Is a router really necessary?

[chinkecheese]

Hey guys, I own a n56u asus, and share a network with my roommates. Currently we take up only 2 slots (my pc, and my roomates single powerline ethernet cord.)

My question is, do I really need my router if my surfboard sbg6580 has enough ports for all of us? What benefits could I gain?

 

[bds1904]

Do you need a router? Yes

Do you need 2 routers? No

Your sbg6580 is a router. No sense in having a router behind another router unless you really know what you are doing and have a good reason for it.

 

[Mopower]

More than likely your ISP is limiting the amount of public IP's your modem can obtain to one or two. So yes you need a router.

NVMD. I didn't know the SBG6580 was a router as well.

 

[duffman452001]

What you really want is a switch if you need more ports

 

[knowpantsdance]

Since the SBG6580 is a modem/router combo, the simple answer is no, you don't need the N56U. If you want to keep using the N56U, then I suggest setting it up as a WAP:

http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Setting up as a WAP will put everything on the same network, let you use the 3 leftover LAN ports, have an additional AP if you wanted to use it, and avoid "double NAT".

 

[goodcooper]

generally a motorola cable modem/router combo is not going to have anywhere near the features your asus router does...

while you don't need the asus, if you don't have problems with it, keep it... but definitely put your modem/router combo device into bridge mode and disable the routing function of it...

that should be a common request for an ISP

 

[Innocence]

generally a motorola cable modem/router combo is not going to have anywhere near the features your asus router does...

while you don't need the asus, if you don't have problems with it, keep it... but definitely put your modem/router combo device into bridge mode and disable the routing function of it...

that should be a common request for an ISP

I deal with about a dozen ISPs (across canada) for multiple users - most won't even put their equipment into bridge mode on "business" accounts - I can't imagine residential service would have an easier time....

In short, they don't want to be on the hook for whatever garbage hardware people decide to use. If they can confidently say "You modem/router is 100% up, it's an internal wiring problem" it saves some dispatches.

Not saying your Asus is garbage hardware, at all.

 

[goodcooper]

I deal with about a dozen ISPs (across canada) for multiple users - most won't even put their equipment into bridge mode on "business" accounts - I can't imagine residential service would have an easier time....

In short, they don't want to be on the hook for whatever garbage hardware people decide to use. If they can confidently say "You modem/router is 100% up, it's an internal wiring problem" it saves some dispatches.

Not saying your Asus is garbage hardware, at all.

this is the only reason to use ISP hardware, if you're not prepared to take the blame on your gear....

whenever i call an ISP for support i generally hook a laptop up to the modem directly and troubleshoot it that way.... if your problems go away when you do that, you have to be prepared to fix the problem yourself... if you aren't, maybe you should use the ISP provided modem/router as intended...

 

[Skripka]

Do you need a router? Yes

Do you need 2 routers? No

Your sbg6580 is a router. No sense in having a router behind another router unless you really know what you are doing and have a good reason for it.

More than likely your ISP is limiting the amount of public IP's your modem can obtain to one or two. So yes you need a router.

NVMD. I didn't know the SBG6580 was a router as well.

Since the SBG6580 is a modem/router combo, the simple answer is no, you don't need the N56U. If you want to keep using the N56U, then I suggest setting it up as a WAP:

http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Setting up as a WAP will put everything on the same network, let you use the 3 leftover LAN ports, have an additional AP if you wanted to use it, and avoid "double NAT".

ENTIRELY depends on how your ISP remote configures your SBG6850. Take me and my local Time Warner for example and my SBG6850.

TWC charges an extra $5.99/month to turn on the wifi chip inside the modem. @goodcooper, they also brick bridge mode and a few other things via the config file they zap to the modem/router. So my only option is to either use a wifi router or buy my own modem or bend over and increase my monthly bill.

SBG6850 if you buy it outright is a nice piece of hardware...sadly ISPs like to really handicap its abilities.