Use BEFSR41 to join existing network infrastructure as DHCPserver...help!

[lgerhardx]

(Not sure if this is the right group to post this to, so I am sorry if
this belongs elsewhere. Please let me know!)

First off, what I am trying to do may not be possible...and I know
that. But, this is the equipment I have been given, so I want to make
sure that I am doing whatever I can get done with it.

I am at a main company office with a DHCP server here. I have a
remote office that has no DHCP server. They are on a different
network than our main office. Main is 192.168.8.x, 192.168.12.x,
192.168.10.x, and they are on 192.168.1.x.

They connect to our network with a Cisco PIX 501e firewall acting as a
gateway at 192.168.1.253.

Because we have no DHCP server at this remote location, we always have
had to physically set up a static address on every machine. Now we
are wanting to get away from that and put a DHCP server there to
autoconfigure any new systems that hook up.

Because cost is the absolute most important thing to our company I
purchased a Linksys BEFSR41 router from WalMart. I spent hours trying
to configure it to assign me a DHCP lease, which it did. After adding
a route for 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.1.253, I was able to reach my main
office network. BUT, Internet does not work at all. When I view the
routing table, it shows 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 heading out the WAN port...but
I am not able to use the WAN port for this kind of network connection,
and there seems to be no way for me to change this behavior.

When I looked at the DHCP lease information on my laptop when at the
remote location, it had assigned my default gateway to the router's
address. In the router, I set its default gateway to 192.168.1.253,
but again that was shown going to the WAN port.

The only solution I could reach is to manually set the default gateway
on the laptop to 192.168.1.253. This worked perfectly as far as me
being able to access everything I wanted...but totally defeats the
purpose of my DHCP server!

My question is, how can I make this work? How can I get this little
router to assign DHCP leases that correctly set the 'real' gateway for
our network, or if that's not possible, how can I set this router to
properly pass stuff to the 'real' gateway.

I have set the DNS entries for 192.168.1.253, then our main office DNS
server, then 4.2.2.1.

I realize this is a long explanation, but I really appreciate any
guidance you might have!! Thanks in advance!

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
If you are accessing computers from remote you want the computers to have
the same IP all the time.
One way to do so is static IP, or you can use DHCP server provided that the
Router has IP reservation (AKA Static DHCP).
Static DHCP means that from the computer point of view it is a regular DHCP,
however in the Router the DHCP server always assigns the same IP to the same
computer (the MAC address is the key).
As far as I remember the BEFSR41 can Not do it (It is one of the first
Cable/DSL Routers that got to market years ago).
I think that some of the Netgear Entry Level Cable/DSL Routers have IP
reservation.
Or any current Routers that can be flashed with DD_WRT can do it too.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[James Egan]

Because cost is the absolute most important thing to our company I
purchased a Linksys BEFSR41 router from WalMart. I spent hours trying
to configure it to assign me a DHCP lease, which it did. After adding
a route for 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.1.253, I was able to reach my main
office network. BUT, Internet does not work at all. When I view the
routing table, it shows 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 heading out the WAN port...but
I am not able to use the WAN port for this kind of network connection,
and there seems to be no way for me to change this behavior.

Remove all configuration of the WAN port and set a static route for
0.0.0.0 to 192.168.1.253



Jim.

 

[lgerhardx]

Hi
If you are accessing computers from remote you want the computers to have
the same IP all the time.
One way to do so is static IP, or you can use DHCP server provided that the
Router has IP reservation (AKA Static DHCP).
Static DHCP means that from the computer point of view it is a regular DHCP,
however in the Router the DHCP server always assigns the same IP to the same
computer (the MAC address is the key).
As far as I remember the BEFSR41 can Not do it (It is one of the first
Cable/DSL Routers that got to market years ago).
I think that some of the Netgear Entry Level Cable/DSL Routers have IP
reservation.
Or any current Routers that can be flashed with DD_WRT can do it too.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

Unfortunately DD-WRT won't go on this router. It did, however, hand
out DHCP leases fine...I just can't route to my gateway properly.

 

[lgerhardx]

Remove all configuration of the WAN port and set a static route for
0.0.0.0 to 192.168.1.253

Jim.

I can't. When I bring up the routing table, it won't let
me delete any of the WAN routes. And, I tried adding a static 0.0.0.0
to 192.168.1.253 route for the LAN side, but it never shows in the
routing table. Maybe this is some self-imposed limit of the web
interface? I tried telnetting in, but this box does not support it. :
(

Maybe I should've just bought a WRT54G and DD-WRT'd it, but I didn't
need the wireless.

I have it set up as a static IP, since the default dynamic would not
work for the router since there is no DHCP server there. Is there
some other option or configuration I should change to try and make
this route out the LAN instead of the WAN?

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Have you tried a hard reset of the BEFSR41 to bring it back to factory
defaults and then try adding the static route?

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows - Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

 

[lgerhardx]

Have you tried a hard reset of the BEFSR41 to bring it back to factory
defaults and then try adding the static route?

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows - Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program -http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a questionhttp://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

I've held in the button for a while with it turned on, which resulted
in only the admin password changing back to default. I'll try doing a
hard reset. I also hadn't tried it from the web interface, although
the option is there as well.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

From the BEFSR41 users manual, page 10.

