Multi-Access Point Port Forwarding

[CallMeMysterious]

Ok, I think this is the right place to post this.

Anyways, awhile ago I got a second router for my house because my main one isn't all that good. It is an Arris Modem/Router combo. I believe it is DG860A. 

I bought the second router to act as a wired bridge/second access point. So I have a 100ft cat5e cable running to my room where my computer is. That cat5e cable then plugs to the input port on a Netgear WNR2000 v1.

I have them both named differently and on separate channels so there is nothing wrong there. My computer is then wired to an output of the WNR2000. 

But now I want to port forward a CS:GO server but I can't seem to get it to work. I have tried port forwarding the required port on the Netgear router only, the Arris only, and both but my friends can't connect. I have also disabled windows firewall just to be sure. 

So any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[theanimun]

port forwarding would have to go through the modem via the netgear router's IP address, and then on top of that, you will need to port forward the server from inside the netgear router, as its a double firewall system

[CallMeMysterious]

So you mean port forward the netgear router's IP on the Arris?

 

[theanimun]

yep

[CallMeMysterious]

1 minute ago, theanimun said:

yep

So how would I get the Netgear router's IP address?

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

How is the Netgear router configured? Does it have access point mode? If so, make sure it is enabled or you'll be getting conflicts between the two routers. 

 

You should only need to port forward on the Arris Router (using the PC's IP address) as the Netgear router should only be acting as an access point and not performing any routing functions. 

 

EDIT: Is the connection from the Arris to the Netgear going into the WAN port on the Netgear? If so, it shouldn't be. It should be going into one of the LAN ports. 

[theanimun]

depending on how the netgear is setup, you can generally retrieve it via the list of connected devices in the modem itself, or via the network adapter's (in your PC) default gateway

will generally be 192.168.x.1 for the modem (unless you use xfinity and get stuck with the 10.0.0.1 default gateway)
the x can either be 1 or 2
and seeing as you have both a smart TV and PS4 attached to the modem, along side the netgear router, the router could possibly be x.2, x.3, or x.4

and as @Oshino Shinobu said, if your router has access point mode, you could use it, but it will have you set a custom IP address to access the firmware at a later date, and its one you don't wanna forget, so write it down, and store it somewhere, because if you decide at a later date to sell the netgear router, you will wanna disable the access point mode, or risk getting locked out

[CallMeMysterious]

3 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

How is the Netgear router configured? Does it have access point mode? If so, make sure it is enabled or you'll be getting conflicts between the two routers. 

 

You should only need to port forward on the Arris Router (using the PC's IP address) as the Netgear router should only be acting as an access point and not performing any routing functions. 

 

EDIT: Is the connection from the Arris to the Netgear going into the WAN port on the Netgear? If so, it shouldn't be. It should be going into one of the LAN ports. 

I do not know how to set it up as an access point, and there is an ethernet cable running from one of the 4 outputs on the Arris router to the yellow port on the Netgear labeled as Internet (I know it's the input because if I plug it into one of the ports labeled ethernet it doesn't work)

[CallMeMysterious]

9 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

How is the Netgear router configured? Does it have access point mode? If so, make sure it is enabled or you'll be getting conflicts between the two routers. 

 

You should only need to port forward on the Arris Router (using the PC's IP address) as the Netgear router should only be acting as an access point and not performing any routing functions. 

 

EDIT: Is the connection from the Arris to the Netgear going into the WAN port on the Netgear? If so, it shouldn't be. It should be going into one of the LAN ports. 

The black runs to the arris and the blue runs to the computer

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

11 minutes ago, CallMeMysterious said:

I do not know how to set it up as an access point, and there is an ethernet cable running from one of the 4 outputs on the Arris router to the yellow port on the Netgear labeled as Internet (I know it's the input because if I plug it into one of the ports labeled ethernet it doesn't work)

The "internet" port on the Netgear is intended to be used with an incoming internet line, not from another router on the same network. It doesn't appear to have an access point mode, so you'll want to disable DHCP on the Netgear router and set a static IP on the same subnet as the Arris (check your PC's address. Keep the first three parts of the IP address and change the last part. So likely something like 192.168.1.X). 

