Piggyback an RTS 300

[starchy77]

I found a similar thread talking about this (and recommending against it), but never really explained how to do it. Here is my setup: My cable modem runs to a linksys WRT55AG router, which runs (via ethernet cable) to my main computer. This router then runs (via ethernet cable) to my linksys RTS300 Vonage router. The RTS300 then runs (via ethernet cable) to my HTPC computer and my xbox 360 in the living room. I also have a laptop that connects wirelessly to the WRT55AG router. I am running Windows XP on all the computers, and I have DHCP turned off on both routers and every computer has a static ip address. The problem I am having is I need to run from port 4 on the WRT55AG to port 4 on the RTS300 to allow my HTPC computer to see and access the local network. Doing this I am not getting a dial tone on the RTS300. I have run the cable into the "internet" port on the RTS300 instead of port 4, then I get my dial tone but I cannot see the other computers on my network from my HTPC. I have searched but cannot find a solution to this, any pointers would really be appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Starchy

[z1p]

You could try switching the order of the RTS and the WRT
or
try disabling the firewall on the RTS make sure all the PCs have IPs on the same subnet.

[starchy77]

Thanks z1p, your advice got me started in the right direction.

OK, switching the order of the routers simply is not an option because of where the hard wires come into my house at (at least not without ton of work!). This took me a long time, but I have it mostly figured out. I did need to disable the firewall and assign the router an address on the subnet. For the phone connection, I ran a cable from a LAN port on my VOIP router to the WAN port (called bridging) and had a few problems here as well. I still got no dial tone for days, I then realized I needed to set the gateway and DNS to the address of my WRT55AG router, and everything is now working great!

Except for my XBOX 360 is getting a STRICT setting for NAT when I test the connection. Once I solve this, I will be set! Any advice is appreciated
Thanks

[z1p]

The only thing coming to mind is to but the xbox in the DMZ of WRT or setup port forwarding (See here (http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm). for port forwarding instructions).

[starchy77]

I tried to forward the ports on both the RTP300 and the WRT, and I also added the ip address to the DMZ on both routers, but it is still coming up as strict. Would it make a difference if I remove these entries from the RTP router? Or maybe I need to shut everything down and restart the modem and routers for the settings to take effect?

[z1p]

I'd clear out any forwarding or DMZ settings on the RTP and disable NAT on the RTP. Then make sure that port forwarding or DMZ settings on the WRT is set to the correct IP for the PC/XBOX.