Networking through two DHCP's

[Zakhary]

All of my wireless and wired computers are connected to a router that
operates as a DHCP server. A VOIP phone and one of the wired computers is
connected via CAT 6 that goes under the house from one room to the room that
the router is located.

I am interested in trying out operating my printer with it's network
capabilitys. However, it is in the room where the two under-the-house wires
are already in use with a computer and VOIP phone, and I would like to avoid
purchasing a switch or going under the house to establish another wire. That
said, the only available option is to utilize the LAN port of the VOIP phone
(going through the VOIP phone to get to the router). What settings do I make
on the VOIP phone so that the printer goes through it to be associated with
the router's network?

I'm guessing that I would disable the DHCP server on the phone and perhaps
set the printer with DMZ. But, in general, what to do? Keep in mind that
there is only one LAN port on the phone, so I can't convert it into a
secondary access point by plugging the Ethernet cable from the router into a
separate LAN port.

Essential Details on Router:
IP: 192.168.1.1
IP Assignment Range: 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.199
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Essential Details on VOIP Phone:
LAN IP: 192.168.0.1
IP Assignment Range: 192.168.0.100-192.168.0.199
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Thanks,
Zakhary

 

[Lem]

All of my wireless and wired computers are connected to a router that
operates as a DHCP server. A VOIP phone and one of the wired computers is
connected via CAT 6 that goes under the house from one room to the room that
the router is located.

I am interested in trying out operating my printer with it's network
capabilitys. However, it is in the room where the two under-the-house wires
are already in use with a computer and VOIP phone, and I would like to avoid
purchasing a switch or going under the house to establish another wire. That
said, the only available option is to utilize the LAN port of the VOIP phone
(going through the VOIP phone to get to the router). What settings do I make
on the VOIP phone so that the printer goes through it to be associated with
the router's network?

I'm guessing that I would disable the DHCP server on the phone and perhaps
set the printer with DMZ. But, in general, what to do? Keep in mind that
there is only one LAN port on the phone, so I can't convert it into a
secondary access point by plugging the Ethernet cable from the router into a
separate LAN port.

Essential Details on Router:
IP: 192.168.1.1
IP Assignment Range: 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.199
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Essential Details on VOIP Phone:
LAN IP: 192.168.0.1
IP Assignment Range: 192.168.0.100-192.168.0.199
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Thanks,
Zakhary

It's hard to tell what's going on with your VOIP phone. With a LAN IP of
192.168.0.1, *it* plainly isn't receiving its IP address from your
router's DHCP server. Whether the LAN port on the phone is, in effect, a
one-port switch connected to the incoming Ethernet signal isn't clear.

In any case, it's common to recommend that devices such as printer be
given a static IP address. Thus, you could experiment by setting the
printer to have a static IP address in the 192.168.1.x subnet that's
less than 100, e.g., 192.168.1.50, and connecting it to the phone's LAN
jack. If the printer has a static IP, it doesn't matter what you do with
the phone's DHCP server. You should then be able to add the printer to
computers on the 192.168.1.x subnet.

On the other hand, switches are pretty cheap:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2050400030 4024&name=$0 - $10

 

[Zakhary]

The VOIP has a WAN IP Address, which is the IP address that is assigned to it
by the primary gateway. The LAN IP Address is the address the VOIP phone
uses if it is to be used as a gateway. This is no different from your
router's WAN address typically being the same as your internet IP address and
it's LAN address being the gateway address that other devices use to connect
to it. Thus, the WAN IP Address of the VOIP phone is of the form
192.168.1.x, while it uses the 192.168.0.1 if it is to act as a gateway.

So, hopefully the above clarifies my use of terms. Based on that, what
subnet and gateway should the printer be associated with (the primary gateway
or the VOIP phone)? And do I need to configure the VOIP phone's DHCP server
to being on or off? The DMZ settings? The advanced "routing" settings (RX
and TX Modes, static routing, etc.)? Port Forwarding or triggering?

Thanks

 

[Lem]

The VOIP has a WAN IP Address, which is the IP address that is assigned to it
by the primary gateway. The LAN IP Address is the address the VOIP phone
uses if it is to be used as a gateway. This is no different from your
router's WAN address typically being the same as your internet IP address and
it's LAN address being the gateway address that other devices use to connect
to it. Thus, the WAN IP Address of the VOIP phone is of the form
192.168.1.x, while it uses the 192.168.0.1 if it is to act as a gateway.

So, hopefully the above clarifies my use of terms. Based on that, what
subnet and gateway should the printer be associated with (the primary gateway
or the VOIP phone)? And do I need to configure the VOIP phone's DHCP server
to being on or off? The DMZ settings? The advanced "routing" settings (RX
and TX Modes, static routing, etc.)? Port Forwarding or triggering?

Thanks

As I understand your configuration, you have a single broadband
connection (cable or DSL) and you have a router connected to that. (The
router may or may not be integrated with your cable/DSL modem; it
doesn't matter.) You have a cat 6 cable going from the router to what
you call the VOIP phone's "WAN" port.

The VOIP phone's "WAN" port is either set to obtain its IP address
automatically (from the router's DHCP server) or it has a static IP
address in the router's subnet (i.e., 192.168.1.x).

