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Drassen

Member

Registered: 2021-01-11

Posts: 71

How to connect two routers on the same network

Start with your existing network:
ISP==modem==router#1 (may or may not have wifi)
You wish to add a second router (perhaps with wifi) like
ISP==modem==router#1 ----- router#2
There are two ways to use router#2
isolate all devices on #2 from those on #1 (ie no file sharing)
make all devices visible to each other & support file sharing

To implement #1;
first, find the router#1 LAN address
use IPCONFIG and the gateway address shown is the router's address
we usually see something like 192.168.X.1

Then, set the router#2 Lan address to X+1, like 192.168.2.1
connect any LAN port on #1 to the WAN slot on #2 and you're done.

All devices on router#2 will be able to access the Internet, but nothing on the internet will have access to router#2 and that means if you are hosting some service of game on your system, it will need to be connected to router#1

To implement #2:
You need to disable DHCP in router#2 to allow all addresses to be
controlled by router#1

connect a pc to any router lan slot
login the router using your browser and the router's default address
use the default user/password
find the router settings
disable DHCP
save & logout

Now disconnect the PC and connect router#1 lan slot to any
router#2 lan slot, leaving router#2 WAN slot empty

any device on router#1 will be able to ping the devices on router#2 and conversely.

WiFi Considerations
One tool that is really helpful with WiFi is inSSIDer. This helps
finding a channel with the least conflicts in your location.

Router#1 (if it has wifi) should be solved first

When you add router#2, you can make the SSID similar to that of #1,
but add a suffix '2' so you can tell them apart.

*IMPORTANT*
Make sure that when both routers have WiFi, that they are NOT using
the same channels! Otherwise, you're interfering with yourself.

Ollester

Member

Registered: 2021-01-11

Posts: 64

Re: How to connect two routers on the same network

I recently added 2 switches to my home FIOS network. WiFi is ok for the smartphones and tablets, but I like keeping my game systems, streaming systems and NAS servers wired.

Some devices have a specific "uplink" port which you connect the data cable from the 1st router into. The new device may be able to configure itself once it recognizes the uplink port is in use.