The Reset Button*

The Reset button can be used in one of two ways.

1. If the Router is having problems connecting to the Internet, press
the Reset button for just a moment with a paper clip or a pencil tip.
This clears up any jammed connections, and is similar to pressing the
Reset button on your PC to reboot it.

2. If you are experiencing extreme problems with the Router and have
tried all other troubleshooting measures, press the Reset Button and
hold it down until the red Diag LED on the front panel turns on and off
completely.

This will restore factory defaults and clear all of the Router's
settings, including settings such as IP addresses or a new password.

ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pdf/befsr11_befsr41ug.pdf

You also might try reflashing the firmware.

http://tinyurl.com/BEFSR41Downloads

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows - Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

 

[lgerhardx]

From the BEFSR41 users manual, page 10.

The Reset Button*

The Reset button can be used in one of two ways.

1. If the Router is having problems connecting to the Internet, press
the Reset button for just a moment with a paper clip or a pencil tip.
This clears up any jammed connections, and is similar to pressing the
Reset button on your PC to reboot it.

2. If you are experiencing extreme problems with the Router and have
tried all other troubleshooting measures, press the Reset Button and
hold it down until the red Diag LED on the front panel turns on and off
completely.

This will restore factory defaults and clear all of the Router's
settings, including settings such as IP addresses or a new password.

ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pdf/befsr11_befsr41ug.pdf

You also might try reflashing the firmware.

http://tinyurl.com/BEFSR41Downloads

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows - Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program -http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a questionhttp://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

Wow, both the units in that manual look totally different from mine.
This one is a BEFSR41 v4.3, FWIW. It has a power light, four LAN
lights, and an Internet light on front, and that's all. Four LAN
ports, one Internet port, and a reset button in back. So, I can't
hold it until the red light lights up...there isn't one!

 

[lgerhardx]

From the BEFSR41 users manual, page 10.

The Reset Button*

The Reset button can be used in one of two ways.

1. If the Router is having problems connecting to the Internet, press
the Reset button for just a moment with a paper clip or a pencil tip.
This clears up any jammed connections, and is similar to pressing the
Reset button on your PC to reboot it.

2. If you are experiencing extreme problems with the Router and have
tried all other troubleshooting measures, press the Reset Button and
hold it down until the red Diag LED on the front panel turns on and off
completely.

This will restore factory defaults and clear all of the Router's
settings, including settings such as IP addresses or a new password.

ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pdf/befsr11_befsr41ug.pdf

You also might try reflashing the firmware.

http://tinyurl.com/BEFSR41Downloads

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows - Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program -http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a questionhttp://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

Same FTP site, but the real manual looks like befsr41V3_ug.pdf...
ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pdf/befsr41V3_ug.pdf

It just mentions doing the five second thing. Perhaps I'll try to
reset it from the web. Also, I tried to use the install CD to
configure it in the beginning when I was at my remote location, but it
didn't work when it got to the Internet part of the set up, which I
kind of expected because there was not any DHCP thing there to help it
along. So I canceled out and did it manually from the web interface.
Perhaps I should avoid using the CD for fear that it is causing some
of my troubles...

 

[lgerhardx]

I'm reading through the manual now...maybe I should try port-
forwarding all ports to my 192.168.1.253... just musing...

Unfortunately, I am leaving the office in 17 minutes, so I won't be
able to play with this again until next week. Thanks, and if anyone
comes up with any epiphanies, let me know! ^_^

 

[James Egan]

I'm reading through the manual now...maybe I should try port-
forwarding all ports to my 192.168.1.253... just musing...

That won't do because it will only forward packets incoming from the
WAN interface which in your case means none.

I don't have this router so I can only guess, but a quick look at this
site
http://www.speedguide.net/read_reviews.php?id=90&page=4
shows the router can be set as a gateway on its own or a router (with
other routers) on the dynamic routing tab. So once you tell it that
it's a router and not a gateway perhaps the static routing will work?


Jim.

 

[lgerhardx]

That won't do because it will only forward packets incoming from the
WAN interface which in your case means none.

I don't have this router so I can only guess, but a quick look at this
sitehttp://www.speedguide.net/read_reviews.php?id=90&page=4
shows the router can be set as a gateway on its own or a router (with
other routers) on the dynamic routing tab. So once you tell it that
it's a router and not a gateway perhaps the static routing will work?

Jim.

That tab is different b/c of newer firmware on my box. Instead of
gateway/router, it is NAT on/NAT off. When I turn NAT off, then it
also disables the DHCP router feature, which is what I needed it for
in the first place. >_<

I should've just stuck a cheap, old linux server up there...still an
option...hmm...

 

[lgerhardx]

That tab is different b/c of newer firmware on my box.  Instead of
gateway/router, it is NAT on/NAT off.  When I turn NAT off, then it
also disables the DHCP router feature, which is what I needed it for
in the first place.  >_<

I should've just stuck a cheap, old linux server up there...still an
option...hmm...

Sorry, I meant "DHCP server", not "DHCP router" in my last post.