Unable to connect Asus router to EE Brightbox/net

Paracelsus · 21 Jan 2017 at 13:33

Hi folks, been pulling my hair out over this all morning, any help appreciated!

I have standard ADSL through an EE Brightbox modem/router, which for the past 2 years I used with an Asus RT-N56U with no issue. Over xmas the Asus router died so I bought an RT-N66U (basically the same but bit better) from a forum member here.

Now, the router appears to work fine, the problem is connecting it to the Brightbox. I'm positive I remember originally putting the Brightbox into 'bridge mode' for the purpose of using it as a dumb modem, however I think a sneaky firmware update and hard reset has removed this option since it now doesn't have it unless using fibre, and I had to hard reset recently so I don't know what the config was.

As far as I understand, all I should need to do is turn off DHCP and NAT (and anything else I don't want like firewall etc) on the Brightbox, put it on the same subnet as the Asus router and happy days.

So I have the Brightbox as 192.168.1.2 on the 192.168.1.xxx subnet, with DHCP off but a reserved IP of 192.168.1.1 for the Asus router. Asus router is plugged in via it's WAN port and it shows as a connected device on the Brightbox status page.

However, the Asus router (192.168.1.1) can't communicate with the Brightbox at all.
It fails to auto-detect internet settings or a WAN IP, which the previous one always did - this is no suprise given the router cannot even ping 192.168.1.2 (Brightbox). I can't fathom why it can't communite with 192.168.1.2 even though the Brightbox itself is somehow communicating with it as it knows it's an attached device.

I've tried combinations of enabled/disabled DHCP, NAT and firewall to no avail, also tried the various connection types on the Asus router inc static IP etc, no luck.

anyone had experience of this kind of issue?

Cheers

Zefan · 21 Jan 2017 at 13:41

Although I have no experience with the Brightbox routers, there's definitely more to it than simply disabling NAT and DHCP to do what you're trying to do. I'm pretty certain part of it will be setting your PPPoE connection by sticking your ISP details in on the Asus router. If it is a widespread update that had removed the GUI for bridge mode then, someone, somewhere on the Internet will have sorted it and have posted the necessary cli commands. Hopefully someone with specific experience of your problem will post.

Paracelsus · 21 Jan 2017 at 13:49

There is an option for that but it doesn't work either - first and foremost because the router can't even communicate with the brightbox I imagine..
(thought, the EE forums have people saying to do just that and it will work apparently)

I will edit the title actually as it's a bit misleading, as the problem at the moment is that the router won't even talk to the Brightbox, I need to fix that before trying to get on the net

bremen1874 · 21 Jan 2017 at 18:36

It sounds like you might be trying to use the same subnet for the LAN and WAN sides of the Asus. If the Asus is configured to use 192.168.1.n for its LAN connections then the WAN IP cannot also be in 192.168.1.n subnet.

Paracelsus · 21 Jan 2017 at 19:36

bremen1874 you are absolutely correct, doh, THANK YOU!
The Asus router is still not showing the true WAN IP like it used to which is odd (I never had to put in EE account details previously either so it's not like it was ever connecting directly to the net), but it works!

edit: I did have to leave NAT switched on, otherwise I couldn't connect out past the Brightbox.
Hasn't caused any issues however, incoming connections work ok using port forwarding on the Asus.

To think I have a CCNA :rolleyes:

been years since I had to do any practical networking

neodude · 21 Jan 2017 at 21:22

I don't understand why you didn't just buy a router with a built in modern?

Paracelsus · 21 Jan 2017 at 22:57

They do an ADSL version of the N66-U, but buying that new would have been almost 3x the price of buying the cable one that popped up on the MM right after my N56-U died.

I also didn't predict any issues given how the older model has been working great for 2 years and wanted basically the same router/interface as before :cool:

neodude · 21 Jan 2017 at 23:11

Fair enough. I've got an ADSL ASUS router that I was considering putting on the mm.

Omen Quelvog · 21 Jul 2017 at 17:48

Paracelsus said:
bremen1874 you are absolutely correct, doh, THANK YOU!
The Asus router is still not showing the true WAN IP like it used to which is odd (I never had to put in EE account details previously either so it's not like it was ever connecting directly to the net), but it works!

edit: I did have to leave NAT switched on, otherwise I couldn't connect out past the Brightbox.
Hasn't caused any issues however, incoming connections work ok using port forwarding on the Asus.

-------------------------------------------

Paracelsus - I too have been pulling my hair out to figure out the same exact connection. I've tried everything I know how to do (and that's not much - you'll see as you read my post). Your post has been the most helpful in that at least I've been able to get my BB2 to recognise that the Asus is even there in PPPoE connection mode (the Asus is on the BB2 client list). But I still have no internet connection. My setup is as follows:

BB2 Internet - all auto detect settings
BB2 LAN IP 192.168.1.2, default gateway is same, subnet mask 255.255.255.0. I left NAT enabled and I also left DHCP enabled. I tried reserving the Asus IP on the BB2 and then setting a static WAN IP on the Asus, but I couldn't get a ping between the two once I disabled the DHCP on the BB2. My thought here though was that DHCP on the BB2 would be assigning for the subnet 192.168.1.n while my Asus DHCP would be assigning for 192.168.2.n. So does it really matter? I did disable the BB2 firewall. That was the only way to ping from the BB2 to the Asus.

