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[OverlordvI]

Hello!

I purchased the 655 after many outstanding reviews, including those from people who have linked the 655 to their switch and cable modem.  My network diagram is below.  Please help me set up the 655 so that wireless users can access my local network and the Internet.  Thanks -


Cable modem (static) <> NetGear GS116 switch <> various computers, XBox, etc.

I would like to set up a wireless network for the house so laptop users and my wireless cameras can connect to the household LAN, and through it, the Internet.  Where can I attach the 655 to my network, and what kind of cables (if any) do I need to do so?

Also, is there a specific port on the 655 that I need to use to connect it to my network (i.e. uplink, port 1, etc.)?


Thanks for the help.


SSD

[twk3]

Usually you would place it between the modem and the switch. Have you been given multiple static IPs? Or just one?

[OverlordvI]

I tried to do what you suggested:

Cable modem <> 655 <> switch

But that didn't work.  I am assigned only one static IP.  I plugged the cable modem into the uplink port of the 655, and plugged in the switch to port 1.  I turned off DHCP and assigned the 655 the same IP address that the cable modem is - no go.

Ideas?

[funchords]

With the router powered off but connected, power off and power on the cable modem.  After 60 seconds, power on the router.

[thecreator]

I tried to do what you suggested:

Cable modem <> 655 <> switch

But that didn't work.  I am assigned only one static IP.  I plugged the cable modem into the uplink port of the 655, and plugged in the switch to port 1.  I turned off DHCP and assigned the 655 the same IP address that the cable modem is - no go.

Ideas?

Hi OverlordvI,

Something you don't understand. Everyone is either assigned a Dynamic or Static IP Address by their ISProvider. There are only given one IP Address. The Router understands that, but it gives each computer that is attached to the Router their owned Internal IP Address.

You don't need a switch, if you have less than 4 wired devices that attaches to the Router.

After attaching the D-Link Router to the Cable Modem, with the Router on, disconnect the Power Cord from the Cable Modem. Wait 20~60 seconds and reapply power to the Cable Modem.

You do not assign the same IP Address to the Router. It has its own IP Address. It does detect the Cable Modem's IP Address.

Note: In order to set up the Wireless portion of the D-Link Router, you need to use a Wired Computer to the Router.

[twk3]

May I ask why you turned off DHCP? Does your cable modem run one?

[OverlordvI]

Thanks for the clarification.  I do need a switch as I have about 10-12 devices attached to it throughout the house.  I turned off DHCP because that's what one of the posts here mentioned.

I will try what several of you have suggested:  Modem <> 655 <> switch

Thanks again.

[OverlordvI]

So I've tried to install my 655 between my cable modem and switch, but am not having any luck.  Here is my algorithm and network diagram:

Cable modem <> 655 (Uplink port for cable modem; port 1 for switch) <> switch <> computers

I power off my cable modem, 655, and switch.  I then power them on one at a time.  I've tried all the combinations - modem first, 655 first, and even switch first.  None of the options work.  I simply have no Internet on the computers connected to the switch.  I have turned DHCP on and off with all of the combinations with no effect.

Any ideas?

Thanks -

[arod]

OverlordvI,

Who is your service provider and what model is your modem? And what are your IP address schemes for router and switch?

[OverlordvI]

I have Comcast Internet and a surfboard SB4200 cable modem.  Thanks.

[OverlordvI]

For router, I have tried DHCP on and off.  The switch is an unmanaged switch.

[tvBilly]

Two ways you can make this work.

(1) Setup your new 655 to work as an Access Point, where everything on your LAN is still managed by your cable modem, and nothing (much) is managed by your 655. You will not have to change any of your current LAN or cable modem settings, and your network will work as it always has, with the addition of wireless access that can talk to all machines on your LAN, as well as to the internet.

Physically you will be connecting one of the 655s LAN ports (NOT THE WAN PORT!) to an available port on your current NetGear GS116 switch, using a single ethernet cable. You can actually connect the 655 anyplace on your LAN; it doesn't have to physically be sitting next to the NetGear GS116 switch.

or

(2) Setup your new 655 to manage your network, at least partially. This will require you to put the 655 in between your cable modem and your NetGear GS116 switch. You hook up the cable modem to the WAN port of the 655 and the NetGear GS116 switch to any one of the LAN ports on the 655. You will have to understand how your cable modem is currently programmed so you can properly program the 655 to work as a secondary manager for your LAN. You will also greatly benefit from reprogramming the cable modem into its "bridge" mode, so that the 655 is doing all the network managing, instead of sharing it with the cable modem. Bridge mode in the cable modem avoids all the "gotchas" of a double NATed network, but reprogramming the cable modem is not absolutely necessary, and your cable provider may not want you to do it.

