2WIRE DSL Modem Question

Hello all. I just set up my dad's AT&T high speed internet service from AT&T.

It came with a 2WIRE DSL Modem/Wireless Router combination device. I have it hooked up to my Netgear router and it works fine from what I can tell. However when I first opened up Firefox on my dad's computer (which I'm typing this from btw) I got this message from AT&T

Title: "Gateway Alert Notification"

Router Behind Router Detected

"The Connection Monitor has detected a third party router connected to the 2Wire Gateway.

If you want to connect additional computers or devices to your network:

Click the Resolve button below to enable the Connection Manager to correct the problem. There may be a delay of up to one minute while the Connection Manager resolves the problem.

Click the Disable button below if you want to continue using your Router behind Router.
WARNING: Many applications may not work in this case."

What should I do at this point?

I do NOT want the wireless capability of the 2WIRE to be turned out and I want the internet to run as smooth as possible....

I'm just not sure if it's smart to "resolve it" or will it cause unnecessary trouble and make unnecessary changes to my dsl modem and/or Netgear router...

Thanks in advance...

EDIT:

My IPv4 address when I go to details in the wireless status page is listed as "10.0.0.2"

 

What it will do is config the 2wire as a bridge, which is what you want. The 2wire routers are junk, so you do want your router inplace.

 

So I should hit resolve or disable?

I don't know if you're familiar with Time Warner Cable and Road Runner but when we had that the

Gateway would be 192.168.1.1

And the address for the first computer would be 192.168.1.100

The next .101 and so on...

I'm not sure how that modem worked only that it was flawless and that it didn't have any wireless features built into it. So I want my AT&T service/setup to be just LIKE that.

 

If you are unsure call your wireless provider and have them walk you through it.

 

What's the series number for your 2Wire router?

In the meantime, I came across the user guide for the 2070 series (don't know if that's yours or not, but it does describe what you're talking about) here: http://www.2wire.com/pages/pdfs/5100-000376-000_Gateway_2070_IG_Rev_A.pdf

On page 14 the manual for the 2070 says that when you get the "Router behind Router" message and you hit the "resolve" button, what it does is, essentially, start acting for the most part like a bridge and will more or less let your router manage the network and act as if it were directly connected to the internet and not sitting behind another router/gateway. The 2Wire manual has a fancy-pants name for it, of course: DMZplus zone, but essentially the way that is described, it's as if the 2Wire was acting as a bridge.

That is basically what you want, so it should be fine if you hit the "resolve" button - just remember, no guarantees from the peanut gallery here! Also, double-check in the user manual that came with the unit to make sure that hitting the "resolve" button still does the same thing that this manual says it does for the 2070 series.

 

It's AT&T and they want to charge me at least $29.99 for service help. AND she said it could go up to over 100....

I'll look into it later today.

Thanks.

 

Sounds good.

 

Note: DMZplus is a special firewall mode that is used for hosting applications. When in DMZplus mode, the designated computer shares your gateway’s IP address (Router Address), appears as if it is directly connected to the Internet, has all of the unassigned TCP and UDP ports opened and pointed to it, and can receive unsolicited network traffic from the Internet. Because all filtered traffic is forwarded to the designated computer, DMZplus mode should be used with caution. A computer in DMZplus mode is less secure because all available ports are open and all incoming Internet traffic is directed to this computer

^^^

Not sure if that's a good thing....

I mean is that how TWC dsl modems work when hooked up to a 3rd party router?

I don't believe so.

EDIT: I found these instructions online at a different website....do they sound legit? Again all I want is for the 2 Wire to stop broadcasting it's own wireless signal. And 2nd I want it setup to where the computer's ip address is 192.168.1.101 or w/e like it use to be with TWC.

As opposed to 10.0.0.2 that it is now while hooked up wirelessly to my Netgear router...

Step 1: Open your web browser of choice and navigate to this address: 192.168.1.254 you should be greeted by your modem's control panel.

Step 2: Click on the "Home Network" tab on the upper part of the panel.

Step 3: Once you arrive at the "Network Summary" page click on disable button corresponding to the wireless on the right side of the window.

Step 4: Click on the broadband link.

Step 5: Click on advanced settings.

Step 6: Enter VPI 0 and VCI 35.

Step 7: Click on Disable PVC Search.

Step 8: Set Connection Type to Direct IP.

