PPPoE on Motorola 2210-02
March 24th, 2008
The Motorola 2210-02 is an ADSL2+ modem recently distributed by AT&T for its residential customers. It features a handsome form factor and reasonably-useful LED status indicators. As it is most commonly introduced through a PPPoE-based provider, it is sometimes necessary to switch it over to a straight ATM<->Ethernet bridge. Here’s what you do:
- Connect your computer directly to the Motorola. Browse to http://192.168.1.254/ in the browser of your choice. If your system has assigned itself a 169.mumble address, you will first need to manually assign your computer an IP address like 192.168.1.5, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and a default gateway of 192.168.1.254 to do so.
- You should be challenged for Modem Access Code in order to change anything. This should be a ten-digit number on the bottom of the modem. It should be on a yellow sticker.
- The Motorola will present a page prompting you for your PPPoE authentication info. You don’t need this any more, as you’re about to disable PPPoE. Click “Advanced” in the left-hand navigation bar instead.
- Once the Advanced navigation has expanded, select “PPP Location.”
- You should get a big red warning about the dire consequences of changing PPPoE settings. Ignore the warning and select “Bridged Mode (PPPoE is not used).”
- Click the “Save Changes” button. Wait 15 seconds or so.
- Switch your computer back to DHCP, hook your router back up, or whatever makes you happy. That’s none of my business; this document is just supposed to help you turn off PPPoE, not find meaning in life, achieve spiritual fulfillment, or any of the other things you should be working on.
Please note that the default Motorola 2210-02 firmware as detailed in the user’s guide available on Motorola’s site has a significantly different interface, as do the Motorola 2210-02 models distributed through BellSouth. I am located in SBC’s incumbent footprint, so the above instructions only apply to the stuff they distributed. I think the BellSouth one is 2210-02-1006 whereas the SBC version is 2210-02-1002, but don’t bet the rent on it. I mention this just in case you run into something purchased on eBay or trucked over during a interstate move.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Precisely the information that I was looking for. Nice one! Thx!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I have the modem as stated above, I have it connected to an Apple Time Capsule Router/HD I am getting a double NAT error, how do I get rid of the double NAT, I should say how do I disable the NAT on the Motorola 2210-02. I have two Mac and PC that is connected to the network, I can get on the internet, but I can not access my MAC over the internet with Back to my Mac because of a Double NAT. Please help
Larry
August 4th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
@Larry: That’s a bit outside the scope of this article, but here are a couple of angles for you:
1> The most frequent cause of double-NAT problems is if both NAT devices are using the same subnet as each other. In this case the Apple device is probably using the same 192.168.1.*mumble* group of addresses that the Motorola is trying to use. Changing either to something like 192.168.5.*mumble* would probably straighten this out.
2> If you really want to just have one NAT server on your LAN (you don’t really need two), then plug directly into the Motorola, log in as described above, and turn on the advanced settings on the left-hand list of links. You’ll get a scary warning about how you’re about to break your connection. Don’t worry: you can’t do much here that resetting to factory defaults won’t fix. Anyhow, once you’re in advanced, click the “configure” link on the left. You’ll get a bunch of extra options you didn’t have before, but the only one that matters is “Connection.” Click that, and it’ll give you information about your VPI/VCI and such. All you really care about here is whether bridging is enabled. Use the pull-down menu to set Bridging to “Enabled” and then let the modem reset itself (it should prompt you). Then hook up everything the way you had it before (computer -> Apple device -> Motorola) and (provided the computer and Apple device are configured correctly and your Internet service works right), you’re good-to-go. Happy hunting!
August 4th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
It occurs to me that the second option I just put up there was for a Sonic.net-distributed modem. Your mileage may vary; I don’t have an AT&T-distributed 2210-02 handy at the moment!
September 9th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
ATT need’s better documentation for those of us who are not stupid….
September 27th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
This is exactly the fix for me. I could not figure out why the PPPOe kept hanging up. One clue was that the Internet LED would flash or go red. There were times when I would have to keep resetting the modem or the router of both. This fix seems to have resolved the problem. Thanks for the info