Treo600user's profile

Teacher

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3 Messages

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 3:18 PM

U-verse for BUSINESS? : 2Wire 3600HGV bridge mode? or another AT&T supported VDSL modem?

I am having trouble properly configuring this AT&T 2Wire 3600HGV modem for my network. Maybe someone is aware of a different firmware for this product?

 

I am completely aware of how to setup the DMZ mode & router behind router setup in these boxes but that is NOT the point. (We have supported firewalled networked equipment working that has all the bells & whistles including QoS)

 

In the event of a factory reset of the AT&T 2Wire VDSL modem at this business, I want to properly insure the following business requirements are met:

- DHCP - OFF (at min, it appears you must leave one available?)

- WiFi - OFF (Yes this can be turned off, but bridging it always insured it was turned off in the past. ON is a security concern among just bad business i.e. conflict with other business WiFi, employees might see/use this non-content filtered WiFi, etc etc)

- & passing off internet service needs to be easy to another networked supported OUTSIDE of AT&T firewall. (I'm NOT asking for AT&T support on this, but in the bridge DSL world, this was EASY)

- if bridging this 2Wire is NOT an option, backing up the configuration settings would be a nice alternative but that is not available as well?

 

Bridging the old DSL modems always worked nicely but the 2Wire 3XXXHGV line appears to be the ONLY ones to support the AT&T VDSL Max Turbo speeds. 24Mbps down / 3 Mbps up which we use not only for normal business operations (credit cards, business email, web based training, etc) but this high speed is required to view onsite security video (3Mbps up) and offer customers FAST free WiFi!

 

AT&T U-Verse offers the right price, contract, speed, internet package & installers to properly handle our resturant locations company's data needs but I'm struggling with the their "business" support of this 2Wire VDSL modem product. We ONLY use the internet, no TV (not legally available for restaurants, yet). No Voip because POTS is our reliable backup. So it's just the internet service ...

 

For coverage on AT&T Uverse, we have over 50 locations lit up like a Christmas tree but sadly business support on this product is driving me nutz! Maybe because I now see this is listed under "Residential Gateway"? Is this AT&T 2Wire VDSL modem product not meant for business? Is anyone aware of another supported AT&T VDSL modem or a different 2Wire firmware available? Official AT&T support has me running in circles (AT&T U-verse support > AT&T Connecttech > AT&T Connecttech360 > AT&T U-verse support, rinse, repeat)  

 

help?

Mentor

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98 Messages

11 years ago

so I fiddled around a little more with the TP-Link router and the Server 2012 Essentials issue of non-working remote access. After giving up I removed all special settings I applied (e.g. forwarding not under UPnP) or giving the server a static IP or putting into DMZ  mode from the TP-Link).

A day later it started to work. I have no idea why. I have a slight guess that it may have to do with certificate reinstated for the server which may have taken some time after I initialized the Anywhere Access with the new router.

 

All works - thank you Joe!

 

Teacher

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32 Messages

11 years ago

Hello,

 

I have read through this entire thread (across several of days of course...tons of good info here!) and have 2 external wireless AP's running on my network (both hard-wired back to the RG), as according to post #13, along with wireless enabled on the 2-wire 3801HGV itself.  I can connect to any one AP just fine, but switching from one to the other when walking throughout the house causes issues.  My devices can see each AP's signal but cannot get an IP address when switching to a different AP.  I suspect this is due to caching on the RG itself (it is handling the DHCP), as when I "Clear the List" on the LAN->Status page of the RG, I can then connect to a different AP just fine.  This happens no matter which AP I switch to or from - I have to "Clear the List" each time to get a connection.  When using only one AP (doesn't matter which one but the other two disabled), everything works fine when connecting/disconnecting.  I am using the same SSID on all 3 AP's, but have tried having 3 different SSID's with the same result.  Am I right there is a caching or DHCP release/renew issue on the 2-wire RG itself and is there a fix?

 

At one point I threw in the towel on having the 2-wire do the DHCP and set up a 2nd router using the "post #2" instructions.  Everything worked in my test, but that isn't a long-term solution for me due to needing the 2-wire for my TV STB's.  The way my house wiring is set up, I don't have the ability to run 2 separate networks for each, hence why I am doing AP's only.

 

This has been so frustrating...please help! 

Expert

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9.4K Messages

11 years ago

jphaus,

The 2Wire is quirky on IP address renewals. The IP DHCP request must come from the same MAC address when you roam from one access point to another. If it doesn't, then things will not work properly.

Make sure of the following:

- The access points are set up in accordance with post #13 (DHCP on the access point turned off, wired connection going to a LAN port, not WAN port, wireless mode must be normal access point infrastructure mode -- not ad-hoc or wireless bridging, etc.)
- All SSIDs should be identical
- The 3 access points should be on different channels, and should be at least 4 channels away from each other -- try 1/5/9, 2/6/10, or 3/7/11.
- All access points should have the same encryption type and password, and no MAC filtering should be in use.
- If you're running alternate firmware on either of your two access points like DD-WRT or Tomato, make sure the access points are not doing MAC-NAT or anything like that. The MAC address in the packets traversing over the network must be the MAC address of your laptop, not the MAC address of the access point or one of its internal interfaces. (See above -- disable wireless bridging/proxy/etc.)

