5268ac and OpenWRT: Difference between revisions

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*There's other information AT&T gave you (DNS servers, etc), but not necessary here.

In the "Settings Tab, ~~Broadband~~ Sub-Tab, ~~Link Configuration~~ Sub-Sub-Tab, ~~Supplementary Network~~ Section", ~~there are three items (two~~ to ~~fill in and one~~ to ~~check / tick on)~~

A suggestion before doing any of the below stuff is to go to here: Settings Tab, Diagnostics Sub-Tab, Resets Sub-Sub-Tab, System & Links Resets Section, Clear Devices List, and click on the Clear Button. Don't worry, this won't reset your router. It will however serve to clean up the list of any devices previously connected to the 5268ac device. And again, don't worry, anything reconnected up to the 5268ac will automatically be detected.

* Router Address: Fill this field with the Default Gateway Address provided by AT&T. This will be the IP Address of the 5268's "LAN Side" (AT&T's misleading term, which should be titled "Customer Facing WAN")

In the "Settings Tab, Broadband Sub-Tab, Link Configuration Sub-Sub-Tab, Supplementary Network Section", Add Additional Network Radio Button sub-fields, there are three items (two to fill in and one to check / tick on)

* Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (assuming you have 5 usable static IPs, adjust as needed with the information provided by AT&T)

* Auto Firewall Open: Check this off as it makes life easier (explained below). I'd also swear this wasn't originally available and was one of the useful items added with some firmware update.

*Router Address: Fill this field with the Default Gateway Address provided by AT&T. This will be the IP Address of the 5268's "LAN Side" (AT&T's misleading term, which should be titled "Customer Facing WAN")

*Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (assuming you have 5 usable static IPs, adjust as needed with the information provided by AT&T)

*Auto Firewall Open: Check this off as it makes life easier (explained below). I'd also swear this wasn't originally available and was one of the useful items added with some firmware update.

As you configure your device(s) 'behind' the 5268ac, you can check whether the 5268 is detecting those devices here: Settings Tab, LAN (remember, that's AT&T's misleading term) Sub-Tab, LAN IP Address Allocation Sub-Sub-Tab, Public-Private NAT Mappings and Device IP Allocation Section. You should see your devices listed in this section. There should also be some settings in the form of dropdown boxes, see below;

* Firewall (Disabled / Enabled): Make sure this is set to Disabled as the router behind the 5268ac will have it's own capability. If using a computer, make sure it has a software firewall. In years past, this defaulted to Enabled, so one would have to select Disabled manually. Thanks to one useful firmware update (see the above 'Auto Firewall Open' setting), the 'default' can be set to Disabled (at least for devices in the IP Address range assigned by AT&T)

*Firewall (Disabled / Enabled): Make sure this is set to Disabled as the router behind the 5268ac will have it's own capability. If using a computer, make sure it has a software firewall. In years past, this defaulted to Enabled, so one would have to select Disabled manually. Thanks to one useful firmware update (see the above 'Auto Firewall Open' setting), the 'default' can be set to Disabled (at least for devices in the IP Address range assigned by AT&T)

* Address Assignment: You can pick any setting you want. Assuming you've configured your router behind the 5268ac correctly (IE, a static IP Address is assigned to it from the pool provided by AT&T), this is a bit of a trick, as there is only one choice: Static IP - no DHCP. If you've chosen to leave your device's WAN port set for DHCP, then you'll have a choice. But that shouldn't be the case very often as the entire point of having a static IP is to make a devices WAN IP predictable, IE static.

*Address Assignment: You can pick any setting you want. Assuming you've configured your router behind the 5268ac correctly (IE, a static IP Address is assigned to it from the pool provided by AT&T), this is a bit of a trick, as there is only one choice: Static IP - no DHCP. If you've chosen to leave your device's WAN port set for DHCP, then you'll have a choice. But that shouldn't be the case very often as the entire point of having a static IP is to make a devices WAN IP predictable, IE static.