If the VOIP incorporates a "gateway," that implies that it incorporates
a NAT router. You've said it also incorporates a DHCP server. Your
questions about DMZ, port forwarding, etc., make it sound as if your
phone really is a full-fledged home gateway device, incorporating a NAT
router, a DHCP server, and a switch (albeit with only one available port).

Without more detailed information about the VOIP phone, it's hard to
tell you exactly what to do. If your phone really has a "DMZ" setting
that affects its "LAN port," then that would probably work for you.
Typically, a home router's DMZ is used to expose one of the computers on
the LAN side of the router directly to the Internet. In your case, if
the DMZ feature is activated, I would assume that the phone's LAN port
is directly exposed to your main router -- which is exactly what you want.

You shouldn't need to mess with advanced routing settings (RX and TX
Modes, static routing, etc.) or Port Forwarding or triggering. And if
you assign a static IP address to the printer (either through its front
panel controls or while it is connected directly (non-network) to a
computer), you don't need to turn off the phone's DHCP server.

What I would do is to assign the printer a static IP address of
192.168.1.50, enable the phone's DMZ feature, connect the printer to the
phone, and then see if you can "see" the printer from one of your
networked computers.

Actually, what I would *really* do is leave the phone alone, buy a $9.99
switch, connect it to the cat 6 cable currently going to the other
computer in the room, and then connect both that computer and the
printer to the switch.

Oh ... to answer your question directly, normally the printer needs to
be on the same subnet as your computers: 192.168.1.x 255.255.255.0. The
printer doesn't need a default gateway assignment -- because it isn't
going to connect to the Internet -- but it usually is set to use the
main router as a default gateway. However, if the printer has to go
through the phone to get to your network, then it will be on the phone's
LAN subnet (192.168.0.x) and use the phone's LAN IP address
(192.168.0.1) as its default gateway.

 

[Zakhary]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. You are correct about the phone; it is capable as
acting as a home gateway device. In fact, the phone provider always requests
that the phone be placed in-front of the router and set to act as the DHCP
server. For a number of reasons, though, this is not preferred. And, yes,
that "LAN port" acts as the one-port switch, while the "WAN port" is what
connects to the modem or primary gateway source to receive either dynamic or
static routing assignment. So, the WAN sign is what received IP assignment,
while the LAN side is what gives IP assignments.

The reason for this venture is less to do with ease of configuration, but
more to do with experimentation. As I have the printer set-up right now, it
works for my needs. It is connected to a computer, and I simply go through
that computer to use it from other computers.

So, to business:
I am not able to set DMZ for my printer (or any device behind the phone) on
the phone, unless it is within the DHCP range and subnet of the phone (i.e.,
192.168.0.x). So, setting it with a (192.168.1.x) address for its
association with the primary gateway/network server will not work. The
phone's DMZ console has "192.168.0" controlled, with only the assignment
digits available for editing. I can set it to be associated with the phone
with an IP of 192.168.0.50, then DMZ it, but not with an ip of 192.1681.50.
Still, I went ahead and assigned the phone to 192.168.1.50, with a subnet
mask of 255.255.255.0, and it was not visible through the primary
gateway/network server.

Any other ideas for trial? There's no way to associate it with the phone,
only to have the phone forward its association onto the primary DHCP server?

Thanks,
-Zakhary

 

[Lem]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. You are correct about the phone; it is capable as
acting as a home gateway device. In fact, the phone provider always requests
that the phone be placed in-front of the router and set to act as the DHCP
server. For a number of reasons, though, this is not preferred. And, yes,
that "LAN port" acts as the one-port switch, while the "WAN port" is what
connects to the modem or primary gateway source to receive either dynamic or
static routing assignment. So, the WAN sign is what received IP assignment,
while the LAN side is what gives IP assignments.

The reason for this venture is less to do with ease of configuration, but
more to do with experimentation. As I have the printer set-up right now, it
works for my needs. It is connected to a computer, and I simply go through
that computer to use it from other computers.

So, to business:
I am not able to set DMZ for my printer (or any device behind the phone) on
the phone, unless it is within the DHCP range and subnet of the phone (i.e.,
192.168.0.x). So, setting it with a (192.168.1.x) address for its
association with the primary gateway/network server will not work. The
phone's DMZ console has "192.168.0" controlled, with only the assignment
digits available for editing. I can set it to be associated with the phone
with an IP of 192.168.0.50, then DMZ it, but not with an ip of 192.1681.50.
Still, I went ahead and assigned the phone to 192.168.1.50, with a subnet
mask of 255.255.255.0, and it was not visible through the primary
gateway/network server.

Any other ideas for trial? There's no way to associate it with the phone,
only to have the phone forward its association onto the primary DHCP server?

Thanks,
-Zakhary

This goes a little deeper than I'm familiar with. You might try setting
the printer to a static IP address in the phone's subnet (192.168.0.x).
Either make this outside the range of the phone's DHCP server or turn
off the phone's DHCP server. Than configure the phone to forward all
ports (because I don't know which one(s) the printer uses. Make sure
that the printer is set to use the phone (192.168.0.1) as its default
gateway.

If that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas. Perhaps there is a forum
specific to your phone's hardware where you could ask.