ASUS RT-N66U Router with ATT Uverse 3801HGV Residential Gateway

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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I want to purchase a new ASUS router to work behind my ATT Uverse router. I'm limited to G wifi and 10/100 speeds. I want N wifi and Gigabit speeds.

Has anyone ran a separate router along side your Uverse router? If so, how hard was it to setup? I'm scouring the internet and some say it's impossible and some say it can be done in an little as 3-4 steps. I don't want to send the $$$ if it wont work and only cause a headache.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
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AT&T's router is going to limit you for things on the WAN side, but the new router could speed up your LAN side.

Note, I have no idea what AT&T is using these days, but, my best guess would be:
You should be able to put new router behind AT&T's.
On AT&T's you turn off wireless on that unit, then plug that into the WAN port of the new router.
You must make sure that the new router is setup for a different subnet than what AT&T's is using.

By that, say, AT&T's is 192.168.1.1, the new router should use 192.168.2.1, just make sure they don't conflict.
(You setup the new router first, set it to DHCP mode, and give it that subnet address)
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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AT&T's router is going to limit you for things on the WAN side, but the new router could speed up your LAN side.

Note, I have no idea what AT&T is using these days, but, my best guess would be:
You should be able to put new router behind AT&T's.
On AT&T's you turn off wireless on that unit, then plug that into the WAN port of the new router.
You must make sure that the new router is setup for a different subnet than what AT&T's is using.

By that, say, AT&T's is 192.168.1.1, the new router should use 192.168.2.1, just make sure they don't conflict.
(You setup the new router first, set it to DHCP mode, and give it that subnet address)

Thanks. So just trying to get a game plan:

1) Plug new Asus router into a laptop, set to DHCP mode, and set the subnet to 192.168.2.1 (because ATT is 192.168.1.254)

2) Unplug Asus router from laptop and plug in to LAN port on ATT router.

3) Login to ATT router and turn Wifi off, and confirm "router behind router detection" is on.

4) Try to navigate to a webpage.

Seems I might be on track but maybe missing key items (from what I read on google). Thanks for your help!
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
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I am not sure what "router behind router detection" is exactly, since, what you are doing is, just turning off wireless on AT&T's. The only cable going into AT&T's is their WAN cable, and 1 LAN cable to your ASUS.
As far as the ASUS is concerned, once in DHCP mode, it will ask AT&T's to give it an IP address, (which I guess would be something in 192.168.1.xx range) and it will then communicate to that address when any outgoing info is needed.

I am also unsure if you have to reboot the AT&T unit, like you do with normal cable modems... so, you might want to do that as well... (that is, after you turn off wireless, power down the AT&T unit. Now, plug a cable from AT&T's LAN port to the ASUS WAN port, power on AT&T, wait for it to get in sync. Now power on ASUS, wait for it to get in sync, and now, you can plug all your computers into the ASUS port, and turn them on (or, you do ipconfig /renew on command line, but that is a bit more work, easier to just reboot computers).
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,466
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T

1) Plug new Asus router into a laptop, set to DHCP mode, and set the subnet to 192.168.2.1 (because ATT is 192.168.1.254)

2) Unplug Asus router from laptop and plug in to LAN port on ATT router.

3) Login to ATT router and turn Wifi off, and confirm "router behind router detection" is on.

In general.

Option 1 (the best) - Google the term "configure the (Router Model) as a Modem only.

If you find solid instructions, try it and then you can use the Asus as a regular main source Wireless Router.

Option 2 - Configure the Asus to work as a Switch with an Access point as part of the ATT Router.

http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

You can leave the ATT Wireless on and configure the Asus to provide only a @ n while all the G will go on the ATT Wireless.

Option 3 (the worse) - Doing for you are panning to do and ending up with Double NAT and two independent Subnets/Networks.



:cool:
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
So many ways to configure these things, with each having their own pluses and minuses... :)
fjmeat, what is the exact model of AT&T's unit ?
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,466
384
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So many ways to configure these things, with each having their own pluses and minuses... :)

Yeah you are right, I actually have few installations employing Double NAT.

Its a medical environment and segregation add Good security while pure "Power" and "Gamers" needs are Not very relevant.

On the other hand the OP wants a better system than what he thinks ATT Wireless Router is providing,


:cool:
 

artemicion

Golden Member
Jun 9, 2004
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I did this about a year ago. I remember it being sort of a pain in the ass, but the details are kind of fuzzy. I do remember running into problems with clients connecting to the network but not being connected to the Internet, and being super frustrated because the wired connections worked while the wireless connections did not work (or vice versa, I can't remember).

Anyway, after spending hours troubleshooting, I think I ultimately had to disable DHCP on the non-AT&T router so that all the clients on the network got IP addresses assigned by the AT&T router.
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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So many ways to configure these things, with each having their own pluses and minuses... :)
fjmeat, what is the exact model of AT&T's unit ?