Step 9: Click Submit/Save.

Step 10: Now navigate to: 192.168.1.254/management or gateway.2wire.net/mdc

Step 11: Click on Configure Services under the Advanced heading.

Step 12: Uncheck the Enable Routing box.

Step 13: Click Submit.

 

It's a good question. It shouldn't be a problem so long as you make sure you have all security options on your own router up and running - most routers (I believe) come with a built-in firewall and various other methods of keeping nasties out, so your computers will continue to have basic shielding from uninvited malware and whatnot so long as your router stands between them and the actual internet connection itself.

If you're concerned about having unused ports open (although to be fair, those same ports are open on the 2Wire right now, so the situation isn't really that different), you should check to see if you can block those ports in the router's admin configuration.

A DMZ like the one the 2Wire manual describes is really more of a threat to an actual computer (as opposed to a router) which may, or may not, have adequate anti-malware precautions turned on.

 

On the edits: I assume you found this eHow webpage?

Those steps seem reasonable enough, although I don't have the router so I don't know for certain that following all those steps will work; however, if worst comes to worst, you can, as the article notes, always do a hard reset on the 2Wire router to put it back to factory defaults. I would also take note of the "Tips and Warnings" at the end of the article:

 

Lol yeah.

It sounds well written so I'm willing to give it a shot.

Okay thanks. I'll try it this evening and let you know how it goes...I'll definitely keep the PPPoE information on hand.

AT&T is so annoying sometimes...much as I love my iPhone and GSM I'm starting to hate some of their practices...

 

Another bad experience with AT&T. That is highway robbery. I have Verizon they have never been that ignorant about helping me out. They have driven me to the forums for the proper information due to there inability to solve a problem.

 

Do you have Fios out of curiosity? If so I"m extremely jealous...

I've heard nothing but great things about it. Sadly all we've got here in Raleigh, is WiMax (which I've tried and it sucks badly), Time Warner Cable, and AT&T (DSL only avialable in certain areas. Also AT&T has Uverse out here but it's like so small an area its not even worth mentioning to be honest....

 

Sorry you can't get FiOS yet. FiOS is very nice. Despite the cable providers' snarky advertising campaigns, we had TWC broadband, and my inlaws currently have Optimum cable broadband, and the FiOS service we have beats the cable broadband hands down.

 

one more question what does disabling ATM PVC Search do? Will that get rid of the internet connection immediately?

Is it neccessary to do that and "disable routing"

My main goal is to get it to where any computer in the house has an IP address that starts out like it did with TWC.

192.168.1.xxx

As a test I tried hooking up my laptop to the 2WIRE's wireless network and it worked fine. And it showed my IP address as 192.168.1.xxx

So how do I get that same result with AT&t's? More importantly does anyone happen to know if Road Runner modems are set to bridged mode automatically when you set them up?

 

If you just want all of your internal, private IP addresses to look like 192.168.1.xxx, then you should be able to configure the device that's acting as the DHCP router to hand out IP addresses from that range. E.g., if the 2Wire is currently acting as the DHCP server, and is handing out addresses that look like 10.0.0.xxx, it should be possible to change that configuration so that it starts handing out 192.168.1.xxx addresses.

I'm still not sure why it really matters, though.

 

It's more of a mind thing...

Okay so I've figured out a simple way to get rid of the wireless signal and capability of the 2WIRE dsl modem.

I just selected the disable button for the "wireless" part on the right side of the window as it said to in the instructions on the previous page.

So that means that it's no longer broadcasting it's own wireless signal right?

Now the next step would be just to turn off the DHCP of the dsl modem right?

Well the only place I see the option to do that is if I go to

gateway.2wire.net/mdc

Click on Configure Services under the Advanced heading.

Uncheck the Enable Routing box

However will that also get rid of my internet connection or no?

 

So I have it hooked directly into the 2WIRE and this what I get for my IP information.....

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . :
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 12, 2010 2:01:26 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, March 13, 2010 2:01:26 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . :

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

I don't know if giving out that DHCPv6 info is safe so I got rid of it but it had a bunch of random letters/numbers in those spaces.

So bottom line though is that this is similar to what I would get if I did ipconfig/all with any computer hookedup wirelessly to the netgear router. Plus for DNS servers it would list 2

Now though I get random 10.0.0.1 for the first computer. My laptop gets 10.0.0.2 and so on.