Connected to wifi but no internet connection when modem is connected to LAN1 port of wifi router

[vichapin]

Hello Everyone,

Good day.

I would like to seek for your kind opinion on how to address my issue.

When my modem is connected to the WAN port of the wifi router, I have no problems with all my devices (laptop, android phone, and roku TV box) connecting to the wifi and the internet.

But when my modem is connected to the LAN1 port (or to the other LAN ports) and not on the WAN port of the wifi router, all devices can still access the wifi connection (meaning, I can pass through the authentication phase) but only my laptop can access the internet successfully. My android phone and roku TV box cannot access the internet anymore. It says no internet connection.

Is there something that I can do to resolve this issue that I will connect the modem to the LAN1 to LAN4 ports of my wifi router and all my devices will be able to connect to the internet?

Thank you very much.

Best Regards,
Vic

 

[USAFRet]

There is no 'issue' to resolve.

The modem needs to...must...connect to the WAN port on the router.
WAN = Wide Area Network.

The Router accepts the signal from the Modem, through the WAN port.
The Router then gives out internal IP addresses to your devices, wither wired or WiFi.
Wired devices connect to LAN 1-4 on the Router.
WiFi devices get their signal through the air, via radio waves.

That's the way it works.

 

[AlexianaBritmonkey]

The above answer is correct, but I'd like to elaborate on WHY it doesn't work.

The WAN port is there for a reason. If you plug it into a LAN port, you're plugging it in to the SWITCH. This ONLY works when there's SOME device on the network playing the router role. As this is your main device, you need to set this one up as a router. The way you do that is by plugging it into the WAN port. This makes the device/router a "WALL" that the data has to "pass through" to get to the switch. Plugging it into the LAN port is like walking around the wall, but without knowing the road to the store. Climbing OVER the wall has the Router tell the packets "Oh, along this street" and forwards it to the switch.

Kinda.

It's hard to explain.