lisfolks's profile

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40 Messages

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 2:28 PM

NVG510 Bridge Mode???

Just switched from DSL (Motorola 2210) to UVerse (Motorola NVG510). I set the 2210 into bridge mode and ran my home network from an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS). I have some complex configurations on my network and figured I'd be able to do the same thing with the NVG510. However, it seems the NVG510 uses different terminology than I am used to.

 

Under Firewall/IP Passthrough, I set:

Allocation Mode to 'Passthrough'

Passthrough Mode to 'DHCPS-Fixed'

Passthrough Fixed MAC Address to the AEBS' MAC address

And, I left the Lease at the default 10 minutes.

 

On the AEBS, under Internet/Internet Connection, I switched from 'PPPoE' to 'Ethernet'. I left the Ethernet WAN Port value at 'Automatic (Default)'. And Connection Sharing is set to 'Share a public IP address'.

 

This apparently is not enough, though. The AEBS reports that the "Wi-Fi base station does not have a valid IP address", and that there is a "Conflicting DHCP Range".

 

How do I turn off the DHCP on the NVG510? And, what are the correct settings to put the NVG510 into bridged mode?

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40 Messages

12 years ago

A long post, but hopefully worth the reading:

 

I had some weird things happening the weekend after I set up my NVG510 as described above in the post starting:

"Okay, so here's what I've done that seems to be working at the moment...

 

- In the NVG510's setup, under Home Network, then Subnets & DHCP, I set the following:"

 

The Issue:

When family members were trying to access the Internet with multiple devices, things kept locking up. Say for example, the kids were trying to watch videos, one on an iPad, the other on an iPod Touch. The videos were buffering really slowly and kept locking up. So... back to the drawing board. Now, I have some interesting findings and a new setup.

 

The Research:

I researched IP-DSL and IP Passthrough a bit. It seems that IP-DSL, which U-verse is using, is actually using IP like a typical ethernet network. (Their prior DSL used ATM, which is a bit more complex technology.) The U-verse Residential Gateway (RG) is getting an IP address and gateway just like anything else you set up with IP and DHCP. The "Broadband IPv4 Address" on the Broadband Status tab is the public IP handed out to the RG. The "Gateway IPv4 Address" is the AT&T router managing the RG (typically called the "Default Gateway").

 

IP Passthrough is supposed to allow another device to receive the IP address of the RG. When IP Passthrough is turned on, then, the NVG510 is supposed to give its own public IP address to a specified LAN device. The instructions on the right-hand side of the IP Passthrough tab confirm this.

 

The Theoretical Setup

To set up the NVG510 correctly, then, for use with a home router (assuming you don't want to simply let your home router be a bridge, of course) -

 

Starting with the NVG510's default settings:

 

- Under Home Network, then Subnets & DHCP, I set the following:

Device IPv4 Address:

DHCPv4 Start Address:

DHCPv4 End Address:  

 

- Under Home Network, Wireless,

Wireless Operation: Off

 

- Under Firewall, IP Passthrough,

Allocation Mode: Passthrough

Passthrough Mode: DHCPS-fixed

Passthrough Fixed MAC Address:

 

On the AEBS, then:

 

- Under Internet, Internet Connection,

Connect Using: Ethernet

Connection Sharing: Share a Public IP Address

 

- Under Internet, TCP/IP,

Configure IPv4: DHCP

 

- Under Internet, DHCP, the DHCP values are set as normal, with an address range in a different subnet from the RG, though, in order to prevent double NAT messages. (For example, if the RG is 192.168.1.x, the AEBS is 192.168.2.x)

 

Restart the NVG510, then the AEBS.

 

Theoretically, the NVG510 should, using its own DHCP, give the AEBS its own public IP address (the "Broadband IPv4 Address"), a valid Subnet Mask, and the Default Gateway (Router) value equal to the "Gateway IPv4 Address".

 

In actuality, for some reason, the NVG510 only will give the AEBS its Gateway  and DNS values. The AEBS gets an internal IP address and a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.255. I suspect a bug, er, "feature", in the NVG510's firmware...

 

The Actual Setup

The fix, then, is to set everything up as described above - except... in the AEBS, I changed the last step:

 

- Under Internet, TCP/IP,

Configure IPv4: Manually

IP Address:

Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0 (Note that I'm not certain this is correct. The NVG510 doesn't show a subnet mask on its Broadband/Status tab, but the values I have showing would work with this mask.)

Router:

DNS:

 

Yay, It Works

No more lockups; everything is running smoothly with multiple devices accessing the Internet at the same time.

 

I'm going to mark this post as the answer, though hopefully I won't later get my hand slapped and told how I terribly messed things up - i.e., anybody trying anything I suggest in any post anywhere does so at their own risk, of course. I don't claim to be an expert - just yet another experimenter in the 'net world. Anybody with more expertise and good explanations is welcome to jump in!

