X. WAN
ExpiredUse a DrayTek Vigor router as a VDSL modem or G.fast modem
DrayTek's feature rich VDSL & G,fast routers have the capability to be used as a VDSL/G.fast modem, in network configurations where the DrayTek Vigor router will not be used as the network router or VPN server.
Instead, the DrayTek Vigor router can configured for use as a DSL to Ethernet bridging modem, to provide Internet connectivity just as a DrayTek Vigor 130 or Vigor 166 modem does.
This can be used to provide DSL modem connectivity to DrayTek's Ethernet WAN routers such as the Vigor 2927 or Vigor 3910.
Beyond that, the DSL Bridge-mode can connect any other vendor's router or firewall products to VDSL, ADSL and G.fast lines.
| Modem-Capable Vigor Routers: | |
| Vigor 2760 series | Vigor 2860 series |
| Vigor 2762 series | Vigor 2862 series |
| Vigor 2765 series | Vigor 2865 series |
| Vigor 2766 series | Vigor 2866 series |
| Vigor 2620Ln | |
What does Bridge Mode do on a DrayTek DSL router?
When a DrayTek router with integrated DSL modem has its DSL wan set to enable 'Bridge Mode', the router instead operates as a modem does, working as a DSL to Ethernet converter and no longer directly utilising the connection.
Once the router's DSL WAN is set to Bridge Mode, a router or firewall connected to the DrayTek router's LAN port, can do one of two things depending on the ISP:
- Connect to PPPoE - Most VDSL, ADSL and G.fast connections use PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) to establish a link from the premises to the ISP.
- Request an IP address via DHCP - Some ISPs use DHCP (IPoE) instead of PPPoE, for instance Sky and TalkTalk.
Internet Service Providers will usually limit connections allowed through the DSL line to a single Internet IP or PPPoE session, therefore the router connected through the DrayTek router/modem will be the only device to use the Internet connection. It can then be shared to client devices with NAT (Network Address Translation), which is managed by the router or firewall that's using the DrayTek router as a modem.
When a DrayTek Vigor router is used as a modem, it still provides its general functionality. However, if that's the only WAN link, the DrayTek router will not have an Internet connection and would not be able to provide Internet connectivity. Instead, the router connected to the DrayTek router handles that. When using a DrayTek router with wireless as a modem, it's recommended to disable the DrayTek router's wireless LAN interfaces.
How can I access the web interface of the DrayTek router when used as a modem?
When a router connects to the Internet, it will typically only have a facility to establish one WAN interface per physical link, which might be the PPPoE connection, or a direct IP on the Internet. Accessing the DrayTek router's web UI would require creating an additional WAN interface, which may need to operate on a different VLAN.
In some router interfaces, it may be possible to specify an additional WAN interface/subnet, in which case you could enter the IP range of the DrayTek router's LAN subnet to access it. Please note that for this to work, the router's LAN subnet must be different from the DrayTek router/modem's LAN subnet. e.g. 192.168.0.x on the router, then 192.168.100.x on the DrayTek router/modem. On a DrayTek router, this can potentially be achieved using a Multi-PVC / Multi-VLAN WAN interface, which is explained more in this guide.
Example Configuration
Overview
In this setup guide's example, a Vigor 2766 router will be configured to operate as a modem. A Vigor 2927 router will then be connected to the Vigor 2766's LAN ports and establish a PPPoE Internet connection using the Vigor 2766's DSL connection.
There is a VLAN tag that is typically required for the VDSL connection to work, which will be handled by the Vigor 2766, the Vigor 2927 will not need to add a VLAN tag to its connection.
Configuring a DrayTek router to operate as a modem
To begin, connect a computer to the (Vigor 2766) router/modem, the router that you intend to use as a modem.
Wait for the computer to be assigned an IP address by the router that's to be used as a modem. By default, the router will usually be accessible on https://192.168.1.1, but if the router's IP address has been changed, connect to that instead. Log into the router's web interface:
Connect the (Vigor 2766) router/modem up to the DSL line or Openreach box, using an RJ-11 cable to the router's DSL port.