If you still can't get it to work, I would begin to suspect your access points. What manufacturer and model wireless access points are these?

Teacher

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32 Messages

11 years ago

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the quick reply. I can confirm all of your bullet points above are true for my setup. The two other access points besides the 3801HGV are a Linksys e1000 v2 and WRT54G v8. The e1000 has DD-WRT which I just flashed a couple days ago hoping that might help (it did not).

In further testing that I just did today, I set up the e1000 to be a true router (a-la post #2 and using 192.168.2.1) with the WRT54G assigned to 192.168.2.2. 3801HGV wireless disabled. I went back and forth turning wireless on and off on one or the other and my devices transitioned to the other AP seamlessly when the e1000 DD-WRT was giving out the IP's. This test setup was done all within one room - unfortunately this isn't practical for me for the long-term because of house wiring limitations.

This certainly seems more and more like quirky IP renewals on the 3801 to me. However it sounds as if you're saying it should work if I have everything else set up correctly. Is there something else I could be missing?

Thanks for your help!

Expert

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9.4K Messages

11 years ago

Well, there are a few other people who have reported that they're using the 2Wire + another wireless access point together and are able to roam between them. However, I don't think anyone has reported that they're doing it with 2Wire + 2 additional WAPs.

Indeed, it could be the 2Wire's DHCP causing problems. You may try to factory reset the 2Wire, I've seen that cure some inexplicable problems in the past.

 

 

Teacher

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32 Messages

11 years ago

Just to give a quick update....

I did the factory reset on my 2-wire, and unfortunately it did not help. Still having the same issues when switching from one AP to another. Sometimes it will get an IP and connect, sometimes it won't. When it does connect, it gets a very poor connection - not in terms of wireless signal but in terms of actual speed/performance. A speedtest shows ping times of > 1s and speeds in the Bytes range (not Mega, but Bytes). Almost as if something is wrong in the routing.

I'm now going to move towards setting up the 2 separate networks, on two different subnets. I'm sure it's been discussed here before, but how do I route one subnet to the other using the 2-wire so that I can access computers across both networks? I know it's pretty straightforward in DD-WRT but don't know how to do the same on the 2-wire. Because of my house wiring, I will have to have computers on each of the subnets, that will need to be able to share across the subnets.

Thanks!

Expert

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9.4K Messages

11 years ago

Unfortunately, there is no facility in the 2Wire router for inserting a static route, thus it's not possible for it to route between subnets.

At this point, I would probably recommend a 3rd router to be used at the 2Wire's location, and set it up as discussed in post #2. Then use the existing 2 as wireless access points only, set up as in post #13, connected to the new router. Then turn the wireless access point in the RG off.

Teacher

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32 Messages

11 years ago

SomeJoe-

 

One other interesting tidbit - when both AP's are connected through the 2-wire, using the Wifi Analyzer app on my tablet, I see that one of the AP's signals cuts in and out while the other stays constant.  It's visible for a couple seconds, and then cuts out for a couple seconds (and back and forth like that continously).  However, when both AP's are running through the Linksys router, both signals are constant and do not disappear.  How would the 2-wire be affecting the signal/connection like this?

Expert

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9.4K Messages

11 years ago

I have no idea. The access points shouldn't be changing their signal like that under any circumstances that I'm aware of.

I would chalk it up to just general 2Wire weirdness. Hence my previous recommendation for using at least one of them as a router in accordance with post #2.

Teacher

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17 Messages

11 years ago

This is an old post but seems very relevant to what I am trying to do.

I had my RG 3800 set up as a "dumb modem" with an Time Capsule doing NAT and wired and wireless for a couple years.  All was well until I had a tech (not ATT)  in to install broadband dial out for my home security system.  It was disasterous... took all day and when the guy left my Apple gear was unplugged.  The good news is that the network was working, though in ATT standard configuration and the security system was working.  I have spent two days and found at least three different recipes for getting back to RG 3800 being the modem, the Time Capsule doing the rest.  This post looked worth a try.  Where I know it fails is when I attempt to put the Time Capsule in DMZ.  I get the message that the device has a static IP. In Airport Utilities>Internet> Connect Using: is set to DHCP, IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.66, The Renew DHCP Lease does nothing. Router Address is 192.168.1.254, DNS is same.  When I look at LAN devices on the RG I have a device with IP of  70.138.xxx.xx which looks like the Gateway's WAN IP This is shown as a DMZ device with a disabled firewall, Public WAN IP mapping and Router WAN IP.  I have restarted the Time Capsule several times with the same result.  I am not keen to take the RG down as I do have an internet connection... can ask this question and maybe get an answer.

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