My home network setup is just a typical one. A "dump" box from Vodafone containing everything (ADSL modem/router + 4-port Ethernet switch + Wireless access point).
Since I am kind of a techie, I don't like that kind of setup and I need to be able to configure everything by hand (NAT using iptable rules, etc.). So, I decided to setup an external Linux box as the router (Internet gateway) for the rest of the LAN according to this guide: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/home-router-howto.xml
So, my question is: Is it possible to just leverage the Access point and the ADSL modem functionality in the dump box while using the external Linux router so that I don't need to buy both (modem + AP) separately?
Googling on the issue of the AP I know it can be done by disabling DHCP in the dump box and using a DHCP server in the Linux gateway with an IP address range that doesn't include the IP address of the dump box. The issue with me is that I want to do BOTH things (The AP and modem).
The thing that confuses me the most is how to bypass the PPPoE configuration in the dump box so that the one in the Linux box can take effect without conflict, specially that the configuration interface for the dump box doesn't contain any controls for disabling PPPoE. It just contains fields for the parameters (like username, and password, etc.). Or am I a bit pessimistic and things would just work once I configure the hosts on the LAN to use the new Linux gateway?
Any help would be really appreciated. And thanks for your time.
Best Answer
You should be able to just chain them. I have an Apple Time Capsule behind my provider's ADSL gateway (modem/router/AP). The Time Capsule warned me about double-NATting during setup but allowed it, so I effectively have two NAT firewalls. It's been in use for several years with no ill effects I can see.