As you might imagine, this method is very much more complicated than just adding the 655 as an access point, but it does offer the not insignificant advantage of enabling the 655s powerful security functions, as well as the 655s ability to prioritize time critical network traffic. (For example, prioritizing game and voice traffic over file downloading traffic. You want your skype phone calls to sound good and not sound "choppy", and you want your rifle to fire when you pull the trigger, not two seconds later.)


I am happy to explain how to do either method, but in an effort to save some time, it would help me if you figured out which method you would prefer to try. Explaining how to setup your 655 as an Access Point is much easier, and is much easier for you to try out. If everything is currently working wonderfully on your network, and you are happy with the current security of your network, either from what your cable modem already provides and/or your LAN machines provide natively, then setting up the 655 as an Access Point is really what you want to do. Your original message even asks how to setup the 655 as an Access Point, though you might not have realized that was what you were asking:

Please help me set up the 655 so that wireless users can access my local network and the Internet.

You can read a message I left a few days ago by clicking here. It explains most of how to set up the 655 as an Access Point, though it's definitely not a step-by-step instruction sheet. If this is what you want to do (or at least want to try first), let me know and I will try to take you through the procedure.

Bill S

[OverlordvI]

Hey Bill - that was a wonderful and very helpful post.  That is exactly what I have been looking for.  I prefer to use as many features of the 655 as possible, so if I am able to do it, option 2 (bridge mode) would be the most helpful for me.

My old network used to route everything through an older linksys wireless router instead of my cable modem, so I know my cable modem lets my wireless router do the NAT.  I'd really appreciate your step-by-step directions -

Thanks again.


SSD

[OverlordvI]

Anyone know the best way to convert the 655 into a bridge for my particular network?  I appreciate the help - thanks.

[tvBilly]

It's probably going to be a few days before I can write up some things to try; I'm going out of town on business tomorrow. There is a D-Link tech note somewhere that tells you how to set up the 655 in an already existing network, but I couldn't locate it easily just now when I looked. You might want to look for it in the meanwhile, or maybe someone else here will chime in.

I would NOT try to reprogram your cable modem to bridge mode until everything is already working in "dual NAT" mode. If you mess up setting the cable modem to bridge mode, or something goes wrong, your whole internet connection will go away (a bad thing). Have you ever programmed your cable modem before? By the way, you will not be programming your 655 into "bridge" mode, unless you want to just make it an Access Point; you indicated you would prefer to try to let the 655 handle your networking needs. The only device you would want to put into Bridge mode is your cable modem, which you're NOT going to do until the very end, when everything else is working. You really don't want to mess with your cable modem settings yet!

In any case, I would first reset your 655 to factory settings, so that any changes you have made while experimenting are removed, and you're starting with a fresh slate with settings that are known by everyone trying to help.

Are all the devices on your network set to receive their IP address and netmask and gateway and DNS server IP address via DHCP from your cable modem, or have you manually set each machines info at the machine? What IP address range is your cable modem set to give out? (We have to make sure that the local IP address range used by the cable modem NAT is different from the local IP address range that the 655 is going to use for the LAN; they need to be different to work). The DHCP server in the 655 will be giving out IP info to the LAN. The DHCP server in your cable modem will only be providing IP info to the WAN side of the 655. You will be leaving both DHCP servers turned on (the one in the cable modem AND the one in the 655).

You need to verify that the IP address range used by the NAT from your cable modem is different from the IP address range used by the NAT in the 655. If they are the same, you'll have to change the range used by the 655. For example, if your cable modem has been assigning IP addresses in the 192.168.x.x range, you would want to set the 655 to use a different subnet, like 10.x.x.x instead.

As I recall, there is little else you should need to do to get the 655 working. You will NOT be setting the 655s WAN IP address manually, you'll let the 655s WAN port get its IP info via DHCP from the cable modem. Again, there may be helpful info beyond what I'm saying in the tech note I mentioned above. I hope you can find it, or someone else can point you to it.

Hopefully others will chime in with help over the next few days, to help while I'm away and can't answer immediately.

Bill S

ps Just re-read this, and it's not as clear as I would like, but I just don't have the time now to make it much better. Short form is you first have to let us all know what the current network settings are without the 655 connected. Also note that once you hook this all up (at least before we talk about setting your cable modem into bridge mode), the IP range of your LAN will change. All your machines will be on a different local subnet then they were before you added the 655. (In other words, if all your machines are currently in the 10.x.x.x subnet, they will be in the 192.168.x.x subnet when you get through. I don't know much about your network, so I don't know if this is going to matter. If you have been manually setting IP addresses on the machines on your LAN, you'll have to manually change them all).