Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
LarryOJr
Newbie

Hello,

I spent 2.5 hours with VZ Technical Support Saturday evening to try and bridge my Westell 327W to a Cisco Router.  Grace was very courteous and spent 2 hours of that time with me.  My goal was to disable the wireless on the 327W and just use it as modem and bridge it to a Cisco Router.  (The 327W was not giving me a good signal to cover all of my home, and the MAC address table is too small to accommodate all the wireless devices at home.  Anyway, at one point the VZ Customer Service rep informed me that it is 'getting too technical'.  (I thought technical service was part of my monthly fee I pay Verizon???).  My call was 'cold' hand off to Cisco Technical Support.  I needed to restate my concern to Cisco.  AND I was told I need to pay CISCO $29 or $39 to cover the support.  Needless to say, I didn't pay the support, because for some more $ I can buy a new router and get free support.

I need to know what the setting need to be on the Westell 327W to make it a modem only and bridge to a Cisco EA4500 router.

Larry

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Re: Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
dslr595148
Community Leader
Community Leader

a) I point you to

http://www22.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/highspeed/networking/setup/questionsone/123766...

b) Here is a list of corrections..

#1 At step 8 Select bridge in the Bridge Mode field.

#2 Skip steps from 20 to 24.

#3 While at step 25 they say


Your VersaLink gateway is now in Bridge mode with wireless enabled. Close the VersaLink configuration window.




They meant to say


Your VersaLink gateway is now in Full Bridge mode. Close the VersaLink configuration window.


c) Here is what they don't tell you (missing steps).

#1 Have your computer directly connected to the Westell.

#2 Setup a Static IP with-in the same subnet as the Westell. I would recommend that you use these example settings:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS#1: 151.197.0.38
DNS#2: 151.197.0.39

#3 Before step 3:

a) In the router go to System Monitoring -> Gateway Status

b) If the Broadband Connection Type is Routed Bridge you must record down the Broadband MAC Address, because With the Cisco EA4500 setup to use DHCP you need to spoof/clone that MAC Address.

--

If you have any questions, please ask.

Re: Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
merpublic
Enthusiast - Level 1

dslr595148 : thanks for that detailed set of instructions. Mind if I ask you something related? I managed to set my Westell 327 into bridge mode to an Airport Extreme a couple of years ago. I would not like to go back into the Westell and tinker with the DNS settings (so that I can use OpenDNS for all devices on the network without having to set OpenDNS software on each device). But I can't seem to get back into the Westell. I connected a laptop to the ethernet port, but when I try to browse to 192.168.1.1, nothing happens. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

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Re: Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
dslr595148
Community Leader
Community Leader

@merpublic wrote:

@dslr595148 : thanks for that detailed set of instructions. Mind if I ask you something related? I managed to set my Westell 327 into bridge mode to an Airport Extreme a couple of years ago. I would not like to go back into the Westell and tinker with the DNS settings (so that I can use OpenDNS for all devices on the network without having to set OpenDNS software on each device). But I can't seem to get back into the Westell. I connected a laptop to the ethernet port, but when I try to browse to 192.168.1.1, nothing happens. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance


Since the Airport Extreme is handling the public IP, you need to use the AirPort Admin Utility.

If on a Mac, from http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Apple/AirPortExtreme/default.htm


Open up the finder on your Mac.
Click the Applications button near the left of the page.
Click the Utilities button near the right of the page.
Click the AirPort Admin Utility button near the right of the page.


I have done some research. This thing called the AirPort Admin Utility, also runs on Windows.

However...

#1 Is that true: It runs on Windows too, I don't know.

#2 What Verson of Windows is required I don't know for sure, but I would think at least Windows XP.

#3 How to Start that AirPort Admin Utility on Windows I don't know for sure, but I would think - going to Start and then in there All Programs

And then Apple -> AirPort Admin Utility.


@merpublic wrote:

@dslr595148 : thanks for that detailed set of instructions. Mind if I ask you something related? I managed to set my Westell 327 into bridge mode to an Airport Extreme a couple of years ago. I would not like to go back into the Westell and tinker with the DNS settings (so that I can use OpenDNS for all devices on the network without having to set OpenDNS software on each device). But I can't seem to get back into the Westell. I connected a laptop to the ethernet port, but when I try to browse to 192.168.1.1, nothing happens. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance


While there are ways into a modem combo while it is bridge mode, that method is (or the methods are) mostly used for trouble shooting.

To be more exact:

#1 What people who do this are looking for in the modem combo is Transceiver Statistics.

#2 To see why their connection is slow (OR is slowing down).

#3 To see if they can get faster DSL. For example if one has the 3MB download speed and they would like to upgrade to the 7.1 MB download speed.

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Re: Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
Bok1200
Newbie

Hi, in the missing step you listed below:

#2 Setup a Static IP with-in the same subnet as the Westell. I would recommend that you use these example settings:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS#1: 151.197.0.38
DNS#2: 151.197.0.39

Where do I enter this?

Also,  do I need to configure anything on the other wireless router so that i recognizes the Westell router?  I am still not understanding how the routers will connect over the wireless network?  Thanks

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Re: Instructions needed to disable wireless on Westell 327W and bridge it to Cisco EA4500 Router.
dslr595148
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Bok1200 wrote:

Hi, in the missing step you listed below:

#2 Setup a Static IP with-in the same subnet as the Westell. I would recommend that you use these example settings:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS#1: 151.197.0.38
DNS#2: 151.197.0.39

Where do I enter this?



Sorry about that and the delay.

Step 2 is done on a computer behind the router. For example on your Windows 7 computer.


@Bok1200 wrote:

Also,  do I need to configure anything on the other wireless router so that i recognizes the Westell router?  I am still not understanding how the routers will connect over the wireless network?  Thanks


With most routers that is not possible, but I can tell you what I know.

For example if your RJ-45 router runs the third party firmware DD-WRT, I point you to http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Access_To_Modem_Configuration

When I using Verzion before moving to current provider: My connection was a Static Public IP, and those directions worked fine. I can not say if someone is on DHCP (Non PPPoE and Non Static Public IP), that would work for them too.

My router has this feature in the UI (see screen shot)

You might ask: Is this feature limited to only third party firmware?

My answer is no. However, I am not aware of any non third party firmware that has this feature. A better area, to ask is to ask on a website with forums in the Networking area.


image
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