Putting the 2Wire 3801HGV (AT&T UVerse) Residential Gateway (RG) into Bridge (Passthrough) Mode
(Last Update: 01/28/2018)

Update: For newer gateways, the instructions at DSL Reports appear to work correctly:
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/17804

As things continue to evolve, you can find the latest discussion on the DSL Reports forum:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/uverse?search=bridge


If you have an older gateway, then the instructions below might work for you.


If you have a NAT enabled router or firewall behind a 2Wire 3801HGV, and you want your router/firewall to have a public IP address, then this is how you can enable Bridge mode (aka Passthrough mode):


Disclaimer: I am not an expert on either UVerse Internet service or 2Wire routers or residential gateways. I just bungled my way through figuring this out, and documented what I did in hopes of saving someone else some time (or myself, if I ever have to do a reset on my Residential Gateway!)


Before starting, make a note of the "Device Access Code" or "System Password", which you can find on the label on the side of the RG.


Log into the UVerse Residential Gateway (http://192.168.1.254) using the system password from the sticker on the side of your UVerse gateway.

Click Settings, then Event Notifications
Check the box labeled "Router behind Router"
Save this.






At this point, your router/firewall should be connected behind the UVerse Gateway:
Client PC <===> Your Router/Firewall <===> UVerse Residential Gateway <===> Internet


Older Routers:
From behind your router (which should, in turn, be behind the UVerse residential gateway), attempt to browse to any webpage. The UVerse gateway will intercept the connection and display a page that says that it has detected a router behind router condition, and ask if you want to configure for that. Answer yes, and it will prompt you for your system password. Type the password in, and you're good to go!

Newer Routers:
The RG will ask, "Resolve or Dismiss." The correct answer is "Resolve." You will need to fill in your system password.






Note:   You may need to reboot your router/firewall so it will get its new public IP via DHCP, and you should assign an IP Address in the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet to your router's external interface so you can still reach the UVerse gateway to configure it later.   (Ignore that last part. The 3801HGV will route any 192.168.1.254 traffic to itself, so your firewall or router does not need to have an address on that subnet.)



Changing/Upgrading Your Firewall/Router When Bridge Mode is in use

If you replace your firewall/router after setting your RG into bridge mode, you will again see the page indicating that router behind router has been detected. This time, however, it's not as simple as just clicking "resolve." If you try, you will just get a message that says that it can't resolve the router behind router because you have a static IP in use (even though your new router just got an IP address from the RG's DHCP server! 2Wire could have been a LITTLE more helpful with this one!)

To resolve this, log into the RG (as described above), go to the Diagnostics tab, and click "Resets." On the resets page is a button labeled "Clear Device List."




Before you click this, be sure that you are ready to reboot your firewall/router IMMEDIATELY after clearing the device list. If the RG receives even one network packet from your firewall/router after you clear the device list, it will create a device entry for it again listing it as a "static" device.

Click "Clear", and then IMMEDIATELY reset your router. When your router finishes booting, follow the instructions above to resolve the router-behind-router condition.



3801HGV User's Manual

You can find the 3801HGV User's Manual here: https://hackingbtbusinesshub.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/3801hgv_user_guide_rev-1-0.pdf


Hope this saves someone some headaches!


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Linkbacks:
www.uverseusers.com - UVerse Users Forum
forums.att.com - AT&T UVerse Users Forum
www.computing.net - Tom's Computing Tech Support Guide


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