Setup issue with RV016 and Covad T1

Luca-Cisco · ‎11-05-2009

Hello - I am an RV016, Samsung Ubigate iBG1000 and T1 noob. This is the story of my struggles with them. Hopefully someone here can help unravel the problem I am experiencing. Note: no networking gear was harmed in the making of this story...

Background

Recently, a client changed T1 providers to Covad. They had an rv016 they'd gotten years ago [branded Linksys], that had worked with the previous T1 provider. With the change in provider - and the addition of the Ubigate - the RV016 no longer worked. I have temporarily replaced it with a BEFSR81 which I simply plugged in and it worked, no problem. Naturally, with the various changes to its environment, the RV016 has not been so easy.

Problem

With the rv016 in place as shown in the diagram below, everything works fine on the internal network - but there isn't connectivity externally to the interweb. I have tried a number of config setups from the most basic ones via the RV's wizard, to its current state where I have possibly overthought the situation and have attempted to match Covad's specs for PPoE.

The Ubigate is basically a black box to me. Covad manages it, and while they provided some basic specs [PPoE, NAT, DHCP, external IP] their support guys aren't very keen on customers accessing/configuring the unit [understandably]. I could very easily be wrong, but given that the RV needs to connect to the Ubigate as shown below, I think that connection/handshake is the crux of the problem.

Examples & Questions

An example of where I might have gone wrong is DHCP. If the Ubigate is providing DHCP, am I messing the networking up by having DHCP on the RV as well? It doesn't seem to negatively impact the internal network [i.e. we can see all the devices networked together via the RV] but can it be impacting the upstream connection to the Ubigate and/or out to the web? This is where I freely admit that I am ignorant, so while the DHCP angle seems kind of unlikely to me that doesn't mean it's not part of the problem.

Can anyone rule the DHCP issue in or out given the info I have provided?
If you were in this situation, what config[s] would you try?
What steps would you take in troubleshooting and/or analyzing the situation?
How can I gather more information about what is and isn't working on the link to the external network/web?

Network Diagram

This is not the current state, it is the desired state.

I am glad to provide more info and detail as needed. Thanks in advance for any insight that you might be able to share.

David Carr · ‎11-06-2009

Hey the network diagram, is not showing up on the forum. Can you try resending it.

Alejandro Gallego · ‎11-06-2009

Ok, first off need to know a little more about the roles some of your devices are playin.

1. do you have a static PUBLIC IP address provided by Covad? I would assume no since you stated that the Ubigate is providing DHCP.

-- To answer your DHCP question, as long as the Ubigate is connected to a WAN port on the RV016 this will not impact the LAN (internal network). Typically when a business is not provided a static IP from their ISP the router is set to DHCP.

2. why are you introducing the BEF router back into the internal network? Are you trying to create a completely separate network?

3. This may be the reason your RV016 is not working given all other paramiters are correct. Make sure that the router is set to "Gateway" mode and not "Router" mode. In your diagram since the Ubigate is concidered to be part of the Cloud (Internet) the RV016 is the Gateway for your network.

Right off I do not see any physical problems with your design.

sreed · ‎11-06-2009

Looking at your Network Diagram I have several comments

You have several redundant items in there.

The RV016, Ubigate and the BEFSR81 are all router/firewalls so you are 'cascading' them and their interaction can cause all kinds of issues. The RV016 really does not like to 'play well' with others at all. There is no logical reason to have the 'cascaded' firewalls.

Is Covad using the Ubigate as the CSU/DSU for the T1? You are showing a separate one on your Network Diagram. IF they are not then I would tell Covad that you have the RV016 and want to use that as your firewall in its place. I would wager 'larger quantities of Monopoly money' that the Ubigate - RV016 'rules' conflicts are the problem.

At the least request to 'test' without the Ubigate.

Once you determine if that is the issue then I would look to determine what the need is for the BEFSR81 and see if it is really needed or can be replaced by a simple switch

As to the DHCP Question

MY experience is that the DHCP Client on the RV016 can be an iffy thing. Either way the common problem is that the RV016 doesn't pass thru the DNS so you need to go into the LAN DHCP Server settings and set the DNS Servers so that the LAN Clients can access the DNS Servers directly.

You can 'take' the DHCP Assigned info and use it to statically set the RV016 WAN to the same settings.