Instructions for setting up a BellSouth configured Westell 2100/2200/6100 (Models A90-210030-04, B90-220030-04, B90-610030-06 and C90-610030-06, respectively) with a very popular Linksys (BEFSR41v.2) router. Other Linksys routers (including wireless routers) are similar and can use the basic setup of this FAQ. This initial setup is all that is needed to configure and connect your Linksys based network for FastAccess DSL. Any additional setup for features like WEP, DHCP IP ranges, port triggering, etc is out of the scope of this FAQ. Important Note: Due to some operational issues it is VERY important that you have the latest firmware on your Linksys router. Please go to the Linksys Download Website and ensure you have the newest firmware. Several steps in this FAQ are dependent on the Westell model number and firmware. Please follow the instructions for your specific model and firmware. It is highly recommended you click here and update your Westell firmware. More detailed information about the Westell is available here.

This FAQ has 4 Major sections:
Section 1 - Overview
Section 2 - Westell modem configuration
Section 3 - General router configuration information
Section 4 - Connections and power up

Section 1 - Overview
•The best configuration for networking a Linksys router(or any other external router) with the Westell is to set the Westell to "Bridged Ethernet" mode and allow the Linksys to do the routing and DHCP functions. The Westell is also a router with full DHCP functions and may not function correctly when connected directly to another router. Not changing the modem to Bridged Ethernet may result in double NAT'ing, increased latency, possible IP conflicts, or possibly a network that doesn't work at all.
•Both the Westell and Linksys router must be set to default by pressing the reset button for 30 seconds. Despite what the help desk tech tells you, resetting the modem does not put it into Bridged Mode.
•The BellSouth Installation CD and Connection Manager are not required to use this configuration.
•Since BellSouth assigns static IPs via your username the configurations shown are applicable to both dynamic and single static IP customers.
•You must connect the Westell directly to the computer's NIC to make the necessary changes before you connect the router, because you will probably be unable to access the modem interface after you connect the router. The reason is that the modem interface is 192.168.1.254 which is a local IP. By default, most routers do not have the capability to route a local IP out of their WAN port (where your Westell is connected). Additionally, they may be on completely different subnets. After you have made the changes to the Westell you can then connect the router and configure it for use with FastAccess. There are several alternatives around this problem. One method involves extra equipment (second NIC and a hub) and major configuration changes. The second method requires you to utilize the router as a simple switch and use the Westell's PPPoE and DHCP functions. Click here for more information.
•If you encounter any problems simply reset the Westell, connect it directly to your NIC, restart your computer, log into the Westell interface, and start over again.
•More information about the Westell is available here.

Section 2 - Westell Configuration
Step 1
Verify that your NIC card is set to "Obtain IP Address Automatically". Completely power down the Westell and the computer(s). Power up the modem and press the reset button on the back of the modem for 10 seconds. After the modem has fully reinitialized connect the Westell to the NIC and then power up the computer.

Step 2
Open a browser application and enter 192.168.1.254 in the URL address field to access the Westell interface. If you are unable to access the interface check here and make sure your NIC is set to "Obtain an IP address automatically". If that is set correctly and you still can not connect to the Westell interface, reboot the computer (or release/renew) to obtain a new IP.

Step 3
This step is dependent on your specific Westell model number and firmware.

Westell 6100 Procedure: Click on Broadband DSL Line from the top menu. Click on Configure Connection from the right menu. Select "Bridged Ethernet" from the Protocol pull down. Click on Save and restart the connection at the bottom.

Westell 2100 or 2200 Procedure: Click on Expert Mode from the menu and confirm that you want to enter Expert Mode. Click on Configure from the menu and then Connection in the sub-menu. Select "Bridged Ethernet" from the Protocol pull down. Click on Save and restart the connection at the bottom. Important Information: You will not be able to access Expert Mode if you are using Internet Explorer 7. This is a known issue, however no new firmware is available to correct the problem. Click here for more information.

This will automatically restart the modem and the interface will return after the changes are saved. Note: functions like NAT, DHCP, IP Passthrough, and username and password will be disabled or irrelevant and can not be selected. After the modem has restarted, power down both the computer and the modem then physically disconnect the Westell.

