Saturday, September 27, 2008

Airtel Beetel Modem + Netgear WGR614 Wifi Router

There are a couple of articles available on the internet explaining how to set this up but I after playing around a lot I realized that there are much easier ways of setting up a connection such as Airtel / BSNL / Tata with your own Wifi router such as Netgear / Buffalo / Linksys.

The most widely published explanations involves converting your ADSL Modem / Router (Beetel) into Bridge mode thereby only making it work as a modem and making the Wifi Router (Netgear) do all the work.

While this works fine it involves changes to be made to the configuration of the ADSL Modem in terms of setup as well the requirement of the username and password to entered into the Wifi Router setup. Also once you do this setup you will lose access to your Modem, requiring you to unplug the wifi router to access it.

Will be descibing a method below on an easier approach to getting your wifi online without needing to know your password or change any other settings on the ADSL modem.

Step 1

Plug in the network cable coming out of the ADSL modem /router ( Beetel) into the network port of your computer / laptop.

The computer should automatically get assigned a ip address of the following series

192.168.1.2


This means that the ADSL modem address would be 192.168.1.1. Type in the following address to access the page of the ADSL modem.

http://192.168.1.1/main.html

It is will pop up a username and password

username : admin
password : password

Other standard is admin / admin

Step 2

Click on Advanced Setup --> LAN, you should see the following page , or something very similar. This is fine , no need to change anything, though you may want to change your password for security reasons as this page can be access from the internet as well.


From the device Info ---> Summary Screen write down the Primary DNS Server address and the Secondary DNS Server address.

Step 3

Disconnect from the ADSL modem, switch on your wireless router, if you have a system with wireless, switch on your laptop wireless, it should connect to the wireless on the router. Otherwise plug in the network cable into one of the LAN ports of the router with the other end into your computer.

Let the router assign you an IP. It typically would be of the series 192.168.0.2 ..

Type the following address to access the main page

http://192.168.0.1

It is will pop up a username and password

username : admin
password : password

Other standard is admin / admin


Step 4

You should see the following page

Make the following entries

Does your Internet connection require a logn ---> No

Account Name ---> Blank
Domain Name ---> Blank

Internet Connection

Check the box that says use Static IP Address
Enter the address as 192.168.1.x where x is a larger number larger than the number of system you ever plan to connect, in my case 20 so that it never gets assigned by the ADSL router.

The 192.168.1 needs to be the same that you used for accessing your ADSL router.(192.168.1.1). Basically now this router is part of the ADSL addressing system.

Check the box that says use the following DNS server
Put in the DNS address you have copied in the previous step

Step 5

In the advanced menu, click LAN IP Setup, you should see the screen below.


In the LAP IP Setup, enter the IP Address, the same as entered in the previous screen, 192.168.1.x, in my case 192.168.1.20

Enter the subnet as 255.255.255.0

Leave the other options as is.

Make sure the Use Router as DHCP option is Unchecked !



Step 6

Click on the Wireless setting tab , you should see the screen below


assign any name you want for your wireless connection. You can choose to have no protection but its unsafe. Its very important to password protect your internet connection. There are typically two types WEP and WPA. Make sure you write down the password you are setting because you will need this to connect wirelessly. The password in the above case is for WEP connection, it is the hexadecimal code.

Below is the option for WPA. You need to remember the passcode you have entered here. WPA is much more secure, WEP can be hacked, I've done it :)



Step 7

You are almost done , but pay attention. Power off both the ADSL modem / router and wifi router. Take the network cable and plug it into the available LAN socket on the ADSL Modem. The other end on the LAN cable need to be plugged in any of the Wifi Router's LAN sockets. Be very careful not to plug it into the WAN socket, this is a single socket, typically the Netgear Router will have 1 WAN and 4 LAN sockets. So I say again, the LAN socket only, if your still confused, just plug it into the middle socket. :)

You Wifi router is now working as an Access point and all the computers that connect to it will be assigned IP from the ADSL Modem / Router in the 192.168.1.2 , 192.168.1.3 series once you enter the password based on the protection you have choosen.

