WRT to discover it itself. I must be missing a setting or SOMETHING?

BTW my mate put the WRT in the DG's DMZ zone - is that right? The DMZ zone IP in the DG is the WRT's IP 192.168.0.100 - I'm only mentioning it in case it has some relevance lol
 
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Rainmaker said:
OK I got the WRT connected to the DG, and my PC is connected to the WRT. The internet works fine (yay) but for some dumb reason the WRT thinks the WAN IP is the IP the DG is giving it from DCHP.
Click to expand...

It's not so dumb - if you don't run the DG in bridge mode, the only IP the WRT will get is the one it gets via DHCP from the DG.

So now my status page on the WRT lists the internet connection mode as DCHP, and the WAN IP as 192.168.0.100 (the IP the WRT has on the DG). My net works, great! But because the WRT thinks a DG LAN IP is actually the "real" internet/public WAN IP, none of the UPnP services work! :(

They all try to forward external PCs to 192.168.0.100 or 192.168.1.118 (the WRT's lan IP as seen by the DG, and my PC's IP as seen on the WRT respectively). ARGH LOL This means remote assistance on WLM/MSN, and all other apps relying on UPnP no longer work for me. I can't find a way to get the DG to give the real WAN IP to the WRT, or for the WRT to discover it itself. I must be missing a setting or SOMETHING?
Click to expand...

Well yeah, the router doesn't pass UPnP out the WAN interface, so that's what's supposed to happen - it's because you're also running NAT on the DG, and not forwarding those ports through there too.

BTW my mate put the WRT in the DG's DMZ zone - is that right? The DMZ zone IP in the DG is the WRT's IP 192.168.0.100 - I'm only mentioning it in case it has some relevance lol
Click to expand...

It's makes the harder option a little easier - everything that doesn't have a forwarding rule will automatically get chucked at the WRT's "WAN" IP. Should mean UPnP will work fine.
Not quite so easy as getting the DG to work as just a modem.
 
I was trying to make this exact setup work the other day, with the same firmware on the DG834GT, and tomato on the WRT.

Basically i couldn't get the public IP address to pass to my WRT WAN port correctly, even in modem mode on the DG34GT. I don't think the DG834GT can act as a modem and bridge the public IP address correctly to the WRT.

You want the WAN on your WRT to be your public IP, otherwise your gonna have loads of niggles, dual NAT on your network is not pretty at all.

I ending up buying a LinkSys AM200 ADSL modem, and plugging that into the WAN on the WRT. The AM200 can work in "half Bridge" mode, and pass your public IP across to the WRT as it should.
 
Thanks for the explanation, Tolien. Now it makes more sense :) Eddie, I read last night that the WRT54GL (and AM200) are not compatible with PPPoA (which is what my ISP, UK Online, uses). So despite the router's box (and the blurb on OCUK) calling it a DSL router, it appears it's only going it properly work with ADSL if you have a PPPoE connection.

You could still, of course, hash it together with another router (as we've both attempted to do) but at the end of the day it won't work on PPPoA. Can anyone provide any more info on that? There's certainly no PPPoA option on the connection interface in the WebUI - so basically I've bought a router I can't use properly :(

Please don't give me the "should have checked" speech guys, OCUK's page for this router (where I bought it from) says "cable and DSL", it doesn't mention the lack of PPPoA support :(
 
Rainmaker, i'm using the AM200 + WRT54GL setup as work as my backup line. My ISP is a standard ADSL ISP (UKFSN) using PPPoA, the modem handles this exactly as it should and passes the public IP to the WRT.

The AM200 handles all the PPPoA and it bridges it to the WRT as PPPoE.

The AM200 used to not do this, but they recently brought out a new firmware to make this work. There is a so called "half bridge" check box. Here is a screen of how i have set mine:

am200da6.jpg
 
Thanks very much, guys :) Looks like I'll have to fork out (again) :o Still it'll be worth it in the long run hopefully. BTW, the DG's modem only mode is buggy - at least under DGTeam firmware. It maintains DHCP and won't pass on the public IP to the WRT.

I'm going to try my BT Voyager 2091 until I can afford an AM200. I'm pretty sure that has a bridge/modem mode. Anyway thanks to all for the input, it's been very informative as always :cool:
 
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