Can I use 2x 4 port routers together?

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Foz2001

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Can I use 2x 4 port routers together with all 6-7 computers hooked up to the internet? is it possible?

thanks

Foz
 
sorta, you will have to turn DHCP off in one of them
best is to use 1 router and get a 5 port switch
 
2x methods..the above....which I'd prefer..you basically bypass any routing of the second one..and butcher it into a switch.

or

Cascade 1x router inside of another..meaning, WAN port of inside router to LAN port of outside router. As long as each router is on a unique IP range..such as one is on 192.168.0.xxx and another is on 192.168.1.xxx. Can't have them the same. BUT..PCs cannot network to each other (well..technically you can fiddle with some..but we won't get into that)..and the inside ones will run a wee slower..not much..but technically. "Most" software will be fine..they'll get internet access OK. This method "double NAT's" them..not really preferred.
 
This really depends!

If you have 6 PC's Just, if 7, no!

What to do is connect the router to the net as you would. then set it up, then connect the routers via 2 lan ports. Disable all the routing and DHCP on the second router. then plug in PC's

This will give you 6 ports.

If you need more/want an easier life. go buy a small switch. Easier, And provides space for more PC's
 
um.. i just did this., with a linksys and a d-link router

I moved into dorms.. one roomate already had a d-link router with inet. So i simply ran a cat 5 cable from port 4 on his router into the uplink port on my router... and they all worked fine..


dont get to complicated guys :p newer routers are getting smarter lol
 
paradoxblue said:
um.. i just did this., with a linksys and a d-link router

I moved into dorms.. one roomate already had a d-link router with inet. So i simply ran a cat 5 cable from port 4 on his router into the uplink port on my router... and they all worked fine..


dont get to complicated guys :p newer routers are getting smarter lol
Click to expand...

yeah you never really know till you try it and see if it works, the best way would be a router/switch. You can pick up a 5 port SMC switch for like 20 bucks or less..
 
paradoxblue said:
dont get to complicated guys :p newer routers are getting smarter lol
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of it routers are smart or not..that's nothing to do with it.

First..you're double NAT'ing. Most programs don't care. But depending on how you use your PC...you may run into a situation where something doesn't like that.

The double NAT'ing will separate the two networks. Tell him it's OK..then a week later he may try to do file sharing across all PCs..whelp..that ain't gonna work. Tis better to know ahead of time that the firewall will actually do its job..be a firewall.

It worked OK for you "out of the box" because you had two different brand routers which defaulted to different IP ranges...Linksys are 192.168.1.xxx and DStinks are 192.168.0.xxx..so that will work. But if you had two of the same brand..and didn't know any better...it wouldn't work. You can have a home broadband router sitting in between two networks of the same IP range. The inside router will be running in circles.

Supposed you needed to open/forward ports on PCs inside the second router. It's a bit more difficult now..and you're running into double NAT'ing again..which some software won't perform very well under.

It's not a matter of making things overcomplicated..it's a matter of knowing what the limits are. I've intentionally done double router setups since the first 100 Linksys befsr41 routers rolled off the assembly line. I always have a setup like this to segment "bench PC's" that I'm working on...that are potentially infested with malware..so they're separated from my LAN. All I need to do is download tools, antivirus updates, windows updates, etc..on them..and it works great. Been doing that for many many years.
 
though at times double NAT can be usefull IF set up right in the case if you have a device that only uses WEP *cough* Nintendo DS *cough* and you want to use say WPA
then you can set up 2 wireless routers

so like this

you would have your modem pluged in to the WAN port on the frist wireless router this would be the one you set your WEP on also if you can turn on AP isolation then set its ip to 192.168.0.1 and turn on DMZ set the DMZ ip to 192.168.1.1 this will be the ip of the 2nd wireless router were you have the cable out of the router1 in to router2s WAN
then just set up your net work as you would

this way if some one breaks the WEP on the on the frist router there not getting any were
 
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