You are now up and running :)

Points to note

1. You can still access your ADSL router page with 192.168.1.1/main.html
2. You can access your Netgear Wifi router with the new address of 192.168.1.20

Do drop me a comment if you have found this useful. If your feeling generous you could donate a dollar via paypal :)

Will link in port forwarding separately. Ok have done the port forwarding part, its available here

http://piglings.blogspot.com/2008/10/port-forwarding-airtel-beetel-modem.html

Incase of errors in connecting to certain sites / VPN / mail etc do check out the following page

http://piglings.blogspot.com/2009/03/airtel-blocking-websites-partially.html

46 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info!
    My setup: 2x wired computers into Netgear 614, one wifi laptop. Netgear connected to Beetel 220BX.
    Q. Using your setup, do I have to assign a static IP to any wired computers connecting to the netgear router?
    Q2. The next thing is port forwarding; can I have one wired PC with a static IP and the other DHCP?
    Thanks so much for your advice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi,

    Glad you found it useful. Am sure you would have tried out the options for the questions you have raised.

    1. You would not need to assign any static ip to the wired connections. The DHCP would assign them automatically.

    2. Yes you could, just take care that the static IP you plan to assign is outside the range of the DHCP, that could cause a problem if your DHCP tries to allocate the static IP you have set to another machine. Basically as a rule of thumb keep a higher number for the static IPs you plan to use.
    As always make sure its part of the subnet !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Vikram,

    You would never realise how much time/money/headaches you saved for me by sharing your hard earned knowledge.

    Thank you.

    If only India learnt to share more, we would be on the Jovian Moon Europa very soon.

    Girish

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,
    Thanks for info works great for me. But i have queries about wireless setting u said WPA is much more secure and the very next line is " WEP can be hacked, I've done it :) " how u did that?

    thanks
    Hemant
    colkolta@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Hemant, glad to hear you found it helpful. I won't be sharing how to do it but if you really want to know for educational purposes you could google it. Most of the available tools are built on linux, nothing on windows.

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi vikram,

    I just want to secure my network. I have already configured as u explained above(wireless) is it still possible to get into my network?

    thanks
    hemant

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  7. Nope, if your running WPA you are secure. Its also good practice to switch off your router if your not using it ...

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi vikram,
    My router is in use I have connected three 3 machines in the LAN and some times I connect my laptop(wireless) that's why I'm asking.
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Vikram,
    Just wanted to know..i haven't done any of these things that u have suggested except for using protection, and i am still able to use my Dlink WBR 2310 router..how does following the steps of configuration is gonna help me?

    Thanx

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi vikram,
    i want to change my router..how can i change name of my router..?? plzz help me out

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Åð¡.

    Its very simple, please refer step 6 above, you can change the name there ....

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks, A very useful and practical tutorial. Had absolutely no problems in setting WGR614 With beetel 220BX .

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi,

    I will purchase a Netgear wireless router today and configure as per the method told by you.However I have two queries:

    1)When is the first time,u will connect the adsl to router ? As i understand from your post it has to be done only after entering details in the neatgear setup?

    2)Do I have to plug in my laptop everytime with LAN cord when I startup the router or this is only for the first time setup and i can only connect through wifi after that ?

    Thanks for your advice in Advance.You are doing a freat job by helping others!

    ReplyDelete
  14. @anonymous above

    Thanks !

    1. The internet will only work after you have setup the netgear router, it can still be plugged in at the time of setting up the netgear router but do remember to reboot the device.

    2. You need the LAN cable only the first time, you can connect wirelessly after than ...

    Cheers !

    ReplyDelete
  15. hi.
    i have a bsnl type2 adsl wi-fi modem. now i bought a netgear wi-fi router as i saw in ur post now i wanna connect my netgear router to my wi-fi modem without wire. means i will attach 4 pc with wire
    from netgear router then i would like to access internet on these all 4 pc and the wi-fi modem is 15 feel far from it i wanna connect wireless. please help me that how to do it?

    thanks .........

    ReplyDelete
  16. hello plese give the full details how to connect the wi-fi router my internet connection is airtel and wi-fi modem betel.
    help me out .Please mail me the information as soon as possible .....Thank you...........!
    venkatravi@airtelmail.in

    ReplyDelete
  17. @venkatravi

    I have explained the whole thing above ! spend some time on the page am sure you will figure it out.

    @leo
    Possible but really painful and mostly will not work if the two wifi routers are of different companies. What you need to use is Wireless Distribution System. It would justify a separate post to explain it, suggest you google the same :)

    You best bet would be to wire both up.

