I have a new (at&t u-verse) 2wire 3801 hgv router/modem (w/ wifi 802.11 a/b/g dissabled) linked via cat5 cable to a netgear wndr3700 802.11 a/b/g/n (because its better). I set my connected netgear to dmz plus mode in the the 2wire lan settings (I could'nt find a bridge mode or a way to disable pvc search) and i turned off the dhcp in the netgears settings. my desktop pc is wired to the netgear and all wireless (ipad, iphones, netbooks, ps3, wii, and dsi's) are also through the netgear. The netgear has a firewall right? Is my setup as safe as it was when it was a cable modem through the netgear. will the netgear firewall protect me? everything seems to be working ok, but i don't want any suprises. just to clarify, when turning on dmz plus mode in the 2wire settings, I had to choose which attatched device to give dmz plus access (opens the firewall to in & out traffic for that device as I understand it?) to, but the netgears settings are not set to dmz plus mode, just dhcp dissabled. The netgear is used only for wifi and shared internet connection and not a home network. Your help will be greatly appreciated!
Are my settings safe for linked 2wire & netgear routers?
- Thread starter smogman2
- Start date
Leeky
Posts: 3,357 +116
I think you'd be better setting up your AT&T router as a switch, and then running your Netgear router as your main router.
DHCP should be setup on the Netgear router, and then that used to assign IP addresses to your networked devices.
Your AT&T one should have wireless disabled, DHCP disabled, and be assigned a static IP address. You can then use a cat 5 ethernet cable to connect the two routers.
Most of all, I would be setting up the AT&T as a DMZ, because you want the extra security it provides by isolating the internet from your private network (Netgear router).
In your situation you want the AT&T router to act purely as a switch, and nothing more. Your Netgear router can handle everything else. You also need to be aware that setting up a DMZ is more for public network devices, e.g. for webservers, so you can place them in the "public" area for net access, and hide your private network (Netgear in your case) away from it. You do not want to be connecting any devices to your AT&T router if it has DMZ enabled.
Here is a good, brief read on what DMZ is.
DHCP should be setup on the Netgear router, and then that used to assign IP addresses to your networked devices.
Your AT&T one should have wireless disabled, DHCP disabled, and be assigned a static IP address. You can then use a cat 5 ethernet cable to connect the two routers.
Most of all, I would be setting up the AT&T as a DMZ, because you want the extra security it provides by isolating the internet from your private network (Netgear router).
In your situation you want the AT&T router to act purely as a switch, and nothing more. Your Netgear router can handle everything else. You also need to be aware that setting up a DMZ is more for public network devices, e.g. for webservers, so you can place them in the "public" area for net access, and hide your private network (Netgear in your case) away from it. You do not want to be connecting any devices to your AT&T router if it has DMZ enabled.
Here is a good, brief read on what DMZ is.
Thanks
Thanks for the info. My connections started to intermittently drop out so I tried re-enabling dhcp on the net gear router. My intentions were to do as you said and use the 2wire router as a switch and rout all of my connections through the net gear router, but I was unsure of how to do it. I found info on setting a 2wire 3800 hgv to bridge mode, but that procedure did not work on the 2wire 3801 hgv that I have. At first I tried the simple/stupid method of just plugging one into the other, but it did not work, so further research led me to dmz mode. Currently the 2wire is set to dmz mode with wireless disabled and the netgear is hadling al of my connections (wired and wireless), dhcp is enabled on both routers and everything has been working for almost 24 hrs. With dhcp enabled on both routers will I have an ip conflict? And how could I tell? I have not tried turning dhcp off on the 2wire router, and I am not opposed to doing so, but with everything working is it necessary? thanks again!
Smogman2
Thanks for the info. My connections started to intermittently drop out so I tried re-enabling dhcp on the net gear router. My intentions were to do as you said and use the 2wire router as a switch and rout all of my connections through the net gear router, but I was unsure of how to do it. I found info on setting a 2wire 3800 hgv to bridge mode, but that procedure did not work on the 2wire 3801 hgv that I have. At first I tried the simple/stupid method of just plugging one into the other, but it did not work, so further research led me to dmz mode. Currently the 2wire is set to dmz mode with wireless disabled and the netgear is hadling al of my connections (wired and wireless), dhcp is enabled on both routers and everything has been working for almost 24 hrs. With dhcp enabled on both routers will I have an ip conflict? And how could I tell? I have not tried turning dhcp off on the 2wire router, and I am not opposed to doing so, but with everything working is it necessary? thanks again!
Smogman2
D
DelJo63
As for "SAFE",
For those of us with only one router, both (A+B) should be implemented
ALL of the known routers have default passwords that are publicly disclosed - -
exposing you to having the router hijacked.
- the gateway router (ie the one that directly accesses your ISP),
should disable Remote Management on port 8080. This stops hackers from changing your
settings
- The in-board router(s) to which your systems attach should have the admin password
changed. The in-board routers can be attacked using simple code directly from a page
you might access with your browser.
For those of us with only one router, both (A+B) should be implemented
ALL of the known routers have default passwords that are publicly disclosed - -
exposing you to having the router hijacked.
