Ignite XB7 Modem - Connecting 2 Routers

[techuser123]

Hi,

Just recently converted over from the legacy Ignite offering where I had the Hitron CODA modem.  Everything worked fine, and I was able to connect 2 routers to this modem and run independent networks in my house.

With the Ignite XB7 modem I cannot get the 2nd router to connect to the internet.  Is there some limitation with Ignite that I was not aware of?

How to I mimic the network I setup with the Hitron on Ignite?  Both modems were/are in Bridge mode.

Thank you.

[-G-]

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@techuser123 wrote:

Just recently converted over from the legacy Ignite offering where I had the Hitron CODA modem.  Everything worked fine, and I was able to connect 2 routers to this modem and run independent networks in my house.

With the Ignite XB7 modem I cannot get the 2nd router to connect to the internet.  Is there some limitation with Ignite that I was not aware of?

How to I mimic the network I setup with the Hitron on Ignite?  Both modems were/are in Bridge mode.

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As far as I know, you cannot do this with the Ignite gateways because they do not have a "true" bridge mode.  When Bridge Mode is enabled on an Ignite gateway, it still has internal services running on it and it uses one of the two public IP addresses that are available to you, so only one address allocation is available for an external router.

[techuser123 · Accepted solution]

I figured a workaround by connecting my 2nd router behind the first.  OpenVPN is smart enough to work around the NAT issues so I didn't mess with port forwarding or anything.  It's back up and working now.

[Datalink]

@techuser123 are you running the ignite TV service, or just using the modem for internet purposes?  I've seen a post where an XB6 or XB7 user was able to run two routers connected to the modem.  I believe that the routers were connected to separate ethernet ports on the router.  This was more of an accidental discovery rather than a planned configuration.  

Typically, when you connect two routers to a Rogers modem, where each router is connected to a separate ethernet port on the modem, you need to reboot the modem after the routers are connected and running.  I'm assuming here that the modem is running in Bridge mode.  The reboot allows the modem to assign each router its own IPv4 and IPv6 address.  That's actually done by the CMTS, but for practical purposes, the user doesn't care where the IP address assignment comes from.  

Sometimes, if the modem or CMTS doesn't want to play nice, and won't assign the second IP address, you have to disconnect the router that has an external IP address.  That's usually the first connected router.  

Then reboot the modem so that the second router is assigned is IP addresses.  Then reconnect the first router and reboot the modem.  

Normally, after this reboot, both routers will have their own IP independent address assignments.

[techuser123]

I am running Ignite.  I tried days to get that configuration working, but as @-G- pointed out, looks like one the addresses is used for the Ignite cable boxes.  I know it's the XB7 modem / Rogers not allowing this because when I switched routers, eventually the 2nd router was able to connect and get an IP address, but then the first router could not when I plugged it in and rebooted.

I gave up and placed the 2nd router behind the first and it's working fine.  Thanks.