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Yesterday I bought my first DSL Router (with 4 port switch) so that I can use all of my 3 computers in the internet (the 3rd PC is actually my laptop).

It is the same router that my friend Enye owns. It’s not a new model. It’s rather aged because it was released since late 2001. Only the firmware was updated. Mine is the 4th and latest version. I’m supposed to shell out more bucks to buy a Linksys WiFi router but the store has no stock. Anyway, this wired router would be good enough to handle my small home network in my room. I setuped the router as soon as I arrived and it took me 3 hours because of IP conflicts in the network. I didn’t know that the default IP of my DSL modem was also 192.168.1.1, which is also claimed by Linksys router. To make it more complicated my DSL modem was actually a router too (with two ports, one RJ45 and one console port). Since I have no rollover cable here to configure my DSL modem/router, I tried my luck and headed to Linksys online support. I was relieved when the support agent told me that there IS a tool to solve IP conflicts in my DSL modem/router and Linksys router. After several trials I was able to fix the IP configuration both in my DSL modem/router and Linksys router. Now, the IP of my DSL modem/router is 192.168.0.1, which finally solved the IP conflict.

Now, considering I have a DSL modem/router and a router with four port switch, NAT becomes a problem. I have to disable IP filtering in my DSL modem/router because NAT just don’t work with my Bit Torrent client, Azureus. Azureus cannot connect to peers after I installed my Linksys router. Then, I configured the IP forwarding of Linksys BEFSR41, specifying the ports that I permit my Bit Torrent client to use and it worked! So, by 9:00PM everything was working fine, thanks to my troubleshooting skills I managed to setup my small network. I also think that my CCNA classes helped me understand how IP network/host works.

To see the 3D view and detailed view of Linksys BEFSR41, Click here.
(courtesy of Circuit City)

Here’s the picture of my DSL modem/router (ZyXel 631R)