 

This may help:

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Wireless-N-Routers/How-to-use-WNR2000-as-an-access-point/td-p/301555

 

And this: http://vpncasestudy.com/download/usefuldoc/how_to_access_point.pdf

7 minutes ago, CallMeMysterious said:

The black runs to the arris and the blue runs to the computer

 

 

You do not want to use the WAN port on the Netgear, as the devices are on the same local network. You want to use the 4 orange LAN ports for connecting things and leave the WAN port empty. 

[CallMeMysterious]

8 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

The "internet" port on the Netgear is intended to be used with an incoming internet line, not from another router on the same network. It doesn't appear to have an access point mode, so you'll want to disable DHCP on the Netgear router and set a static IP on the same subnet as the Arris (check your PC's address. Keep the first three parts of the IP address and change the last part. So likely something like 192.168.1.X). 

 

This may help:

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Wireless-N-Routers/How-to-use-WNR2000-as-an-access-point/td-p/301555

 

And this: http://vpncasestudy.com/download/usefuldoc/how_to_access_point.pdf

You do not want to use the WAN port on the Netgear, as the devices are on the same local network. You want to use the 4 orange LAN ports for connecting things and leave the WAN port empty. 

I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding the last part, but the Netgear can't operate as a wireless repeater. If the black cable isn't plugged in where it is, It won't have any connection to the internet

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, CallMeMysterious said:

I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding the last part, but the Netgear can't operate as a wireless repeater. If the black cable isn't plugged in where it is, It won't have any connection to the internet

The 4 LAN ports act as a switch. Your internet connection comes in to the Arris, right? If so, you shouldn't need to use the internet (WAN) port on the Netgear, as the Netgear isn't responsible for connecting to the internet in your network, it is essentially just acting as a switch and access point. If it's not working without using the WAN port, there is something wrong with the configuration. Most likely, there's an issue with the Netgear having an IP address not on the same subnet as the Arris. I had issues with this on my network before. I have my router/modem as 192.168.1.1 and my secondary router (in access point mode, mind you) as 192.168.1.100.

 

As a note, you're not trying to use the Netgear as a wireless repeater. That wouldn't actually need any cables to the router. If you're just wanting to connect the PC, could you not run a cable directly from the Arris to the PC? If you need wireless, purchasing a dedicated access point would be a better solution, as having multiple routers (especially ones without access point modes or similar) can cause numerous issues and conflicts. 

[CallMeMysterious]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

The 4 LAN ports act as a switch. Your internet connection comes in to the Arris, right? If so, you shouldn't need to use the internet (WAN) port on the Netgear, as the Netgear isn't responsible for connecting to the internet in your network, it is essentially just acting as a switch and access point. If it's not working without using the WAN port, there is something wrong with the configuration. Most likely, there's an issue with the Netgear having an IP address not on the same subnet as the Arris. I had issues with this on my network before. I have my router/modem as 192.168.1.1 and my secondary router (in access point mode, mind you) as 192.168.1.100.

 

As a note, you're not trying to use the Netgear as a wireless repeater. That wouldn't actually need any cables to the router. If you're just wanting to connect the PC, could you not run a cable directly from the Arris to the PC? If you need wireless, purchasing a dedicated access point would be a better solution, as having multiple routers (especially ones without access point modes or similar) can cause numerous issues and conflicts. 

Again, I am not the brighest person ever, so sorry if I misunderstood

The Arris is the modem so it it providing internet to the Netgear

I want the netgear to be a switch AND another wireless network

So I want it to do WiFi and Ethernet.

The internet connection comes from the Arris

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

16 minutes ago, CallMeMysterious said:

Again, I am not the brighest person ever, so sorry if I misunderstood

The Arris is the modem so it it providing internet to the Netgear

I want the netgear to be a switch AND another wireless network

So I want it to do WiFi and Ethernet.

The internet connection comes from the Arris

 

The Arris is still a router, along with modem. If it were purely a modem, you would need to use the WAN port on the Netgear, but that is not the case. 

