how to configure 3 linksys routers (each with static ips) connected to a uverse modem/router

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msvonangel

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Aug 12, 2017
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I have been using the same config for years, but recently have had trouble seeing more than one of the other devices on the network. The other servers or pcs can see devices that I cannot see from my pc. (sometimes I see 1 pc and other times, several). This is tough when you want to copy files over the network. I also am using a workgroup (not homegroup) and all the devices are in the same workgroup.. I thought that maybe I should replace one of the routers which is old. Now, after diagramming the setup, I am not sure. The at and t router has one static ip, I have 5 static ip addresses total. Each of the other 3 routers has a public and private static ip as well. each of the 3 routers connects to a port on the uverse modem router. each of the 3 linksys routers connects to one of the other routers. For example, A connects to C, B connects to A and C connects to B. The servers each are connected to the router having the correct public ip address for the particular website. I read in a post that I should disable dhcp on the secondary routers. at this point, I am not sure what to do.
 
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bill001g

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If you have 3 actual internet connection it gets complex to make it work when all 3 routers share the same lan subnet.

As you have found the first step is to disable the dhcp server on all but 1 router...maybe on all of them. You are going to have to configure static ip and gateways on each server so they know which router to send their traffic to. The routers also must have static ip on their lan interfaces so you know which router represents each connection.

It will work ok as long as you configure the ip addresses and gateways on the end machines to make it work.

You can if you like leave the DHCP work on 1 of the routers that will be used for all machines you choose to not configure with static ip.

Your cabling will likely cause a loop. You need to cable them a-b and a-c If you were to the additional cable the broadcast traffic will overload your router. Some consumer routers support spanning tree which allows you to have the extra cable and it will block 1 of the 3 links. Hard to say if it has the feature or not. There really is no purpose since 1 of the links is always blocked you might as well not have the cable in the first place. It would be used for backup in case of a cable failure but that is extremely unlikely.
 
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msvonangel

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msvonangel

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I do have each of the pcs (servers) set up to go to the appropriate gateway which is the private ip address associated with the correct public ip address on each router. So, each router has a different public and private address and each pc is directed to the correct router. The websites work fine and internet access is fine. The only problem is that I can see only one of my devices in the network dropdown in file manager. So, I have to copy files to that pc and log onto the web server and copy files from that same device to the web server, which is creating a lot of extra steps. So, should I remove the dhcp from all 3 routers, leaving it on only the wan modem/router that connects to internet?
 
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bill001g

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What you want to do is have them all on the same lan. So you would assign 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3 to each of your routers lan ports. You would the assign IP addresses and gateways to the machines so they use the proper gateway. I assume you have port forwarding rules in the routers so the servers would need static ip anyway.

Since the LAN network is the same all the devices will be able see each other with the normal network tools. You could actually use a common NAS between all the machines so they could share common files.

You could leave the DHCP on say which every internet router that you wanted to use for your other devices. This is purely for convenience since some devices are a pain to manually set the ip addresses.
 
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msvonangel

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I have moved away from my problem being the routers or their config. I have installed a new router as the old one was faulty. The problem all started because I am no longer able to see my network devices (pcs) under the file manager network tab. I can see only 1 pc. I came across a different potential cause on the TechNet forum. That is that the inability to show network devices on a lan is caused by a recent windows 10 update. Apparently it inactivated the smb 1 protocol because it caused a ransomware vulnerability. I was advised on the forum to go to add or turn off windows features and reactivate the smb 1 protocol, only to find that it had not been turned off by an update or whatever. This responder said maybe I don't have permissions set correctly. This is strange because I don't even see the devices on the list. Usually I get a prompt to type in a userid and password to access it, but nothing shows to access in the first place. Also, my pc is identified as a media player. If I click on it, windows media player fires up. This is viewing from my computer itself. I didn't even try to disable the dhcp on any of the routers. I could try it, but am afraid that has nothing to do with the issue. Again, all servers and pcs see and are accessible on internet. This is such a mess, and I wish I could figure it out.
 
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