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How to use the XR500 as a second router? How do I avoid double NAT?
Hey folks, I've looked all over and not been able to find a solution yet... A little bit background: My ISP has installed a modem/router (D-Link DIR-825) on the ground floor of my house where t...
I think the DMZ method is the most likely to work here, without having to buy new hardware, here's what to do:
- On your XR500, go to the System Information page and make a note of the WAN IP.
- On the modem/router upstream, set the XR500's IP as static/reserved so that it won't change.
- On the modem/router upstream, put the WAN IP from the first step into the DMZ, so that the XR500 bypasses the firewall.
- See if the double NAT is fixed.
If the double NAT isn't fixed, you could try port forwarding all ports (1 to 65535, TCP and UDP) to the WAN IP from the first step, on the modem/router upstream.
Routers are designed to only have a modem above them in the network, so having another router above them can occasionally cause confusion. The double NAT occurs because there are two layers of Network Address Translation happening, one from the modem and one from the router. A standalone modem will pass everything on to the router by default, but a router will have a firewall and various limitations designed to protect client devices. When that client device is another router, you need to manually bypass those restrictions so that there is only one effective layer of Network Address Translation.
So basically, yes, this is a standard method to fix a double NAT caused by using two routers. Putting the XR500 into the DMZ is not dangerous because the XR500 has it's own firewall which will take over from the other router.
It's worth bearing in mind that you should connect all devices in the house to the XR500 if you want QoS to be effective, because the XR500 can only take into account devices which are underneath it. Devices connected to the upstream router will not be detected by the XR500.