* WAN IP Mapping: Usually the 5268ac picks this up automatically and correctly, but check against the MAC Address to make sure.

*WAN IP Mapping: Usually the 5268ac picks this up automatically and correctly, but check against the MAC Address to make sure.

** The MAC Address is displayed above each subsection as 'unknownWhateverMACaddress'. It can also be changed to a different name here: Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Status Sub-Sub-Tab, Devices Section, Edit Name Link

**The MAC Address is displayed above each subsection as 'unknownWhateverMACaddress'. It can also be changed to a different name here: Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Status Sub-Sub-Tab, Devices Section, Edit Name Link

===="Add Cascade Router" 'Mode'====

Using this mode, there can only be ONE device that has the 5 Static IP Addresses assigned to it, as the 5268ac will send ALL packets to ONLY ONE device. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, this section was very frustrating because of the complete lack of documentation on this item. Nothing from the manufacturer, nothing from AT&T, and really misleading / uninformed information from forums (again no offense to anyone). Even knowing what all the terms were and taking a good educated guess at what the engineers intended, the number of times I got the ERROR message with completely useless information was heading to triple digits.

For any of the below stuff to work, you must FIRST have a device hooked up and connected to the 5268ac with a WAN (not LAN, but WAN) IP Address that is NOT in the range of static IPs allocated to you by AT&T. It can be anything, BUT...

* I very strongly recommend an IP Address in a 'private range', 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x, 192.168.x.x.

* Beyond that, don't use an IP Address in your private LAN range / sub-net.

* Assign the WAN port of your device something like 192.168.254.1 / 24 (255.255.255.0)

* And finally, make sure the AT&T Router has an IP Address assigned to it in the same range (IE, if you chose 192.168.254.1 for your router, 192.168.254.254 for the 5268ac is in that same subnet)

** Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Link DHCP Sub-Sub-Tab, DHCP Configuration Section, DHCP Network Range - Configure Manually Button, Router Address Field, etc.

In the "Settings Tab, Broadband Sub-Tab, Link Configuration Sub-Sub-Tab, Supplementary Network Section", Add Cascade Router Radio Button sub-fields, there are three items to configure (with an additional Radio Button for an the third item(s)).

* Network Address: This is the first address of the subnet AT&T allocated to you. Not the first of five usable IP Addresses, the first of the 8 IP Address allocated by AT&T ("This Subnet", first usable IP, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, Default Gateway, Broadcast, the Default Gateway used to be at the bottom of the usable IP range, but not anymore).

* Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (again, this assumes 5 usable static IPs)

* Select Router Router (Pizza Pizza anyone) Radio Button: If this field is populated, great. If not, make sure you have a device connected to the 5268ac device (read the second paragraph of this section). If more than one device with a 'non in the AT&T provided public IP Address range' is connected to the 5268ac, then there will be more than one item in this dropdown list.

* Enter Address Radio Button: If there isn't a device with a 'non in the AT&T provided public IP Address range' IP Address, nothing you put here will work and will result in an Error message that isn't helpful.

Since this is a difficult thing to configure, here's a working example of an old subnet I used to own / have control of about 15 years ago (and still hasn't been allocated to anyone else since then, who says we're running out of IPs?)

Subnet: 63.202.47.96 / 29

"This Network" Address: 63.202.47.97

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248

Default Gateway: 63.202.47.97 (yes, this is the classic position of the default gateway)

Usable IPs: 63.202.47.98 - 63.202.47.102

Broadcast Address: 63.202.47.103

</syntaxhighlight>

<br />

~~===="Add Cascade Router" 'Mode'====~~

~~Using this mode, there can only be ONE device that has the 5 Static IP Addresses assigned to it, as the 5268ac will send ALL packets to ONLY ONE device.~~

