How to configure Debian to work with a BT Voyager 220v Router
» 29/10/2006, 11:40:57 / / / Subscribe
So I finally got the upgrade from BT that I should have got when I ordered my 8mb Broadband back in August. I run a home network so the idea of having a router appealed to me greatly. My thoughts were I could just bang it in to my 8-port hub and away I was surfing. Sadly this wasn't true because I have used non-routeable IP's on my home network so I had a bit of sorting out to do. I didn't want to use DHCP on the network because I need to know different boxes IP addresses for SSH, Apache, Mail and of course my MP3 collection for the hardware media player ;o)
This guide tells you how to get the router working with Debian, because let's face it, BT just don't support anything other than Microsoft Windows and really only XP properly. For the sake of ease I'm going to do it the GUI way.
Boot Debian and log in as Root (you will NOT be staying in the root account this is just so you can edit the system using the GUI and not su at the command line) I use KDE so if you use GNOME you'll just have to cope. Browse to "/etc" folder and open the hosts file. Under your local IP you'll need to add or edit the IP to something that is one up from the router (192.168.1.1) so edit to:
192.168.1.2
and save it. Back to "/etc" and open the networks file and add/edit the IP to the same one you just used. Once again back to "/etc" and open the resolv.conf file and ensure it is:
search home
nameserver 192.168.1.1
Back to "/etc" and open the folder "network" then open the file "interfaces"
ensure it looks like this (but ensure your HOSTNAME is your own):
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
# dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if installed
dns-nameservers 192.168.1.1
dns-search YOUR HOSTNAME HERE
name Ethernet LAN card
address 192.168.1.2
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
network 192.168.1.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
Save it and that's pretty much it. Of course because Linux is far superior to Windows we don't need to reboot the system for the network changes to take place. Just open a terminal window and enter:
/etc/init.d/networking restart
This will restart the ethernet interface. Keep the terminal window open and try a "apt-get update" and ensure the router is providing the connection now. Now we need to connect to the router and configure some aspects of the router. I was happy to see that MOST of it was secure enough by default. However the default admin password and username are SOMETHING YOU MUST CHANGE!!!! So follow the instructions provided to do that. Also you might want to change the hostname to something easy to type in to a browser. I used "firewall" but I'll leave you to come up with something funky. When you make these sorts of changes the router will need to reboot so don't panic when it takes about 20 secs to come back up, this is normal. The router itself is quite configurable but I'll write something else another time for things like setting up home servers and so on.
If you want to add more devices use a hub like me and follow the same instructions above but ensure the IP is something higher than the first machine you configured.
Log out of the root account and log back in to a user account, you're done.
It fails me why BT can't just add that in to the instructions of the product, editing a few files by hand isn't all that hard.
Technorati: debian bt router voyager220v linux
Comments:
#1. david
01/11/2006, 13:09:56
#1. david01/11/2006, 13:09:56
Sorry off topic. Can i ask how i can find out where someone is from based on their IP address. Sorry off topic an prob I sound thick for asking. Cheers anyay.
#2. tek
01/11/2006, 14:21:08
By using WhoIs but even that isn't a direct indication of where they are but only where the ISP actually is. Even then I can appear to come from Japan or anywhere in the world if I use a proxy in that country. I could also if i had access to someone elses machine make it look like I was someone totally different too.
Send me the IP in an email and I'll look what I can up if you like.
#3. Narelle
04/11/2006, 02:58:04
Too technical... need pictures... fluff... happy stories...
#4. Neil
05/11/2006, 20:19:41
This article is exactlly why I love you - fully technical, without any effort. A guy at work was telling me he used to code in 1's and 0's.
It's not for me, but you have to respect someone who can get in there and fix stuff.
#5. tek
07/11/2006, 10:41:47
@Narelle - thats what OK magazine is for heh
@Neil - Cheers fella! 
