Bridging a DSL Modem with a Wireless Router

Internet service providers (ISPs) often provide modems that include additional features such as wireless networking, firewall protection, etc. This is great, unless you have other hardware that already performs these functions.

I found myself in this situation recently. My ISP provided me with an ActionTec DSL modem (with firewall, wireless radio, etc) when I signed up for their service. I already had an Asus wireless router / firewall that worked very well, so I had no desire to give it up. I just wanted to make the modem and router work together (without conflict).

As it turns out, this was not too difficult. I just needed to disable some features on the DSL modem, and configure the modem in "bridge" mode so the router would manage the internet connection. Here is how I accomplished this:

1. I connected my laptop to a LAN port on the DSL modem and logged into the administrative site through a web browser. For my particular modem, the admin site was located at http://192.168.254.254. The login page looked like this:
   
2. After logging in, I disabled wireless since the ASUS router would be taking care of this.
   
3. I also disabled DHCP, since the ASUS router would be handing out IP addresses to my computers.
   
4. Next, I disabled the firewall on the DSL modem. I want the router to be the firewall (which should suffice, and will simplify firewall management).
   
5. Finally, I switched the ISP protocol from "PPPoE" to "Transparent Bridging". This made the DSL modem transparent on the network, and delegated ISP login responsibilities to the wireless router.
   
   

The ASUS router required some configuration changes as well. The following steps describe the steps I took to update the configuration:

1. I connected my laptop to a LAN port on the router and logged into the administrative site at http://192.168.1.1.
2. After logging in, I clicked on the "WAN" page and entered my connection type (PPPoE), user ID, password, etc.
   

Once the changes were applied on the router, I was able to connect to the internet without any issues.

There are a few important items to note if you are attempting this yourself:

• The network cable connecting the modem and router should plug into a LAN port on the DSL modem and the WAN port on the wireless router.
• The IP addresses listed above will vary depending upon your equipment.
• If you get into trouble and lose connection, resetting your DSL modem and / or router back to their default configuration will usually get you back up and running. You may need to enter your ISP account information to reestablish your connection.

I'm offering these tips as a helpful guide for bridging your modem and router. There are numerous combinations of hardware, software, internet protocols, etc. that may require slightly different configuration steps than those I listed above. For that reason, I cannot guarantee this will work for you. If you feel uncomfortable at all making these types of changes, find someone tech-savvy who can help you. Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck, and hope you've found this guide to be very helpful!