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 *There's other information AT&T gave you (DNS servers, etc), but not necessary here.
-In the "Settings Tab, Broadband Sub-Tab, Link Configuration Sub-Sub-Tab, Supplementary Network Section", there are three items (two to fill in and one to check / tick on)
+A suggestion before doing any of the below stuff is to go to here: Settings Tab, Diagnostics Sub-Tab, Resets Sub-Sub-Tab, System & Links Resets Section, Clear Devices List, and click on the Clear Button.  Don't worry, this won't reset your router.  It will however serve to clean up the list of any devices previously connected to the 5268ac device.  And again, don't worry, anything reconnected up to the 5268ac will automatically be detected.
-* Router Address: Fill this field with the Default Gateway Address provided by AT&T.  This will be the IP Address of the 5268's "LAN Side" (AT&T's misleading term, which should be titled "Customer Facing WAN")
+In the "Settings Tab, Broadband Sub-Tab, Link Configuration Sub-Sub-Tab, Supplementary Network Section", Add Additional Network Radio Button sub-fields, there are three items (two to fill in and one to check / tick on)
-* Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (assuming you have 5 usable static IPs, adjust as needed with the information provided by AT&T)
-* Auto Firewall Open: Check this off as it makes life easier (explained below).  I'd also swear this wasn't originally available and was one of the useful items added with some firmware update.
+*Router Address: Fill this field with the Default Gateway Address provided by AT&T.  This will be the IP Address of the 5268's "LAN Side" (AT&T's misleading term, which should be titled "Customer Facing WAN")
+*Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (assuming you have 5 usable static IPs, adjust as needed with the information provided by AT&T)
+*Auto Firewall Open: Check this off as it makes life easier (explained below).  I'd also swear this wasn't originally available and was one of the useful items added with some firmware update.
 As you configure your device(s) 'behind' the 5268ac, you can check whether the 5268 is detecting those devices here: Settings Tab, LAN (remember, that's AT&T's misleading term) Sub-Tab, LAN IP Address Allocation Sub-Sub-Tab, Public-Private NAT Mappings and Device IP Allocation Section.  You should see your devices listed in this section.  There should also be some settings in the form of dropdown boxes, see below;
-* Firewall (Disabled / Enabled): Make sure this is set to Disabled as the router behind the 5268ac will have it's own capability.  If using a computer, make sure it has a software firewall.  In years past, this defaulted to Enabled, so one would have to select Disabled manually.  Thanks to one useful firmware update (see the above 'Auto Firewall Open' setting), the 'default' can be set to Disabled (at least for devices in the IP Address range assigned by AT&T)
+*Firewall (Disabled / Enabled): Make sure this is set to Disabled as the router behind the 5268ac will have it's own capability.  If using a computer, make sure it has a software firewall.  In years past, this defaulted to Enabled, so one would have to select Disabled manually.  Thanks to one useful firmware update (see the above 'Auto Firewall Open' setting), the 'default' can be set to Disabled (at least for devices in the IP Address range assigned by AT&T)
-* Address Assignment: You can pick any setting you want.  Assuming you've configured your router behind the 5268ac correctly (IE, a static IP Address is assigned to it from the pool provided by AT&T), this is a bit of a trick, as there is only one choice: Static IP - no DHCP.  If you've chosen to leave your device's WAN port set for DHCP, then you'll have a choice.  But that shouldn't be the case very often as the entire point of having a static IP is to make a devices WAN IP predictable, IE static.
+*Address Assignment: You can pick any setting you want.  Assuming you've configured your router behind the 5268ac correctly (IE, a static IP Address is assigned to it from the pool provided by AT&T), this is a bit of a trick, as there is only one choice: Static IP - no DHCP.  If you've chosen to leave your device's WAN port set for DHCP, then you'll have a choice.  But that shouldn't be the case very often as the entire point of having a static IP is to make a devices WAN IP predictable, IE static.
-* WAN IP Mapping: Usually the 5268ac picks this up automatically and correctly, but check against the MAC Address to make sure.