Asus WAN IP is set to auto. My ISP username and password are loaded. I set the default gateway to 192.168.1.2. Asus LAN IP is 192.168.2.1 with the default gateway 192.168.1.2. Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.

This setup is the closest I've gotten to the modem and router talking, but I've never gotten an internet connection while the Asus was in PPPoE connect mode. Any thoughts? How are you connected?

bremen1874 · 21 Jul 2017 at 18:21

ADSL or VDSL (fibre)?

Why do you want to use the Asus? If it's just for the wireless there are some easier configuration options.

Omen Quelvog · 21 Jul 2017 at 21:12

I read that it was as good at VPN as it was extending wifi signal. It is good at extending the signal through our 4 story house. I've got the vpn setup too. I had no idea it was going to be this difficult to get it connected to the modem. At this point, the modem is just as much to blame as the router. At the end of the day, it's what I have and I'd like to get it to work on principle now. Can't let the Asus win.

bremen1874 · 21 Jul 2017 at 21:20

The Brightbox isn't a modem, it's a router. AFAIK it doesn't have a bridge option so there's no way to make it work as a modem.

Again, do you have VDSL or ADSL?

Omen Quelvog · 21 Jul 2017 at 23:49

There is definitely no simple bridging option. Best I've seen is to switch the NAT and DHCP off on the BB2. Haven't gotten that to work though. We're running VDSL.

bremen1874 · 21 Jul 2017 at 23:58

EE don't appear to have any insistence that you use their router.

I'm not sure why people are making their lives difficult by trying to connect other routers behind it.

HoneyBadger · 22 Jul 2017 at 00:13

Can you just simply list out the setup, so:

BB WAN IP is:
BB LAN IP is:

Asus IP is:

I don't understand why your going through the hassle of using the WAN port on your Asus router but using an internal subnet range?

Either set the BB as a complete pass through to the Asus or have the BB as the device hosting the WAN IP and route all traffic from that IP/Interface to the internal subnet via the Asus.

Omen Quelvog · 22 Jul 2017 at 06:58

The BB2 is connected to the Asus from LAN Gb port to WAN respectively as I've read in multiple forums. So IP scheme is as follows:

BB internet assigned by ISP
BB LAN 192.168.1.2 (Gb port to Asus WAN)
Asus WAN 192.168.1.11 (assigned by BB)
Asus LAN 192.168.2.1

I've tried to set the BB as a complete pass through. But in every instance, I can't get an internet connection on the Asus. The BB is dynamically assigned its IP by the ISP using a username and password. I've set my Asus WAN to do exactly the same yet I can't get it to connect. Could it be that the BB and the Asus are competing for the same username and password - BB winning out because it's first in the line? Does the ISP only allow a single MAC? Do I need to clone the MAC on the WAN? I'm using internal subnets because at this point it's the only way I've gotten the BB and Asus to talk over PPPoE which was the first step toward a connection with the ISP.

Omen Quelvog · 22 Jul 2017 at 07:27

So if I were going to swap out kit, I'm looking at the Asus DSL AC 68U. Looks to be just a couple pounds more and can replace my BB altogether. Thoughts?

mrkev · 22 Jul 2017 at 08:43

Omen Quelvog said:
I've tried to set the BB as a complete pass through. But in every instance, I can't get an internet connection on the Asus. The BB is dynamically assigned its IP by the ISP using a username and password. I've set my Asus WAN to do exactly the same yet I can't get it to connect. Could it be that the BB and the Asus are competing for the same username and password - BB winning out because it's first in the line? Does the ISP only allow a single MAC? Do I need to clone the MAC on the WAN? I'm using internal subnets because at this point it's the only way I've gotten the BB and Asus to talk over PPPoE which was the first step toward a connection with the ISP.

You're never going to get the ASUS to have an ISP WAN address like that. You need a separate dedicated modem (HG612 etc.) for that and the BB isn't one of those. You'll either have to enable NAT on the ASUS and double NAT your way out or turn the ASUS into a WAP by turning off NAT and DHCP.

You can (if it's supported on the BB) do routing between the BB and the ASUS but I'm guessing the BB doesn't support that.

Paracelsus · 28 Jul 2017 at 23:31

Hi Omen, I only just saw the alert for this post.

I did get it working in the end. I had to leave DHCP enabled on the Brightbox, with one IP address reservation to the Asus' WAN port. If I didn't leave it enabled, even with the manual reservation, it would stop working 2 weeks later when the initial DHCP lease expired.
I had to leave NAT enabled. Wireless, firewall and uPnP disabled.
I didn't put any WAN connection details into the Asus, so it's just acting like a router.
I also saw some odd behaviour during getting it working, like the MAC address changing on the Asus WAN port...not sure what it was up to there, seems like it's capable of randomly generating software MAC addresses though!

I put the BB LAN IP to 10.1, ASUS WAN IP to 10.2. Then my own subnet on the inside side of the router.

Quite annoying as the BB DEFINITELY had a 'bridge mode' option when I first got it, and it was easy as pie to set up.

It'd be a nicer solution to get rid of it with the Asus ADSL router though, if you want one less box complicating the network/using a power socket and don't mind shelling out for it.

Omen Quelvog · 29 Jul 2017 at 09:06

Thanks for the reply Paracelsus. I decided to trade in the Asus RT for the DSL 68. I haven't got it yet, but I hope that by using an all-in-one device, it will make my setup easier.