Question Bridge Mode Help

[reio]

Hello,
I want to ask a question, so im encountering Double NAT.
The only way i know how to fix it is enabling Bridge Mode, but i don't have that as an option in my router settings.

I've contacted my ISP, and they told me to disable DHCP, so i did that, everything worked fine, but
my digital box started having issues, saying "IP Address could not be found", so basically disabling DHCP removed the internet
from my digital box, which is bad since it's required for TV.

Could i get a switch, and plug the digital box to the switch, or something?
Since the digital box is taking up the router's WAN port, and all the computers are in LAN ports.

My router: Zyxel LTE 3306-M604

 

[kanewolf]

Hello,
I want to ask a question, so im encountering Double NAT.
The only way i know how to fix it is enabling Bridge Mode, but i don't have that as an option in my router settings.

I've contacted my ISP, and they told me to disable DHCP, so i did that, everything worked fine, but
my digital box started having issues, saying "IP Address could not be found", so basically disabling DHCP removed the internet
from my digital box, which is bad since it's required for TV.

Could i get a switch, and plug the digital box to the switch, or something?
Since the digital box is taking up the router's WAN port, and all the computers are in LAN ports.

My router: Zyxel LTE 3306-M604

Based on the "LTE" in the router name, it looks like a cellular device. Cellular will be your problem. Not going to avoid double NAT.

 

[reio]

Based on the "LTE" in the router name, it looks like a cellular device. Cellular will be your problem. Not going to avoid double NAT.

Really? I've seen Bridge Mode option in same routers, from videos, but i just don't have it.

 

[bill001g]

Lets take a more simple case where instead of the router you have a cellphone directly connected to the LTE network. There is still a router in most cell phone providers networks doing NAT. You phone is being given a private IP addresses and you have no ability to do anything about the NAT in the ISP router.

If you somehow managed to get your router into bridge mode your pc would sorta be like the cell phone BUT you still have a NAT in the ISP router.

The only way to fix this is to see if the ISP will assign you a public IP. It might not be possible and if it is many times they want a extra monthly charge.

If you can solve the public IP issues most routers have some method to port forward. It should also have some DMZ option. This should be very close to the functionality of a router you can actually place in bridge mode.

 

[reio]

Lets take a more simple case where instead of the router you have a cellphone directly connected to the LTE network. There is still a router in most cell phone providers networks doing NAT. You phone is being given a private IP addresses and you have no ability to do anything about the NAT in the ISP router.

If you somehow managed to get your router into bridge mode your pc would sorta be like the cell phone BUT you still have a NAT in the ISP router.

The only way to fix this is to see if the ISP will assign you a public IP. It might not be possible and if it is many times they want a extra monthly charge.

If you can solve the public IP issues most routers have some method to port forward. It should also have some DMZ option. This should be very close to the functionality of a router you can actually place in bridge mode.

The thing is that my digital box (receiver for the tv) is acting as an router, can i solve that somehow?

 

[bill001g]

You should be able to plug directly into the other router and only hook the tv to the other box. Maybe I am not understanding how you have this cabled. I mean if you actually have to pass through 2 routers inside your house you now have 3 layers of NAT. If the digital box is actually a router it likely has port forwarding options.

This just makes the configuration more complex but it will work if you can solve the much larger problem of getting a public IP assigned to the first router in your house.

 

[reio]

You should be able to plug directly into the other router and only hook the tv to the other box. Maybe I am not understanding how you have this cabled. I mean if you actually have to pass through 2 routers inside your house you now have 3 layers of NAT. If the digital box is actually a router it likely has port forwarding options.

This just makes the configuration more complex but it will work if you can solve the much larger problem of getting a public IP assigned to the first router in your house.

I DO not have two routers, only 1.
I believe that the digital box is acting as a router, but i can't configure digital box's settings.

 

[bill001g]

So why don't you just ignore the box and plug everything into the actual router other than the tv

 

[reio]

So why don't you just ignore the box and plug everything into the actual router other than the tv

I can't, otherwise the tv becomes useless.

