Help setting up new router and bridging

[BrianAshmore]

Hello, forum.

So, I'm having some issues with my router dropping connections sporadically and decided to replace it with a new storebought one since my current one is pretty old and it came from my ISP and mine is notorious for it's bad router quality. So anyways, I followed the instructions precisely and I have plenty of experience already so it wasn't an issue. Connected the cables, accessed the router configuration page, entered the username and password to connect to the internet, and confirm, but there is no connection and the ADSL lamp on the router is off the entire time. It won't light up.

Yes, it's a router and modem in one device. The model of the new one is TP-Link TD-W8960N. The model of the old router is Gigaset SX763.

I called customer support, and the guy told me I can't use a storebought one without connecting it to the old router I got from the ISP while it's set to "bridging mode". I've never done that before, and frankly am a little skeptical that I can't use the new router without the old one.

So, any advice\help\guiding would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Clayto1332]

Yeah man. Your internet provider basically said that you have to use their router in order for it to work with their equipment. You would have to bridge their modem like he said (usually your internet provider can do this remotely) and go from LAN on your modem to WAN on your router. Problem is, looks like the TP link you have is a combo modem/router and won't work in this scenario. You would need a home router with an Ethernet port as its WAN. Then you enter the PPPoE username and password and get online.

Sounds to me like it would be a lot easier for you to ask your internet provider to replace your modem because you think it is defective. They may charge for this but in most cases it is better to have a combo modem/router because the less network equipment you have, the less there is that can go wrong. If this isn't an option you can get home routers from places like Wal Mart and Best Buy. You don't need anything fancy, contrary to what a smooth talking salesman might tell you. The only thing is some of these cheap routers have defects and bugs that is fixed by updating its firmware. You can always find your router's firmware on the manufacturers site. It is always recommended to update your firmware to its newest stable version right away.

Hope this helps.