No web, no phone, CAN ping from router

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 14, 2005 Posts: 13

I recently added a wireless router to my network to make use of the laptop I got about 6 months ago. Prior to adding the WRT54GS, everything was fine, with moderately good call quality. Here's my info:

1. Location: near Boston, MA
2. Comcast Cable
3. Speeds unknown
4. Motorola SB5120 cable modem
5. Routers: Linksys WRT54GS (wireless) and RT31P2 (Vonage)
6. Setup of Network: modem > WRT54GS (with PC wired and laptop wireless) > RT31P2 (with phone only)

My first setup was:
modem > RT31P2 (with wired PC) > WRT54GS (with wireless laptop)
I didn't know at the time about the separate networks, and so did some research when I couldn't share files or see the printer attached to the wired PC.

My current setup:
I followed Nate Hoy's 2-router setup (though maybe I should have followed along with the WRT54GLL/etc. instructions instead) and have a LAN port from the wireless router connected to the WAN/Internet port on the Vonage router. I gave my Vonage router a static IP of 192.168.1.120 on port 8080.

I have the firewall disabled on the Vonage router, and enabled on the wireless router.

Results: (insert game-show "TA DA" here)
I can connect both wired and wirelessly to the WRT54GS. I can access the Vonage router through port 8080. I can ping Google, etc. from the WRT54GS's Diagnostics screen.

I can't ping anything outside the LAN from my laptop or PC, wired or wireless. I have no phone lights. If I connect directly to the cable modem, I can get to the internet.

Things I've tried to fix it:
I temporarily disabled the firewall on the wireless router.
I disabled MAC filtering on the wireless router.
I enabled MAC cloning on the wireless router.

Things I haven't tried yet (because I didn't have time this morning before leaving for work or didn't think of it until I got here):
Putting the Vonage router in front.
Following Nate Hoy's more specific instructions.
CH3MI5TR4NG3R's setup

What I'm hoping is that I can get some ideas to try out tonight when I get home. Please let me know if you need more information, and I'll try to remember the details.

Thanks!

Posts: 56 · Full Forum Member Joined: Mar 15, 2006 Posts: 56

first- change the static ip on the Vonage router to something under 50 (192.168.1.35). Linksys has a limit set on their routers, and i think the default is 50. If you are hell bent on 120, you can go into the linksys and change it, but its just eaiser to reset the Vonage ip.

after all of that- restart everything. You'd be amazed what a restart can do.

From what ive learned as a network admin, when you have static ip's, one screw up can reder your entire network useless. DHCP is such a wonderful technology that its too hard to pass up.

Let us know what ur results are.

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 14, 2005 Posts: 13

Hmm...the only reason I picked 120 is because the DHCP range defaulted to 100-149, and I reset it to only give out 10 IPs. That put 120 outside the DHCP range.

I can try it at 2-10 with the static at 15 or something. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also, is there any magic trick to restarting everything? I've tried unplugging the power cords to everything, then plugging them in (modem...wait...wireless router...wait...Vonage router) already.

Thanks again.

Posts: 56 · Full Forum Member Joined: Mar 15, 2006 Posts: 56

o im sorry i was wrong then. I was under the impression that your range was 1-49. 120 should work fine then.

the only other thing is to try dhcp then.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 13, 2005 Posts: 31

Not sure if you're still having a problem.. but the easiest thing to do is to use your wireless router as a switch (not a router). The Vonage router will be used as the router.

Before you begin, you should ensure both routers are on the same subnet. For example, I gave my RT31P2 a static IP of 192.168.1.1. I then gave my WRT54G a static IP of 192.168.1.2. You can then set DHCP on the RT31P2 to begin at 192.168.1.3 or higher.

Then make sure you do the following:
Disable DHCP on WRT54GS. The RT31P2 will be the DHCP server. Also set the WRT54GS to be a gateway (not a router). This is in one of the setup tabs (can't remember where).

Now the connections:
1) The modem should plug into the WAN/Internet port of RT31P2.
2) The RT31P2 should plug into WRT54GS using numbered ports on both ends (not WAN). Use standard network cable, not a crossover. Remember, the WRT54GS will be a switch so it must be plugged using one of the numbered ports. The WAN port ono WRT54GS should be unused.

That is is.. restart everything if necessary.

Good luck.

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 14, 2005 Posts: 13

Okay, I want to make sure I understand the terminology and concepts before I try anything:

By "using the wireless router as a switch" and "setting it to gateway", that means it's just basically sitting there taking traffic from the Vonage router, including the IP addresses that the Vonage router is randomly assigning, and passing everything along to the PCs that are connected to it (wired or wireless). Is that right?

I think the reason I put the WRT54GS in front in the first place was because I had read so much about how the RT31P2 works best when it's just dealing with Vonage, rather than acting as a router for everything. It's worth trying out this way, though, thanks.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 13, 2005 Posts: 31

LaDivina wrote:

By "using the wireless router as a switch" and "setting it to gateway", that means it's just basically sitting there taking traffic from the Vonage router, including the IP addresses that the Vonage router is randomly assigning, and passing everything along to the PCs that are connected to it (wired or wireless). Is that right?

Exactly... it simply passes traffic though to the PC's hanging off of it.

LaDivina wrote:

I think the reason I put the WRT54GS in front in the first place was because I had read so much about how the RT31P2 works best when it's just dealing with Vonage, rather than acting as a router for everything. It's worth trying out this way, though, thanks.

I didn't find this to be the case. The RT31P2 is working fine for me when placed up front. It also has the benefit of managing QoS when placed up front, so therotically it should throttle internet activity while using the phone.

Good luck... let us know how it goes.

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 14, 2005 Posts: 13

I owe Nate Hoy big time. I decided that, before trying the Vonage-router-first setup, that I would try Nate's for the WRT54xx first. I followed it to the letter (including downloading the Thibor firmware upgrade) and it works perfectly. Phone, wired, wireless, everything. Very Happy

The only issue I'm having is on the QoS screen -- I set my QoS for Vonage, BitTorrent, etc. and somehow my changes disappeared, and now I can't add them back in again -- but I'm going to try a reboot and see if that helps anything. If not, going without QoS changes will probably be alright, too.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

LaDivina the Happy Camper