Bridge mode of Three modem - how to access GUI

[Susi]

Hi,

I have a ZYXEL NR5103e (Three edition with .12 Firmware) which I have put into Bridge mode (simple activation of IP passthrough option in the GUI of the Zyxel). I connected the Zyxel to an ASUS RT82U (ZYXEL LAN -> ASUS WAN), so the ASUS now performs all router duties. Everything seems to work fine so far.

However, I cannot access the GUI of the ZYXEL anymore after I have set it to Bridge mode. 192.168.1.1 does not work anymore. What do I need to change in the ASUS main router so that I can access the ZYXEL GUI again? I cannot see the ZYXEL in the ASUS network map. I would need access to the ZYXEL GUI to monitor 5G signal strength etc.

Any ideas?

 

[Firegod]

The zyxel will get a dynamic ip from isp if in bridge mode. 192.168.1.1 or the likes won't work. You should be able to find the gateway ip from the Asus router gui and then get back on the zyxel that way. If the zyxel is rebooted, the ip will change again.

 

[Susi]

The zyxel will get a dynamic ip from isp if in bridge mode. 192.168.1.1 or the likes won't work. You should be able to find the gateway ip from the Asus router gui and then get back on the zyxel that way. If the zyxel is rebooted, the ip will change again.

Thank you so much for this. I have spend an hour yesterday with the ASUS support, and they asserted it is impossible.

Can I ask: What's the difference between the WAN IP and the Gateway IP? Are both assigned by the ISP? Why are they not the same?

 

[Pulseammo]

I'm not sure if this is going to help you but I have a TPLink TD-W9970 and when you put it into bridge mode it has the same issue.

My router is running openwrt though, which allowed me to follow this guide: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/access.modem.through.nat

It relies on you being able to set a fixed lan ip address (it defaults to 192.168.1.1) on the modem (which I chose 192.168.100.1) and then setting up an interface on the router so that you have a route through to the different subnet. Not sure if either of those requirements will be exposed on your modem / router though.

 

[Firegod]

Thank you so much for this. I have spend an hour yesterday with the ASUS support, and they asserted it is impossible.

Can I ask: What's the difference between the WAN IP and the Gateway IP? Are both assigned by the ISP? Why are they not the same?

No worries.

I'm not sure, I've always thought perhaps WAN IP is to do with an assignment to the SIM card and Gateway is an assignment to the Bridged Router.

 

[Rainmaker]

Can I ask: What's the difference between the WAN IP and the Gateway IP? Are both assigned by the ISP? Why are they not the same?

I'm not sure, I've always thought perhaps WAN IP is to do with an assignment to the SIM card and Gateway is an assignment to the Bridged Router.

In simple terms:

The WAN IP is the (usually) public IP assigned to you, or rather your external network interface (i.e. on your router or modem). The gateway IP is essentially your router's router - the device that allows your router to get an IP and connect to the Internet. It might have a gateway of its own, or it might be a core router with a static public IP and a block of public IPs that it assigns to its clients.

Your own router assigns private IP to your local clients. For example your router may be at 192.168.1.1 (an RFC1918 private address), and it gives out private addresses, using DHCP, to clients in (say) the 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254 range. Your router's gateway, on the other hand, may be at 82.6.5.1 (a public IP), and it gives out public IPs to clients in the range 82.6.3.2 to 86.6.7.254 (yes the third ocet changed there). That gateway may just be issued a static public IP and dish out pre-set addresses to clients 'underneath' it, or it in itself may have been issued the 82.6.5.1 address by its own gateway, living at 80.1.1.1... and so on.

It's also possible (but naughty) for your router's gateway to have a private IP. Virgin Media do this. My router gets a public IP but its next hop is an RFC1918 private IP. Private IPs shouldn't show on the publicly routable Internet, with some rare exceptions like in Iran.

$ traceroute google.co.uk
traceroute to google.co.uk (142.250.181.227), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  10.100.0.1 (10.100.0.1)  0.390 ms  0.343 ms  0.308 ms # My x86 router
 2  10.53.35.5 (10.53.35.5)  9.386 ms  9.348 ms  14.088 ms # The gateway upstream of my modem
 3  pres-core-2a-xe-116-0.network.virginmedia.net (213.104.74.57)  15.089 ms  15.053 ms  15.020 ms # The first core router upstream
...etc...

I hope that makes some sense.