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How to connect a router, a switch, a NAS and an eero 6?

I need some help, y'all. Just got my eero 6 and am pretty happy with it so far. However, I had to do some funky things to get it to work... and not everything is working the way I need just yet.

To avoid putting my eero into bridge mode, I have turned off the wireless radios on my CenturyLink combo modem/router. Others have suggested a similar setup in other posts, but I am trying to figure out where to put my switch (I read the article on using a switch already, but this won't work).

My setup: I have an Actiontec C3000A combo modem/router. As I mentioned above, the wifi is off. The only device connected to it is my Netgear switch. I use a switch so I can hardwire my NAS, TV and game system directly to the router. The devices connected to my switch all are in the 192.168.1.x pool on subnet 255.255.255.0.

I have my eero also connected to the switch (so it has an external IP address of 192.168.1.5 which it gets from the router). The gateway eero IP address is 192.168.4.1 (with all wireless devices taking an address from this pool... 192.168.4.x on subnet 255.255.252.0).

Unfortunately, now computers connected wirelessly do not see my NAS on the switch. I can, however, open the web UI for my NAS from wireless devices, though. How do I fix this so that my NAS (and other computers) can be accessed across these subnets? Port forwarding? Reservation? Where do I fix this? At the router? the switch? or the eero? DMZ hosting didn't seem to do anything for me that wasn't already working. So confused.

I can't hook up the switch to my eero first due to my switch being in the basement closet and the eero being on the main floor of the house (connect via ethernet).

I'm guessing this is a simple networking problem with a simple solution, but I'm not super familiar with network setups. Any help would be appreciated!

Hardware:

  • Eero 6 with two repeaters
  • Actiontec C3000A combo modem/router from CenturyLink
  • Netgear GS108T networking switch
  • Synology 718+
  • I'm using an Apple MacMini

6 replies

    • ImpendingDoon
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Could I turn off the DHCP server on the modem? Would eero then take over DHCP duties even though it's behind the switch (which is behind the modem)? I imagine being on different subnets could be the problem. Could I put half of the DHCP reservations on the modem (192.168.1.1 - .50) and the other half on the eero (.51 - 254)? same DNS and subnet settings? I'm talking out of my left ear here, I know.

    • eero_support
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello,

    The problem that you're running into here is that your devices are on two different networks. The easiest solution to this is to place your eero network into bridge mode. If you go with bridging your eero network then all devices connected to your eero SSID will be assigned IP addresses from the upstream network allowing them to view your NAS and other devices as they will then be on the same network. However, you will lose access to a lot of the tools that eero has to offer by doing this. So if you are using eero features and tools for your network you will want to look at alternate options. 

    If you are unable or do not want to bridge your eero network you can look into setting up port forwarding on your upstream router to grant access to devices trying to reach your NAS and other devices and I would suggest reaching out to your ISP or the MRC's manufacturer to find out how to set that up on their system.

    Let me know if you have any questions,

    James

    eero Support

    • ImpendingDoon
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Thanks for your reply, James. Have been playing with port forwarding on modem, but have not had much luck.

    So my eero has 192.168.1.5 assigned to it at the switch by the modem. my eero has a different network and subnet set up (192.168.4.1 on 255.255.252.0). At the modem, I have added 192.168.1.5 on port 80, thinking that all wireless devices coming "through" my eero will pop into my hardwired network on that IP address. Unfortunately, that isn't working.

    Maybe you have some thoughts on what I am doing wrong?

    • eero_support
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello,

    I checked in with one of our support leads and he says you should be able to access it if you use the IP Address that the NAS is assigned since the devices are downstream from the NAS's network. I wanted to verify, are you able to access the NAS with the IP Address? I know in windows you can setup access to devices using the IP address and it will show up in the "Network" section.

    Thank you,

    James

    eero Support

    • mikegoldnj
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I have my Eero Pro connected directly to my modem (mine is only a modem with no built in router but I believe if you shut down the modem/router wireless and DHCP it should be the same) and then the Eero connected to switch. I then have my Synology NAS, printer, Ooma, and another switch (PoE) connected via Ethernet to that first Netgear switch. 

    • Enthusiast
    • thatsthequy
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Looks like you can't bridge that modem. You've already disabled Wi-Fi, thats good. Next put the gateway eero IP in the DMZ (https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/advanced-setup/dmz-hosting.html).

    Then make sure the topology is C3000A>eero gateway>switch>clients and other wired eeros (if any). This might mean putting one eero node in an inopportune location, or running a second ethernet cable to the desired node location. This will result in all clients being on the eero subnet and unlikely impacted by the double-NAT situation if you can get the DMZ working.

Content aside

  • 3 yrs agoLast active
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