Installing a new R9100 with your Cable or xDSL modem.
The R9100, Ethernet-to-Ethernet router, can be configured for either a Dynamic WAN Connection, or a Static WAN Connection. The following Dynamic WAN configuration should be used when an R9100 is to be assigned a dynamic WAN IP address from the Internet Service Provider (ISP). If your ISP has already assigned your network an IP address, the Static WAN configuration should be used. The following technote will assist you in configuring either scenario step-by-step.
Below is a list of hardware and firmware parameters this Technical Note is based upon:
| Hardware | Firmware/Version | Installed Options |
| R9100, R910 | 4.8.4 or later | NAT |
PLEASE NOTE: For the purposes of this technote, the configuration of the R910 is identical to the R9100. However, certain features of the R9100 will not be available in the R910. The parameters to obtain the connection to the internet, however, are the same.
PLEASE NOTE: Netopia is constantly making substantive improvements to the firmware in all of our hardware products. These changes can be implemented to address the need for enhanced features or to fix bugs that have arisen since release. While your router may be working quite well with an earlier version firmware loaded, we strongly urge you to update it. Ensuring that your router has a current version of the firmware will not only facilitate trouble shooting with our technical support representatives, but will also make understanding and utilizing these technotes and quickguides much easier and more productive. The firmware update page will always have the latest shipping version of Netopia firmware available for download free of charge.
To update your router firmware, go to our firmware update page.
Verifying physical connectivity is always the most important step of a new installation. Your Cable/xDSL modem should be connected to the R9100's Line 1 port. A successful connection will show a solid green Ready light on the left WAN1 segment of the router's front panel. Depending on the pin-out of your modem's ethernet port, the connection from the R9100 to your modem may require a crossover cable. The R9100 Line1 port is a straight through 10BaseT Ethernet port and will demand an uplink connection similar to any computer on your LAN.
The following modem/bridges will need a crossover cable...
- Fujitsu SpeedPort ADSL
- Cisco 675 ADSL
- Paradyne Hotwire 5446 ADSL
- TUT Systems Expresso GSM1100 ADSL
- Orckit ADSL
- Hybrid MultiUser Cable Modem
Connect a single workstation with a standard RJ45 cable to one of the R9100's ethernet ports. A successful link is indicated by a green light on the front panel Ethernet lights. Set your workstation to be a DHCP client and remove any gateways and disable DNS. If you are using a Windows machine, you will be prompted to reboot if necessary.
Next, open a Telnet session to the 192.168.1.1, the default IP address of the router. This can be done from the Run option in the Windows Start Menu, or by using NCSA Telnet for a Macintosh (included on the Netopia CD that shipped with your router). If you are unfamiliar with using Telnet, please refer to Netopia Quick Guide NQG_021.
Configuration Tips:
- Do not change any settings other than the ones referred to below.
- Pressing Return takes you into a page; pressing Escape takes you out.
- Press Return after entering each setting to save it.
- Toggle from Yes to No by using the Tab key on your keyboard.
The Default settings of the R9100 are set for Dynamic WAN connection. To verify and edit these settings, you will use the Easy Setup screens.
- From the Main Menu, go to Easy Setup. In the WAN Ethernet Configuration screen, Address Translation Enabled should be set to Yes, and Local WAN IP Address should be set to 0.0.0.0. Select Next Screen.
- In IP Easy Setup, the Ethernet IP Address is set to 192.168.1.1 by default (Note: Private IP subnets are user definable). Ethernet Subnet Mask will be 255.255.255.0 by default. Domain Name should be left blank, and Primary Domain Name Server and Default IP Gateway should both be set to 0.0.0.0. Your IP Address Serving is user definable as long as the IP addresses served are in the same ethernet IP subnet (Note: IP Address Serving is DHCP for the local ethernet network). Select Next Screen.
- In the Easy Setup Security Configuration screen, enter a Write Access Name and Write Access Password for password protected Telnet/console access to your router if you desire, and select Restart Device and Continue to save your Easy Setup Configuration.
Note: If you misenter or forget your Write Access Name and/or Write Access Password, they only way to regain Telnet/console access to your router would be to reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure. There are no default settings for security.
A Static WAN connection will be configured according to the IP properties defined by your ISP. In order to configure the R9100 for a Static WAN connection, you will need a static IP address, subnet mask, default IP gateway, and DNS information from your ISP.
- From the Main Menu, go to Easy Setup. In the WAN Ethernet Configuration screen, Address Translation Enabled should be set to Yes. Local WAN IP Address and Local WAN IP Mask should be set to the static IP address and subnet mask your ISP assigned you. Select Next Screen.
- In IP Easy Setup, the Ethernet IP Address is set to 192.168.1.1 by default (Note: Private IP subnets are user definable). Ethernet Subnet Mask will be 255.255.255.0 by default. Domain Name, Primary Domain Name Server, Secondary Domain Name Server, and Default IP Gateway, again, will all be configured according to the information provided to you by your ISP. Your IP Address Serving is user definable as long as the IP addresses served are in the same ethernet IP subnet (Note: IP Address Serving is DHCP for the local ethernet network). Select Next Screen.
- In the Easy Setup Security Configuration screen, enter a Write Access Name and Write Access Password for password protected Telnet/console access to your router if you desire, and select Restart Device and Continue to save your Easy Setup Configuration.
Note: If you misenter or forget your Write Access Name and/or Write Access Password, they only way to regain Telnet/console access to your router would be to reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure. There are no default settings for security.
After restarting, open a new Telnet session to your router's Ethernet IP Address. If you have changed the Ethernet IP Address from the default IP address (192.168.1.1), or disabled IP Address Serving, you will need to reconfigure the TCP/IP properties of your workstation so that it has an IP address on the same ethernet subnet as your router.
Once connected to the R9100 via Telnet, go to Utilities and Diagnostics, and select Ping.... Enter your Default IP Gateway address, or the IP address of one of your DNS as the Name of Host to Ping, and select Start Ping. If that is successful (your result is not 100% packet loss), then try pinging out to a public IP address on the Internet (you can try Netopia's Web Server @ 163.176.4.32). If you are able to ping your Default IP Gateway, or one of your DNS, but nothing else, then the router is configured correctly and you are able to connect to the ISP. If you are unable to ping past your gateway, or your DNS, there is most likely a routing misconfiguration with the ISP equipment. If you are unable to ping your Default IP Gateway, then there are configuration issues with your telco line and/or the R9100.
After you have successfully completed the previous step, your workstations can be configured for outbound Internet access. Follow the diagrams above for guidance. Machines with statically assigned IP addresses will need DNS enabled and a Gateway/Router IP configured in their network TCP/IP properties. Router DHCP clients will get necessary TCP/IP properties from the router.
If your ISP has given you multiple WAN IP addresses or a separate block of Ethernet IP addresses, then your R9100 will require additional configuration. The R9100 can be upgraded to current version firmware by going to the firmware update page, which will allow you to address the R9100 for multiple WAN IP addresses (MultiNAT). Please read the updated release notes for current versions of firmware at the Website Documentation Center for more information on this and other features.