Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 0:42 Post subject: [SOLVED] Netgear R7000 as second router
I am trying to set up my R7000 as a VPN router, connected to a Lan port of my first router.
I managed to do this quite some time ago with my Linksys WRT610N as the VPN router with the same router I am using now as the primary router (a no-name router from my provider). However I bricked the Linksys and I wanted to upgrade anyway, so I got me the R7000.
Anyways, I precisely followed the steps shown here:
https://www.vpnuniversity.com/routers/setup-two-routers-with-dedicated-vpn-router
, where the default gateway of the primary router is set to 192.168.0.1 and the R7000 to 192.168.1.1 (using the GoogleDNS).
After connecting the two routers (I tried lan->wan and lan->lan) the R7000 has no internet access. When I try Lan->Wan the R7000 does not show any reaction at all. When I try Lan->Lan the Lan-Port on the R7000 turns solid orange.
I tried the newest stable brainslayer build and the Kong Build from June 2019 but both don't work.
Any ideas?
PS: Please don't go to hard on me and also, feel free to tell me anything that might help, even if it may sound obvious to you. I am quite a noob at networking
Last edited by kaidiat on Tue Jan 19, 2021 15:07; edited 1 time in total
Try using the subnets described in the article (e.g. main: 192.168.1.1 and vpn: 192.168.2.1.
WAN port of the VPN router goes to LAN port on the main router.
Main router WAN connection type: DHCP (or your internet provider details). Verify that it is able to reach the internet.
VPN router WAN connection type: DHCP
Connect to each router using command line and make sure it can ping to the internet, e.g. ping 8.8.8.8.
If using wireless networking on both, make sure the two routers have different SSIDs.
Joined: 18 Mar 2014 Posts: 12922 Location: Netherlands
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:19 Post subject:
It should work right out of the box.
Reset the router, after setting user name and password the only thing that really matters is the local IP address that should be different (the third octet) from the main router, just like @Canadamoose already stated.
Sorry, here is the additional information:
Model: Netgear R7000
Firmware: DD-WRT v3.0-r45454 (01/15/21)
kernel: Linux 4.4.251 #1836 SMP Fri Jan 15 00:11:49 +07 2021 armv7l
I did now what you said:
Reset the R7000
My main router is 192.168.0.1
The R7000 is 192.168.1.1
Connected a LAN port of the main router to the WAN port of the R7000
Still, there is no Internet connection on the R7000. It says WAN IP: 0.0.0.0
When I now additionally connect my PC to the R7000 via LAN I get the following results in cmd:
ping 192.168.1.1 works (0% loss)
ping 192.168.0.1: Destination net unreachable
ping 8.8.8.8: Destination net unreachable
Also, there is absolutely no response of the R7000 when plugging in the cable on the WAN port.
Could it be, that the WAN port is somehow defective? Because I just bought the router used, so maybe I got ripped off.
Update: I went now back to Netgear OEM Version 1.0.9.60_10.2.60 to see, if the problem persists. Unfortunately it does, there is still no reaction if I plug in the cable at the WAN port (coming from a LAN from the primary router).
So at this point, I am quite sure that the WAN port is just defective. Is there a way to set up what I want (one normal router, second router as VPN router connected to LAN of the primary router) by connecting the routers LAN<->LAN?
Maybe by letting the two routers work in the same subnet as DHCP srvers, but with different IP ranges? Like e.g. that the first router assigns 192.168.0.2 - 192.68.0.99 and the R7000 assigns 192.168.0.100 - 192.168.0.255? And set the R7000's IP to 192.168.0.2?
Joined: 18 Mar 2014 Posts: 12922 Location: Netherlands
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 13:19 Post subject:
One thing to check the subnet of you primary ISP router should be /24 = 255.255.255.0 as should be the subnet of the R7000 if that is not the case and the R7000 is default (meaning WAN Connection type is automatic DHCP) then it should get an IP address (provided another client gets an IP address)
If not the WAN could be broken.
One other thing to try reset after upgrading to DDWRT from the CLI (telnet/Putty) with:
nvram erase && reboot
Like described there I had to apply the changes not only in GUI but also via telnet for it to work.
Now it finally works, thank you very much! I will make sure to donate to your PayPal, since you saved me quite some money and time! Otherwise I would have had to buy another router.
One thing to check the subnet of you primary ISP router should be /24 = 255.255.255.0 as should be the subnet of the R7000 if that is not the case and the R7000 is default (meaning WAN Connection type is automatic DHCP) then it should get an IP address (provided another client gets an IP address)
If not the WAN could be broken.
One other thing to try reset after upgrading to DDWRT from the CLI (telnet/Putty) with:
nvram erase && reboot