Two WiFi router question

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fliphusker

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Oct 2, 2012
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I will say I am a noob when it comes to networking but I am learning.

My issue is my new router, Netgear AC1900 plugged directly into my Netgear cable modem 32x8. The issue is that my Netgear AC 1900 only allows 32 connections. So I thought I would plug my old router (Netgear C3000) into it and it would only count as one connection -- that is not the case. It counts all connections through the second router. The second router is set up with a different SSID and separate IP address.
To separate the two would a switch solve it? Would I run both routers to the switch and then to the cable modem? I do not have static IP addresses through Spectrum, but I did assign an IP address on the 2nd router. Would they now count as two separate IP addresses or is my router's IP the only one that matters? Would I have to get static IP addresses from Spectrum in order to have multiple IP addresses?
 
Solution
USAFRet
Sorry, but that is a viable recommendation.
For both number of devices and actual throughput performance.

ISP->modem->router 1 (32 devices max) -> router 2 (WiFi only, 32devices max).

Not a "switch" in the middle. The modem talks to one and only one device. Router #1.
Router 1 does all the DHCP. Anything coming from router 2 is simply seen as LAN traffic, NOT WiFi. And falls easily within the DHCP range of 3-255.

But, solid, stable, fast business performance often requires more than regular consumer grade equipment.
Sure, you can make this mostly work. But this is like trying to use a Prius as a schoolbus.

The proper answer is not always the easy answer you want.
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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Does netgear actually state that is a hard restriction in any of their documentation.

Almost all the wireless stuff is handled by the wifi chips themselves. Netgear does not actually make their own wireless chips and in almost all cases the provider of the chipset provides the firmware for them. If this was a hard limit you would think other routers would also see it.

Still 32 device on 1 radio is going to perform poorly even if it allows it.

If it is a wifi restriction then anything plugged into the ethernet port does not count. There is no way your netgear router can know if the the devices are wifi or coming in on a switch. By the time it sees any data it all looks like ethernet.

I would doubt there is a 32 device total restriction on the router. You could always run your second router as a actual router and all the device behind it would share the 1 ip.

Still if this is a actual restriction I would toss the device in the nearest trash can and buy something like a asus or tplink.

You could also I suppose try dd-wrt...make sure that particular model is supported. The most common ac1900 is a r7000 which is supported but if they have other ac1900 devices you need to check.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Then you need to move off cheap consumer grade equipment.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,758
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Sorry, but that is a viable recommendation.
For both number of devices and actual throughput performance.

ISP->modem->router 1 (32 devices max) -> router 2 (WiFi only, 32devices max).

Not a "switch" in the middle. The modem talks to one and only one device. Router #1.
Router 1 does all the DHCP. Anything coming from router 2 is simply seen as LAN traffic, NOT WiFi. And falls easily within the DHCP range of 3-255.

But, solid, stable, fast business performance often requires more than regular consumer grade equipment.
Sure, you can make this mostly work. But this is like trying to use a Prius as a schoolbus.

The proper answer is not always the easy answer you want.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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To me, assuming the bottleneck is indeed WIFI, splitting the WIFI load between 2 WIFI routers, each handling ~half of the clients, and each WIFI router running on non overlapping WIFI channels, *should* help. Don't let R2 traffic go through R1, so yes an upstream switch.

Modem --> Switch.

Switch --> R1.
Switch --> R2.

I said *should,* there are always additional variables.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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A switch between the modem and routers won't work.
If it is an actual modem, that talks to one and only one device. It will not address 2x routers.
 
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jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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Oh sorry, ^he right. One must have the NAT device on the very head end. NAT device BEFORE any ethernet switch.

Sounds like no other quick solution than moving to business-class.
 
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