Trying, but failing, to open ports on a network bridge with 2 netgear routers. HELP

GWNiall

I have the internet coming from the wall into a Netgear router, the Netgear DG834G, which was and still is working perfectly. I now need internet access upstairs, so have run a cable from there, as that router cannot be moved, upstairs to another router, a Netgear WGR614 v7, and I have my computer plugged into the router upstairs using ethernet (Netgear WGR614 v7).


I mainly use my computer for gaming, and host a server for my friends and I to play Minecraft, but don't have been trying all day to open the ports for this new network system that I have in place. I have internet access from both routers, and wireless, but cannot open the ports.


PLEASE, can someone help me, I am all out of ideas.


I am on Vodafone a thome broadband, and had the ports open when using the one router. I have a custom built PC with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit.

Torqay

Have you configured the WRG614 as a switch or as a separate network?

GWNiall

I'm not too sure to be honest. I just have it wired into the other router, set up the SSID and password as the same, and everything runs off it fine, but I'm finding it very hard to open the ports. How do I set it up as a switch or do I need to?

Torqay

Well, first you'll need to configure the WRG614 as a switch (I have linked instructions above) and then follow this guide to configure port forwarding for Minecraft Server on the Netgear WGR614v7

bhickey

Your best bet is to disable NAT & DHCP altogether on the WRG614. Make sure too that you give the WRG614 a new LAN IP that is different from the DG834G LAN IP address but is on the same LAN (e.g. 192.168.1.x) AND is outside the DHCP range of the DG834G. In this setup, you have just one big network and the DG834G gives out IP addresses to all clients, whether the clients are connected to the DG834G or the WRG614.

So for example, if the DG834G LAN IP address is 192.168.1.1 and its DHCP server gives out IP addresses between 192.168.1.100 and 192.168.1.150, then give the WRG614 a new LAN IP of say 192.168.1.2. This will allow you to be able to access the web GUI's of both routers later if you need to change anything.

Then connect the cable from a LAN port on the DG834G to one of the LAN ports (numbered 1-4) on the WRG614. Do NOT plug the cable into the WAN port of the WRG614.

Now you are only using one router and you can configure forwarding as you did previously. Simples!

GWNiall

Ok, I'll give it a shot, and will the wireless still work off both routers? Should I give them the same or different SSIDs?

bhickey

GWNiall wrote: »

Ok, I'll give it a shot, and will the wireless still work off both routers? Should I give them the same or different SSIDs?

Same SSID, same password, different wireless channels from 1,6 or 11

GWNiall

Ok, I've done all that, but it's still not working. My head is mush from all this...


I have disabled UPNP, DHCP and Firewall on the second router and have added it to the network of the first, and have them as 0.1 and 0.2 and giving out aaddresses from the first from 0.3 - 0.256. I've forwarded the port .0.20 because that's what the server will be running on. But still nothing.

Torqay

Do not think of the WGR614 as a router, you must use it as a switch/access point (you must not use the WAN port of the WGR614 but one of the Ethernet ports to connect it to the router downstairs). And then configure the WGR614 according to the instructions instructions at portforward.com

bhickey

GWNiall wrote: »

I have disabled UPNP, DHCP and Firewall on the second router and have added it to the network of the first, and have them as 0.1 and 0.2 and giving out aaddresses from the first from 0.3 - 0.256. I've forwarded the port .0.20 because that's what the server will be running on. But still nothing.

Firstly, just forget the forwarding for the moment and clarify whether or not the network is all working okay. So, when you connect a computer to the WGR614 (preferrably with an ethernet cable to avoid wireless confusion), do you get assigned an IP address and have you Internet access etc.? If so then the WGR614 is now effectivly invisible (i.e. acting as a switch and an access point but NOT as a router) and you are back to your original network setup except that you can connect in more places in thehouse.

As for forwarding, because your network is now effectively the same as before, just do exactly whatever you did when it was working previously. Just make sure that the computer that you're forwarding to has the correct IP address.

If you want the server to always have the same IP address then you'll need to use a static DHCP lease (if the DG834G supports it) or else setup the server manually with a static IP. If manually setting up static IP's, make sure they are outside the DHCP range of the router. So if you wanted to manually give the server a static IP of say 192.168.0.20, then maybe change your DHCP on the DG834G to be from .100 to .199 (that's 100 IP's assigned via DHCP which should be plenty).