When the DSL light is lit and stops blinking, or on the router's [Dashboard], the DSL port shows in green / orange, and displays a sync speed for the ADSL/VDSL/G.fast link. That indicates it has successfully synced with the line and is ready to connect to the ISP.
If the DSL light on the router is blinking rapidly but does not remain lit, make sure that the router supports the line type e.g. connecting to a G.fast line requires a G.fast capable router.
If the DSL led blinks slowly, no line is detected, check the cable and microfilter.
If the router is connected to a different line type than it was previously, for instance going from ADSL to G.fast. The router will restart itself automatically to re-initialise the modem in G.fast / VDSL mode, this is normal and it will connect to xDSL afterwards.
If the router supports the line type but isn't achieving DSL sync despite attempting to, ensure that the DSL Mode set on the [WAN] > [General Setup] > WAN1 page, matches the line type. Auto will usually work without issue, but in rare situations it may help to specify ADSL or VDSL or G.fast only.
With the xDSL connected synced and ready to use, go to [WAN] > [General Setup], then go into the settings for WAN1:
In the WAN1 settings, configure the VLAN tag to the correct value for your ISP. In most of the UK mainland, VDSL & G.fast connections use the Openreach network, which requires that the Service VLAN tag is enabled for VDSL/G.fast. Set the Tag value to 101 with a priority of 0.
In regions of the UK with ISPs that use VDSL or G.fast on their own separate FTTC networks, configure the VLAN tag as required by the ISP.
In Ireland, where Eircom provide the FTTC network, use a VLAN tag of 10 instead.
If this needs to be changed, click OK to save and apply the settings:
When making changes to the [WAN] > [General Setup] > [WAN1] settings, the router will need to restart to apply the change:
Once the (Vigor 2766) router/modem is back online, go back into the router's web interface, then go to [WAN] > [Internet Access].
Click on the Access Mode drop-down for WAN1, select MPoA / Static or Dynamic IP mode, then click on the Details Page button:
There are 2 types of Bridge Mode, with regular "Bridge Mode" being the easier one to use, which is utilised in this setup guide:
| Bridge Mode | In this mode, the modem passes through the PPPoE or DHCP/Static IP connection directly to any connected LAN devices. This does not require the connected router to provide a VLAN tag if the ISP requires it. Instead the modem handles all of this and the connected router simply uses the connection without providing a VLAN tag. In this mode, services outside of the Internet connection are passed through including IPTV, for instance BT TV. |
| Full-Bridge Mode | In this more advanced mode, the modem also passes through the PPPoE or DHCP/Static IP connection, directly to the connected router. It differs in that the connected router can if desired, provide the VLAN tag required to connect to the Internet. This can be useful in scenarios where the ISP provides multiple services through the one connection, or where Q-in-Q VLAN tagging is used. One benefit of this mode with DrayTek Vigor routers, is that potentially, the connected router can open two connections, one for Internet access and another, Multi-VLAN / Multi-PVC connection used for accessing the modem's web interface. Learn more about that capability here. |
In each of these modes, enabling bridge/full-bridge mode will disable DHCP on the router/modem, so that if the ISP is using DHCP for Internet connectivity, that can be passed through to the connected router.
This means that accessing the web interface of the router/modem in future, will require connecting a computer to the router/modem's LAN ports, then setting the IP address manually on a computer to access the router/modem's web interface.
In the settings for WAN1, make sure that the MPoA / Static or Dynamic IP WAN mode is set to "Enable", then change these settings
- Select Obtain an IP address automatically
- Under Bridge Mode settings, tick "Enable Bridge Mode". This may pop-up a warning message, click OK to dismiss it:
- Click OK to save and apply the change
The router will then prompt to restart, click OK to do so:
Once the router has restarted, it will now be operating as a modem for the WAN1 connection, passing through PPPoE, DHCP or Static IP connections and converting VDSL or G.fast into Ethernet, to be utilised by any router or firewall connected to the router/modem's LAN ports.
