Networking noob!

pranut

pranut

Adept
Ok so recently I started using wifi from cabled network, My dad bought a Linksys E2000 router from US.

Initially I thought it was a Modem+Router and tried everything to make it work, the realized i also need a modem to use it and attached a MTNL modem i had via ethernet cable.

Now I am planning to return the MTNL modem(cancel the Rs.50 rent:p) and buy a ADSL2+ wired MODEM.

Now a friend to me that i need to change certain settings in the modem configuration page, like then MTNL people did in the modem they provided, but my router as well as my MODEM has a configuration page so I am confused as to which setting in the correct one, do I need to forward ports on both(for certain apps) ?

Should I buy wired Modem or get a new Modem+Router and sell off my current router ?
 
No need to sell off your router. The steps are quite easy.

You need to download this guide for a start.

Connect the new modem to your PC and access the configuration page. In the steps of configuring your modem, select "Bridging" instead of "PPPoE". This will skip the username/password section of the configuration. No need to do any port forwarding / qos in the modem.

Now connect the modem to the router and router to the PC. Access the router configuration page. Now set the WAN type as PPPoE and provide the settings in the guide as closely as possible. Set the username and password as provided by the MTNL. Once you are able to connect to the internet set the other stuff like port forwards etc. I dont have a Linksys router, so please consult the user guide of the E2000 for more details.
 
bobbyprajan said:
No need to sell off your router. The steps are quite easy.

You need to Download this guide for a start.

Connect the new modem to your PC and access the configuration page. In the steps of configuring your modem, select "Bridging" instead of "PPPoE". This will skip the username/password section of the configuration. No need to do any port forwarding / qos in the modem.

Now connect the modem to the router and router to the PC. Access the router configuration page. Now set the WAN type as PPPoE and provide the settings in the guide as closely as possible. Set the username and password as provided by the MTNL. Once you are able to connect to the internet set the other stuff like port forwards etc. I dont have a Linksys router, so please consult the user guide of the E2000 for more details.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the help, so main important configuration is for the router, also should i flash dd-wrt fw for the router ?

And which modem should i buy ? I am thinking D-Link DSL-2520U | Router | Flipkart.com this one.
 
Ok. Let me explain.

When you configure the MTNL modem in PPPoE mode, you are connecting 2 routers in serial. This is not ideal because you are limited by the capabilities of the slowest router in your internet line. So you need to do port-forward and NAT in modem as well.

When you configure the MTNL modem in Bridge mode, you are bypassing the router capabilities of the MTNL modem (actually it is modem+router). The MTNL modem simply does modulation/demodulation and bridges the PPPoE frames to the router. This is why you need to configure PPPoE settings in the router. Now this means you only set port-forward, NAT etc on your router only and not in the modem.

>>And which modem should i buy ? I am thinking D-Link DSL-2520U | Router | Flipkart.com this one.

That modem is fine.

Request network gurus to share their views on the topic
 
bobbyprajan said:
Ok. Let me explain.

When you configure the MTNL modem in PPPoE mode, you are connecting 2 routers in serial. This is not ideal because you are limited by the capabilities of the slowest router in your internet line. So you need to do port-forward and NAT in modem as well.

When you configure the MTNL modem in Bridge mode, you are bypassing the router capabilities of the MTNL modem (actually it is modem+router). The MTNL modem simply does modulation/demodulation and bridges the PPPoE frames to the router. This is why you need to configure PPPoE settings in the router. Now this means you only set port-forward, NAT etc on your router only and not in the modem.

>>And which modem should i buy ? I am thinking D-Link DSL-2520U | Router | Flipkart.com this one.

That modem is fine.

Request network gurus to share their views on the topic
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the suggestion!

Any light on dd-wrt ?
 
If you do not have any experience in networking and the stock firmware is reasonably good stay with it. Most often alternate firmwares like dd-wrt/openwrt/tomato etc provides more possibilities with the hardware and bundles extra features. My advice would be to stick with the stock firmware for a while, get a hang of things and then decide.
 
bobbyprajan said:
If you do not have any experience in networking and the stock firmware is reasonably good stay with it. Most often alternate firmwares like dd-wrt/openwrt/tomato etc provides more possibilities with the hardware and bundles extra features. My advice would be to stick with the stock firmware for a while, get a hang of things and then decide.
Click to expand...

