Setting up Netgear WGR614v9 for Wireless BSNL Broadband Internet Access

A popular wireless router is Netgear's WGR614 http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/WirelessGRouters/WGR614.aspx. The current model-version seems to be WGR614v9. [Quite unusual seeing a version no. (v9) in the hardware product (WGR614). I get the impression the product name has been the same for a few years.]

Its key specs are: Supports 802.11g (54 Mbps), 1 WAN port (10/100 Mbps), 4 LAN ports (10/100 Mbps).
It also is pretty compact. While there are better models (802.11n support - 150/300 Mbps), this model is economical. I paid around Rs. 1600 (in Nov. 2009).

I had thought that using this wireless router along with my (non wireless) BSNL supplied DSL modem would be the right way to go for wired (PC) and wireless (ipod Touch, Laptop) internet access over wired BSNL broadband connection. While it does work, today I feel I should have gone for a wireless router from BSNL instead.

The disadvantages of Netgear wireless router + BSNL DSL modem are:

1. In the area where I live (a village/small town in a rural part of India), BSNL broadband service is quite problematic. After you pursue them endlessly, things will be decent for some time and then slide back to regular errors (678). To complain to BSNL, I need to be able to tell them the error I am getting. Unfortunately I could not figure out a way of getting this error code when PC is connected to Wireless router which in turn is connected to DSL modem.
2. Two devices and two sets of power cords and network cables = More Clutter.
3. A minor issue is that I would like to switch off the wireless router when I am not using it but it does not have an off switch! I need to either disconnect the power cord which is not a clean solution OR switch off my UPS which is in a corner due to which I have to stretch and bend hard to reach it (I usually prefer to leave my UPS on 24x7).

One solution would have been to buy a good brand wireless DSL modem. But then, BSNL technicians will be quick to point to the non-BSNL-supplied modem as the reason for any broadband fault! So the safest path for BSNL broadband users may be to go for BSNL Wireless DSL modem.

Some details about my experience with this router are given below.

A quick guide to this Wireless router setup is here: http://iarjun.wordpress.com/2007/11/24/setting-netgear-wireless-router-wgr614v7-for-bsnl-broadband/. There are other such guides available on the Net. The NetGear documentation/manual is pretty decent as well.

In this blog entry I will skip mentioning the standard configuration/settings info that is available from above mentioned sources and focus on specific settings I used and the issues that I faced.

I was able to use the wireless Router with BSNL Broadband using BSNL supplied DSL modem [UT STARCOM's UT300R2U ADSL 2+ Modem/Router (1Ethernet+1USB)], with the two different configurations (settings) given below:

Id, Pwd In DSL Modem - Settings

• DSL Modem has ip of 192.168.1.1. I specified BSNL userid and password in the DSL modem settings itself (using its web interface). [For this, one has to use PPPoE instead of Bridge - the modem manual should give the details and so I am skipping mentioning them here]. DSL modem is connected to WAN port of Wireless Router (WR).
• The default values for WR are used, which are LAN IP:10.0.0.1, DHCP on, WAN port - Automatically detect.
• BSNL Id, pwd not specified in WR (as the DSL modem has it).
• WR security is set to WEP. [Ideally, need to use WPA but plan to do that later]
• PC LAN connection IP and DNS are set to automatic (i.e. use DHCP).

With this setting the PC was able to connect to internet. The internet access speed was quite decent. Note that PC is connected to WR via a LAN cable. BTW the PC got an ip of 10.0.0.2

The ipod Touch detected the wireless network. After specifying the appropriate WEP key I was able to browse the internet (from the ipod Touch) and also access the PC. GoodReader and Stanza (two popular ebook/pdf apps) both support file transfer (from PC) over wireless, and this feature worked flawlessly. Email, Maps, Weather etc. apps also were able to access the Internet well. But Youtube app on the ipod was pretty slow, much slower than on the PC using the same internet connection. Don't know what's the issue there. BTW the ipod got an ip of 10.0.0.3

Then connected a Laptop over wireless and that also worked fine.

Id, Pwd In Wireless Router - Settings

• DSL Modem has ip of 192.168.1.1 and has Bridged mode (PPPoE service does not have Id Pwd specified). DSL modem is connected to WAN port of Wireless Router (WR).
• The default values for WR are used, which are LAN IP:10.0.0.1, DHCP on, WAN port - Automatically detect.
• BSNL Id, pwd are specified in WR.
• WR security is set to WEP.
• PC LAN connection IP and DNS are set to automatic (i.e. use DHCP).

This setting worked properly. I tested PC internet access (wired) and ipod Touch internet access (wireless).


Lack of Diagnostic info for BSNL Broadband connection

One problem with both settings above is that there does not seem to be any way to get the error codes/messages (e.g. 678 or 691) when BSNL Broadband connection fails. I checked the UI as well as the manual of the Netgear router but could not see any way to capture/view these messages.

One can confirm that the broadband connection is not working by looking at Netgear Router -> Router Status page's Internet Port information. Values of 0.0.0.0 for IP address, Subnet mask and DNS indicate that the DSL modem failed to connect to the Internet. If it is connected these values are 'normal' values. One can also try connecting to Broadband using this page's Connect Status -> Connect.

Note that 192.168.1.1 is not accessible (ping fails) when DSL modem is connected to WAN port. Further even if DSL Modem is connected to one of the LAN ports of the router, as WR's IP fails to get set to 192.168.1.100 (or similar value) the DSL Modem's IP is not on the same subnet as WR and so is not accessible from PC (and other devices) connected to WR.

While making the BSNL Broadband complaint I need to provide the error number. The only way to get that seems to directly connect the DSL Modem to the computer, with DSL Modem on Bridged mode, and then double-click on BSNL Broadband dialler icon. So the placement and wiring of DSL Modem and Wireless Router should be such that this change of wiring can be easily done. After changing the wiring the IP address of the PC has to be changed manually (in my setup). Its settings are:

1. When connected to WR: IP address to picked up automatically from DHCP (WR has DHCP on).
2. When connected to DSL Modem: IP: 192.168.1.2, Mask: 255.255.255.0, Gateway: 192.168.1.1 [DSL has DHCP off to avoid conflict with WR's DHCP, when used along with WR. Maybe it will work even when both DHCPs are on, in which case I will not have to change the ip address. Will check that out when I get the patience; this network setup business is quite a pain :-)]

For both 1) and 2) I am currently using DNS servers of Google (8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4)

To change the IP address of the PC one can use Switch Net Configuration program of Net Tools from http://users.telenet.be/ahmadi/nettools.htm, where both configurations can be stored and easily switched back and forth. The program gets installed under Net Tools ->Independent Applications -> Internet Tools -> Switch Net Configuration

If you are not an administrator, you need to run this program as administrator (Right-click and choose Run As..). [On XP, a power user cannot change IP address; only an administrator can. I guess it would be same on Vista and Windows 7.]