Setup of VT2442 to Operate as a Switch

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 3

Is it possible to change the VT2442 to be used as a switch and not a router? I know a little about networking and have tried what I know to make this work. I have also searched the forum for answers and any of the methods discribed has not worked for me.

I have basically ran out of room on my Linksys router and need one more port to run my Printer on the network. Maybe I'm not seeing it but a fresh voice will hopefully help me. My understanding is that you need to run the WAN cable into one of the LAN ports and turn off DHCP and assign an IP address to the router. However, doing this causes the Phone to not work, because it uses the WAN port for the VOIP. If any of this is wrong, please let me know.

My setup is: Internet > Linksys WRT54G > Motorola VT2442. I have the Linksys as the DHCP with two computers connected in Ports 1 and 2, the VT2442 in Port 3 and Port 4 goes out the switch that controls the network for the house with other computers, Xbox 360, Tivo, etc connected. The Linksys and VT2442 along with two computers and printer are in my Office with the switch located in my closet in my Master bedroom going out to the rest of the house, so connecting the printer to the switch will not work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-Dave

Posts: 39 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Dec 27, 2006 Posts: 39

try plugging an ethernet cable from one of the lan ports of the linksys into one of the lan ports of the vt2442

Posts: 4694 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4694

It sounds as if you had it right. However, you should not need to assign an address to the VT2442. Just turn off its LAN DHCP server function, run a cord from the WRT54G to a LAN port on the VT2442, and another from a VT LAN port to its WAN port (as you indicated). Leave the WAN configuration of the VT as DHCP.

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

I field tested the VT2442, and one of my negative comments about it was that there was NO WAY to make it work as anything but a router. [Correction, it was actually the VT2542 I ft'ed, which had wireless, but I suspect they both have the same problem.]

As Dmills21 has noticed, the phone will only work on the WAN port, which must be on a different subnet from the wireless and LAN ports. The only way to "integrate" it into a home network requires that it be the main router, and everthing else then ends up on its LAN subnet.

[ignore my WiFi comments below, they apply to the 2542. sorry]

If you already have a network set up with another router, as far as I'm concerned, you need to use this as only an ATA and nothing else, and turn off the WiFi. You cannot use it in an existing WiFi network, because it won't be on the same subnet, which will cause wireless clients to go unreachable when they roam from the VT2442 to other access points. You could give it a different ID than other WiFi devices, but then, again, you cannot roam from one device to another.

This is a major problem. Maybe a firmware update will come along that allows you to put it into bridge-only mode. But as it now stands, I wouldn't have one of them.

Posts: 4694 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4694

Other people have made bridge mode work with the VT2442. Start near the bottom of the first page here.

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

Steve48 wrote:

Other people have made bridge mode work with the VT2442. Start near the bottom of the first page here.

Hmmm. That's absolutely the normal way to set up bridge mode on any router. When I wrote my first reply, I was thinking about the VT2542 (and had just forgotten the number, since the FT is over and I sent it back) which absolutely would not run the phone out the WAN ports. I had it in bridge mode as far as the LAN ports and the WiFi were concerned, but the phone would not talk out the LAN ports, and since the original poster claimed also that was the case, I assumed he was right.

He should certainly try again, and if I ever see another VT2542, I'll try harder to get it to bridge.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 3

Ok I have tried it the way Steve48 mentioned.....and it has worked! This was the way I envisioned it to be, but I was missing the part about running a cable from a LAN port into the WAN port for the phone to continue working.

Summary of the method I used: Changed the LAN settings in the VT2442 to Enable DHCP Relay and put in the address of the Linksys(DHCP Server). Left the WAN Setting at DHCP, but turned off NAT and FIrewall(Linksys handles this). Shut down VT2442 and moved the cable coming from the Linksys from the WAN port to one of the LAN ports. Left the Printer plugged into another LAN port and then ran a cable from third LAN port into the WAN port(to get the phone to work). So I have a cable from the Linksys in LAN 1, Printer in LAN 2 and the a cable from LAN 3 into the WAN port. Plugged the VT2442 back in and everything worked as wished.

The only thing I will probably change later is the WAN setting on the VT2442 from DHCP(Automatic) to Static. The only reason is because I like to know what addresses my devices have. But everything is working great now so I will leave it as is for now.

Thank you Steve48 and jcovert for your help!

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

Yeah, I didn't even think about connecting the VT2542's WAN port to one of its own LAN ports; that's usually a big no-no with most devices.

Dmills21 wrote:

The only thing I will probably change later is the WAN setting on the VT2442 from DHCP(Automatic) to Static.

Let us know if this actually works... If I remember correctly, on the VT2542 when I tried to give the phone a static address that was in the same subnet as the LAN side of the box the web interface barfed and said you can't do this, subnets must be different. Nice that it will accept a DHCP request that sets the address to something the web interface won't allow.

If the web interface won't let you do it, you can probably give the WAN MAC to your DHCP server and let it always assign a specific IP address.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:44 am Post subject:

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/tworouters.html

What you are trying to do is the third scenario. Though the network guy in me still doesn't like it, I do have to admit that it works - I've been running my WRTP54G that way for many months now.

A VERY important step is to turn off the DHCP server in the second router. That way, your clients all get their DCHP, gateway, and other information from the primary router.

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

Nate,

Your diagrams are great. When the VT2542 starts showing up in the hands of forum participants, there will be another advantage of this unorthodox setup: it will allow both the Vonage wireless access point and other access points you have to operate on the same subnet and same ID, and that's really important for devices which are within range of both access points. The VT2542 will then be useful for extending a home WiFi network to more areas of the home.