Teacher

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5 Messages

12 years ago

Amen--twice...I've spent the last four hours trying to get the NVG510 to play nice but it refuses. All my port forwarding and assigned DHCP numbers are in my AEBS and I'd like to keep it that way. How can it be so hard to make this thing a Bridge? I don't need the firewall or any of that other mess. I need the data stream, end of discussion.

 

If anyone has step by step instructions, I'm begging you to post them.

 

I called "tech support" and was told they'd be happy to tell me how to do that for $15 a month. Yes, a month. No, I'm not kidding. They put this in the category of "supporting 3rd party hardware". Every day I'm more apalled by how AT&T treats their customers. Well, when they're the only game in town, really, you're sort of their prisoner. And now that I think about it, that's how they treat me. 

 

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40 Messages

12 years ago

Yes - and notice the wording of my specific questions:

 

How do I turn off DHCP on the NVG510?

 

How do I turn on Bridge Mode on the NVG510?

 

This has nothing to do with 3rd-party device support. I am NOT asking what to set on my AEBS, actually. I AM asking how to do these two things on the NVG510. I can worry about my own settings behind the NVG510 after that. I listed my AEBS settings for clarification, in case it might help. This question is NOT about 3rd-party device support.

 

(Please, please, please let T-Mobile (with excellent customer service) NOT be sucked up by AT&T...)

Contributor

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2 Messages

12 years ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one having this issue.

 

I've tried every setting that is avaialble. Hopefully a firmware update can "fix" the inability to turn off the DHCP server or be able to set it to bridge mode.

 

My 7 year old Speedstream 5100 is looking a lot better as far as being a dumb device that did exactly what I needed it to do. Too bad it doesn't work with U-Verse DSL

Teacher

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5 Messages

12 years ago

I suspect quite a few people are haing this problem, not just the three of us..

 

And yes, lisfolks, I agree--the questions are about THEIR router, not OUR equipment. It infuriates me, but what can you do? I'm picking the brain of every network person I can find to see if there is a solution out there. So far I've come up empty, but I promise to post anything I find out. 

 

I tried using the router in the NVG510 this morning, but its garbage. You can only indicate the computer you want to port forward to if you use the presets. If you use a custom port (as I often do for things like SSH so they are not easily found), you cannot indicate the machine to forward the port to. 

 

And yes, ktalley, my old DSL modem is looking good to me, too. If I can't sort this out and make it workable by Monday, it's going back to AT&T and they can cancel this Uverse account and put me back on DSL. At least it worked the way I needed it to. 

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40 Messages

12 years ago

I use fixed IP addresses on some of my devices (via DHCP), but you can't do that with the NVG510. Also, I use both bands on my AEBS to avoid interference on the 2GHz band for those devices that can utilize the higher 5GHz band. The NVG510 can't do that, either. The AEBS also allows me to connect a printer and an external disk drive that I otherwise couldn't put on the network without dedicating a PC for sharing - of course, the NVG510 can't do that, either.

 

I would've stayed with the DSL, but my apartment complex has been wired for UVerse now. When I moved into another apartment in the same complex, AT&T said that I had been grandfathered to the DSL, but now HAD to switch to the UVerse internet in the new apartment. I WILL switch to the first alternative that comes 'round if AT&T stays on its current course. This is the first time a move has gone well for me with AT&T - but I did this one through AllConnect, rather than directly through AT&T.

 

In the meantime, yes, if I find some way to bridge this, I will be posting it! Crossing my fingers and moving forward....

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40 Messages

12 years ago

Well, just talked to Motorola's tech support. They said that neither the NVG510 nor the 2210 (with the 1ATT suffix on the model name) are bridgeable. They said those are the only two gateways they make that are not bridgeable, and it appears that is by AT&T's specification.

 

So, anybody know a good DSL alternative for AT&T? I can't do Charter in my complex. (Their customer service should be up and coming - T-Mobile's customer service managers decided to head over there to see what they can do. Started back in January, and have a couple of pilots going for proof-of-concept.)

Teacher

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5 Messages

12 years ago

Doesn't that just figure. I've just wasted two hours of my life I won't get back trying to get this thing configured and its all for nothing...oh well, Uverse can say goodby to me. 

Teacher

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5 Messages

12 years ago

Well, it seems the tech support people lied not once but twice. First they insisted for two hours I could bridge the NVG510. Then they told me I could switch to the Motorola 2210 and bridge that. Glad I read this first before I dove into another wasted week of trying to get AT&T Uverse to work. I'm so tired of being treated like I'm a burden on these people--I'm paying for a service I'm not getting and they act like I'M the problem...

 

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it. 

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40 Messages

12 years ago

I'm still hoping for a way to do it - at least for a little while longer. I'll post if I find anything. (That's just 'cause I'm stuck with them for the time being. Looking into Clear at this point, though I've seen bad reviews on their service - not as bad as AT&T, though, so far ....)

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