Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Help, I'm a noob

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    7 Posts 3 Posters 735 Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • T
      Timbro
      last edited by

      Hello, I don't know if this is the right place for me to ask this question, but I'm going to give it a shot.

      I recently read an article about building my own router and how I could build something that would put any commercial router I could buy to shame. Having spent probably thousands of dollars over the years buying routers that always end up having issues and disappointing me, this really appealed to me. I've built my own PC before, and the router-building process (at least according to the article I followed) seemed pretty straightforward, so I decided to do it.

      Here is the build:

      Case: Cougar QBX
      Motherboard: Asus H110I PLUS DDR4 LGA 1151 Mini-ITX
      CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1151 65W
      RAM: 16GB
      Storage: 128GB SSD
      PSU: 500W Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold
      Network: HP 436431-001 NC364T Gigabit Quad Port Ethernet PCI-E Server Adapter

      I realize that this is way overpowered for what the machine will do, but I figured, if I was going to build something, why not have a little fun with it.

      I was able to install Pfsense successfully, but I wonder if I'm missing something when it comes to connecting all the ethernet cables. I would like to continue to use my current router as an access point since the machine I built doesn't have any way to broadcast the wifi signal.

      Using the Assign Interfaces option in the Pfsense CLI, and using the auto detect option, I connected my modem to the WAN (em0) port on the ethernet adapter of my homemade router. I then connected the LAN port (em1) on the ethernet adapter to one of the LAN ports on my old Asus router.

      I went into the Asus router's GUI and turned off the DHCP server (I had read elsewhere that this was necessary) but none of this worked. With the DHCP server on the Asus router turned on, I was still able to connect to the router but not access the internet. With it turned off, the wifi on my cell phone could see the router, but it said it couldn't find the router's IP address and wouldn't connect to it.

      I assigned my homemade router the IP address 192.168.1.125, and I assigned the Asus router to 192.168.1.147. I thought that this meant they would be part of the same subnet (another thing I had read was necessary) , and that I would therefore be able to continue to use my old router as an access point, but it's still not working.

      So I'm hoping someone can help. Am I just not connecting the ethernet cords to the right ports? Is there some other piece of hardware that I need to buy? Do I need to do something in the Pfsense GUI or the Asus router's GUI?

      While I'm at it, can anyone recommend any good books to learn more about networking? Seems like every time I want to learn something, I just end up banging my head against this impenetrable wall and getting frustrated.

      Thanks in advance,

      Tim

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • chpalmerC
        chpalmer
        last edited by

        Do you have a public IP on the WAN of the pfsense box or is your modem also a router?

        Triggering snowflakes one by one..
        Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T
          Timbro
          last edited by

          I'm not sure how to check if there is a public IP, but the modem is not a router. Or at least, I've never used it as one it can't be used that way as far as I know.

          JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • chpalmerC
            chpalmer
            last edited by chpalmer

            What kind of internet connection? Model of modem?

            Your WAN address is not 192.168.1.x is it?

            Triggering snowflakes one by one..
            Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • T
              Timbro
              last edited by

              It's a cable internet connection. The modem is a Ubee brand, model number UBC1301.

              I changed the IP address of the homemade router to 192.168.1.125, so I assume the answer to your second question is yes? Or is it possible to have the IP address used to access the browser interface be different from the WAN address?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • JKnottJ
                JKnott @Timbro
                last edited by

                @Timbro

                Plug a computer directly into the modem and see what address you get. In Windows, you'd open a command prompt and enter ipconfig.

                PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                UniFi AC-Lite access point

                I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • chpalmerC
                  chpalmer
                  last edited by

                  @Timbro said in Help, I'm a noob:

                  UBC1301

                  https://mediacomcc.custhelp.com/euf/assets/documents/modem%20user%20guides/Ubee_UBC1301-AA00_%20User_Guide.pdf

                  Yes it is a router by default. This doc shows its LAN subnet as 192.168.100.0/24 so things should work out of the box. But if your ISP has them configured different it may be 192.168.1.0/24 which would not work. You can not have the same subnet on the WAN as you do the LAN.

                  See if your ISP or yourself can put your cablemodem in bridge mode. Then restart both modem and pfsense.

                  Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                  Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • First post
                    Last post
                  Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.