Connecting Time Capsule (or AEBS) to a AT&T U-verse Router/Modem – Proper Settings and Setup

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Today I am giving AT&T U-verse a go to see if it will be better than my current service provider. The general install went fine, but there are new intricacies that wreaked a bit of havoc on my network setup.

Before, I had a basic cable modem and connected my Time Capsule to the cable modem and everything was run from the Time Capsule. Pretty basic.

But with U-verse, they provide you what they call a residential gateway which basically is the hub for your internet and tv data (I think). It is a 2Wire 3801HGV. On the internet side, this hub serves as a both a wireless router and modem. It has NAT, dishes out IP addresses, allows wireless clients, etc. But, I wanted my Time Capsule to be the wireless hub since I use it for backup, etc.

So when the install was done, and I tried to connect the Time Capsule to the 2Wire, the Time Capsule blinked yellow. After some research, I realized this was probably due to the 2wire and Time Capsule fighting over dishing out IP addresses, but I am not 100% sure that is the case.

Anyway, to get around this issue, I turned off the wireless connectivity on the 2Wire, changed the Time Capsule to Bridge Mode instead of the current setting of "Share a Public IP address". I then connected an ethernet cable from a port in the 2Wire to the WAN connection on the Time Capsule, and everything seems to work ok connection wise. The Time Capsule light is green, and I can connect wirelessly from my computers at home.

However, I lose functionality. My Guest Network capability from the Time Capsule is gone. I don't think Back To My Mac is operational.

Is this the way you would have set things up? Is this loss of functionality expected? Anyway around this loss of functionality. I read, but did not quite understand, some people talking about DMZs and bypassing the routing on the 2Wire. Would that be better? Also, as a bonus, would you connect other direct-connect devices (Ooma, for example) to the 2Wire or to the Time Capsule?

Best Answer

First, connect one of the Ethernet ports of the 2Wire Gateway to the WAN port of the Time Capsule and turn both devices on, and disable wireless on the 2Wire. Your Time Capsule settings should not be changed from what they were when you had things working with your cable modem. If you've changed them, change them back now.

Then, on the 2Wire Gateway, in the "LAN" section:

  1. Enable DMZ for the Time Capsule connection
  2. Turn off the firewall for the Time Capsule connection
  3. Set the Address Assignment for the Time Capsule connection to "public"
  4. Set the WAN IP Mapping for the Time Capsule connection to "Router WAN IP address"

Then cycle power on the Time Capsule. The Time Capsule will now control everything just like it did when it was connected directly to your cable modem. Any wired Ethernet connections you add should be connected to the Time Capsule, not the 2Wire Gateway.

FYI, this works for any router or access point, not just the Time Capsule.

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