Thecus N5200 RouStor

[Steve B]

Hey chaps,
Just got one of these and would like to connect it directly to the cable modem via the WAN port.
However, if I enable DHCP on the WAN side, it cant obtain an address from the cable modem and if I disable DHCP, it asks me for its IP and DNS servers, which im not sure what to set to.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Regards,
Steve

[DR]

What IP range does your network use?

[Steve B]

on the LAN side, whatever I want to set it at. Its currently set at 192.168.2.* with the N5200 being 192.168.2.254.
on the WAN side, the default is 192.168.1.100, which i dont particularly want...

[DR]

Do you run a switch to your cable modem? Which everything else plugs in to?

Why not just change the WAN IP to something in the same range as your Cable modem and then be with it? it should all work fine then...?

[Steve B]

inet -> cable modem -> N5200 -> laptop
im not sure as to the DNS servers for the modem. i know the IP is 192.168.100.1, as thats the IP I use to access the configuration page for it.

[DR]

Hmm .... 195.112.4.4 and 195.112.4.7 are Nildrams - use them... ?

[Steve B]

will give it a shot!

[Steve B]

WAN settings:
IP: 192.168.100.2
Net Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.100.1
DNS: 194.168.4.100 & 194.168.8.100
(from here)
Still no luck, cannot ping 192.168.100.1

http://www.virgin.net/helpme/newsgroups/general/2.html

[DR]

I'm sure Thecus have a solution

[peterfu]

Are You sure that You have a cable modem and not a ADSL modem ?
I've searched the www virgin net site and it is always talked about a ADSL modem (Speedtouch) - connecting the N5200 to a ADSL modem will not work, cause Username and Password has to be transferred to get the ADSL connection and this is not supported from the N5200. The best solution in this case would be to connect a Router to the ADSL modem which is capable of handling the ADSL login.
If You have a cable modem: many cable providers limit the access to the cable network with the MAC Adress of the connected computers. But then the provider has a possibility to announce the new MAC Adress. However I would also use in this case a Access Router to connect.
Connecting the N5200 to the Internet directly is in my opinion not a good idea - there is no Firewall functionality, so You are open completly against the internet and the chance that You get hacked - espacially on a permanent connection - is big.

br
Peter

[Steve B]

Surely though, the routing part of the N5200 will handle incoming connections exactly the same as any other router would?

I'm quite sure im on cable broadband, as my ntl:home modem takes co-axial from the 5dB splitter in the lounge, rather than the RJ-15 socket where the telephone is plugged into.

I am unable to determine why the N5200 cant obtain a lease on the DHCP from the cable modem. My old linksys 4-port router worked perfectly, albeit, its 10/100, rather than 10/100/1000. Ideally, I'd like to have the N5200 directly behind the cable modem, as i'm loathe to a) purchase a gigabit switch and b) not utilise the functionality that I paid extra for

Hopefully someone @ thecus will be able to help out
Cheers,
Steve

[cheburashka]

Respectfully, it seems to me that putting the thecus directly on the cable modem, with the thecus firmware, is an exceptionally, extraordinarily, really, really, big, super-bad, bad idea.

You'd be exposing all of your data to the internet as a whole, placing all of your trust in the very limited security features of the thecus firmware, and thecus doesn't make any claims at all regarding that part of the firmware.

Just to give you an idea: I have my firewall at home set up to forward ssh so I can login to another linux box from outside, and I have logging set up. Even though I don't have any kind of website or other server up, or anything that would broadcast my cable modem's IP address or give anyone any reason at all to try --- My logs generally show several attempts to break into my box from the outside every day. Some days, they record hundreds and hundreds of attempts.

People really do sit around looking for cable modem IP addresses and then sick automatic hacking programs on them.

And what could you do about a denial of service or spam attack? All of those would go directly to the thecus, which has no built in defenses.

If you replaced the firmware with a full linux distro so you could have a real updated firewall and security software made for the use, what you're considering might make sense. But if you do get what you're trying to work, I think you're going to find yourself regretting it very quickly.

[peterfu]

I agree with cheburashka, nevertheless the N5200 should get the IP settings from the cable modem - not exactly from the modem, but an DHCP server in the cable providers network - but there might be the MAC issue, that the connection is limited to a specified MAC adress only.
@Steve :
1) is it possible to connect other devices - with different MAC adresses - and get a IP adress - i.e Your Media PC and the Xbox - just to be sure that this is not the issue
2) if You connect the N5200 via your linksys - do You receive then the IP settings?

[Steve B]

hey peter,
i've not tried this method, connecting the linksys directly to the cable modem enables the linksys to dish out IP's which can connect to the net. I'm going to use my linksys for now, and save up some more cash for a draytek 2910 After that, all I need is my n-grade wireless access point, and i'll be away

[peterfu]

Sounds perfect - I have a ZYWALL5 since some time now, full cabled house with a 24 port Gigabit Switch and G standard WLAN for my laptops.
However, If Your cable access is MAC controlled then You have the issue afterwards, except You are able to modify MAC Adress on the draytek.
br
Peter

[Steve B]

ok, so i've configured the hardware such that the cable modem is connected to a D-Link DL-514 (i think) router. The IP address of the router is 192.168.0.1. I'm using DHCP to allocate IP's over wireless so i can connect the Macbook to t'internet.
On the next layer down, I've got the N5200 WAN socket connected to one of the LAN ports on the DL-514.

Thats the options available when configuring up the WAN port on the Thecus.
I set the IP of the N5200 to 192.168.0.2, so that it can communicate with the DL-514. I'm assuming that the gateway is the 514's IP address, therefore its 192.168.0.1.
Apply the new settings and wait for the router to restart.

This page details the LAN-side settings for the N5200. The IP address I've left at default: 192.168.2.254.
This is where I get stuck.
I want to be able to use DHCP on the N5200, so it can allocate IP's in the range of 192.168.2.*. This is because, eventually I'll be installing a WAP onto one of the LAN ports, but dont have the hardware yet to do so. Also, it's an easier configuration to get started on. The thing is, when I enable DHCP and restart the N5200. I can ping the N5200, but not the DL-514, on the 192.168.0.1 IP. Plus, it wont let me connect to the internet, as it cant resolve the IP of the gateway (the 514?)
I'm looking for some help on what configuration settings to apply, that would make this configuration operational, giving me access to the internet, through the gigabit switch on the N5200. I'm not quite good enough at networking yet to work out what the problem is
Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
Cheers guys,
Steve