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    Switching to AT&T fiber

    I hope you can help me. I might be smart in some ways, but I don't know much about networks.

    Right now, I have Spectrum/Time Warner for internet only (no cable TV). Their cable connects to the ARRIS CM550A. It provides one ethernet port (no wi-fi), which I plug in to the Linksys WRT-AC1200 (gives wi-fi). I placed an SSD inside a USB enclosure and plugged it into the back of the Linksys for network storage. After years of struggle, starting with the EIDE Travan-4 tape drive (expensive for what I got IMHO), I finally found a great solution for backup and file access!

    But because of bad communication and billing mistakes, I am getting rid of Spectrum/Time Warner.

    Today, I had AT&T Fiber installed in my home. Their BGW320-500 has a USB port, so I thought I could plug my USB hard drive into it. No, that USB port is restricted in firmware to charging USB devices and supporting AT&T's diagnostic testing.

    I can plug the USB drive into my Windows 7 machine for now. But I would like to have the network storage set up like I had with Time Warner. Some people tell how to "set the BGW320-500 in bridge mode" -- will this let the Linksys assign IP addresses and support the USB SSD? Other people suggest buying something from, say, Synology. Others might suggest using an 8.5 cm by 8.5 cm fanless mini-ITX board (I have a couple that can run off a laptop adapter) to install a Linux file server.

    Networking is hard for me because if it doesn't work I have no idea why (unlike Pascal or Basic where the compiler can maybe single-step through the code and I *_might_* possibly figure out my mistake -- note that it could take hours and might still be unsuccessful). Any advice?
    Last edited by Hondaman; 10-20-2022, 10:49 PM.

    #2
    Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

    There are many options, you don't say what you have on the SSD, is there a copy any where else?
    Just put your new modem/router into pass though mode and plug in your linksys as before.
    It's the quickest way, it's not how I would add network storage though.

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      #3
      Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

      My USB enclosure drive has documents and spreadsheets (WinDirStat utility says 7.7 GB, not sure how I could have accumulated that many). No, they are not backed up anywhere else, but it wouldn't be that hard for me to do so on a regular basis. Only a few megabytes -- spreadsheets of expenses and retirement accounts -- change pretty regularly. I have MP3s on this drive (9.1 GB) but I don't really access them often. "My Movies" has 12.7 Gigs of dashcam video that is mostly unimportant (Christmas lights in the town square shot through the front windshield of the car one night back in 2016).

      I tried having photos on my USB enclosure drive, but it was not a good idea. When I use Windows 7 file manager, it tries to grab file names or thumbnails from the router's USB enclosure drive, and it takes a very long time because some of my directories have many photos. So photos have to be on the local NTFS Windows 7 partition.

      I'll investigate setting the "AT&T Gateway" to "Pass-Through" but I'm not sure I know how to remedy any problems this may cause. Also, it seems AT&T discourages disabling their device's DNS server, since AT&T may sell my search data. They may have even deleted this option from the firmware on my unit.

      NOTE: Mini-ITX is 17cm by 17 cm, not 8.5cm by 8.5cm. If I need to do a Linux NAS, I have a lovely Fractal Design Node 304 in perfect condition. I used this case a few years ago for an HTPC server.

      ...it's not how I would add network storage though
      I'm sorry, I don't know enough to know the different options here. And without any error messages, I cannot tell why a networking setup does not work. And with a "headless" linux server, I don't know how to "tunnel in" to fix anything either. Maybe with a Synology unit's dedicated processor, those photo thumbnails would be served up faster and I could put the photos (10+ gigs?) on the NAS. But I've got that Node 304 case and hardware, and I want to use it for *_something_* besides collecting dust in the basement.
      Last edited by Hondaman; 10-21-2022, 02:12 AM.

