Setting up a router from ethernet port

Question

I recently moved into student housing where I have a student-run ISP included in my rent. My ISP is k-net.dk (can't post link). I've tried contacting them, and my own apartment complex internet group, and they just say they don't offer help with setting up our own equipment.

In my apartment, I have two ethernet ports in the wall, that look like this. I've been using those (the green one, if that matters) to connect my computer directly with an ethernet cable, and the connection is quite good.

However, it doesn't reach very far and I'd like to be able to connect my phone to wi-fi as well. So I bought the Netgear N600 router (model WNDR3700v5) from a local store, recommended by the staff. It includes an ethernet cable and simple instructions.

When I plug it in, the wi-fi light is on but not the internet light. I used the foolproof wizard called Netgear genie to set it up, but it kept telling me to plug in the ethernet cable or to restart the modem - which I don't have access to as far as I know. In the end, I chose manual setup and got a home screen telling me everything was fine.

After much googling and asking everyone for help, I tried out an article on the Netgear website "No Internet with new router - MAC spoofing", in case it was the problem (although I have no idea if it is). This is what the settings look like, and even if I just pressed "test" and not "apply", they seem to have applied. Nothing happened but the main screen displayed "ERROR not connected" under internet and the option to enter a setup wizard. At first, it just said that everything was fixed, the internet light was on and solid on my router and internet worked. But it disappears within 5 minutes and I have to disconnect the ethernet cable from the router for a while before I can get it to connect again.

For a while, I could do this cycle a few times, but now the setup wizard shows me the same as the Network genie did when I let it set up automatically, telling me to restart the modem or connect ethernet cable properly. I'm pretty sure I have to change the settings where I set the MAC address, but I don't know what to change or to what.

I'm sorry about the lack of links and screenshots, but I'm not allowed to post more than two links because I'm a new user.

Answer 1

Background: As you can connect your computer directly to the Ethernet port in the wall, you don't need a modem: There's a LAN for the whole student-housing already set up, and if a modem is needed, it's somewhere else.

Your router will act as a single device on the LAN, and will use Network Address Translation (NAT) to pretend that the multiple devices you connect to it are just a single device.

So you must connect the WAN port (the yellow) to the Ethernet plug in the wall.

In the BASIC setup panel, select the following:

• Internet IP Address: Get dynamically from ISP
• Domain Name Server Address: Get dynamically from ISP
• Router MAC Address: Use default address.

The first and the second enable DHCP to get the correct IP address and nameserver for the router. In this case the student-housing LAN acts like the ISP. This is the same thing your computer does when you connect it directly to the wall port.

I suspect you didn't use these settings, and therefore couldn't get a connection.

I don't think the student-housing LAN restricts access to just one device, only in this case you'd need to enable MAC spoofing with the MAC of the computer you already had connected.

(BTW, a simpler way to get help is to just ask your neighbours - they probably already did something like this, and they know the local sitation).

Answer 2

First things first, you'll need a modem/router combo in order to make this work for you. What you have is just a router, which usually can't be directly connected to the Ethernet port and actually work; you need to have a modem connected to the port, and then either a) connect a separate router (like you have) to the modem, or b) instead use a modem/router combination device that acts as both. Right now, the router isn't able to "route" the internet because it's not actually receiving an internet connection as it's not connected to a modem.

Secondly, you'll likely need to contact the ISP and have them "activate" the new hardware on their end for it to work for you. Whenever I use new hardware that isn't provided by the ISP, I have to go through a manual activation process that isn't automated the way most ISP-issued modem setups are. For example, here the States, most ISPs I've been with have had an "activation" landing page on their site that enables you to manually enter the router/modem's model number, MAC address, and serial number, submit it to their system, and activate it. I'm not sure if K-Net has a similar system in place, or if you have to contact them directly to do so.

As you mentioned that you've already tried to contact both your student housing and the ISP for help, and they've told you they don't offer help with setting up your own equipment, instead of asking for help, tell them you need to activate your new hardware, and push for the correct method.