Section 3 - Linksys Router Information
Step 4
When the computer is completely powered down, connect one of the router's LAN ports to the computer NIC and power up the router and then the computer. Reset the router to default by pressing the reset button for roughly 20 seconds (exact placement of the button differs per model). The follow screen shots are taken from a Linksys BEFSR41v.2 router and your screen shots may be different.



Step 5
Important note: The following screen shots are based on a Linksys BEFSR41v.2 router and your screen shots may be slightly different, however the process and specific configurations are the same. Open a browser session and enter "192.168.1.1" in the address field to access the Linksys Interface. At the Username and Password prompt enter "admin" (without quotes) in the Password Field.



Step 6
On the Linksys Setup page select PPPoE from the WAN Connection Type pull down. Enter your BellSouth Username followed by "@bellsouth.net". Enter your BellSouth Password. Select Keep live and enter 180 seconds Redial Period field. Do not enter anything in the Host Name or Domain Name fields. Important Operational Note: If your model has the ability to manually enable MTU size you should select Enable or Manual and enter 1492 (or less) in the Size field. The MTU fields are not shown on the screenshot below and may be on a different menu tab. Click on Apply to save the changes. You may get a "Settings are successful" message, click on Continue (if required).



Section 4 - Connections and Power Up
Step 7
Power everything down and physically connect the Westell, the router, and any computer(s) as shown below.


Westell 2100 shown. Pictures by Andy Houtz
Step 9
Power up the network equipment in this order:
•Westell Modem (wait til the ready light is steady green)
•Linksys Router
•Computer(s)
•Open a browser session and try to surf. If you do not have a connection enter "192.168.1.1" in the address field to access the Linksys Interface. Click on the Status tab from the menu then click on the Connect button to connect to the Internet.
•Go surfing!



Important Additional Information
•The Westell 6100 has an "Internet" light that is green whenever there is an active PPPoE session initiated by the Westell. Since you are using the Linksys to establish the PPPoE session the light will stay off. This is normal and does not effect your connection.
• Do not change the Linksys Operating Mode from Gateway Mode (default setting) to Router Mode, or it will not function correctly.
•The Linksys "Auto" MTU capability does not function correctly on some models/firmware. You must manually enable the MTU and adjust the size to 1492 (or less). If you are experiencing slow/erratic speeds, constant disconnects, or receive a "Can not obtain IP address from the server" or "PPPoE negotiation fail" errors click here.
•You should recheck your tweak settings in order to optimize your new network. Reminder: If you change your MTU, make sure that it is set identically on all equipment (PCs and routers) in the network.

Andy Houtz

• This was a really wonderful article, and gave me wifi connectivity when nothing else did. However, I have a fairly large network and now I'm in need of connecting my second linksys as an access point to the first one that these instructions gave. I have tried everything within my limited knowledge and read multiple articles, all to no avail. The AP is now doing the same thing that the router was when it was first set up to get Internet from the westell; it will connect to the AP but there is no Internet access. Your article got net access on the first one but I can't seem to get the AP to get Internet now. Can you help at all? Maybe point me to an article that is similarly in depth? Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer!

  2013-07-14 06:45:50

• I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you. I was just about to shoot myself.

  2013-02-13 23:50:30

• Thank you so much. Linksys wanted 30.00 to help me and I almost gave up and bought a new router.

  2013-02-03 13:17:21

• omg thank you u have saved me 50 dollars!!<3 it

  2012-10-09 17:41:13

• Bullet point 5 under Section I Overview solved my problem today. I'm with ATT DSL in California. My Westell modem suddenly lost its settings. After changing my Linksys router setting to restore internet, the Westell modem could not be accessed at it ip address. ATT's internet tech refused to help because my account is residential, not business, and then offered to sell me a maintenance contract. Thank You Very Much!

  2012-09-17 17:04:26

• there are two ways: 1. this one that change the modem to bridge, and use the router to login (won't be able to access the modem) 2. leave the modem's default setting to let it do the login, except for change modem's LAN IP to a different subnet (192.168.0.1 or .2.1 or others, if your router is .1.1). let the router to use DHCP to get WAN IP from the modem (a bit like using cable modem). the most important part is the get the direction connection to work (used by P2P), the trick is by enabling the static NAT on the router in the modem's firewall setting (DMZ host won't work) this way, the direct connection works, and you can access both the router AND the modem

  2012-06-22 23:27:39 (kmcheng )

• Thank you and god bless. You saved me so much trouble.

