Setup your Huawei WA1003A wireless router for BSNL Broadband

Surprisingly, there is very little documentation from either BSNL or from Huawei on how to optimally set up the router for a home network. I expected more documentation online.

Not surprisingly, the person who came to setup the modem for me did not want to deviate from his company script. I understand the problems he may have to face. However, between the three entities, the setup allowed only a single person to access the internet at a time.

This is not what I had in mind. I have a desktop and two laptops. I wanted all of them to be able to access the web simultaneously. It should have been possible. After all that is what the WA1003A is built for! The desktop is connected to the 1003A by means of the Ethernet cable. The laptops connect wirelessly.

So it was time to rely on common shared knowledge, do some experimentation and get it to work. I did a number of searches thanks to Google and Yahoo. People, Thanks for the information you put out. Also special thanks to Nilesh Gujar who helped me get past a few roadblocks. To get your setup to work, you may follow the steps given below.

Warnings

1. Ensure you have enabled or installed a firewall on each PC before you proceed. There are bad guys on the internetjust waiting to hijack your machine.
2. After configuring the modem, set it up wireless security. There is ample stuff on the web. I am not covering it here.

Step 0 - Make sure your setup is wired up right

There is no need to re-invent the wheel here. The WA1003A user manual has a section on this
and it explains stuff sufficiently. Ensure all the wires are connected right and the modem is turned on.

Step 1 - Configure the 1003A

Step 1a - Reset 1003A

To connect up to the 1003A, launch your browser and type in the URL http://192.168.1.1
and hit the enter key. Ths brings up the admin logon page. Login with user name "admin".
If your password has not changed, it will be "admin". It is a good idea to change the default password.

I did not want to take any chances so I decided to go to the factory settings. To do this, click
the button "Tools" then "System Commands" and finally "Restore Defaults". Now click "Save All".
Now Log off. Wait a minute. Then turn the modem off. Wait a minute and turn it on again.
Wait for the LEDs to stabilize (takes about 40 to 80 seconds) and again log in to the modem
as you did at the begining of ths step.

Step 1b - IP settings

Firstly, I set DHCP off. To do this you click "Setup" then "DHCP settings" and set it off
and do not forget to click "Apply"

Next, click "IP Management" and ensure IP address is 192.168.1.1 and netmask is 255.255.255.0.
Dont forget to click "Apply".

Next, click "Firewall/Nat Services". Enable and click "Apply".

Next, click "Wireless". if you want it to work as a wireless Router, enable the "AP" checkbox
if not, disable it.

Next, clck the "PVC0" button. This is important. You want the modem to dial out and connect to
the server anytime somebody requests to go to the Internet. So there are 4 fields you will need
to change from the default setting.

a. The drop list for "Type". Set it to "PPPoE"

b. "Username". Set it to the username you got from BSNL

b. "Password". Set it to your current password for this BSNL account

b. "Keep Alive". The default is 10 min. You may change it to a larger value.

Now click the "Apply" button.

You now want to save all this so click the button "Tools" then "System Commands" and finally click
the "Save All" button.


Step 1c - Powercycle the 1003A

It sounds quite high funda. It simply means that you need to turn the modem off and then turn it on to
have the new settings take effect. It is advisable to wait a mnute after step 1b is complete to do this. We do not want to switch the modem off during its save operation. Also wait a minute before turning it on.

Step 2 - Setup your PC

Open the Network Connections window by clicking on Start-->Settings-->Network Connections. Next, right click on the network adapter that connects the PC to the 1003A and click "Properties".
Now click "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click the "Properties" button.

Set the IP address as 192.168.1.2 (other than 192.168.1.1). If you are setting more than one machine, ensure that each machine has a different IP address.

If you have mre than one network card on a machine - my Laptops have a ethernet card and a wireless adapter, you must set the IP address of the lan device that connects to the 1003A. In my case I configured the lan card on the desktop and the wireless adapter on the laptops.

Set the Subnet mask as 255.255.255.0

Set the default Gateway as 192.168.1.1

Set the primary DNS Server as 61.1.96.69 and the secondary as 61.1.96.71

Now click the OK button.

You may now share Printer(s), files and folders too!

Have fun with your setup and dont forget about enabling the Firewall on each PC and Wireless security.

_{Rustom Taraporevala}