    Cheers,
    Vikram

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Vikram,
    Thanks for the detail explanation.
    Environment:Airtel broadband at Hyderabad, Beetal modem, netgear wg614 v9
    Problemset: Did exactly as you have detailed.
    on entering the lan ip as 192.168.1.50 (same as in the basic setting) the error message is "cannot be in the same subnet" Kindly give a solution.
    regards.
    Najmuddin

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  19. @Najmuddin

    Have you unchecked the use DHCP option, that would prevent it from being part of the same subnet.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for the answer:
    I did this way:
    1. Changed the wireless security connections to wpa2 aes ==>saved and reconnected and logged in using 192.168.1.1

    2. in basic settings: changed ip to 192.168.1.99 mask as 255.255.255.0, gateway as 192.168.1.1 and saved. Error message says to avoid ip conflict ip of netgear changed to 10.0.0.1.

    3) logged in to 10.0.0.1 and again entered the netgear. in the LAN setup changed the settings from 10.0.0.1 to 192.168.1.99, unchecked the DHCP option. and clicked on apply. Error message comes: IP address cnflicted with WAN IP subnet. please enter again.

    Kindly guide.

    regards,
    Najmuddin

    ReplyDelete
  21. @najmuddin

    I think the router is preventing itself from being used as an Access Point. Try the following.

    1. Leave the IP as 192.168.1.99 and subnet 255.255.255.0 and gateway 192.168.1.1

    2. In LAN setup keep the IP as 10.0.0.1 ENABLE DHCP , Start IP 10.0.0.2 , End IP 10.0.0.50

    3. Make sure you now plug in the cable from the provider into the WAN socket and not the LAN socket as described in STEP 7 of the process. The WAN socket is the socket at the extreme end, not part of the 4 LAN sockets.

    You should power off and power on, you should get an IP on your system as 10.0.0.2 and should be able to access the internet as well. This setup is a double NAT but it should still work.

    Let me know if that works ....

    ReplyDelete
  22. The only one useful article on the net.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks for the help:
    Meanwhile I tried this way and it works but I am not very clear about the way it works.
    BEETEL SETTINGS:
    DHCP enabled. Range till 192.168.1.25

    NETGEAR SETTINGS:
    Basic setting: IP:192.168.1.99

    In the LAN settings the router has automatically taken the ip 10.0.0.1 and had DHCP enabled.

    I kept the IP as it was and unchecked the DHCP option.
    The setup works fine with all the computers in the network being assigned the ip 192.168.1.x but to make any changes to the NETGEAR I am forced to give static ip to the pc as 10.0.0.2/24 gateway 10.0.0.1 and login. This works fine.

    Thanks again as the system works but my doubt is why the machines are being assigned 192 series ip when the lan ip is in the 10 series.
    Regards.
    Najmuddin

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  24. Possible because you cable is plugged into the LAN socket instead of the WAN socket.

    To access the router try 192.168.1.99 it should work.

    Cheers !

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks again for the reply.
    1) Right from the begining of the scheme I believe the wan socket should not be used and only the lan sockets should be used.

    2) The connected computers (either through the cat cable or through the wifi route) are automatically assigned the 192 series ip by the beetel broadband modem which has the dhcp enabled.

    3) But the netgear lan which is having the 10 series of ip then if I connect any pc with the 10 series ip then no browsing is possible. Please suggest a link to demystify the broadband dsl modem configuration explanations and then on distribution using a access point.
    Thanks again.
    Najmuddin

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks a lot man! I can not tell you how frustrated I was for the last 5 hours. The setup wizard for netgear will not work. Its only your post and a couple of comments in the last saved my night's sleep. The thing that worked for me :

    Under basic settings
    1) Internet connection requires a login --> No
    2) Account name and domain name, both the fields clear
    3) Internet IP address :
    IP : 192.168.1.254
    Mask : 255.255.255.0
    Gateway : 192.168.1.1
    4) Use these DNS servers (with explicit ip's for DNS)

    Under LAN setup :
    1) IP : 10.0.0.1
    2) Use DHCP box checked

    The ethernet cable from modem connected to WAN port of netgear router. (Basically a double NAT system)

    Thanks a lot again!

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  27. This is a very stupid set of things to do.
    Once you assign static ip address to your router. Then you have to click "Apply".
    After this when you go to LanSetup and "uncheck" DHCP and change the IP address, it will never allow you to do it.

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  28. Thankyou for your guidance, it was a great help. I managed to setup my Netgear in just 1 hour.
    Your help is very much appreciated
    thanks!
    Akash

    ReplyDelete
  29. Very helpful article. Helped me set up my connection in no time.

