TD 8840 is just a basic modem with a 4 port switch that does ip extension (PPPoA half bridging). You can't really get a decent single port modem any cheaper than $60 from what I've seen. It's good bang for buck.
However...
If you don't want to spend any money at all and can't get half bridge working on the Belkin you could just connect the wireless router to the Belkin in "wan bypass mode".
This means the Belkin does the NAT, DHCP etc and the wireless router just acts as a dumb switch and wireless access point.
The problem with New Zealand internet is we use PPPoA. This means, amongst other things, that you can only have half bridge mode.
Furthermore, most Linux based routers (such as yours) can't handle the modem being on a different subnet from them. What this means is that unless your modem spoofs it's subnet, or the router firmware has been specifically altered to ignore the problem, half bridge mode will not work.
I've got a Linksys AM300, which spoofs it's subnet, and it works perfectly with my WRT54-GL, but no other modems I've tried work. If your external IP isn't getting passed through to the router, or it is but the internet isn't working anyway, then that's likely your problem.
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly
to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.