 

Modems are essentially dumb devices. They don't port forward, don't route, don't provide NAT and so on. Yours is a modem/router combo unit, so it is not providing direct internet to the Netgear. The Netgear is on the internal part of the network and doesn't have any responsibility for routing outside of the network, that is the responsibility of the Arris. Having both trying to provide NAT, routing and DHCP (though DHCP isn't really related to external routing) is going to cause issues. 

 

The reason you can't port forward the server correctly is because it is passing through two networks, essentially. From the Arris's perspective, the PC doesn't exist on its network, as it's on the Netgear's own network. Past the Netgear router, the Arris can't see anything, just like someone trying to look into your local network from the Internet. They see your WAN address from your router, but nothing beyond that. From the Netgear's perspective, the connection from the Arris is like a connection to an ISP, rather than something on the same local network. The issue with port forwarding on a setup like this is that if you portforward on the Arris, it would have to go to the Netgear's WAN address to get close to the PC, but from there, you have to port forward on the Netgear, using the same port but forwarding to the IP address of the PC. Needless to say, it's not a great solution. 

 

If you can get the IP address of the PS4 or Smart TV, you shouldn't be able to ping it from the PC if the Netgear is using the WAN port, if my understanding is correct. 

[CallMeMysterious]

3 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

The Arris is still a router, along with modem. If it were purely a modem, you would need to use the WAN port on the Netgear, but that is not the case. 

 

Modems are essentially dumb devices. They don't port forward, don't route, don't provide NAT and so on. Yours is a modem/router combo unit, so it is not providing direct internet to the Netgear. The Netgear is on the internal part of the network and doesn't have any responsibility for routing outside of the network, that is the responsibility of the Arris. Having both trying to provide NAT, routing and DHCP (though DHCP isn't really related to external routing) is going to cause issues. 

 

The reason you can't port forward the server correctly is because it is passing through two networks, essentially. From the Arris's perspective, the PC doesn't exist on its network, as it's on the Netgear's own network. From the Netgear's perspective, the connection from the Arris is like a connection to an ISP, rather than something on the same local network. The issue with port forwarding on a setup like this is that if you portforward on the Arris, it would have to go to the Netgear's WAN address to get close to the PC, but from there, you have to port forward on the Netgear, using the same port but forwarding to the IP address of the PC. Needless to say, it's not a great solution. 

 

If you can get the IP address of the PS4 or Smart TV, you shouldn't be able to ping it from the PC if the Netgear is using the WAN port, if my understanding is correct. 

So what you are saying is that the Netgear is it's own network just running off of the Arris? 

So doesn't that go back to the first comment where he said I need to port forward the Netgear on the Arris then port forward the server on the Netgear?

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, CallMeMysterious said:

So what you are saying is that the Netgear is it's own network just running off of the Arris? 

So doesn't that go back to the first comment where he said I need to port forward the Netgear on the Arris then port forward the server on the Netgear?

Essentially, yes.

 

Theoretically, you can. Whether that will actually carry through or not, I'm not sure. Theoretically, you'd need to port forward from the Arris to the "WAN" address of the Netgear, then port forward to the PC's address from the Netgear. You can try it, but I have my doubts on whether it will work or not. 

[CallMeMysterious]

43 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Essentially, yes.

 

Theoretically, you can. Whether that will actually carry through or not, I'm not sure. Theoretically, you'd need to port forward from the Arris to the "WAN" address of the Netgear, then port forward to the PC's address from the Netgear. You can try it, but I have my doubts on whether it will work or not. 

Ok, I can't test it now but I do have it set up

 

[theanimun]

20 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Essentially, yes.

 

Theoretically, you can. Whether that will actually carry through or not, I'm not sure. Theoretically, you'd need to port forward from the Arris to the "WAN" address of the Netgear, then port forward to the PC's address from the Netgear. You can try it, but I have my doubts on whether it will work or not. 

The only reason i suggested the double port forward layout is because i have the same setup, and my router doesn't provide wireless unless its hooked up to the WAN port, The OP just happens to also have a Computer Attached to the Netgear (Xfinity provided Modem/Router devices suck)

Personally my setup is an Xfinity Cable Modem > Belkin Router > Printer(LAN Device) and all Wireless Devices.