WRT610N as DHCP server for another gateway?

[hulvey]

FiOS gave me an Actiontec router that every other day is getting into a state where it refuses to give out IP addresses via DHCP.  I have to reset the router to get it to work again.  This seems ot have started in the last year, I assume due to some piece of equipment I added, or perhaps the VPN software or Windows 7 installed on my work laptop.  I've not been able to figure out what is tripping up the Actiontec router, so I decided to try moving the DHCP function over the WRT610N that I have.  I basically had the WRT610N setup without DHCP enabled, no NAT and no RIP, so it was basically just working as an access point.  I left the Actiontec at 192.168.1.1 and assigned 192.168.1.2 to the WRT610N on the LAN side, while the WAN side is left disconnected.

I disabled DHCP on the Actiontec and enabled it on the WRT610N.  I also set the DNS server to 192.168.1.1 so it would go to the Actiontec for name resolution.  Using nslookup from a command prompt on a PC wireless connected to the WRT610N, I can see that names are indeed getting resolved.  However, it looks like the WRT610N is setting itself up as a the gateway at 192.168.1.2.  When trying to ping something out on the net, I get a message back saying that 192.168.1.2 is reporting the address as unreachable.

I assume this is because the WRT610N is handing out its own address (192.168.1.2) as the gateway.  Is there anyway to get the WRT610N to hand out a different gateway address than itself?  Optionally, is there a way to get the WRT610N to route requests coming to it over the Actiontec?

I suppose I could just ditch the Actiontec altogether, but it seems a bit easier to use to setup port forwards and the like for various servers we have running.  It also has a coax MoCA interface which I believe our FiOS set-top boxes use for their internet connectivity, so I don't want to lose that.

Any ideas?

[gv]

The DHCP server on the WR610N will always assign it's own IP address as default gateway.

[hulvey]

That's a bummer ... but thanks for the reply!

[hulvey]

I guess I could do a double-layer NAT.  Since all wireless clients will come in via the WRT610N, that might work.  However, I tried it and set the WRT610N to do a Static IP on the WAN port, but it kept saying "Value can't be equal."  when I tried to save the settings.  I couldn't figure out what value it was talking about.

[gv]

What exactly did you configure for static IP? Sounds to me as if you tried to configure 192.168.1.1 on the WAN port and LAN. That wouldn't work. You must assign a static IP address inside the ActionTec router LAN subnet and the ActionTec and WRT LANs must not overlap.

The alternative might be to put the ActionTec into bridge mode and use the WRT as only router. But as you have noted it affects your port forwardings...

[hulvey]

I tried 192.168.1.2 for the WAN and 192.168.1.3 for the LAN side, but it still gave me the "The values can't be equal." error.  I'm guessing I need to make the LAN side a different subnet than the WAN side, but wasn't sure what to try.  I also want wireless devices on the LAN side to be able to talk to wired devices on the WAN side of the WRT610N which are still inside my home network (i.e. on the LAN side of the Actiontec).  Currently, I have everything on the Actiontec LAN set to static IPs as I had been trying to eliminate the DHCP issue that way.  However, I have a few devices that don't support static IP (e.g. couldn't see a way to do it on a Kindle), and it's a hassle to setup guests to use static IP, so I'd like to have some DHCP capability.

[gv]

As I wrote: network cannot overlap. It's a router. Routing happens based on unique IP subnets. If 192.168.1.2/255.255.255.0 is on the WAN port and 192.168.1.3/255.255.255.0 is on the LAN port then IP addresses 192.168.1.* exist on the WAN and LAN side. That's unroutable.

If you ActionTec uses 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0 you can set the WAN side to 192.168.1.2/255.255.255.0 gateway & dns 192.168.1.1 and the LAN side to 192.168.2.1/255.255.255.0.

Do you have a computer/server running in your network which may be used as DHCP server?

[hulvey]

Thanks.  I'll give that a whirl.

I don't really have a PC that's on all the time to do DHCP.  I'd rather not leave one on, either, since a router is generally a lot fewer watts than a PC, and typically a lot quieter, too.

[gv]

Some people have a NAS or similar devices which can be used as DHCP server as well. If you don't have that you are left with the options mentioned before.

Did you try a firmware upgrade/reflash on the ActionTec? Or reset to factory defaults? Sometimes that helps...

[Jake_2.0]

Try to check on this link, maybe this may help you. http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=529c188bc0ee4f7da79ffc22f2be33ec_4579.xml&pid=80&r....