Setting up a wifi network off a BT Hub 6

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Level 1

8 points

Setting up a wifi network off a BT Hub 6

Evening - I wonder if you can help me. I am trying to set up a wifi network on a BT Hub 6 and i am struggling to establish which is the correct way to do it. It was working previously but it stopped so i have factory reset everything and it hasn't worked correctly since.

The set up is a BT HUB 6 with smart set up turned off (BT forums advise this for some reason) and the wifi is turned off also (i was advised to do this previously so that devices would connect just to the apple network as you moved around the house). I then connected an ethernet cable from the hub to the WAN on a 3TB TC. Then the three LAN ports were used to send ethernet cables around the house to various sockets/switches etc to allow to connect to xboxes, tvs etc direct to ethernet. In addition, I have another older 1TB TC connected to the main TC via ethernet and an airport express connected via ethernet. This is to extend the wifi around the house and both are connected via their WAN. At the moment everything appears to be working correctly. However there are error messages on the main TC - "double NAT" and "conflicting DHCP range". Can i ignore these or will they cause issues from time to time or effect performance? What do i need to do to fix these errors?

Any help greatly appreciated as been on this for 3 days now and neither apple support or BT support have been able to assist.

Posted on Jan 28, 2020 3:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 28, 2020 5:18 PM in response to Julesprada

Happy to help.. as possible.

there are error messages on the main TC - "double NAT" and "conflicting DHCP range".

Double NAT means you have two devices working as NAT routers. The normal way to setup this network is the first TC in bridge mode.. and leave the BT hub as the main router. If you want to avoid using that setup it will depend on your type of internet and if the BT hub can be bridged. Mostly the answer is no.. you will need local knowledge to find out.. so type your internet service type and BT hub bridge into google and see if others have succeeded.

Conflicting DHCP range means both NAT routers are working on 10.x.x.x but the error is not major if.. as you say.. everything appears to be working correctly.

This problem will go away once you solve the double NAT.. or you must move the TC to a different IP range. I assume you want the first.. so ignore this problem for now.

If you simply change the first TC plugged into the BT hub to bridge mode.. the problem will go away.

Do remember to reboot everything after that so everything updates onto the BT hub.

Open the airport utility.. click the icon of the 3TB TC.. click edit on the summary.. click Network tab.. Change it from DHCP and NAT to Off (bridge mode).

If you have issues you may need to start from scratch.. since you have worked on it for 3 days make a backup of the configuration first. An Exported configuration can be imported.. and get you running again.

Then try making the change to bridge.

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Answer 2

Jan 29, 2020 6:43 AM in response to Julesprada

I assume the APU diagram isn’t that accurate?

You may need to power everything off again and then start devices up one at a time about a minute apart, starting with the BT Hub

Assuming it is stable do you know how I should configure the devices? E.g. dns server

Devices should pick up DNS information automatically and correctly. There is no need to manually enter DNS information unless you do not want to use the DNS servers provided by your ISP.

Likewise some devices have ticked “enable IPv6 connection sharing” under internet options and some don’t. Is there a correct way to set these up?

Set up all of the AirPort devices to use the Link Local Only setting.

as an aside LaPastenague, the export/import configuration was greyed out for me.

I think LaPastenague will respond that for the Export / Import Configuration options to be active, you need to......

Open AirPort Utility

Click on the particular Time Capsule or AirPort whose settings you want to export (save)

Click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the File menu in the upper left corner of the screen

Click on Export Configuration

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Answer 3

Jan 28, 2020 9:36 PM in response to Julesprada

Here is what I would suggest.

Power off the BT Hub, the 3 TB TC, the older 1 TB TC and the AirPort Express

Wait a minute

Power up the BT Hub and let it run a minute

Power up the 3 TB TC and let it run a minute

Open AirPort Utility on your Mac, click on the 3 TB TC and click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click on the Network tab at the top of the next window

Make sure that the setting for Router Mode is set to Off (Bridge Mode)

Click Update at the lower right of the window and wait a minute for the 3 TB TC to restart to a green light status

Close AirPort Utility

If you see a green light on the 3 TB TC, power up the other TC and let it run a minute

Then, power up the AirPort Express and let it run a minute

Check the network for proper operation

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Answer 4

Julesprada Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 28, 2020 10:51 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks LaPastenague and Bob. I have tried putting the main TC in bridge mode but when I do that everything goes green but I can’t access the internet. Apple support suggested I put the BT hub in bridge mode but the hub 6 doesn’t have that function.

however, I will try the bridge mode following your sequence and see if this makes the difference. Cheers

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Answer 5

Julesprada Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 29, 2020 12:46 AM in response to Julesprada

Ok so I followed bobs protocol and got green lights on everything. I opened airport utility and everything was green light apart from second TC. So I checked that device and it was green light so went back to APU and the second TC was now green light but the main TC had switch to amber and so it went on. Every 30 or 60 seconds the APU diagram would change configuration and devices would switch between green and amber. The diagram would have the devices green but the internet globe amber and yet I could attach to the internet and then the APU on my MacBook would show different results to the APU on my iPhone. This went on for about 30 minutes but at the moment it seems stable and everything is green. So I am going to work now and will leave it as it is and see what we get when we get home tonight. Let’s hope it settles down. I assume the APU diagram isn’t that accurate?

At the moment a speed test shows around 27mb on the devices but we normally get 37mb.

Assuming it is stable do you know how I should configure the devices? E.g. dns server. I put an address in as I had it in one of the devices before I had problems so I copied it down but it was only in one device and not the others and I have no idea where the dns server address came from. Does it matter? Likewise some devices have ticked “enable IPv6 connection sharing” under internet options and some don’t. Is there a correct way to set these up?

as an aside LaPastenague, the export/import configuration was greyed out for me.

thanks for your assistance guys - really appreciated.

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Answer 6

Julesprada Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 29, 2020 2:21 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob - thanks for that - very helpful. Should the main TC also be set to "link local only"?

Everything appears to be working as it should now so i will monitor it over the next few days but hopefully all sorted now so thanks to you both. I should come here in the first place :)

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Answer 7

Jan 29, 2020 2:59 PM in response to Julesprada

Should the main TC also be set to "link local only"?

Please review above to see that I said that all AirPort devices should be set to Link Local Only. This would include AirPort Extreme(s), AirPort Express(es) and AirPort Time Capsule(s).

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Answer 8

Julesprada Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 30, 2020 2:08 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Noted - cheers

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Setting up a wifi network off a BT Hub 6

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