It's the 3801-HGV Residential Gateway. Here's what I found on the net to be it's manual.

http://hackingbtbusinesshub.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/3801hgv_user_guide_rev-1-0.pdf

Page 40 talks about bridge mode.

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I'm going to buy this Asus Router (different than one in title of post) this weekend and give it a try. I just want to have a strategy to get it up and running quick. With no ATT = no tv and no internet.

http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC66U-Dual-.../dp/B008ABOJKS
 

Slug

Senior member
Oct 12, 1999
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I recently tried bridge mode on the same AT&T device. Didn't work. So I used my trendnet router as a wireless access point only by turning of its DHCP and only using the LAN ports to connect to the AT&T router. This worked perfectly. The AT&T router does NAT and DHCP for my network, and even properly forwards ports to my Windows server. Then I turned off the wireless on the AT&T router for good measure.

Forgot to mention: I left the AT&T TV boxes plugged into the 10/100 ports on the AT&T router and plugged everything else into the remaining 10/100/1000 LAN ports on the trendnet.
 
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cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
Most uverse modems can do bridge mode... kind of. For some reason it assigns your router with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.255. Take whatever it gives for settings and then set the router to a static ip address instead of dhcp, and give it a subnet mask that can communicate with the default gateway. Sometimes 255.255.255.0 is fine, other times 255.255.0.0 is required.

uverse modems seem to not ever get a different ip address from AT&T, so this works.

I forget if I've used that particular model or not, just that of the AT&T provided uverse modems I've worked with they all have done the above.
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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Also, I have two wireless ATT tv receivers which uses this thing to broadcast. This currently plugs into (via Ethernet) the ATT Uverse Router. Will it need to be moved to the new Asus Router, or should it remain connected to the ATT Router?

image_gallery
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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I recently tried bridge mode on the same AT&T device. Didn't work. So I used my trendnet router as a wireless access point only by turning of its DHCP and only using the LAN ports to connect to the AT&T router. This worked perfectly. The AT&T router does NAT and DHCP for my network, and even properly forwards ports to my Windows server. Then I turned off the wireless on the AT&T router for good measure.

Forgot to mention: I left the AT&T TV boxes plugged into the 10/100 ports on the AT&T router and plugged everything else into the remaining 10/100/1000 LAN ports on the trendnet.

I'm doing this now and not having any luck.

Asus router setup with DHCP off.
From back of ATT router LAN into Asus Router LAN with ethernet cable

And from back of Asus Router to PC - no internets
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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In general.

Option 1 (the best) - Google the term "configure the (Router Model) as a Modem only.

If you find solid instructions, try it and then you can use the Asus as a regular main source Wireless Router.

Option 2 - Configure the Asus to work as a Switch with an Access point as part of the ATT Router.

http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

You can leave the ATT Wireless on and configure the Asus to provide only a @ n while all the G will go on the ATT Wireless.

Option 3 (the worse) - Doing for you are panning to do and ending up with Double NAT and two independent Subnets/Networks.



:cool:

I did Option 2.

Works well. Very fast WiFi now! Transferring files between machines plugged into Asus router is much faster.
 

vr666m

Junior Member
Jan 11, 2014
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1) So it worked well for you? I just got the Asus RT AC66U router to install behind the Uverse 2wire 3800 that we are forced to rent permanently from AT&T. Are speeds going to make a noticeable difference?

2) Did you end up connecting the tv receiver to the 2wire or the new router?

3) If you did Option 2, why don't you get a switch instead of a router behind router?
If you have time, can you write up your process here?
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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1) So it worked well for you? I just got the Asus RT AC66U router to install behind the Uverse 2wire 3800 that we are forced to rent permanently from AT&T. Are speeds going to make a noticeable difference?

2) Did you end up connecting the tv receiver to the 2wire or the new router?

3) If you did Option 2, why don't you get a switch instead of a router behind router?
If you have time, can you write up your process here?

It's working well yes. I originally planned (and still might tinker around later) to set this up as my main router. ATT router as far as I know cant be bridged to make it just a "modem only." Right now, i'm on my laptop across the house. I'm streaming vids off the internet and off my networked drive at much faster speeds. No lag at all this morning so far. Very pleased.

2) I left the ATT TV Receiver plugged into the 2Wire

3) I did option 2 (the access point) because it's the only way i could get it to work at all. When I tried setting it up as a router, it knocked out internet and wifi. TV's where never effected because I never removed that lil black box out of the 2wire.

