Best home network setup to allow for configuring ports

Sure :) The modem already should forward everything to the router. The port forwarding should take place in the router. You probably will have to assign a internal lan IP addr. to the computer you want to use for BitTorrent.

Guessing, you are using DHCP for computer connections. Either assign the BitTorrent computer a out-of-range (from DHCP) IP addr (anything except 192.168.1.20-40), like 192.168.1.50, or you can go into your routers DHCP server setup & assign a fixed lease for the BitTorrent computer.

Then in the router do your port forwarding to this IP addr.

I'm kinda guessing as I have never used BitTorrent but if I'm wrong someone will correct me :)

Yep. Disclose your hardware manufacturers and model numbers and you'll get a sane answer. You have what is known as double NAT, which can be made to work, but is generally a bad idea. My guess is that you have a Speedstream 4100 DSL modem. If this is the case, you need to put it into the "bridge mode". It's 2am and I can't seem to find the instructions. As I recall, unplug your router, plug your computer directly into the modem, point a web browser to the modem, and change the settings on the "PPP location" page to "bridge mode". Ah, foundit:

Modem model: Actiontec R1524SU Firmware: 1.60.10.0.69

Router model: Linksys BEFW11S4 Firmware:1.50.10

I found an options to turn off NAT in the modem and router firmwares. In the modem, it comes with some warnings about doing so, including, "If you turn NAT off, you MUST specify a static route for your local subnet." Before I try this out, what exactly will I need to put for the local subnet? Also, it says, "Turning off NAT will open your modem to outside intrusion, creating a security risk." Once I get this set up, should the firewall in the modem be enough protection?

-- Keith P

Go Jeff ! Back so soon!

This thread reminds me that we've had a double NAT since day-one and I've been ignoring it. As I've mentioned before, we've got Sat service with a Hughes DW7000 modem and the usual dynamic IP. Then we have DD_WRT on the router.

Since the modem NAT cannot be turned off, should I turn off DD-WRT's NAT in order to avoid double-NAT? I like to use P2P once in a while, but it's not very important and having a firewall is. Other than that, our network works fine on the internet.

Steve

I shouldn't have tried to answer any questions. Pain meds have worn off and I feel a bit better than horrible. I'll try to answer this one and go back into hiding.

Looks like a router instead of just modem. I have the same problem with the terminology for Efficient/Speedstream 5100b and 4100 DSL modems. They claim to be modems, but because they support NAT address translation, I would tend to call them a router. This one has many more useful features, including port forwarding, so it may be usable as a router.

There are two approaches to doing this. One is to setup the BEFW11S4 as a wireless access point, instead of a router. That way, you can your port forwarding in the Actiontec, and the Linksys BEFW11S4 acts just as a simple wireless bridge. See general instructions at:

The other way is the method you found in the Actiontek instructions. Disable the router section of the Actiontek and use the BEFW11S4 as a router.

There's a 3rd alternative. I consider the BEW11S4 v4 to be rather obsolete and of generally poor reliability. Mine would hang all the time. I'll guess yours is a v4 (look on the serial number tag) by the firmware version. 1.50.10 is old. See:

for update to 1.52.02. There's a slightly later version of the firmware that was sent to me for testing. I must confess that I haven't tried it. Bug me if you wanna try it.

I don't understand what that means. I think they want to make sure you can still administer the Actiontek modem/router after turning it into a bridge. If there's a reset button, the worst case is to just reset to defaults and try again.

Oh, that. They're assuming that you don't have a router and are going to plug your PC direction into the Actiontec. That is somewhat of a security problem as you don't have the added protection of NAT. However, most computahs have software firewalls, so it's not as horrible as it sounds. With your added BEFW11s4 v4, it shouldn't be a problem.

Now that I've hit the limit of my strength, back to sleeping, er... recovering.

Good luck.

Not really. Stupid me was still drugged and feeling just fine. That was yesterday. Today, I'm little better than the walking dead. My apologies for any incoherence and gibberish.

Nope. If you disarm NAT on the DD-WRT router, then you lose many of the nifty features in DD-WRT. I think you actually can disarm NAT in the DW7000, but I couldn't find the reference. I'm not at home or in my office where I have piles of paper with this info. Look for something called the "bridge mode" in the setup pages.

The only real reason you don't want to have double NAT is if some incoming application causes problems. H.323 VoIP will be a big problem. I played with some beta level remote control program, that wouldn't work through double NAT. There was some ham radio software that didn't work. Worst case is you just setup port forwarding twice, once in each box.

Aw...forget it then. Not important. Go back to bed. Watch a movie. Eat some soup.

Anyway, I'll respond, but I don't need more answers. OK?

Gotcha. That's what I was mostly curious about. The short answer then, is "no, bad idea to mess with the DD-WRT NAT.

Nope. Not only could I not find such a thing, and I've been told by others that it can't be turned off unless you get a static IP.

No port forwarding settings on a DW7000 either. The Hughes modems have a ton of info in the interface, but very few settings can be adjusted beyond the initial ranging setup (which I don't understand).

Anyway, thanks for the answer. Finish your matzah-ball soup and go back to bed!

Cheers, Steve