    Everything works except my Xbox LIVE connection over wi-fi (this used to work earlier when I had the connection set up as described in the first paragraph i.e. making the router do all the work)

    The Xbox itself is able to connect via the wi-fi router and get an IP address and access the internet. But the LIVE service requires ports 88 and 3074 to open (that's what it reports as a problem). I added these to the Virtual Servers page from the modem's NAT > Virtual Servers screen. The ports show as OPEN when I run test from my computer but I still cannot connect to Xbox LIVE from the Xbox.

    Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  30. hi liked ur steps and way of explaining

    just have some doubts
    1. all my downloads are getting corrupted(even from trusted sites)
    2. what would happen if i dont plug into lan from airtel modem

    ReplyDelete
  31. @abhishek

    If you do not plug into the LAN port, you will not get an IP assigned from the router. It is still possible to configure by plugging into the WAN port however but you will need to double NAT. A bit more complex.

    There should be no reason for the downloads to get corrupted, try directly connecting without the router and see if the downloads are getting corrupted. HTH !

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  32. hi vikram
    i have 110 modam so it will work ?

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  33. Thanks for sharing :)
    but could you please direct me to a tutorial explaining how exactly port forwarding works with DHCP?
    I mean I have a bridged connection setup already and am trying to use TightVNC to access it via the internet...doesn't work. I can access it over my LAN but not over internet
    and by the way, I tried hacking WPA as well...the best it can do is after sniffing for over days is match against a given list of passwords...so you're right WPA is way more secure!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Vikram

    I am trying to set up a static IP for my NAS (Linkstation) so that I can access it from the internet. If you could help me i would really appreciate in every whichever way. I have the folowing set up

    Internet IP address : on my beetel modem
    IP : 192.168.1.2
    Mask : 255.255.255.0
    Gateway : 192.168.1.1



    LAN setup : on my netgera router
    1) IP : 10.0.0.1
    2) Use DHCP box checked

    my id is rkumar02@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. @administrator

    you will not be able to dynamically do port forwarding, setting it up on a fixed IP will be possible.

    @rkumar
    you internet facing IP is not the 192.168 series. You need to first set up the connection as mentioned in the blog. Then you need to set up port forwarding to the computer IP. Last you need to find out your internet facing IP. Lots of sites will tell you your IP address.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I have got Netgear WG614 piece( router/modem ?).. my friend told me it is 2-in-1 , it acts has both router and modem.. but now after reading this I feel... that what he gave is just a router.. I need to purchase a Modem ? I want to know am I right ?

    Also I have Dell laptop.. Windows 7 .. need to know how to do the wireless settings on the laptop side...

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  37. Amazing!!
    I couldn't make my Airtel Beetel 220BXI ADSL2+ router/modem to work with my Cisco E1000 Wireless Router, even after setting up the beetel in bridge mode, and changing the router ip of my wireless router (to make it different than modem's IP), but your method was a life-saver!!
    Thanks a ton!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi vikarm,

    i have Airtel Beetal ADSL router/modem, 1 d-link switch and 8 PC which i want them on static IPs.

    can you please help me...for static IPs what the settings are required..?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  39. @Antriksh

    Nothing special needed, setup the static IP on the computer in the same subnet of what you have configured that get automatically assigned.

    Then make sure that the DHCP service never assigns the same ones.

    Eg. if the DHCP service assign 192.168.1.2 / 3 /4 etc
    Then set up the static IPs as 192.168.1.100 / 101 / 102 / 108

    Cheers

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  40. Vikram,

    You're a life saver. This works. Thanks so much for the help.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi Vikram, I have a Beetel 220BX1 and Netgear N300.

    I do Step 4 and click on Apply at the end after changing my router's address to 192.168.1.20. BUT I'm not able to login again to 192.168.1.20 to continue.

    I tried doing Step 5 (Lan settings) ahead of Step 4; this time I was able to login after Applying Step 5 changes. However after I complete Step 4 and Apply, I cant login to 192.168.1.20 again.

    Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi Vikram, Great post. Even it worked with my Trendnet router. Only thing is my router has same IP as modem, so I changed the router IP.

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  43. @Seetharaman

    Check if your address base is 192.168.1.x it may be 192.168.0.x

    ReplyDelete
  44. Hi whn I update in Lan IP setup with IP adress 192.168.1.245 with DHCP unchecked it says "ip address is conflicted with WAN ip submet, please entrer again"
    Please suggest what to do

    @ rajesh
    a.rajesh.anand@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  45. Hi,

    I dont get the details of DNS servers in Step 2 as you have mentioned.pls help

    ReplyDelete
  46. @above

    Check for DNS in device info, it should be there

    ReplyDelete