Make Your ATT Westell F90 Work with a Linksys Router
We’ve always had good luck with AT&T but recently we had not-so-good-luck. Today they replaced our modem and it wasn’t working with our Linksys WRT54G. After several hours on the phone, and being told I could pay someone to make it work, I found the solution. I am posting this in the event I forget how to make this work should it happen again.
The F90 modem I was provided does not have the standard Westell software on it. It has a custom AT&T configuration menu that didn’t match the instructions for “Bridged Ethernet Mode”.
- Plug the LAN cable from modem directly into your PC/laptop
- Navigate to http://192.168.1.254
- Under advanced, click “Connection Configuration”
- Enter the 10-digit access code that is printed on the sticker on the bottom of your modem
- At the bottom of the connection configuration screen select “Yes, use public IP address.”
- Click Save Changes.
- After the modem resets, unplug the LAN cable from the PC/Laptop and plug the cable back into the Internet port on the Linksys
- Restart the Linksys
- Connect your Laptop/desktop to the Linksys (via wireless or LAN cable to one of the ports)
- Smile. You should have Internet access again
Comments are closed.
January 10, 2010 - 2:21 pm
This is one of the few posts I have found which describe the exact interface I see on my Westell modem (AT&T). Most others show the original westell software interface.
I have the same issue. AT&T came and changed the physical line for the DSL and now everything which used to work fine has stopped working. SNR and line attenuation parameters are all good.
I find that I can restore connection only by resetting both the router and the modem, connecting once directly with PPP on the modem, with the connection established moved the PPP to the gateway/router and then connecting with PPPoE on the router.
Can you share some insights into what exactly “Yes, use public IP address” enables? I don’t think I have had predictable success with enabling this option. It leads me to believe the trouble is probably elsewhere. Your insight if any will help
January 10, 2010 - 3:00 pm
The “Yes, use public IP address” option enables what I believe is also called “Bridge mode”. Enabling that option basically forces the modem to show its real IP address to your internal network. So if you go into your wireless router you will see the real IP address of your modem as your gateway instead of the 192.168.1.254 that it seems to default to. Be sure that your wireless router/gateway has a good firewall. Linksys seems to be the best.
I did end up having an additional issue with the physical line that a technician resolved. If your modem’s “DSL” light flashes on and off you may be having line problems. Call ATT support and let them know you are not getting the speeds you should and ask for them to run maintenance on the line. The maintenance guys (in my area) seemed a little more able to fix things…
Good luck!
January 19, 2010 - 12:41 pm
I have tried this and it still does not work. I even went into Linksys and changed the connection to PPPOE and it still does not work. The first three lights come on (Power, Ethernet, and DSL) but I have no connection to the internet. I even tried to reinstall my WRT54GS but still nothing. Please help.
January 19, 2010 - 1:18 pm
@Nikita
I will post a screenshot of my Linksys config tonight. You should not have to use PPPOE. The default Linksys settings should work.
January 23, 2010 - 6:43 pm
A few days late but here is my configuration:
In basic set up:
Automatic configuration (DHCP)
MTU: Manual
Size: 1492
I also use Static DNS servers from Open DNS.
Static DNS 1: 208.67.222.222
Static DNS 2: 208.67.220.220
February 16, 2010 - 10:56 pm
How to configure linksys with At&t westell F90
step 1: connect the modem to computer
step 2: Enter the number 192.168.1.254 on address bar.
step 3: on left side click on ADVANCE
step 4: select the option PPP LOCATION and it will ask for the modem acess code you can see bottow of the modem
step 5: seclect PPPOE on router and click on save
step6 :connect the Linksys router
Step7 : Enter the number 192.168.1.1 on the address bar.
step8 : enter linksys Username and password by default ( username : blank password :admin)
step9: left side of you can see connection type
step10: select the connection type pppoe
step11: enter the att user name and password ( primary email address)
step 12: sel the option keep alive redial period 30sec
step 13: bottow click save setting and click continue
step14 : try to browse the web
April 24, 2010 - 7:56 pm
Hello, I tried this and when I do step 5, i loose internet completely on the modem. I’ve done it several times, had to reset modem to be able to get internet back on it, but again I get stuck on step 5.
April 27, 2010 - 6:17 pm
Are talking about Step 5 from my screenshots above or step 5 from the previous comment by “Ashton”?
April 29, 2010 - 8:35 pm
From the one Ashton wrote. I did everything from your screenshots and it didnt work