 

[bill001g]

Do you have any part number for that box.

What does the box hook to besides the zytel router.

You say it hooks the zytel router WAN port but is that actually configured as a WAN. From what I read that port is by defualt a lan port unless you reconfigure it. The router you list is a very special router used to connect via a cell phone network. It can use the wan port as a backup.

So first how does the internet get into your house. Does it come in via cell network or is there some kind of wire that is hooking to this "box" that hooks to the wan port. It would be strange to use a expensive LTE router without using the LTE part but I guess that is possible.

 

[reio]

The box is called Arris VIP 113
The box is hooked up to the WAN port of the router.
The internet gets to my house via air, the router uses a sim card, since we can't get a cable connection where we live.
Our ISP provided us with the router, we have to use LTE, since we have to use a sim card, since as i said, cable connection is not possible.

 

[reio]

And there is a cable between the box and the router's wan port, if you meant that.

 

[bill001g]

You can pretty much ignore that box it is just making thing confusing. It just a box that gets tv show not much different than say roku or firestick etc.

The port called wan on that router is actually a lan port when you are using the LTE radio in your router.

So we are now back to what are you actually trying to accomplish. Why do you want to put the router in bridge mode. Even if you could then only 1 device would function.

 

[reio]

I want to put it in bridge mode because it's too annoying in games, every time i get disconnected, and it's happening so often.
Im pretty sure the box is acting as an router, because I do not have a second router.

 

[reio]

Also i visited the router's documentation, it says "Supports Bridge Mode", but i don't have that option.

 

[bill001g]

You only have 1 router the zyxel. The other device is purely used for tv no other traffic passes through it.

We are now back to the very first reply on this thread. The reason you have double NAT is because there is a router that is outside of your house doing NAT in the ISP network.

It is easy to check this. Go into the zyxel box and look at the IP address on the WAN port. It is highly likely it is a private IP and not a public IP.

All this has nothing to do with getting disconnected in games. The reason people want to run bridge or port forwarding is when they want to host games. Something like a private minecraft server or some console games where one person acts as the server.
You disconnection issue is likely purely because it is on mobile broadband (ie LTE). LTE is still a form of wireless connection it is still subject to interference. The more likely issue is the cell tower gets overloaded at times and drops data. You are competing for bandwidth with all the cars that drive by that cell tower so the load changes constantly. Online games and any form of wireless are a bad match. Pretty much any other application can tolerate small drops. I mean you can hear small drop outs when you talk on a cell phone but that would kill a game most times.

 

[reio]

So you're telling me basically im screwed?

 

[bill001g]

Unfortunately yes. Where I used to live was much the same as yours there was not even DSL so all the internet offerings were some kind or wireless. They were all expensive and performed poorly.
I had planned to move to the city for a while and build a new house there but after having good internet I am rethinking what I do. I never even realized how bad it really was in games.

 

[kanewolf]

So you're telling me basically im screwed?

We are telling you that cellular internet is poor for gaming. If you have no other internet choice then your gaming experience will be suboptimal.

 

[reio]

Can an antenna help?

 

[kanewolf]

Can an antenna help?

It won't improve your ping time variance. Could it make your signal more reliable? Maybe.

 

[reio]

It's so unfair, down the street, literally around (500meters), people got a 200mbps connection, but could
an antenna help me random cuts, so it will make my gaming more stable? I don't really care about the ping

 

[bill001g]

All you can really do is try it. It all depends on how strong the signal is to begin with. You might be able to dig around the menus in the router and see if it has some kind of indicator.

You can also put the router in a window which should help, best if you can figure out which side of you house the cell tower is on.

Antenna on LTE connections gets complex. You actually need 2 antenna that operate at 90 degree from each other to be able to use the mimo LTE uses. Generally unless you know the frequency your ISP uses you will want a pair of Log periodic antenna. Be careful to use as short of cables as you can the cables will absorb a lot of the signals if you are not careful.

 

[reio]

Our ISP provided us with an antenna.