Problems Bridging 2 Routers

[swat565]

Sorta new to this so i appologize for my newbieness. So, im trying to set up a Lan party, problem is i have 5-6 people and only 4 connections on a single router. So after a little talk with my stepdad, hes saying its possible to connect 2 routers together by allowing Router A to be DHCP server and disabling it on router B, i also set the IP that are assigned in diffrent ranges so theres no conflict. Problem...its not working, am I missing a vital step? id also like to try and get WAN working to so we can update games if there diffrent versions. Any links to how to sites would be great, google failed me for once.

 

[Guest]

You need set the IP addresses of each router to be in the same range and connect the from router A to a LAN port on router B.

Grumpy

 

[pmerritt]

yeah you can do it that way but it would be a overly complicated setup. Just go out and buy a cheap switch and that'll take care of your needs.

 

[billb_gcc]

SWAT565,

I had a setup kind of like what you're trying to do at my college dorm last year. What pmerritt is saying is true, his is the simplest solution, but I suspect you're looking for one that doesn't involve spending more money on network gear.

You're on the right track, having disabled the DHCP server on router B. I may be remembering wrong, but you want the router IPs to be in the same range so that the computers on router B will get their IP from router A. Here is how I would approach this first:

Router A:
External/WAN: No change from normal
Internal/LAN: See below
IP: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on the vendor
DHCP: Enabled, move starting IP to 192.168.1.100 if not set that way

Router B:
External/WAN: Disabled if possible
Internal/LAN: See below
IP: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on the vendor
DHCP: Disabled

As Grumpy9117 said, connect a cable from a LAN port on router A to a LAN port on router B for this setup.


If that fails then try this:

Router A:
External/WAN: No change from normal
Internal/LAN: See below
IP: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on the brand of router
DHCP: Enabled, move starting IP to 192.168.1.100 if not set that way

Router B:
External/WAN: See below
Connection Type: Static IP
IP: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on the brand of router
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
Static DNS 1: 192.168.1.1
Static DNS 2: 208.67.222.222 (This is from OpenDNS, it will work regardless of your ISP and will be a backup in case router A's DNS capabilities choose not to cooperate. See http://www.opendns.com for info.)
Static DNS 3 (if available): 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS as well)
Internal/LAN: See below
IP: 192.168.2.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on the brand of router
DHCP: Enabled

Connect router B to router A with a cable from B's WAN port to a LAN port on A. In this setup it will be two different networks but should still work provided that some basic guidelines below are followed. This is the setup that I used and should work no matter what, though it may require a little tinkering to work best.

Regardless of which of the two setups you end up using, anyone planning on hosting a game should be on router A. In the case of the first setup, it's just a good idea, but in the case of the second it's a necessity unless you want to fiddle with port forwards and manually joining by IP rather than the LAN Games screens.

If you have any problems or other questions let us know.

Bill B.



P.S.: I was in your place just a few years ago myself, don't feel bad if you're not sure! Just do the same thing again and ask if anyone knows, it's one of the best ways to learn .