Connecting a router to the Internet
In this setup guide, the example is a Vigor 2927 router, using a Vigor 2766 router as the modem. The Vigor 2927 will be connecting to the Internet using PPPoE over the Vigor 2766's VDSL2 link. The setup is exactly the same for ADSL and G.fast connections however.
To begin setting up the router that will be establishing the Internet connection, connect a network cable from one of the (Vigor 2766) router/modem's LAN ports into the (Vigor 2927) router's Ethernet WAN port. Connect a computer to the (Vigor 2927) router's LAN ports.
Wait for the computer to be assigned an IP address by the router, then access its web interface. By default, that will usually be on https://192.168.1.1. Log into the router's web interface.
On the [Dashboard], it's possible that the WAN will show as being online, however this is just a connection to the (Vigor 2766) router/modem's management LAN, rather than the Internet.
Go to [WAN] > [General Setup] to check on the WAN port configuration.
Please note that in this example with the Vigor 2927, WAN1 is the first available Ethernet WAN port, But on DSL/Ethernet routers like the Vigor 2866, this would be WAN2 instead.
Make sure the WAN is enabled and is set to Always On rather than in Failover mode, so that the WAN interface will be utilised.
In this example, because regular Bridge mode is being used, no VLAN tags are needed for Internet connecitivity on the (Vigor 2927) router, those are instead handled by the (Vigor 2766) router/modem.
To configure that, ensure that the Customer and Service VLAN Tag Insertion values are set to Disable.
If any changes were made on this page, click OK to save and apply the changes, which will prompt to restart the (Vigor 2927) router:
Once the (Vigor 2927) router has restarted, or if no changes were needed, go to [WAN] > [Internet Access].
Selecting the Internet Connection Type
In this example, PPPoE is being used for Internet connectivity. If your ISP provided a username e.g. "
If your ISP simply provides an IP address via DHCP, or does not state what authentication is needed to connect to the Internet, select Static or Dynamic IP for the WAN interface, then click the Details Page button. On that page, select Enable, then select Obtain an IP address automatically and click OK to save and apply the changes. The router will prompt to restart and it should be connected to the Internet after doing so.
If your ISP is Sky, follow this guide for the additional setup required. Please note that no settings need to be changed on the (Vigor 2766) router/modem, only the (Vigor 2927) router needs some additional DHCP configuration to connect.
If the connection doesn't establish with a DHCP connection, try restarting the (Vigor 2766) router/modem to re-establish the DSL connection, which may free up the Internet IP address for the (Vigor 2927) router to use.
Continuing to set up the PPPoE connection on the (Vigor 2927) router:
- Select Enable to enable this connection type
- Under the ISP Access Setup section:
- Leave the Service Name field blank
- Enter the Username supplied by the ISP
- Enter the Password supplied by the ISP
- If your Internet connection has a static IP, set the Fixed IP setting to Yes and enter the IP address in the Fixed IP Address
- Click OK to save and apply the changes.
The router will need to restart to finalise the configuration, click OK again when prompted, to restart the (Vigor 2927) router.
Once the router has restarted, check the connection status either on the [Dashboard] or on the [Online Status] > [Physical Connection] page to check whether the connection has established. In this example, the Vigor 2927 router's WAN 1 Status now shows in green to indicate that it's connected to the ISP using PPPoE.
Once the PPP connection has established, the router and any clients should now be able to access the Internet, check a couple of websites to ensure it's all working.
If some or all websites fail to load:
- Make sure the testing computer's LAN IP address is correct, has the router as the gateway and has working DNS servers specified. In this example, the Vigor 2927 has assigned these with DHCP.
- If a fixed IP address has been specified for the WAN, try re-configuring it to use "No (Dynamic IP)" instead, to check whether that resolves the issue. If it does, check that the correct IP address is being entered or check with the ISP.
- If some but not all websites load, that can be caused by the MTU or max packet size. See this guide to find the correct MTU for your Internet connection.
With the router connected to the Internet over the xDSL Internet connection, the DSL router has been successfully configured to work as a modem.
- First Published: 01/12/2021
- Last Updated: 29/12/2021