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        #4
        Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

        You can't back up stuff once it's dead. Do it now.
        Why would pass through mode cause problems ? In pass through mode DHCP/DNS is done by your router, not their modem. Their device just becomes a dumb port not a device that shows them all connected devices.
        Yes AT&T will sell your browsing history, you can use a VPN to prevent this.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

          Upon closer inspection, it looks like I have less than 8 Gigs of space remaining on my Windows 7 partition, but C:\utils has 228 Gigabytes of stuff. I have maintained this directory as a dumping ground since my Windows 3.1 days. It has mostly old Linux distros and L. Ron Hubbard audio files. I have no idea why I keep a dead cult leader's words on my machine.

          It is time to delete some old files I don't need (the LRH crap, and the driver files in C:\utils\dell-dimension-2400 for example, since those computers died a long time ago).

          I will try to put the AT&T device into pass-through mode, but if I fail, I will now have plenty of space on my main Wndows 7 partition. I think I fussed about with FreeNAS years ago, I can *_probably_* get it to work with that fanless Mini-ITX hardware.

          I wanted to put my spreadsheets on the "network storage" so I can access them from the 64-bit Win XP computer in my basement. But for now I'll just put what I need on my Windows 7 partition in C:\users\mike\My Documents.
          Last edited by Hondaman; 10-21-2022, 11:05 PM.

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            #6
            Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

            I got it. When you surf to 192.168.1.254 to reach the AT&T's setup screen and use password and/or device access code, here are the steps:

            Set 2.4 GHz operation to "off"
            Set 5 GHz operation to "off"
            Go into firewall --> packet filter --> disable packet filters
            Go into firewall --? ip passthrough --> allocation mode --> passthrough
            For the "default internal server address", leave it blank
            For "passthrough mode", choose "DHCPS - fixed"

            Then for the "passthrough fixed MAC address", that's the MAC address of the device that's gonna give out the DHCP addresses (I keep wanting to call it the "upstream MAC address" of my WRT-AC1200, but that sounds goofy).

            Choose "restart device" to restart the AT&T fiber-modem. Unplug the ethernet cable running from the AT&T device to my computer, then plug it into the WRT-AC1200.

            NOTES:

            First, my instructions said to set "Home SSID" and "Guest SSID" to off. I'm not sure that's possible. When I turned the AT&T's 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios off, I thought I saw one or both SSIDs turn back to "on". But I don't think that matters since the AT&T's radios are off.

            Second, AT&T said both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios must have the same key on their device, so the unit will balance traffic between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Since I'm not using their radios in this scenario, I won't get that benefit. But I don't really anticipate using super-high bandwidth (Alexa reads the news and plays music [2.4 GHz only?], and my cell phone may sometimes use my wifi [5 GHz only?].

            Third, your fiber-modem may be known by a different name (HUMAX etc) or use a slightly different hardware or firmware revision. Some options might not appear in the setup screens (but it would be to AT&T's advantage to give all of their units the same capabilities nationwide for consistent customer experience.)

            Fourth, you cannot access the WRT-AC1200 setup screen anymore. You might have to disconnect the AT&T device from the Linksys and reboot the Linksys, then go to 192.168.1.1 (like if you need to change your WPA-pre-shared-key or something).

            Fifth, the AT&T device is in a different place than my old ARRIS, so I must run some more ethernet inside my walls. This is not fun, but I have done it before and I can do it again.

            And yes, my USB drive enclosure is visible once again to Windows 7, and presumably to Linux (modern distros are better at recognizing the drive than old distros). Presumably if I plug a second USB enclosure into the e-SATA port on the AC-1200, Win7 will see it and I can back up. Now that I think about it, I think I've backed up before.

            Thanks everyone !
            Last edited by Hondaman; 10-23-2022, 12:24 AM.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Switching to AT&T fiber

              A backup isn't a backup until you've verified the data has been backed up.
              Your fourth note is incorrect, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to connect to your DHCP server, has its IP changed?
              Run cmd as administrator and type ipconfig/all

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