Configuration for IP Passthrough on the NE200-Outdoor

In This Article:
What is IP Passthrough?
Why is IP Passthrough needed on the NE200-Outdoor?
How to Configure IP Passthrough
QAs

 

What is IP Passthrough?

IP passthrough allows a router to assign its WAN IP address directly to a single device on the local network, bypassing the router's Network Address Translation (NAT).

Enabling IP passthrough provides enhanced performance and efficiency by:

• Reduces latency: IP passthrough bypasses the delays caused by Network Address Translation (NAT), leading to a faster and more direct connection.
• Eliminates "Double NAT": It prevents the performance issues that occur when both an ISP's modem/router and a second router perform NAT, improving stability for real-time applications.
• Improves bandwidth utilization: By minimizing intermediate data processing, it allows for a more efficient use of network resources. 
• Enhanced control over security: Users can implement their own firewall rules, intrusion detection systems, and access controls on their preferred router.

 

Why is IP Passthrough needed on the NE200-Outdoor?

NE200-outdoor is a 5G Outdoor Router without WiFi ability, so it is common for users to add an extra WiFi router or WiFi Access point behind. IP Passthrough helps eliminate the potential double NAT and ensures that the downstream device, such as a router or computer using the same IP address as the NE200-Outdoor’s WAN Interface, to communicate directly with the upstream gateway. It simplifies network management by removing the need for complex port forwarding rules and gives users greater control over security settings through their own router's firewall.

 

How to Configure IP Passthrough

• Log in to the web admin UI via  https://tplinkmodem.net or 192.168.254.1

• Go to Advanced > Network > IP Passthrough, enable IP Passthrough Switch

• Input the correct MAC address(The Key Point).

  • If only a single computer or Xbox is connected directly to the NE200-outdoor, not a DHCP/NAT router, the user might only need to pass the IPV4 WAN address on the NE200-outdoor to a single device; the required MAC address here would just be the Device MAC address of the computer/Xbox.

  • However, if it is a WiFi router, the required MAC address should be its WAN MAC address, which is not the same as the device label MAC.

Typical Network topology： NE200-outdoor--<Ethernet cable>---Deco X50----<WiFi>--- mobile devices

The Ethernet ports of Deco are WAN/LAN auto-sensing, and its MAC address is the Label MAC address+1(using hexadecimal calculation).

The label LAN MAC address is "AC-15-A2-BC-16-AF"
Then the WAN MAC should be "AC-15-A2-BC-16-B0"

 

Another reported case #841916. The Topology is:NE200-outdoor---<Ethernet cable>---ER605
ER605 is a multi-WAN router, and WAN1 is connected to the NE200-Outdoor.

On the IP Passthrough configuration page of NE200-outdoor, the MAC address should be the WAN 1 MAC address.

 

QAs

Q: Why does my downstream device still show a private IP even with IP Passthrough enabled?

A: This happens when your SIM ISP uses CG-NAT service, which is very common for mobile service providers. In this case, the NE200-Outdoor itself only receives a private WAN IP, so it can only pass this private WAN address to the downstream device.
If you want the downstream device to obtain a valid public IP address, please contact your ISP to request a SIM card with a public APN profile.

Q: Do I need to disable the NE200-Outdoor’s DHCP when using IP Passthrough?

A: No. The DHCP server should remain enabled on the NE200-oudoor.

Q: Can I still access the web admin UI of NE200-out after enabling IP-passthrough?

A: Yes. You can still access the NE200-Outdoor’s web interface using its management IP (https://tplinkmodem.net or 192.168.254.1) from a wired device.