Gargoyle Noob Troubles

[Mandango]

Hi there guys, I need some help in configuring a Gargoyle Router to monitor the internet usage of ten devices shared by six people. I have spent a few hours playing around and reading up on walkthroughs ( eg http://bikemike.webnode.com/products/se ... le-router/ ) with little success.
Please feel free to ask for any particulars you may need to understand the situation so I can configure this thing correctly, or ask me to change configuration. I'll do my best to communicate what I want and what I'm doing on my end.

* Gargoyle v.1.3.14 loaded onto TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND [ 192.168.1.2 ]
* ADSL Gateway [ 192.168.1.1 - DHCP OFF ]

I want to statically assign devices IP addresses through Gargoyle's DHCP function. I think I have a grasp on doing this (via Connection -> DHCP).

* LAN DHCP Server Enabled [ tick ]
* DHCP Range 192.168.1.30 - 192.168.1.40 - Lease Time 1 Hour Static IPs
* Block MAC addresses assigned a static IP that connect from a different IP [ tick ]
* Add Static IP Address: EG Host1 / 01:02:03:04:05:06 / 192.168.1.10

And next I assign some quotas (via Firewall -> Quotas).

* (eg) New Quota - Applies to: Only the following Host 192.168.1.10

Here are two things I am unsure of:

1) Internet connectivity via 192.168.1.1. Under Connection -> Basic -> Internet / WAN, I can have Connect Via: Disabled while Local Network / LAN, I can make a Custom DNS Server as 192.168.1.1.
OR.
Internet / WAN -> Connect Via: PPPoE (Wired). Apparently this is the correct configuration when using an ADSL Modem. It asks for a username / password which I'm assuming is the username / password for my ISP - but this is already configured in the ADSL modem. This part is confusing.

2) Quota Usage via Status -> Quota Usage. I only want to monitor and control traffic between hosts and 192.168.1.1 (Internet), not between hosts and other hosts. But this section doesn't populate if I have the Connection -> Basic -> Internet / WAN section disabled.

Alright, I think I've porked this explanation enough. Help!

[ispyisail]

I haven't fully studied your post but it appears that you maybe running the same subnet for both gargoyle and your DSL router?

192.168.1.x

This is usually a bad thing

[Mandango]

What you're saying is true - both the ADSL Router and Gargoyle Router are on the same 192.168.1.x network - I didn't think this would be a problem unless you had two DHCP servers contesting with each other. However, I'll give it a shot - putting the ADSL Router on a 192.168.2.x network and the Gargoyle Router and hosts on the 192.168.1.x network - assuming I have understood you correctly.

[Mandango]

Okay, so I'm slowly learning bits and pieces from trial and observation. Here's what I've learned, or think I have learned:

* The B/W Distribution panel was not being populated (at all) for some reason. It turns out that it will populate correctly with information when using Firefox - yet it will not work when using Internet Explorer 9.0.8112.16421.

* The Internet / WAN -> Connect Via: section is a function that can be used if Gargoyle is installed on a Router + Modem all in one box. This is not the case in my situation, therefore it is set to Disabled.

Currently I have this configuration:
Gargoyle Router - 192.168.1.1
ADSL Modem - 192.168.1.2
DHCP Pool - 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.200
Gargoyle Gateway: 192.168.1.2 (ADSL Modem)

So now, I have all my hosts communicating fine through the Gargoyle Router which uses the ADSL Modem as a Gateway.
However, I still cannot seem to monitor Bandwidth Usage correctly. I purposefully trafficked 250MB of data over the internet in a couple of hours this day (4th July) and Gargoyle says I have only trafficked 120MB total.

Still confused.

[Mandango]

Adding to my confusion:

Question - Can the WAN Port on my TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND be used without the Internet / WAN -> Connect Via: section being utilised? I read somewhere (can't remember) that the Bandwidth Usage will only monitor trafficked data through the WAN port.

PS - Does anyone use Gargoyle? I'm feeling rather lonely.

[Mandango]

After chucking a notebook into the WAN port of the Gargoyle Router, I failed to:

* ping 192.168.1.1 from the notebook when it was set to DHCP;
* ping 192.168.1.1 from the notebook when it was statically assigned a legitimate IP address;
* ping 192.168.1.1 from the notebook when it was set to DHCP and the Gargoyle Router had the notebook's MAC address programmed into it and was to assign it a pre-set IP address.

So I can only conclude that the Internet / WAN -> Connect Via: section MUST be utilised!!!

A) The ADSL Modem must be plugged into the WAN port.
B) What setting must the Internet / WAN -> Connect Via: section be in? There are so many damn possibilities. At least I can rule out the Wireless options because it will be connected via ethernet.

Aaaagh.

[Eric]

Put your modem in bridge mode, and in the connect via field of the WAN section, use the PPPoE option.

The only time you want the connect via field disabled is if you are creating a wireless bridge, which you aren't doing.

[Mandango]

Awesome! Some good direction... This honestly makes sense, however-
I just went thru my modem settings and couldn't find anything in there with regards to bridge mode. Is it more likely that it can't do it or I'm not looking hard enough?

[mix]

What is the brand and model of your adsl modem? You or we can probably find a manual or instructions to bridge it with some googling.

[Mandango]

Very legendary of you

It's a...
Vodafone Home Gateway ADSL Router (Model HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES HG556a HW.C

Which I guess is a Huawei HG556a HW.C branded by Vodafone New Zealand

Upon further inspection:
Product Name - EchoLife HG556a
Software Version - V100R001C12B029

If I'm not mistaken, I think I am going to have to find some non-NZ VDFN firmware and flash-and-install some firmware that doesn't restrict it's configuration capabilities.