2 Routers 1 Switch: PC behind a Switch seeing Printer

[luie]

Hello all,
I had been looking and reading articles about this (3 days so far) on SmallNetBuilder and DD-WRT but was unable to solve it.
Can anyone clue/link me in what might be wrong or what I might be missing?
A friend thinks the switch is messing things up and I should do a router-router-router configuration (instead of router-switch-router).
What do you think?
Thanks in advance.


Why:
Got a router that has a USB port (for print server)

Goal:
Get all PCs to see printer and have access to the internet

Problem:
2 out of 3 PCs can't see printer
(the PCs that are behind the switch can't; the PC doesn't have a switch in the way can see the printer)

Limitations (right now):
-Internet cable comes in downstairs. (connected to modem and immediately to router than to the wall. one PC is connected to this router which i'll call 'router_1')
-walljack is a ethernet cable that goes to a switch (inside a wall in the closet).
-Printer is upstairs (along with other PCs)



(internet)
|
{modem}----{router_1}----{pc}
|
{switch}
/ \
{router_p} {pc_1}
/ \
{printer_1} {pc_2}


Additional info that might not be useful?:
router_1 = Dlink DI-624
(an old but reliable router we got from 4 years ago.) Using newest Dlink firmware (2006)

router_withPrintSever = Asus WL-520GU.
Tried doing the setup I mentioned above with newest Asus firmware (3.0.0.2) as well as latest DD-WRT firmware (DD-WRT v24 SP1 [mini_asus] with Print Server add-on [usb_ftp.bin]) but only PC_2 can see/print on the printer. :-(

switch = just a simple layer 2 switch. never had a problem or overheat, etc.




The following are random junk I made while figuring out how to make this work:
/*equipments:
1x router
1x router with printer server
1x switch
*/


internet():
router():
switch():
attach pc_1 //how to access printer_1 from here?
attach router_withPrintServer():
attach pc_2 //maybe link wirelessly if not working
attach printer_1


hal to make pc_1 to see printer_1?
"i'm sorry dave, i'm afraid i can't do that."

[raykain]

Are both doing routing?

If so routing twice is never good. You probably have Router one handing out something like 192.168.xxx.xxx and router 2 is getting 192.168.xxx.xxx and handing out something like 192.168.yyy.yyy. Turn routing off on router 2 and this should fix your issue.

[thefordmccord]

Yeah, you have to many routers. If you want to keep everything the way it is, then don't use the WAN port on the router with the print server (use one of the lan ports as your uplink, you may need a crossover cable) and turn off DHCP on the router with the print server.

[berky]

agree with above. take the cable that's currently plugged into the wan port on router 2 and plug it into a lan port.

if that doesnt' work for some reason, your other option is to put a static route on router 1 with a destination of the printer/pc3 network and have the next hop of router 2's wan address. try the other option first though.