Networking Problems with Router behind Router

[Punkwaffle]

Upstairs I have my AT&T provided router's wireless turned off and have plugged my Airport Extreme into the ethernet in DMZ mode. Wireless works fine in the house.

Downstairs my Xbox 360's ethernet cable is plugged into my AT&T provided set-top box (receiver/DVR) and internet works fine on that.

I cannot stream my media (using 360 Connect) from my mac to my xbox since they are on different networks, although using the same U-verse connection.

When checking the AT&T router's system summary page I can see that there is an IP assigned to the xbox.

So how do I resolve this? I don't want to put the xbox on a wireless connection. Is it something with port forwarding, or what?

Thanks.

 

[prostuff1]

I cannot stream my media (using 360 Connect) from my mac to my xbox since they are on different networks, although using the same U-verse connection.

You have just stated why it does not work. Since they are on different networks they have no knowledge of each other.

So how do I resolve this? I don't want to put the xbox on a wireless connection. Is it something with port forwarding, or what?

Thanks.

Port forwarding will probably do nothing for you since the machines are on different networks. If you dont want to go wireless with the xbox you may just be out of luck. Unless you buy a cheap wired ethernet switch and run an ethernet cable you probably wont have much luck getting the iMac to play nice with the xbox.

 

[Punkwaffle]

No. There has to be a solution.

The internet is being fed to the att router which is plugged into the airport. So I need the media from my mac via connect 360 to go through the att router while the internet connection is still being pulled from the airport.

There has to be a way. I'm just not smart enough to know it. Maybe I'm phrasing this the wrong way.

 

[aristobrat]

Put the Airport into bridged mode (on the Internet tab). That should stop it from routing.

You'll then have one TCP/IP network (controlled by the AT&T router) that can be accessed either physically or wirelessly.

 

[Punkwaffle]

I'll try putting it in bridge mode.

If I get a ReadyNAS and plug that into the ethernet port on the Airport, will I still be able to get gigabit speed from it, or will it revert back to 10/100 (which is the maximum on the att router)?

 

[skorpien]

I'm quite confused. Maybe a diagram may help? Such as
Internet <--wired--> ATT Modem/Router (DHCP Disabled) <--wired--> AEBS etc.

Another few questions: What is the ATT set top box (STB) connected to? From what I can gather, it's connected to the Internet directly through the cable? Or does it connect somehow to the AEBS or the ATT router? And does it act as a router itself or is it just a switch?

If the STB has a dedicated Internet connection and is not connected to your network, you won't be able to do what you want. If it's connecting to the network created by the AEBS, there is most probably a solution. But a little more information is needed first.

 

[aristobrat]

If I get a ReadyNAS and plug that into the ethernet port on the Airport, will I still be able to get gigabit speed from it, or will it revert back to 10/100 (which is the maximum on the att router)?

Any ethernet devices plugged directly into the Airport should be able to talk at gigabit speed.

Anything plugged into the AT&T router would only get 100, as 100 is as fast as the ethernet connection between the AT&T router and Airport is.

 

[Punkwaffle]

OK, let me explain my setup to clarify things a bit.

I have AT&T Uverse. U-verse provides me with high speed internet and TV.
My at&t provided router (residential gateway RG) sends signals to all the tvs in the house via coax and internet.

My xbox is plugged into the back of one of the STB via an ethernet, there's a jack in the back.

My RG has an airport extreme plugged into it to provide the house with 802.11 n internet. I also will have a NAS that supports gigabit ethernet attached to this that will contain all my media.

So again, I can get internet through the STB, but no connection to the mac.

Hopefully this bridging thing will work, but I'll have to try it after work.
If you can shed some light on this it would be appreciated.

and is there a way to test that my airport is using the gigabit after the nas is attached?

 

[aristobrat]

Hopefully this bridging thing will work, but I'll have to try it after work.
If you can shed some light on this it would be appreciated.

Bridge mode allows the Airport to act as an access point instead of a router.

Right now it's acting as a router, so it's creating its own separate TCP/IP network. Devices on each separate network can talk to other devices on the same network, and everyone can get to the Internet, but they can't talk to devices on the other network.

In bridge mode, when it acts as an access point, it's going to basically act as a wireless extension of the TCP/IP network that the AT&T router has setup. You'll have one network in your house, so all devices should be able to talk to one another.

I'm not sure how to verify that your NAS is running at gigabit speeds. If a Mac were plugged directly into the Airport, you could run the "Network Utility" program and it'd show you the link speed. Maybe your NAS has a tool that does the same?

Your STBs (and anything connected to them) should hit the NAS at 100, and anything plugged directly into the Airport should be able to hit it at gigabit.

 

[Punkwaffle]

Thank you aristobrat!

That perhaps has been the most helpful post I have ever read on Macrumors.

I'll let you know how it works later.

 

[skorpien]

Ah, it all makes sense now (I had misread/misunderstood your original post). What aristobrat suggested will work. If you go into AirPort Utility and enter Manual Setup, you can turn Internet Connection Sharing to Off (Bridge Mode) on the AEBS.

 

[dqpassat]

I have a very similar setup with U-Verse and an Airport Extreme.

My ATT-provided router only has 802.11a/b/g, not "n". Does that mean that the airport extreme will only broadcast a/b/g signals and not "n" when it is set to bridge mode? Even though the AE supports it...

 

[aristobrat]

I have a very similar setup with U-Verse and an Airport Extreme.

My ATT-provided router only has 802.11a/b/g, not "n". Does that mean that the airport extreme will only broadcast a/b/g signals and not "n" when it is set to bridge mode? Even though the AE supports it...

Nope, the Airport will broadcast signals however it has been configured to.

A lot of people with a/b/g/n devices will let their ATT router broadcast an a/b/g wireless network, then setup their Airport to broadcast a n-only wireless network (with a different name). This prevents the issue where if you have one wireless network (running a/b/g/n), the slower a/b/g devices slow the maximum throughput for the n devices down.

 

[Punkwaffle]

while we're here, I was wondering if someone could help me set up a way to use VNC when I'm away from home. Something about DMZ, but not too sure how to config.

 

[dqpassat]

Nope, the Airport will broadcast signals however it has been configured to.

A lot of people with a/b/g/n devices will let their ATT router broadcast an a/b/g wireless network, then setup their Airport to broadcast a n-only wireless network (with a different name). This prevents the issue where if you have one wireless network (running a/b/g/n), the slower a/b/g devices slow the maximum throughput for the n devices down.

If what you suggest is done, then would that make two separate networks and thus not all devices accessible to each other? For example, I wouldn't be able to control my macbook (n device) with my iphone (b/g device), right??

 

[skorpien]

If what you suggest is done, then would that make two separate networks and thus not all devices accessible to each other? For example, I wouldn't be able to control my macbook (n device) with my iphone (b/g device), right??

If you set the AirPort Base Station in Bridge Mode, then they aren't two separate networks. Although it's two SSIDs created by two different devices, they are on the same subnet and as such any devices connected to either will be able to see and talk to each other. It will be one network with two wireless access points. SSID is not synonymous with network.