  2012-05-30 08:06:19

• DSLREPORTS.COM is the best!!!! I've relied on this site for many years and I'm never disappointed. The easiest to follow instructions on virtually any hardware configuration.

  2012-04-12 03:45:16

• Thank you sooo much for this. I've been working on trying to get my boss's net working with this Linksys for hours now and this was the only guide that helped me get it running in PPPoE.

  2012-01-28 16:41:03

• Your instructions were spot on. Thanks for taking the time to post the steps.

  2012-01-11 19:26:43

• Excellent help! AT&T wanted to charge me ~$140.00 and I'm not sure they would have helped. Thanks for a wonderful resource

  2012-01-06 16:21:17

• Thanks, this helped me too. I think ATT should step up and support their customers. The phone rep gave me some bunk about not being trained to reset the modem to bridged mode. It is in the expert mode section of their own software! They didn't even want to answer my questions because I have a A90-2100 Westell and the current model is F90-6100 even though it is their equipment. Thanks again.

  2011-12-24 08:58:39

• Connected Westell 6100 from AT&T to a Linksys WRT54G2. Changed router IP to 192.168.2.1 instead of 192.168.1.1 and left modem at 192.168.1.254. Assigned router to DHCP and it actually received a 192.168.1.64 IP address from the modem and similarly it automatically populated 192.168.1.254 into the fields that needed that (DNS, Gateway, etc). Works like a charm and didn't have to mess with PPoE settings on anything.

  2011-10-17 03:36:51

• You save me $49 and tons of frustration! I am a little bit smarter too. Can't thank you enough.

  2011-09-09 12:59:19

• Man, you nailed it. I've been working on this for two days and finally ran across this write up. Perfect.

  2011-08-30 17:24:50

• OMG somebody actually knows what they're talking about! Thank you so much for this write-up: we are AT&T customers in the Chicago area, and almost every time we have a power failure I go through a grueling hour or two of resetting our Westell/Linksys setup. This time? 1, 2, 3, done! even though some of these exact instructions may not apply to a current Westell model, the principles and basic steps work perfectly. thanks!

  2011-07-23 16:58:02

• THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU HAVE SAVED MY INTERNET ADDICTED SELF FROM FURTHER WITHDRAWALS ^.^ THANK YOU!!

  2011-07-19 20:25:37

• Just wanted to say thanks, I have been struggling for weeks on this!

  2011-04-05 18:51:26

• Thanks so much for this! Spent two hours dealing with this before I found this site. Took me ten minutes after reading through this to be up and running. Thanks bro!

  2011-03-04 21:26:26

• it worked for me too. i have Verizon westell 6100f modem and linksys wrt160n wireless router and had a problem with a connection for over 2 years thanks again

  2011-01-04 21:27:00

• Bellsouth customer support also provided this link http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB401764&wtSupMethod=SS&cv=801%2C701%2C102&wtEvent=eCAR_Solution_Email_Link_Clicked&source=EZSS250000000000&wtSolID=KB401764 to a support article about connecting 3rd party routers with their service. It seems to almost be correct, except it doesn't tell you to disable DHCP on the westell. It goes into further depth with other router brands though, so thought i'd post it here.

  2011-01-02 18:36:57

• Helped me here at home and with my father-in-laws setup. Both experiencing problems with network issues and repeated disconnects and weird IP DHCP behavior. Take a few minutes and apply to your DSL Modem. Your router and home?work network will thank you dearly with increased reliability and performance. Thank you to the author any the many, many others on the Internet who take the time to write solutions like this. It's a shame that most technical support has moved overseas and becoming increasingly more like technical NO-support. Well done DLSReports.com and the author ! Mark...Jacksonville, Florida

  2010-12-31 02:15:19

• I just want to say thank you so much for your help on this page. I called bellsouth/att for help with getting my router back online after my modem had reset itself and they actually wanted me to buy some plan that would cost me 15 dollars a month for them to help me with router set up if I needed help. I told them that's ok I'll just find help on google and you guys have it all right here. I cannot say thank you enough for this extremely vital and helpful information and for saving me some money I did not need to spend. I now have my router set up with my bellsouth/att modem again and it is working perfectly. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

  2010-12-13 19:19:17

• Great article. Far superior to anything AT&T tech support has to offer... Thanks

  2010-11-24 15:54:16

• Thank You so much - For how long now I've been cheating using static IP's through my Linksis with a .254 gateway. My old motorola DSL modem went bad - I upgraded to a new Westell and the Windows 2000 computer could not ping that. 254 via the router. Thus you guys bailed me out along with what it looks like many people below my thread. These procedures are most- most appreciated as all service launched beautifully. Thank you BROADBAND DSL REPORTS Team!!

