Static IP is not really Static IP, right? [ Edited ]

[fatbear]

I'm about to move to a new home where AT&T U-Verse is available.  Right now, I have a Time-Warner Cable Business internet account and I have static IP addresses.  I have 5 usable in my home that give me 5 unchanging, public IP addresses.  The computers in my home are used for things like web servers, database servers, etc.  I can access them via SSH from the outside with no problem... no port blocking, no stateful firewall, etc.  My hardware looks like this:

TW Modem -- Cisco E4200 Wireless/Wired Router - LAN Computers (wired and wireless)

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L-------------- WAN Computers (wired only)

But, as I said, I'm moving.  So, I need to understand AT&T's offerings.  And, what I've heard is that the so-called Static IP addresses that AT&T U-Verse offers are not actually static IP addresses in any sense that I've been accustomed to.   And, I've heard that the modem that AT&T provides has a stateful firewall that can't be turned off.  This can wreak havoc for things such as VoIP and other services that rely on certain ports being available.

Can someone explain whether I can:

1.  get real, public static IP addresses from AT&T that are used inside the servers inside my home and can be accessed from anywhere outside my home?  The servers MUST use the static IP addresses directly because of the software I'm running.  I'm a software developer.

2. turn off any stateful firewall or port blocking, etc., on the modem that AT&T provides.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

If you are willing to purchase the static IP block for $15/month, then you will receive true registered, publicly routable static IP addresses.

As long as the 2Wire RG is configured properly, these IPs will have no firewall, port or packet filtering.

I purchase static IPs for myself, and I am running VPN tunnels on them to a Cisco 2811 without issue.

[fatbear]

So, can I just connect an Ethernet switch to the AT&T modem/router and then configure my servers with the static IP addresses, gateway, netmask, and DNS servers and it will just work?  I've heard that the AT&T modem/router has to be fiddled with and that some kind of DHCP is still involved.

AT&T modem/router  --- 8-port Ethernet switch - 4 ports connect to 4 servers using WAN static IP addresses --- servers

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L----- 1 WAN port = Cisco E4200 Wireless/Router --- laptops, mobile devices, desktop computers

Thanks for any info.  I'm worried that the AT&T U-verse service is not as simple as the passthru Time Warner service.  Note that in both cases, I'm using business-class service and paying for static IP addresses.

Thanks again for your help!

Regards,

Steve

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Yes, your connection diagram will work. You will use your 5 static IP addresses by using 4 of them for your servers, and 1 for the outside IP address of the Cisco E4200. Your devices behind the Cisco R4200 will have private IPs that will be subject to NAT when their traffic is routed through the Cisco.

Yes, you can statically assign the addresses to your servers as well as your Cisco. No DHCP will be involved.

The 2Wire router does have to be configured for this setup, however. Because of this, it's a bit more complex to set up than a similar connection to TW, but will work the same way.

The only major restriction with U-Verse's static IP addresses is that you cannot use the static IP addresses behind your own router, because there is no facility to insert a static route into the 2Wire. However, according to your diagram above, this restriction does not affect you since you are not using static IPs behind your Cisco.