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Vigor 120 Setup with Apple AirPort routers

I. Product Setup Guides

Products:
Vigor 120
Keywords:
ADSL
ADSL2+
AirPort
Apple
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Vigor 120 Setup with Apple AirPort routers

The Vigor 120 comes pre-set for most UK ADSL lines with VPI/VCI set to 0/38 and using the PPPoA protocol which is used by almost all UK ISPs.

Unless your ISP uses MPoA / EthoA, no setup of the Vigor 120 is required and it can be used as a modem with no further configuration of the modem. The Vigor 120 does not store any Internet usernames or passwords itself - those go into your router, or whatever you are connecting to the Vigor 120.

  • Connect the RJ-11 port (marked 'ADSL') on the Vigor 120 to the ADSL line (normally via a microfilter/splitter).
  • Connect the RJ-45 Ethernet port on the Vigor 120 to the WAN ethernet port of your Apple Airport router.

If you want to check diagnostics of the Vigor 120 (to check ADSL line status, for example), it does have a web interface on http://192.168.2.1, plug a computer directly into the modem's Ethernet port to access this. From the web interface you can also change the ADSL line parameters, but only do that if you know that you require specific settings, different from the defaults.
There is no username or password to access the web interface and it is only accessible from the LAN interface (not remotely from the Internet).

Step 1: Connect the Vigor 120 modem to the ADSL line using the DSL port, the DSL LED will be lit solidly when the ADSL connection has established.

Do not connect its ethernet port to the Apple AirPort router at this stage.

Step 2: To configure the Apple AirPort, open the AirPort Utility from Finder > Utilities. If the router is already detected, skip to Step 5. Otherwise, the router should show in the list of detected devices under the Other Wi-Fi Devices menu:

Step 3: That will go into the initial setup for the AirPort router, set the name, enter a suitable password for the router and click Next:

Step 4: Do not connect the modem to the router at this stage, simply click Next:

Step 5: The AirPort router should now show as a configurable device, click on the icon of the router and click Edit:

Step 6: Go to the Internet tab:

On the Internet tab, set the Connect Using method to PPPoE and enter the ISP Username in the Account Name then enter the Password for that account.

Do not enter a Service Name, it is not required for this connection type:

Click Update to continue.

Step 7: The utility will then pop-up a warning that the AirPort router will be unavailable while applying the changes, click Continue:

The AirPort router will show as Updating in the utility while it applies the changes.

Step 8: Connect the Vigor 120 modem to the AirPort router now. To do this, connect the Vigor 120's ethernet port to the AirPort router's WAN (circular icon) port.

Once the AirPort router has finished updating, the status LED on the AirPort router should light in green to indicate that it has established an internet connection:

It is recommended to leave the modem unplugged from the AirPort router until the settings have been changed using the AirPort utility.

To configure the Apple AirPort, open the AirPort Utility and the router should show in the list of detected devices. Select the router and click the Edit or Manual Setup button depending on the version of the AirPort Utility that you are using.

That will go into the settings for the router and it should show an orange status light / symbol to indicate that it has no internet access. Go to the Internet tab to configure that connection.

It should show the current Connect Using setting as Ethernet and it will have an IP address in the 192.168.2.x range to indicate that it has received a local IP from the Vigor 130 modem:

On the Internet tab of the AirPort Utility, set the Connect Using setting to PPPoE.

Enter the Username and Password for the internet connection using the details that the ISP have supplied. The Service Name field should be left blank.

Click Update to apply the connection changes.

If after clicking Update, the router reports problems, click Ignore this problem for those so that the router can restart and apply the changes:

While the Apple AirPort router is restarting, plug the Vigor 130's ethernet port into the WAN port of the Apple AirPort router.

Once the router is back online, it should re-detect and show a green indicator light to indicate that it now has internet access:

Click on the Internet tab then the TCP/IP tab to see the IP address for the connection:

Setup for MPoA or EthoA

The Vigor 120 modem comes pre-configured for PPPoA, which is suitable for use with most ISPs. Some ISPs may use MPoA (Multi Protocol over ATM) / EthoA (Ethernet over ATM), which will require reconfiguring the Vigor 120 modem to pass through that connection type instead of its default:

  1. Connect the power adaptor to the Vigor 120 and turn it on.
  2. Connect an Ethernet cable directly from a PC to the Vigor 120.
  3. After a few moments, the computer should get an IP address (Most likely 192.168.2.10)
  4. In your web browser, access the Vigor 120's web interface at http://192.168.2.1
  5. Go to the Internet Access menu and then click on the MPoA tab.
  6. Check that the settings are correct (VPI 0 /VCI 101/1483 Bridged LLC)
  7. You must now click the 'Enable' button on the MPoA tab.
  8. If you wish, you can also set the modulation mode (e.g. ADSL2+) but this is not necessary, it just makes it re-connect quicker.
  9. Do not select Annex M unless you definitely have that from your ISP.
  10. If you are unsure, leave the modulation at AUTO.
  11. Click OK and the Vigor 120 will save the settings and reboot.
  12. Connect the ADSL line cable to the Vigor 120.
  13. After a short while* your PC should then get a new IP address which will be the public IP address allocated by your ISP. If your ISP has allocated you with a fixed IP Address or a range of IP Addresses you should manually set this on the PC using the details they have provided for IP, Subnet Mask, G/W and DNS as the ISP will only allocate IP Addresses automatically to dynamic IP connections.
  14. You can now access the Internet normally

*This short while can vary considerably when swapping devices on your line as BeThere take a while to 'forget' about your current equipment and access a new MAC address. This has been observed as up to an hour, but can also be minutes.

Setting up Internet access via a Vigor120 modem is a straightforward process so hopefully everything should go smoothly. However, below are a few tips that cover some possibilities:

  1. An important item to note is that for the PPPoE connection a "Service Name" should not be entered. If you have this field in the configuration of the router or computer that you're using then make sure that it is left empty.

  2. Check to see if the ISP is using MPoA or PPPoA. The configuration on the Vigor120 modem differs depending on the ISP connection type. See the setup guide above for the configuration for MPoA lines.

  3. If the Vigor 120 modem is not providing a PPPoE internet connection, factory reset the modem using a pin or straightened out paperclip by pressing the Factory Reset button on the side of the unit until the ACT light flashes rapidly, which should take 5 seconds. The modem will restart with the factory default settings to provide a PPPoE internet connection.

  4. If there are any issues with connecting via the Vigor 120 modem and the router it's connected to has a Gigabit WAN port, try setting the WAN interface speed on the router to 100Mbps Full Duplex.

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