Hooking up a DD-WRT router to ATT-Uverse STB

[master7045]

Hey everyone, just switched to Uverse from Charter. Everything runs fine, but since the only place in my house where a phone and cable jack are located near each other is in the basement, my RG sits down there, when all my PCs are wireless (1 laptop, 1 desktop) upstairs.

I have a DD-WRT capable router, and here is the question: can I run a Cat 6 cable from the ethernet port on the uverse STB to the DD-WRT router, using that as a wired/wireless access point?

I'm fairly confident that I can repeat the signal from the DD-WRT router, but I am not sure if it will work when hardwired to the STB.

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[JackMDS]

Maybe this can Help.

Using a Wireless Router as a switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

.

 

[master7045]

Thanks Jack for the link. I've gone over it and am certain that the router can do what I want, but I am not certain if the link between the Uverse STB ->Cat6-> Router will work. Has anybody tried this setup before?

 

[JackMDS]

If either a port on the Uverse, or the second Router is MDX, then Cat6 would be OK.

Otherwise you need a crossover Cat5e.

 

[drebo]

Thanks Jack for the link. I've gone over it and am certain that the router can do what I want, but I am not certain if the link between the Uverse STB ->Cat6-> Router will work. Has anybody tried this setup before?

The answer is "Yes".

Your STB which is connected via COAX to the RG will allow you to use the ethernet to connect a computer or any other appliance.

Be careful, though, because I believe that the STB uses Multicast to communicate with the RG and you may run into some issues where your wireless network is flooded with useless packets.

 

[vshah]

set the WAN on the dd-wrt router to NONE. LAN should be set to an ip address not in the DHCP range of the STB. dhcp should be disabled on the dd-wrt router

this is assuming the stb has a router built in...i have no idea if this is the case.

 

[keeleysam]

Don't use the ethernet port on the back of the U-Verse STB as a permanent solution. When the box is reset, if there is something plugged into ethernet, it will not look over coaxial for a signal, and neither the bridge nor the STB will work. It will drive you nuts.