Telus ONT box + switch

[aldoh87]

Hi, I have Telus fibre internet. The ONT box is in the basement all the ethernet cables for all of the rooms are there. The ONT is conected to the actiontec 3200m in my living room. Im wondering can I put a switch after the ONT box and plug the actiontec to the switch and use the remaining ports on the switch to connect the remaining ethernet cables in my basement so that I have wired ethernet in all the rooms in the house? Thank you

[NFtoBC · Accepted solution]

The T3200M can't back-feed a switch. You can move the T3200M to the basement and feed your network (you would need a second ethernet cable between the router and the switch),  or you can use a switch, placed between the ONT and the T3200M and a second router, creating two networks.

[aldoh87]

Thx for the quick reply. Can I use my own router instead of the 3200m? I only have Internet from Telus, no TV.

[Nighthawk]

If you do not have Optik, then yes you can use your own router in place of the T3200M. One thing to note is Telus won't be able to provide support for third party routers and that includes if you have connection issues. Keep the T3200M somewhere nearby in case troubleshooting needs to be done.

[aldoh87]

How do I setup a second router ? Will that cause double nat? Would I have 2 SSIDs ? Thx

[NFtoBC]

Depending on how you set the second router up, it will cause double NAT, but that has not been a problem for other users.

Yes, you will have 2 SSID, unless you turn one off.

[stinger]

Would this method require having 2 IP Addresses so it can be assigned to the 2nd router? I think Telus only provides 1 for home users. I've been having weird disconnects where both routers (actiontec and my own) goes down and says WAN is unplugged, likely because it can't get a 2nd IP Address and I end up having to factory reset my own router to get it working again.

[NFtoBC]

No, you don’t need a second IP address.

Why are you using a second router? Understanding why can help us offer solutions.

What service do you have, Fibre or copper?

[stinger]

@NFtoBC I want to keep actiontec for optik tv uses. Using my own router for better QoS and tracking for data usage etc. I am on fibre internet.

When I port bridge or use a switch in between ONT and router, I have a different IP address as the actiontec which would constitute as a 2nd IP address right? I get a rare drop out where I have to restart both routers and ONT and my own router wouldn't be able to work as it says WAN is unplugged when it's not. I would think this comes down to an issue with the IP Address? Things are fine after I do a factory reset though.

[NFtoBC]

If you are using a switch between the ONT and your routers you should see 2 WAN IP addresses. If no switch, the T3200M should be the only WAN address (the second router should be getting a WAN from the T3200M). Don't forget to consider the switch as part of the problem when troubleshooting.

There should be no need to reboot the ONT - it is not recommended to do so. If your internet can't be resuscitated without unplugging the ONT, you should request replacement of it.

[stinger]

@NFtoBC I'll remember that next time about the ONT, I only did that as a precaution but i'll just reboot one of the routers and see next time. And agreed about the switch possibly being a culprit, I shall see with my new setup.

I am using port bridging by plugging into the actiontec router's lan 1 into my own router's wan. You mentioned that you'll see a WAN from the T3200m, so would that be the same IP Address at the T3200m ? When I turned on port bridge that's when 2 separate IP Addresses are made, similar to when I had a switch in between ONT and the 2 routers.

[NFtoBC]

To the best of my knowledge, the T3200M is not able to manage 2 WAN addresses simultaneously. I’d have to know the WAN addresses you are seeing on both routers to make further comment.

[stinger]

@NFtoBC hmm that's interesting. Then how do people go about port bridging and having the 2nd router having it's own WAN addresses?