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Bridging your DSL Modem

Bridging your DSL Modem

DSL and Cable modems can cause quite a headache these days when you are trying to create a port forward on your router. Your DSL provider sells you a specific modem (e.g) Motorola 2210, Westell 6100 but doesn't inform you that if you have a router connected to your dsl modem, you won't be able to access your computer from the internet.

If you have been checking and re-checking your port forwarding settings on your router, disabled all your firewalls and virus utilities to only have canyouseeme.org still report that it can not get to you. Then there is a good chance you may need to bridge the gap between your modem and your router. If you look up the make and model of your DSL/Cable modem and find it on portforward.com, there is a good chance that modem is acting like a small firewall/router and is blocking the inbound traffic.

Configuring your DSL Modem On most DSL modems, setting bridge mode is relatively simple. On the bottom of the modem is a sticker which usually has the ip address that allows access into the configurable GUI inside the modem. A standard for many of these modems is the 192.168.1.254 address. Placing this into a web browser address bar will send you to the modem's GUI page which looks something like this Normally the advanced button isn't selected at first so you may need to click on the button to expand the options below it.

WARNING! Changing these settings on your modem may make getting assistance with connectivity level issues difficult with your ISP! Be sure to tell them if you've placed the modem into bridged mode!At this point you would want to find the link listed as PPP Location (or PPP Options/Settings) which would pull up a page like this You now have a few settings that allow you to change the configuration of your modem. The standard setting should be PPP on the modem, this is how your ISP verifies your username and password with the network. For bridged mode you would select Bridged Mode(PPP is not used) This is used for when you have an alternate client that will control the PPP settings of your network (i.e. your router)

Configuring your Router This is where is gets a little tricky as now you have to configure your router for PPPoE so that you can place your ISP username and password into the correct fields so that your internet connection works! For the best reference I would suggest consulting your Router's manufacturer as there are many different brands and model of routers that it would be too much to contain here.

However, there is a general setting that you would be looking for such as connection type, this would need to be set to PPPoE for most configurations. For example: AT&T DSL uses PPPoE connection configured with your Username@isp.net and a password that you created during a registration process. Setting your router to the PPPoE with your username and password would allow your router to function as the required PPP client that your ISP requires.

Congratulations you've just configured Bridge Mode! Once the modem resets, you can go check your service again at canyouseeme.org. If you experience any issues connecting to the internet, you will want to undo this change and contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

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