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My DSL modem is a Siemens Speedstream 4200. It is not just a dumb modem, but also a fully-fledged router. I would rather it just act as a dumb modem and forward everything to my Linksys WRT54GL. I tried to do this by setting the Speedstream to forward all TCP traffic on ports 0-65535 to the Linksys, but then I could no longer connect to the internet.

Why would forwarding all the traffic from the DSL modem/router to my Linksys router break the internet connection?

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Have you tried setting up the modem into Bridged mode? That will make the modem act as a bridge between your DSL and your WRT54GL router.

In bridged mode, the router won't pick up an IP address or act as a router. It'll simply connect to the DSL and then allow another connected device to grab the DSL IP and act as the gateway.

I've done that before and it works great. Check the link above for tips on doing it on your router.

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To anyone who reads this answer, DO NOT attempt this! I spent two hours on the phone with Windstream tech support tonight recovering from this. – raven Oct 22 '09 at 1:46
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Odd. When I had Qwest DSL, this is exactly how I set up my router. My DSL modem was set into bridged mode, and my router picked up the IP address using PPPoE mode on the router. – Chris Thompson Oct 22 '09 at 19:43
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I still don't know why forwarding all the ports breaks my internet connection, but the proper thing to do is put the router into bridge mode. It's quite simple. You simply navigate to [router's IP]/brgmode.htm and click the "Apply" button.

enter image description here

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That's exactly what I said in the original answer. Your modem should be set to bridged mode. Th method is different for every single modem. – Chris Thompson Oct 18 '11 at 23:35
@Chris: I know you suggested bridge mode, however the instructions to which you linked are wrong. Yes, I'm sure it varies greatly by modem, but I was specifically referring to the Speedstream 4200, as were the instructions in your link. Those instructions are ridiculously complicated and do not work. This is ridiculously simple and does work. – raven Oct 19 '11 at 1:55
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