As far as a write up to make it work as an access point here's what I did:

1. Open box enjoy new purchase and cross fingers it'll work.

2. Plug new Asus router to ethernet on laptop (or pc) into the LAN 1 port on Asus router.

3. Go to 192.168.1.1 on internet window from connected laptop.

4. admin / admin is the login and password

5. Run the connection wizard. It won't find the internet. So it gives an option to manually configure.

6. Create your new Asus router admin and password; create new wifi name and password

7. In the Administrator Settings on the Asus admin page, under "Operation" change from router to Access Point. Click Apply.

8. The Router will reboot then tell you to access it from your wifi, so you can unplug your directly connected ethernet cable.

9. Once your able to login from your wifi - from phone or laptop it will show a message that your subnet has changed from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.91.

10. You can now plug your Asus Router into LAN PORT 1 of your ATT Router. (i read a few times that it works on LAN1 only back of the ATT Router)

11. You can access your router at the new Router from any internet window. Wifi should be working and you can connect your pc's, xbox, etc to your Asus now to confirm their getting the internet.

12. If your machines cannot access the internet - plug the ATT Router (from port 1) into the WAN port of the Asus router. This might help. I can plug the ATT router into either a LAN port or the WAN port on the Asus and it works fine.

TIP: I never had to mess with any settings on the ATT Router - I never enabled "detect router behind router" from the settings > event notifications on the 2wire.

I hope this helps - this took about and hour to just mess around with before i noticed I had it working. Since I just set it up last night, it's still pretty fresh in my head. Let me know if your getting stuck and I'll try to help.
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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Here's my setup.

Top Left: Asus RT-AC66U
Bottom Left: 3801HGV ATT Residential Gateway
Middle: WD 3TB Cloud NAS Drive
Right: ATT Wireless Transmitter (for Wifi enabled TV receivers)

n0TryNq.jpg
 

vr666m

Junior Member
Jan 11, 2014
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I have the same set up, including the NAS, tv receiver.
what faster download speeds are you experiencing now?
Isn't it limited by the Uverse package you buy? 12, 18 or 24 mpbs?
Ever considered switching to Comcast 50 mbps and you can use the Asus router directly instead of having to pay $6 leasing fee for the 2wire?
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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I have the same set up, including the NAS, tv receiver.
what faster download speeds are you experiencing now?
Isn't it limited by the Uverse package you buy? 12, 18 or 24 mpbs?
Ever considered switching to Comcast 50 mbps and you can use the Asus router directly instead of having to pay $6 leasing fee for the 2wire?

Download speeds are same because uverse package I purchase caps them at 12. But transferring files from pc to NAS drive is much faster at the gigabit speed with new Asus router.

I had Comcast years ago and never enjoyed their equipment or customer service. Seems like I was always returning faulty routers and cable boxes. I like uverse for it's tv and menu screen. The wifi is a plus for the bedroom tvs that I dont have to run cable to.
 

vr666m

Junior Member
Jan 11, 2014
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Yes i agree that the TV menu for Uverse beats all. It's more intuitive.
So adding the Asus router make your wifi connection now "N" or still "G" per the 2wire router? Thanks for the replies, I will start opening the Asus box today and attempt to set it up.
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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Yes i agree that the TV menu for Uverse beats all. It's more intuitive.
So adding the Asus router make your wifi connection now "N" or still "G" per the 2wire router? Thanks for the replies, I will start opening the Asus box today and attempt to set it up.

Wifi is now N speeds. 2wire wifi is turned off.
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
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Wifi is now N speeds. 2wire wifi is turned off.

As you know Wireless is grossly dependent on the environment so any suggestion should be reared to as a "Try and see if it works for you".

In some circumstances what I do is leaving the Wireless of the main Router (the ATT in your case) On, but configure it to provide only b/g.

Then I configure the additional AP (the Asus in your case) to provide Wireless service only to a/n clients.

The b/g transmission put to ch1 with its own SSID and the a/n transmission to Channel 11 with a different SSID.

WPA2 password can be the same or not depending on your preferences.

Channels selection can be different than my example as long as it is as apart on the spectrum as possible.


:cool:
 

fjmeat

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2010
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So being back at work today - I noticed I can no longer access my NAS drive from out of my home network. In the pic I posted above, the NAS drive is connected into LAN 2 on the Asus Router.

Will I need to plug it back into the ATT router?

I'd rather keep it in the Asus if possible.
 

artemicion

Golden Member
Jun 9, 2004
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So being back at work today - I noticed I can no longer access my NAS drive from out of my home network. In the pic I posted above, the NAS drive is connected into LAN 2 on the Asus Router.

Will I need to plug it back into the ATT router?

I'd rather keep it in the Asus if possible.

How are you accessing your NAS from outside your network (what program)? Maybe the NAS got assigned a new IP address from the Asus router and the program you're using is trying the old IP address? Or maybe you need to re-setup port forwarding on the Asus?