Connecting two routers

napster100 · Feb 26, 2014

Hi guys, I'd like to connect two routers together, as I don't have enough spare ethernet ports, I'm needing 2 extra and figured I could take one out of the first and connect that to my spare router and plug the rest in that. But I was told that doing this would allow node on the sub/second router to ping/data transfer to nodes on the main/first router but not from nodes on the main router to nodes on the sub router as the sub router appends it's IP as the data leaves since it has NAT, to my knowledge this is known as bridge mode... Is this correct? If so, is there a way around this?

Thanks

USAFRet · Feb 26, 2014

If you're just looking to add extra ports, a switch is a MUCH better, easier solution. And cheaper.

RaDiKaL_ · Feb 26, 2014

If you already have both routers then yes, you could setup the 2nd one in bridge mode (make sure it points to the first router as it's default gateway) and it should work as an "extended switch" like you want.

napster100 · Feb 26, 2014

USAFRet :

I would be cheaper and easier, only I already have a spare router and a very tight budget. But thanks for your input.

RaDiKaL_ :

So if I was to set it up in bridge mode, I could ping a node on the main router from a node on the sub router and it would see the data as coming from the actual node's IP and not be wrapped with the sub router's IP instead?

Pooneil · Feb 26, 2014

If you just need more Ethernet ports, then use the second router as a switch by putting a patch cable between the routers' LAN ports. Make sure you turn off the DHCP service and the WiFi on the second unit. You will also have to set the LAN side IP of the router to an address that won't interfere with the network.

Depending on the router there are various ways to do this. If it will get an IP from DHCP then let it.

If not, you can set it outside of the address range used. If your primary router is 192.168.1.1 set the second one to 192.168.0.1. It will be invisible to the network but can be managed again by doing a factory reset.

While 10/100 switches are very cheap, I can see that there is no need to buy anything when what you have will suffice.

napster100 · Feb 26, 2014

Pooneil :

Thanks for your reply, I'd be hoping to keep the second router in the same subnet so it viewable and setting it a static IP from the first router but changing its DHCP pool to not include that IP, I'd most likely use 192.168.1.2 as the first router is 192.168.1.1 so it makes sense to keep the routers together and easier to remember it's IP.

But the main thing I'd like to know is if I had a desktop connected to the first router and say my laptop on the second router, I was told that the laptop could see the desktop but the desktop couldn't see the laptop.

I just thought, I could try this out in CISCO Packet Tracer!! Damn, why didn't I think of this before. I shall post my findings so others can be advised/learn from this

Pooneil · Feb 27, 2014

napster100 :

It sound like you want to use the second router for more than just the extra Ethernet ports.

If both the computers are on the same network, I see no reason why both will not be visible to each other.

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