Thanks, will stay with that :)
 
bobbyprajan said:
No need to sell off your router. The steps are quite easy.

You need to download this guide for a start.

Connect the new modem to your PC and access the configuration page. In the steps of configuring your modem, select "Bridging" instead of "PPPoE". This will skip the username/password section of the configuration. No need to do any port forwarding / qos in the modem.

Now connect the modem to the router and router to the PC. Access the router configuration page. Now set the WAN type as PPPoE and provide the settings in the guide as closely as possible. Set the username and password as provided by the MTNL. Once you are able to connect to the internet set the other stuff like port forwards etc. I dont have a Linksys router, so please consult the user guide of the E2000 for more details.
Click to expand...

One last doubt, the MTNL modem I am using as of now, its configuration page is accessible while I am connected through the wireless router as well, should I connect the modem without the router and then change the settings or change the settings as it is right now ?
 
You can change it either way. Make sure you save the settings as well so that it persists across reboots.

If you still want to access the modem configuration page after you disable routing in the modem, you need to set the modem to a different address range and nat the same in your E2000 to an address in your LAN which is excluded from the DHCP pool. Most probably you wont need this, so ignore if it sounds complicated.
 
bobbyprajan said:
You can change it either way. Make sure you save the settings as well so that it persists across reboots.

If you still want to access the modem configuration page after you disable routing in the modem, you need to set the modem to a different address range and nat the same in your E2000 to an address in your LAN which is excluded from the DHCP pool. Most probably you wont need this, so ignore if it sounds complicated.
Click to expand...

Thanks again :)

Also one friend told me that i should connect my PC through ethernet rather than wifi with my router to get better performance, is that recommended ?
 
pranut said:
Thanks again :)

Also one friend told me that i should connect my PC through ethernet rather than wifi with my router to get better performance, is that recommended ?
Click to expand...

If the PC and the router are sitting close to each other, it makes sense to wire them via ethernet cable. About performance, I am not sure how much of a difference would it make from that perspective.
 
bobbyprajan said:
If the PC and the desktop are sitting close to each other, it makes sense to wire them via ethernet cable. About performance, I am not sure how much of a difference would it make from that perspective.
Click to expand...

So should I connect ethernet via router or modem directly ?
 
So i got the modem delivered today, and it was a hassle to set it up, finally got the config working.

So i somehow setup my ADSL modem in bridge mode and router in PPPoe as suggested, now the ping in speedtest has gone up to 75ms where it was before 19ms when the config was other way round.

Also I am not able to access the ADSL modem configuration page in this config, though router page is fine.

Please suggest what should I do next...

Also I used to check my internet usage by the task manager network tab, but since i connected the router via ethernet cable the link speed has gone upto 1Gbps, anyway software to check what app or process is using the internet ?
 
Change the modem admin page to 192.168.x.x other than 192.168.1.1. You are not able to access modem admin page most probably due to IP conflict (as most router/modem's admin IP = 192.168.1.1). For doing this you will have to disconnect router once as you're not able to connect to your modem admin page.

Ping problem has nothing to do with Bridge/PPPoE settings, may be you messed up something. I suggest you using "Quick setup wizard" provided with your router.

Also I used to check my internet usage by the task manager network tab, but since i connected the router via ethernet cable the link speed has gone upto 1Gbps, anyway software to check what app or process is using the internet ?
Click to expand...

DU Meter.
 
JuGGa said:
Change the modem admin page to 192.168.x.x other than 192.168.1.1. You are not able to access modem admin page most probably due to IP conflict (as most router/modem's admin IP = 192.168.1.1). For doing this you will have to disconnect router once as you're not able to connect to your modem admin page.

Ping problem has nothing to do with Bridge/PPPoE settings, may be you messed up something. I suggest you using "Quick setup wizard" provided with your router.



DU Meter.
Click to expand...

Actually my routers default is 192.168.0.1 so I am pretty sure there is no conflict there, when my Modem was in PPPoe mode I was able to view config page for both but in Bridge only router's is reachable...

The pings are back to normal, there was some prob with speedtest server.

- - - Updated - - -

And I downloaded and installed DU meter, even though I have put nothing on download it still displays 10-20kbps usage(download), anyway to check whats using that ?
 
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