Help with my router setup (destroyed by ATT Uverse)

Net engineers,
So I went with Uverse to save some cash. Those of you who have your own networks with the crappy uverse router, know what im about to get into.

Prior to Uverse i had comcast with a single cable modem that i ownded which simply fed me my internet into my router.

With the uverse 2wire router, you cant turn off DHCP so it messes up my whole setup.

Here is what i have setup:

1) Basement
2WIRE Uverse router--- Firewall turned off (lowest setting it allows you, dmz mode or something like that)
--- wireless turned off
--- Intenet cable from outside coming into the uplink.
--- 1 cable going out to Router A
---- DHCP is on (cant turn off)
------- servring IPs in the 192.168.1.x

Netgear Router A
--- Receiving a crossover cable for internet from the 2WIRE above plugged into a regular port (not the WAN port. I got this suggestion from some other post)
--- Media PC hardwired
--- misc components
--- 100ft cat6 cable that goes to Upstairs (the line to my 2nd netgear router/router B.
--- wireless off (would like to turn on if its possbile)
--- DHCP off
--- devices getting IPs in the 192.168.1.x range

2) Upstairs
Netgear Router B
--- DHCP is ON
--- Issuing IPs in the 10.0.0 range
--- receiving internet via the other end of the 100ft cat6 cable from Router A in the basement.
------ Installed in the Uplink port.
--- cables to main desktop pcs
--- cables for my vaious media extenders looking for my media pc via DLNA
--- Wireless is turned ON.
--- The router itself did get assigned an IP in the 192.168.1.x range



The current state:
- i have internet access on all the machines.
- my wireless works coming out of Router B.
- I can only get to my media PC file share via IP from the upstairs machines.
- I can ping my media PC in the basement via IP from the upstairs machines.
- i dont see the media pc on any of my upstairs DLNA devices.
- I dont see the media pc in my upstairs window workgroup.


My goal state:
- See the PC by name again on my upstairs PCs. i.e \\MYMEDIAPC\c$
- Have my DLNA devices upstairs see my PC again.
- maintain internet connectivity and gigabit connectivity between my PCs
- maintain my netgear based wireless and turn on the wireless on my basement router (router A)

I have spent coutless hours trying to solve this. If i have to use static IP, routes, mac addresses or whatever it takes, i am open to that.

Please help!

Thanks in advance.

If this was my network I would change Router B's addressing range so that everything is on the same LAN. So that it's using 192.168.1.x instead of 10.0.0.x and everything is on the same LAN and subnet.

timta2 said:

If this was my network I would change Router B's addressing range so that everything is on the same LAN. So that it's using 192.168.1.x instead of 10.0.0.x and everything is on the same LAN and subnet.

Click to expand...

If i do that, will i have conflicts with uvers's dhcp?

Why do you need 2 DHCP servers, can't the UVerse router do the DHCP for the whole network?

s0rce said:

Why do you need 2 DHCP servers, can't the UVerse router do the DHCP for the whole network?

Click to expand...

I thought i tried that and then my wireless on the netgear router B didnt work.
I may have needed to do some power cycling. I can give it a try i guess.
The last time i turned DHCP off, i couldnt get to my routers admin site and had to do a hard reset.

Wonderfully easy...plenty of posts about using your own router instead of the crummy 2Wire. I've been doing it myself at my home for quite a while, have setup many clients also.

Get your own router.....make it's LAN IP range different than the 192.168.1.xxx of the 2Wire. Something like 192.168.2.xxx or 10.1.1.xxx or whatever. Apply that change, release/renew the computer behind it so it's in that new range now. DHCP on your own router enabled naturally.

Uplink your own routers WAN interface to one of the LAN ports on the 2Wire. Power cycle your own router.

Now log into the web admin of the 2Wire...192.168.1.254. You can do that from a computer behind your own router. Get the access password (sticker on the bottom of the 2Wire)...log into the LAN firewall section...and put your own router in the "DMZ Plus Mode"....may take one or two times to make it stick. Now power cycle your own router again...log into its web admin, and it should pickup your public IP address on its WAN interface. The 2Wire is basically acting as a bridge to it now. You can log into the 2Wire again and disable its wireless. You can leave DHCP enabled on the 2Wire...you want it on.

Now...setup the rest of your network behind your own router...just use your own router as your networks router. Hang additional APs behind it, etc. DHCP enabled on your own router of course.

Thanks for your info.
Solved for now.

I had to:
1. use a crossover cable to get to netgear router A from the uverse 2wire.
2. put the corssover in a regular port.
3. put cable from router A into uplink/wan port on Router B.
4. turn off dhcp on both my routers.

Result.
Now all my devices are on the same network, and bonus: i can use the ethernet port on the back of the uverse cable boxes and see my media pc.
Both wireless functions on my routers work as well.

Only bad side effect:
- the only way to admin my routers is to reset them.

Now you have me worried lol. I too have Uverse and want each room to have a 4 port siwtch/router for devices in each room to connect to and was wondering the best way to do this. Cables are in route but I havent picked up and routers/switch yet. I am unsure if I need routers in each room or if switches can do the job.

BoogerBomb said:

Now you have me worried lol. I too have Uverse and want each room to have a 4 port siwtch/router for devices in each room to connect to and was wondering the best way to do this. Cables are in route but I havent picked up and routers/switch yet. I am unsure if I need routers in each room or if switches can do the job.

Click to expand...

In theory, i didnt even need routers. I only had them because that is what i originally had. I also prefer wireless-N and gigibit wired.

By turning off dhcp, in theory, makes it a dumb switch. The strangest part was the need for the crossover cable and not using the wan port on the first router/switch in the chain. I happened to have an old crossover cable and tried it out.

You shouldn't need crossover cables, just go into the switch ports on the wireless routers (avoid the WAN ports altogether), turn off routing on them and give them a static IP on the 192.168.1.x network that's not in the DHCP range. Then you can admin them both by their IP. At that point, they're both basically acting as a wireless AP and switch for you, all DHCP is done by your uverse router. I had 2wire routers with BT and did it this way.

ND40oz, your probably right, but in my hours of trial + error, hundred of ipconfigs and router reboots, I may not have given it a chance to work. I know at one point i tried a normal cable into a normal switch port, but my direct connected laptop didnt get internet for some reason. Maybe after some rest, game of thrones, and a few beverages, ill give it another go.

In hindsight, i know i tried to assign a static address in the dhcp range like you said, but i forgot to unplug it from the wan first. Thats why i got an error trying to give the routers their IP. I bet if i reset them one more time, then assign the IP fist, plug into the wan second, it woudl have worked.