Is it possible to use a different router with gen 5's HT2000w?

[GabeU · Accepted solution]

Absolutely.  Lots of folks do, actually.  You can connect a 3rd party router to any one of the LAN ports and use that for more ports or WiFi.  If you're going to use the 3rd party router for WiFi it would be best to turn off the competing WiFi band(s) (2.4Ghz or 5Ghz, or both) in the HT2000W so that the two WiFi sources aren't fighting each other.  

The instructions for turning off the WiFi in the HT2000W are in the following PDF, under "How do I manage my built-in Wi-Fi modem?"

http://customer.kb.hughesnet.com/Documents/1041318-0001_a.pdf

[TimS]

I knew that another router could be connected that way (once it was put into bridge mode), but all that gives you is more ports, and a different set of wifi radios.  What I'm really interested in is using a different router than the HT2000w for NAT and DHCP.  By connecting a different router to one of the HT2000w's lan ports you still must use the hughes box for NAT and DHCP.  The hughes router's NAT table is relatively small, only allowing up to 10 connections.

After going thru the detailed menu's on the hughes box, it doesn't appear possible to use another router for NAT and DHCP.  Too bad hughes didn't design the HT2000w with an ethernet output port directly from the satellite modem, bypassing the internal router,  so a user could use the router of their choice, and not be limited to the electronics they chose to include in the same box.

[MarkJFine]

Do other satellite internet companies do it differently?

[C0RR0SIVE]

Are you an SME customer?

The HT2000w doesn't have a bridge mode, you are stuck with the 10 potential forwards for NAT... If you are not an SME customer, it wont matter how big the potential forward is, because you are on CGN.

[TimS]

No, I'm not a small or medium business enterprise, as I assume thats what you meant by SME.  Have Hughes as it's the only broadband option at the home where we will retire in a few months.  The HT2000w is somewhat constrained from a NAT perspective, and we have a number of wireless devices.  As I said earlier, it would be great if the Ht2000w had an output port directly from the satellite modem so a more capable router could be used for NAT and DHCP, and the hughes's internal router bypassed entirely.

Any other  wifi router connected to the HT2000w's lan port will have to be placed into bridge mode.  The wifi of the HT2000w  would then need to be disabled, but by doing that you only get to use the wifi of the other wifi router which may, or may not be better than that of the HT2000w.

[C0RR0SIVE]

/shrugs/  Seeing as you are already behind a Double NAT thanks to CGN and the Router of the HT2000w, what's it going to hurt having yet another one?  Can't do port forwarding as a residential customer.  I have a PFSense box sitting between my network and HT2000w, it handles everything... I just treat their unit like another modem...

BTW, the HN9000 worked the same way as the HT2000w.

[shawstad]

hi! i have a netgear n750 that I was going to use with the ht2000w. 

would you happen to know if the netgear n750 is capable of monitoring activity? i'd like to find out where all my data's going. thanks for any light you could shed!

[MarkJFine]

Judging from the manual, it looks like you can do overall metering of traffic, but not by device.

www.downloads.netgear.com/files/.../WNDR4000/WNDR4000_UM_06May2013.pdf

[shawstad]

thanks! now am i disabling the broadcasting of all the networks on the ht2000w,and using the netgear to broadcast? sorry if my questions are lame but this is new territory for me and i really appreciate the help!

love to learn!  😃

[C0RR0SIVE]

Yes, you will want to disable all the Wifi Networks present on your HT2000w if you plan on using another router for your Wifi.

[shawstad]

thanks a bunch!

[GabeU]

@MarkJFine

I think something happened to that link in your post.  http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/WNDR4000/WNDR4000_UM_06May2013.pdf

@shawstad

When I was using my Netgear WNR2000 (N300) I used the Netgear Genie App for Windows and it worked very well for monitoring the data as a whole.  I also use Glasswire for my computer, itself.  Glasswire is free, and it's a great program for monitoring the data on the computer it's installed on, especially if it's using a lot of data and you're trying to determine just what, on the computer, is using it.  

[MarkJFine]

Great indication of how my day is going, btw.

[GabeU]

You and me, both!  LOL. 

But that is really weird that it replaced the GDC with ... in the link.  Just plain wacky.  

[shawstad]

yeah,  the link didn't work for me either but i was thinking cuz i'm on a mac, but pdf. duh! we digress! at any rate, i downloaded the genie and the manual, then noticed there's new firmware for v2, so do I need to update the firmware first?

i sure am glad i found you guys cuz this is unchartered territory for me...scary-fun! (I don't get out much!)

thanks for all of your help!

[MarkJFine]

I'd try to find out what's in the firmware update before applying it because you never know what can happen.

I've done that with a Cisco router and ended up going back to the default firmware and building it back up from scratch. That can be a harrowing experience if you're not used to things like that. It always helps to have an alternate route to the internet (such as the 2000w's internal router) should you need to download something to fix a problem.