I am running Spectrum internet provider on a Netgear CM1000v2 cable modem. When I install ipfire using the PI imager and run setup on the PI3b, It won’t let me select DHCP on red (unless I force it by editing /var/ipfire/ethernet/settings). It also won’t let me enable the green gateway. I have spent many hours on this and I have read some of your wiki’s comments. But I am lost and ready to give up.
The setup I want to work (but doesn’t):
From the CM100v2 modem jack to the PI3b embedded ethernet jack.
From the PI3B usb - ethernet AX88179b dongle jack to the AX1800 WAN router jack.
From the AX1800 LAN router jack to a switch to the PC ethernet jack.
What I have been able to get to work (connects to the internet) :
From CM100v2 modem to the PI3b embedded ethernet port.
From the PI3B usb - ethernet AX88179b doogle to the switch then to the PC
PC ethernet IP4 gateway 192.168.1.160
IPFIRE 192.168.1.160 gateway 255.255.255.0
RED is DCHP (I had to force it to DHCP)
Router is setup for IPV4 and DHCP. If I try to set it to static, it asks for addresses I don’t know how to provide.
I believe that being able to access the green gateway may help solve this.
A ‘standard’ internet access config with CableInternet and IPFire is
CI modem/router ( your Netgear CM1000 ); WAN: coax, LAN: ethernet
IPFire device ( your PI3B ); WAN: ethernet, LAN: ethernet
IPFire WAN is connected to CI LAN; IP config DHCP
IPFire LAN is connected to local network, usually using a switch
The CI device may work in two modes: bridge or router.
In bridge mode IPFire’s DHCP client communicates directly with the server of the provider. And gets a public IP.
In router mode the client speaks to the CI device and gets a private IP ( 192.168.0.x or 192.168.100.x for example ).
In router mode the CI device should not do any firewalling. It is mandatory also, that the GREEN ( and other local ) network is distinct from the RED network (192.168.0.0/24 or 192.168.100.0/24 for our examples).
In a standard setup of IPFire a device in GREEN should get a private IP from IPFire ( if DHCP is enabled ) and should be able to connect to https://81.3.27.38 ( www.ipfire.org ).
Don’t forget to configure DNS! For initial setup 1.1.1.1 ( Cloudflare ) or 8.8.8.8 ( Google ) are sufficient. Because IPFire uses DNSSEC it is recommended to disable provider’s DNS servers ( not all providers have DNSSEC implemented).
Hope, I could give some tips to investigate the problem.
After some investigation I found Netgear CM1000v2 is a cable modem ‘only’.
This means
you get a public IP ( as in common modem/routers in bridge mode )
following the DOCSIS standard 192.168.100.1 is the administration IP of your modem (192.168.100.0/24 is not locally usable)
Did you follow the installation steps in the Netgear manuals?
It is necessary to cycle power at the modem after a device change at the LAN port. DOCSIS protocol registers the device connected at startup. Only this device ( identified by MAC ) gets a connection.
This means you use your AX1800 as AP for the IPFire LAN.
Have you tried to chose as static IP of this AP some other IP from the 192.168.1.0/24 network, not one of the dynamic pool. The DHCP server doesn’t like a mixup of static, fixed and dynamic IPs.