BT and Router connection question

[shoehorn]

Hi,
I've just moved house to an non-NTL area so now my broadband is through BT, however they've just told me that my Linksys WRT54G wireless router is now redundant.
Can anyone let me know if this is right please?
And can anyone let me know what to do if I can use it again?
With cable, the STB had an ethernet connection as does my Linksys - so it was simply ethernet to ethernet.
Now, the cable from the microfiter is not ethernet and will only plug into the BT modem/router.
So, I set everthing up, including installing all the software that came with the BT modem/router and plugged the ethernet connection from the BT modem/router into my Linksys (Internet port), turned it all on, hoping to connect to the internet, but it didn't.
I unplugged the ethernet cable from the linksys and put it into my PC. Then I had internet access, but only on that PC.
I need to use my router, as I have another PC and an MP101 that are both wirelessly connected and a hard wired showcentre.
When I use 192.168.1.1 (I think that's the number) in IE I now get the BT router... whereas before it was the Linksys.
My Linksys still forms a wireless connection to my PC, I can see it on the PC, but my showcentre fails to connect to the sever anymore.... I didn't check the other bits as it was late..... I was frustrated too....
Any thoughts please?
Thanks...

[jon stallard]

In short, there are two types of router. One for a BT line and the other for a cable derived phone service. The two are not compatible as far as I can tell. I'm afraid you'll have to buy a router for use on a BT line. On the novatech website for example, they state which router is suitable for cable and which is for BT.

Jon.

[shoehorn]

thanks for the reply Jon, but this is from the Linksys Web-site:
"the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection"
So I'm somewhat confused, as I can only see ethernet connection on my WRT54G - here

[MikeC]

shoehorn

looks like jon is correct.

According to the novatech website, the WRT54G (I am using 1 of these like u with NTL) is not compatible with ADSL.

The odd thing is that the non-wireless version - BEFSR41 - is compatible with both Cable & ADSL.

[shoehorn]

OK - thanks guys... looks like I'll have to get the plastic out.... that'll please the Mrs....

[dejongj]

No! Don't do that....Yes the WRT54G doesn't have a built-in ADSL modem, but I quite like it like that...With BT Broadband you get for 'free' a BT Voyager 105 modem. The connection will be really simple...and allows it to become very sofisticated if you want to...

The simple solutions:

Phone line -> microfilter -> BT Voyager modem -> Ethernet -> Linksys Router Internet port

You can then use your router as you did before...In this scenario the Router will pickup via DHCP an IP address from the BT Modem...If it doesn't you have to configure it, but most likely it is still configured to DHCP from your cable...The modem will get an DHCP IP from BT....And the PC ('s) should get one from your router...

No need to buy something new, unless you want it ;-)

[shoehorn]

Well to be honest - that's what I thought... and what I want.
However when I tried that, I couldn't connect to the internet.
I'm not sure what the BT box is, but I do think it's a modem and router combined - that I have to plug into the mains.
Do I have the right BT box?

[shoehorn]

I've just got the Mrs to check... it's a BT Voyager 205 ADSL Router.
Can I get this to work, or should I send it back..... as mention in my first post, if I use Internet Explorer to look at my router settings (192.168.1.1 - I think), it's the BT not the Linksys.

[shoehorn]

In fact here it is: Voyager 205
Can I get this to do what I want or should I get BT to send a 105?
Thanks.

[dejongj]

The is the 'problem' router and BT Voyager modem/router are at the same IP address most likely...It is easy to sort out...The steps I would advice are as follows:

1. Setup you LAN correctly
a. Remove BT Voyager from any connection, just disconnect the cable etc..
b. Restart Linksys Router
c. Plug PC into one of the 4 built-in switch ports, NOT the Internet
d. Setup router first, make certain the LAN provided is not in the 192.168.1.* range. Turn it into something like 10.1.1.*. This make cause a little bit of agro at first as the PC and the Router need to be in the same subnet/ip range, so if you were using DHCP you may may have to manually give the PC an address...Then again if DHCP was still enable on the Router, you just need to force the PC to get a new address onces the router is in the 10.1.1.* range (ipconfig /renew from the command line).

2. Plug in the ethernet cable between the BT Voyager and the Internet port of the Linksys...As the Voyager has got DHCP by default it should assign an address to your router...Check the management interface on your router and it should be something like 192.168.1.2 as 192.168.1.1 is the Voyager itself by default...

And that should be it...My guess is that it is simply a conflict between the IP addresses, easily fixed...I have made it sound more complicated than it is...But that is partially as I don't know you familiarity with networking...

Good luck...

[shoehorn]

Sounds good so far... thanks dejongj
- I'll be back tonight to let you know how its gone..... (otherwise I'll be back tomorrow if it hasn't "gone")

(oh and the simpler the better - I "tinker" )

[shoehorn]

Oh, just a quick thought... if I change the Linksys settings and get everything working, will it all stay changed...? Or will it all have to be re-done everytime I switch it off and then on again.
Thanks...

[shoehorn]

Thanks dejongj
- my Linksys is working - changed IP to 10.1.1.1 and I now have internet on both my PC's - wirelessly!
However, I can't get my hard wired Showcentre working.... didn't have much time to "tinker" last night, changed the server IP to match the 10.1.1.1 but it didn't want to connect.....so I've left it.... need to do some reading up... unless you have any thoughts for me!
Thanks again - I was a happy man last night!

[dejongj]

I'm glad it worked for you! I'm not familiar with a Showcentre, but setting a server to match 10.1.1.1 shouldn't work considering that is the address of your Linksys. The only place you should use the 10.1.1.1 address is when you need to define a GATEWAY to the Internet....

I assume the server address would be one of your PC's? As such you may be best off to define one of your PC's with a hardcoded IP address to avoid it changing when DHCP kicks in....So go on that PC, do an ipconfig /all and note all the DNS, Gateway settings...Then set the ip configuration to manual, give it an address of 10.1.1.200 for example, enter the DNS if it was filled in, enter the gateway which should be 10.1.1.1 and that's it...Then configure the Showcentre to use DHCP and server address 10.1.1.200 and all should work....

Glad to help ;-)

[shoehorn]

I'll be trying that sometime this week....
Went on holiday 3 hours after my last post and have only just got back - I'll let you know what happens once I've recovered enough to try it (probably the weekend).