Need help in setting up new Centurytel Westell 7500 modem/router

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Centurytel has sent me a new Westell 7500 modem/router to replace my old obsolete westell 6100 modem. I have this modem setup as bridged and currently working.

I would like to keep my Netgear router and use this new 7500 model/router as a bridge.

I setup the Westell 7500 as bridge, per it’s instructions, but cannot connect to the network. Do I need to change my router settings also?

I changed back to my old Westell modem and all is back to normal.

My local Centurytel Office refuses to help me set my new 7500 unit as a bridge. They only support modem/router setup.

I have a fear of changing something that is working since I know very little about networking.

Can anyone walk me through this change?

This may be a lot to ask, but this old senior would appreciate your help!

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We’d need more detailed information to help.
Can you spell out the steps that you performed to set up the 7500 as a bridge?
How do you have it wired up?

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We’d need more detailed information to help.
Can you spell out the steps that you performed to set up the 7500 as a bridge?
How do you have it wired up?

I have Centurytel.net DSL. The DSL Phone line is connected to the modem. From the modem to the router input. From the router to my printer and 3 computers. They are all cable wired with the correct cables.
The router is setup with PPPoE.

I set the new Westell 7500 modemrouter to Bridge mode per instructions that came with this unit.

Modems Westell 7500 Setup DHCP
1. Open a web browser and go to http://192.168.1.1.
2. Select the “Advanced” tab.
3. Select the “WAN”. Select “VC”.
4. Select “Edit” on the first connection.
5. Change Enter your:
VPI = 8 and VCI = 35
6. Change the Protocol to “Bridge”.
7. Change the Mode to “Routed Bridge”.
8. Select “Set VC”.
9. Select “OK”.

The N900 Netgear router cannot find the bridged 7500 modem. (Cabled the same as the old slow Westell 61100 modem.
I can exchange the modems back to the old modem and everything works.

I have my N900 router setup already with sign-ons and passwords.
I have not changed anything on the N900 router. It will not see the 7500 bridged mode but will see the 6100 bridged modem.

As I said before, I have little experience with networking.
If there is anything else you need to know, please let me know and I will try to answer.
(I live in a small town and know no one I can talk to about this.)
THANK YOU for your reply!

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What I do with my old Westell from Century is just leave it as it is, let it handle the PPoE connection. Then one Ethernet connection between LAN port on modem/router and WAN port on the router I use. In the WAN connection settings for the router I make it Static I.P. set to 192.168.1.3 with the gateway address of the modem (192.168.1.1).

Presto, haven’t touched the settings of the Westell for many years except to check to see if the connection was up or down.

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As Fun indicated, you shouldn’t have to set the Westell to Bridge mode. Just leave it at the default settings. The manual should have the instructions to reset to default.

Jerry

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Have a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/32306-42-westell-7500-menu

Setup seems much the same as yours

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One thing I learned a hard lessen about with an old Verizon Westell changing to bridged mode and letting my TL-Link router take over is to MAKE SURE you “release” your dynamic IP address BEFORE converting to bridged mode. Otherwise you have to wait for the lease timeout of your modem (can be several hours).

All the hours I spent researching on-line before doing it didn’t include this one simple step and it caused hours of grief.

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