+*WAN IP Mapping: Usually the 5268ac picks this up automatically and correctly, but check against the MAC Address to make sure.
-** The MAC Address is displayed above each subsection as 'unknownWhateverMACaddress'.  It can also be changed to a different name here: Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Status Sub-Sub-Tab, Devices Section, Edit Name Link
+**The MAC Address is displayed above each subsection as 'unknownWhateverMACaddress'.  It can also be changed to a different name here: Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Status Sub-Sub-Tab, Devices Section, Edit Name Link
+===="Add Cascade Router" 'Mode'====
+Using this mode, there can only be ONE device that has the 5 Static IP Addresses assigned to it, as the 5268ac will send ALL packets to ONLY ONE device.  I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, this section was very frustrating because of the complete lack of documentation on this item.  Nothing from the manufacturer, nothing from AT&T, and really misleading / uninformed information from forums (again no offense to anyone).  Even knowing what all the terms were and taking a good educated guess at what the engineers intended, the number of times I got the ERROR message with completely useless information was heading to triple digits.
+For any of the below stuff to work, you must FIRST have a device hooked up and connected to the 5268ac with a WAN (not LAN, but WAN) IP Address that is NOT in the range of static IPs allocated to you by AT&T.  It can be anything, BUT...
+* I very strongly recommend an IP Address in a 'private range', 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x, 192.168.x.x.
+* Beyond that, don't use an IP Address in your private LAN range / sub-net.
+* Assign the WAN port of your device something like 192.168.254.1 / 24 (255.255.255.0)
+* And finally, make sure the AT&T Router has an IP Address assigned to it in the same range (IE, if you chose 192.168.254.1 for your router, 192.168.254.254 for the 5268ac is in that same subnet)
+** Settings Tab, LAN Sub-Tab, Link DHCP Sub-Sub-Tab, DHCP Configuration Section, DHCP Network Range - Configure Manually Button, Router Address Field, etc.
+In the "Settings Tab, Broadband Sub-Tab, Link Configuration Sub-Sub-Tab, Supplementary Network Section", Add Cascade Router Radio Button sub-fields, there are three items to configure (with an additional Radio Button for an the third item(s)).
+* Network Address: This is the first address of the subnet AT&T allocated to you.  Not the first of five usable IP Addresses, the first of the 8 IP Address allocated by AT&T ("This Subnet", first usable IP, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, Default Gateway, Broadcast, the Default Gateway used to be at the bottom of the usable IP range, but not anymore).
+* Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248 (again, this assumes 5 usable static IPs)
+* Select Router Router (Pizza Pizza anyone) Radio Button: If this field is populated, great.  If not, make sure you have a device connected to the 5268ac device (read the second paragraph of this section).  If more than one device with a 'non in the AT&T provided public IP Address range' is connected to the 5268ac, then there will be more than one item in this dropdown list.
+* Enter Address Radio Button: If there isn't a device with a 'non in the AT&T provided public IP Address range' IP Address, nothing you put here will work and will result in an Error message that isn't helpful.
+Since this is a difficult thing to configure, here's a working example of an old subnet I used to own / have control of about 15 years ago (and still hasn't been allocated to anyone else since then, who says we're running out of IPs?)
+[[File:5268ac in Cascade Router Mode Working Configuration.jpg|alt=5268ac in Cascade Router Mode - Working Configuration|center|frameless|986x986px|d5268ac in Cascade Router Mode - Working Configuration]]
+<br /><syntaxhighlight lang="text">
+Subnet: 63.202.47.96 / 29
+"This Network" Address: 63.202.47.97
+Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.248
+Default Gateway: 63.202.47.97 (yes, this is the classic position of the default gateway)
+Usable IPs: 63.202.47.98 - 63.202.47.102
+Broadcast Address: 63.202.47.103
+</syntaxhighlight>
 <br />
-===="Add Cascade Router" 'Mode'====
-Using this mode, there can only be ONE device that has the 5 Static IP Addresses assigned to it, as the 5268ac will send ALL packets to ONLY ONE device.