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drobbins
join:2007-07-12
Athens, GA
| Help with 327w as router for Comcast internet
Hi; I am having problems getting my old 327w to function as simply a router for my Comcast internet connection. I read the great instructions here: »[Guide] Using 327w as a router for Comcast ... however, there are slight differences that are confusing me.
Foremost is the modem address: 192.168.1.254. Let me add here, since I had not seen anyone add this to the 327w for AT&T/Bellsouth FAQ section, I found that the 327w that bellsouth gives out also had a "walled garden" if you reset the modem using the button on the back. Since I no longer had DSL, I couldn't get past the modem setup steps. After playing around, I found that if I went to 192.168.1.254/installProtocolBS.htm it would give me a menu to choose between PPoE, PPoA, Bridged, or Bridged Routed. After slecting one, it would let me access the configuration menus as normal. Just in case anyone else has this trouble, maybe that will help.
Anyway, since the phrasing and menus are slightly different in this Bellsouth/AT&T version of the 327w, I'm having trouble "translating" the instructions from the Verizon version of the process. (For instance, would I still enter "192.168.0.1" under static host assignment - and where is that? - since the modem address is different? I guess I don't quite understand what this is ... ). Also, when I run ipconfig, there is no visible DNS-suffix, so I don't know what to do about that. Honestly, I'm not even sure where this stuff is supposed to be entered; I was assuming it was under "Route" - where I opted to add a new route ... maybe this is wrong? Should I be operating in Bridged Ethernet mode, or not? Disabling the DHCP on the 327w?
(BTW, I connect to the net using a Motorola Surfboard Modem; its address is 192.168.100.1, and according to the menu it has a DHCP Server enabled - though there is no kind of menu to change that, or really much of anything).
Anyway, I'm just hoping someone can provide a little help. The menus and language on my 327w are just different enough from the Verizon-one to utterly confuse me. Thanks. | |
nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Firstly, whether using as a router works may depend on the firmware version. I have only seen this reported for the Verizon and retail versions of the 327w, and some reports suggest that the latest firmware has removed the option from Verizon versions. I don't know whether it is available for Bellsouth versions of the modem.
Second: there's a reasonably good guide to configuring Bellsouth versions here: »AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ
I don't know whether that matches your version.
If the option is available, I would guess you would find it under the "Broadband DSL line" menu, and probably in the "WAN" submenu, though it might instead be in the "Configure Connection" submenu.
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AT&T Uverse; Zyxel NBG334W router (behind the 2wire gateway); openSuSE 11.0; firefox 3.0.14 | |
drobbins
join:2007-07-12
Athens, GA
| Thanks for the reply. Yeah, that guide is basically the pdf bellsouth made as their documentation; however, it lacks details on the more technical abilities of the modem/router.
I do think the feature is still "there" in the router, but I think they have hidden it ... well, not really hidden it, but made it fairly user-unfriendly to find and adjust. Oddly enough, I remember several years ago the firmware had fairly straightforward menus and setting that would do this. Over time, the firmware has "unlocked" many of the settings, but at the cost of usability to the average "doesn't know as much as he thinks" joe like me who is trying to piddle around with it.
I was able to get the modem to switch over to the E1 port, but what exactly need to do after that is lost on me for now. In fact, the modem has some special name for it, like "VersaPort" or something ... I'm fatigued from trying it all day, so I'll go back in the next day or so and be more specific. It is doubly frustrating that I don't have much control over setting in the Motorola Surfboard ... I just plug it in and it goes, and that is pretty much it. I am worried that Comcast relies on MAC addresses, and there doesn't seem to be a function in the 327w to clone mine (however I swear there used to be one). If so, I guess I have to get the Motorola to register a new IP address and MAC address for the modem, and then hope that works?
I may try downgrading the firmware, just to see if it makes it easier (because I've done something like this before with this model, but it was a long time ago, and I remember it being much much easier). BTW, in case this helps anyone who runs into a need for them, bellsouth still has a few old version of firmware on their servers. Go to »ftp.bellsouth.net/firmware/ and there is a short list of the files. Of course, you have to look at the file names to deduce which file you need, but if you are looking for firmware, you can figure that out. (In the past I've also been able to find older version of the firmware by "guessing" at the file name; often the files are still there, there is just no link to tell you that).
Again, thanks for the reply. I may try to post some pics of the menu sometime in the next few days. | |
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