First Time connecting a 3rd-party Router to Mr. AT&T Modem, pls help?

[Gileotine]

Evening folks,

 

I know this is not the AT&T forums, but I can't much post there. I was wondering if you guys could lend some basic advice on what I'm going to attempt to do.

 

So the internet in my house is crap. The Wifi right now comes from a receiver that is also a TV thing, and from all I can tell it is awful. Gaming is near unplayable. 

 

Upstairs is what looks to be a modem (a big ass box looking thing with lots of ports on the back), but it currently has no ethernet cables plugged into it. I'm going to connect a router that the landlord thought was working (looks like a cheaper netgear router) to that modem-looking thing, then plug it into a switch so his other devices that run close to it can also connect to the internet. I thought that's all one needs to do, but I've heard that it probably isn't going to work, or well, at least. Since you guys are tech dudes and are likely used to plugging in 3rd-party routers to your modems, I'd like to know what steps you guys took to connect your router into a modem without little incident. 

On top of that, when working with networking stuff, what is the kind of info I really shouldn't be giving out to people as they help me troubleshoot stuff?

 

In either case, ask me all you need to know, as I know what I just said was very vague. I'll work with you because man, vermintide with packet loss is.. is not fun.

[Donut417]

@Gileotine Here might be the issue I think you have: 

4 minutes ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

ith DSL you receive login and password which are unique

 

I have never had a DSL connection so I have never had to deal with PPPoE, which is why I forgot it even exists. If you can get the username and password that might solve the issue of it not working. 

 

That being said, if the AT&T box is a gateway instead of the modem then PPPoE might not be your issue. 

[Gileotine]

I'll see what I can do when I get home about the model names 

[Gileotine]

Alright folks I'm back with some information and more issues, unfortunately.

 

AT&T gateway thing

Manufacturer: ARRIS

Model: BGW210-700

 

Netgear router 

Netgear N600 C3700-100NAS

(It appears this thing might also be a gateway / modem?? From the website?)

 

My setup as of today looks like this:

(supposedly) wall jack --> AT&T Gateway --> Router (netgear) --> Switch for other devices.

 

Last night I was able to connect to the 5GHz connection from the Netgear router. It was at like, 10% signal (less than one bar) but even with that, my internet was smooth, fast, and stable. I thought things would stop there and the job was done. However, when I got home today I discovered that the internet coming out of both the router and the previous WiFi thing (I think it was in a TV Receiver) didn't work.

 

Afraid I'd messed something up, I logged onto the respective Ip-address things and reset the [Netgear] router. This magically turned the regular (Receiver) internet back on, but I've had no such luck with the actual router. So we appear to be back at square one, with the router not working and the receiver-thing spitting out crappy internet.

 

So, I'm not sure what is going on, again. Anyone know what might be going on or am I just hosed at this point?

 

[Donut417]

22 minutes ago, Gileotine said:

AT&T gateway thing

Manufacturer: ARRIS

Model: BGW210-700

As I suspected, its not a modem. Its a gateway (Modem/Router combo). 

 

23 minutes ago, Gileotine said:

Netgear N600 C3700-100NAS

That is a Docsis cable gateway (Modem/Router). 

 

Now I see why it doesn't work. Because as it stands you have the wrong equipment. The Netgear wont work as router. Because its a gateway, you need a straight up router or a wireless access point. 

[Gileotine]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

As I suspected, its not a modem. Its a gateway (Modem/Router combo). 

 

That is a Docsis cable gateway (Modem/Router). 

 

Now I see why it doesn't work. Because as it stands you have the wrong equipment. The Netgear wont work as router. Because its a gateway, you need a straight up router or a wireless access point. 

WELL DAMMIT

 

What was going on last night with the perfect buttery smooth 5ghz nosignal wireless then? Is there any way I could re-capture that or was that just me hallucinating?

 

So it's either a real router, a WAP-thing (mesh??), or  a powerline adapter?

[Donut417]

Just now, Gileotine said:

So it's either a real router, a WAP-thing (mesh??), or  a powerline adapter?

Any of those would work. See with DSL gateways, some times they have a Ethernet WAN port, so you can just use them like a standard router. Cable Gateways, not so much. 

 

Im not sure what solution I would choose. I mean either way your land lord will technically have access to your data and or devices connected to the network. So if you choose the AP or power line route, he will have potential access to your devices. If you choose the router route he can only see the data going between your router and the AT&T gateway. I highly doubt he knows how to do any of that. But having your own router also gives you your own network. Just you will be double NATed. As long as you can live with that, then it might be best with your own router.

[Gileotine]

4 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Any of those would work. See with DSL gateways, some times they have a Ethernet WAN port, so you can just use them like a standard router. Cable Gateways, not so much. 

 

Im not sure what solution I would choose. I mean either way your land lord will technically have access to your data and or devices connected to the network. So if you choose the AP or power line route, he will have potential access to your devices. If you choose the router route he can only see the data going between your router and the AT&T gateway. I highly doubt he knows how to do any of that. But having your own router also gives you your own network. Just you will be double NATed. As long as you can live with that, then it might be best with your own router.

v_v alright. I think I'll go find a cheap-ish router or a powerline. I dont much care that my landlord can see my traffic, so we'll just go that route. I've about reached the 'annoying tenant' limit with him since he keeps the router upstairs, so I gotta ask him each time I want to tinker with it. Thanks for all your help, MAN. THIS INTERNET. I JUST WANT INTERNET THAT DOESNT SSSSSSSSSSUCKKKK

[Donut417]

11 minutes ago, Gileotine said:

JUST WANT INTERNET THAT DOESNT SSSSSSSSSSUCKKKK

If there is another ISP available, maybe your land lord would allow you to have a second service installed for yourself. In some cases, ISP's will install two separate accounts in the same address, but some times that can be a challenge to get them to do it. 

[Gileotine]

*Incoherent wailing*