  2010-10-31 15:14:21

• THANKS A MILLION! I've been trying for 3 days!

  2010-08-08 10:52:03

• Please let people know... They MUST disable DHCP on the Linksys router... I was able to get internet while WIRED, but not Wireless, even though I had wireless connection. The linksys router DHCP was giving out a bad DNS of 192.168.1.1 instead of the correct DNS of 192.168.1.254.

  2010-03-14 10:36:42

• I just wanted to say that these instructions have served me well. I used them two years ago and ran trouble free. Recently, after assigning a static IP to my PS3, I kept getting a loss in connection. Apparently, some Westell modems, like mine, are also routers....that have DHCP enabled as a default. I kinda missed that detail the last 10 times....BUT thanks to looking back here, I disabled the DHCP, and voila!!!! internet is now working perfectly on my network and my PS3. I also plugged in "preferred" dns addys [208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220] in the PS3... Just wanted to say thank you once again for helping with my network.

  2010-01-25 22:14:57

• Thanks for the post. You might want to revise the "Important Additional Information" section: I enabled the DHCP server in my Linksys (Model WRT54G2). Since it now does not conflict with the Westell DHCP server function it works fine.

  2009-11-06 20:56:57

• I used the information in this FAQ to get my TrendNet wireless router to work with my westell 6100 modem. i reset the modem to bridged ethernet. i then made sure that my router looked for the PPPoE connection, had my username and pw put in. reset my router, and voila, it worked like a charm.

  2009-08-30 02:09:28

• Just wanted to say thanks because this is the only place on the web I've found where all the information on how to setup these two devices together is both combined into one document and easy to follow.

  2009-07-19 02:03:17

• Thank you for providing this information. This informative page cleared up connection problems I was facing setting up my Linsky WRT54G with the Westell 6100 modem to operate a Home Network. Biggreasyt@aol.com

  2009-07-11 10:18:19

• Awesome write-up! Thank you!

  2009-02-27 20:56:32

• Andy you are my hero! I could not get uTorrent speed above 15 kbps and instructions from portfowarder.com did not help. I followed the above instructions and am at 180 kbps now (with Westell 2100 and LinkSys WRT54GS). Thanks!

  2009-02-12 23:08:11

• To the person who wrote this FAQ - God Bless You!!!! and Thank you, thank you, thank you. Absolutely no problems getting this to work and I have printed this out for future reference. This will work with Linksys WRT54G.

  2009-02-01 11:28:55

• This does not work at all with a Linksys WRT110.

  2009-01-25 12:00:13

• googled trouble with linksys router and this page popped up. wouldn't work until i READ the beginning were you wrote about having to config the att westell modem first......WORKED LIKE A CHARM....thanks

  2009-01-15 11:16:12

• Sir or Madame, as is the case, This bit of intelligent and cogently cohesive instruction is, not just perfect, but perfectly applicable. I wax effusive! Linksys is a PITA and BellSouth is worse but, because of you, all of their perfidy is FOR NAUGHT!!! Kudos, my good and beneficent mentors...Kudos and gratitude. After 8 years of Bush League rule, it is very heartening to see such competence. My hat is OFF!! bill.key@ngc.com p.s. I thought I'd NEVER get the two things working together. Even after working with the LinkSys people for two days. One gets the impression that they do indeed need some instructions on the heels of their boots.

  2009-01-05 22:10:15

• The westell modem already has a router my headaches were solved by switching to a switch hub. Literally have had no connectivity issues since.

  2008-11-19 07:34:59

• I can't thank you enough.

  2008-09-10 06:21:42

got feedback?

got feedback?

Any feedback you provide is sent to the owner of this FAQ for possible incorporation, it is also visible to logged in users.

by Andy Houtz edited by FAQFixer
last modified: 2009-10-11 16:05:27