Connecting a Router to a Router??

[Golibano]

I am trying to wire up just about every connection I have in my apartment. I do have one wireless router connected to my computer with it's wireless on for my laptop.

Now I want to connect up my XBox, XBox 360 and PS2 but not wireless. I currently have one long cable run to the back of my tv but obviously I have 3 inputs and 1 cable. I have a D-Link wireless router behind my tv and when I plug in the cable (coming from my Linksys) router to the WAN it lights up... but I am not getting any of the wired connections to work!! The wireless on the D-Link works but I want to turn it off so I don't have two wireless connection floating around...

Is it possible to connect a router to a router??

Thanks,

J

[Danster]

I'm not sure what you're trying to do so I might be off with this solution but, have you tried a hub instead connected to your router?

You'd connect your 3 gaming machines in the hub then going into one of your ports on one of your routers.

[hugh]

Yes it is possible but get a switch/hub instead. Its cheaper and easier to configure

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by Golibano

Is it possible to connect a router to a router??

Yes, you can then you are using one of them as a switch. If you do this be sure to turn off DHCP on one of the routers, especially if you are not using static IP addresses. But it can be kind of tricky to configure like Hugh said.

Switches are cheap - you can usually get a five port switch for about $30.

For an idea of how to do this check out http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...hilite=befsr41

[Golibano]

Thanks for the info...

J

[Danster]

That's what the DHC is for...

[poisson]

I've also been trying to do this after getting my $9.99 Trendnet 802.11G Wifi Router connected to my linksys 4 port router. I was able to get all computers online, but anything connected to the Trendnet was unable to network with the PC's plugged into the linksys, so I could not file share. I eventually took the linksys right out of the picture but would like to add it back since the Trendnet router access page is useless. I'll have to give linksys a call, still say they have some of the best tech support out there.

fish

[MarcP]

I have two routers in my setup. I have a D-Link wireless router and the Vonage Linksys router/VoIP adapter. Because I really do need wireless and Vonage's adapter isn't one, I have to use a two routers setup.

As previously mentioned, I had to disable DHCP Server on the Linksys. And connected the WAN port of the linksys to my D-Link. VoIP only works through the WAN port. However, I can't connect anything to the Linksys. If I had used a LAN port of the linksys to connect to D-Link, then it'd be functionning just like a normal hub, but I need the WAN port.

[Jake]

I have a Linksys 4-port Ethernet router. I need to disable the 'gateway' working mode in the 'Dynamic Routing' page. Once you switch to 'router' it acts like a switch and your other unit will hand out the DHCP license and connect to the internet. One thing to note is that port 4 and the UPLINK ports are shared on my unit. Make sure you don't try to use both at the same time. I have my UPLINK port connected to a linux based gateway. I have never tried static routing but I suspect with cascading gateways you may need to.

[hugh]

FYI: I posted a thread a couple of months ago with the steps I took to get two routers working together. If you search you should be able to find it in this forum.

[prdufresne]

There are two common ways to connect two routers together.

The Edge router refers to the router connected to the Internet, the Slave router refers to the second router.

1. Cascade the routers
This is when the WAN port of the Slave router is connected to one of the switch ports on the Edge router. In this case, DHCP should be enabled on both routers as two network segments have been created. One segment represented by the switch on the Edge router, and the second by the switch on the Slave router.

The Slave router will obtain an address from the DHCP server on the Edge router. Devices connected to the Slave router will receive their IP addresses from it.

Advantages: Allows you to use all of the switch ports on the slave router; creates a security barrier between the two network segments;

Disadvantages: Limits communications between devices on the two segments (file and printer sharing may not be possible); All traffic from devices connected to the Slave router are translated twice before reaching the Internet (this extra overhead may slow down the performance of things like gaming);

2. Cascade the switches.
This is when one of the switch ports of the Slave router are connected to one of the switch ports on the Edge router. In this case, DHCP should be disabled on the Slave router. This configuration provides one logical network segment shared across both switches.

If the Slave router is being used as more than just a switch (a wireless router), it will need to be given an IP address in the same network as the DHCP server on the Edge router.

Advantages: There is only one network segment so file/printer sharing will work fine; Network addresses are only translated once (by the Edge router) so there is less overhead for devices connected to the Slave router;

Disadvantages: One switch port on each router is used to link the two devices; A crossover cable may be required to connect the two switches; If the Slave router is a used for VOIP, this configuration may not allow the VOIP functions to work;

If all you need are extra ports for other devices, buy a cheap switch or hub, it will save you some grief! If you need to create a security barrier between devices on your networ, use a second router, or the DMZ function available in some routers.

[srkormilo]

prdufresne,

OK, this is exactly what I want to do with the routers that I already have: one wired router with a print 'server' port and a wireless 'G' router. The wired router has an IP address of 192.168.2.1 What IP address range would put the 'slave' wireless router "in the same network", so that I could print from my wireless devices?

TIA

[prdufresne]

Originally Posted by srkormilo

What IP address range would put the 'slave' wireless router "in the same network", so that I could print from my wireless devices?

That depends on what your network mask is. I'm guessing your network mask is probably 255.255.255.0. Check your Edge router's LAN configuration to confirm that. The next thing you need to do is find an IP address that isn't assigned to your DHCP pool. I've found that most routers use a range of 50 addresses, and yours will probably start at 192.168.2.50.

Therefore, any addresses below 50 and above 100 are available. If it isn't being used for the DHCP block, I would recommend 192.168.2.2 or 192.168.2.254, the last valid address if I'm right about your subnet mask.

[srkormilo]

Many thanks pdufresne. I did as you suggested and everything is now working great!

FYI, the Edge router subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and the default DHCP pool is 192.168.2.100 to 192.168.2.199 I used 192.168.2.2 for the Slave IP address. The only minor problem is that, after changing its IP address, I can no longer access the Slave router's 'management' page. OTOH, that's not a big deal since it's all set up the way I want. Thanks again.

[bolmsted]

Originally Posted by srkormilo

The only minor problem is that, after changing its IP address, I can no longer access the Slave router's 'management' page.

You either need to use the new IP address of the slave router or need to setup routing so that you can reach this IP address from the segment where the PC is located.

How are you trying to access the slave router's management interface? From the WAN or LAN side? Could be a firewall issue on the router since the WAN side is often blocked. (WAN is connection to "edge" router and LAN is where your other devices are connected).