Using Two Routers?

[DarkNetworks]

Is it possible if to hook up two Routers and only use one? What I mean is, I've two routers @ home now, I've been using one router but ever since I've got my XBox 360, sorta have to unplug one ethernet cable each time when I need to use Live as all four ports are being used. Is it possible for me to connect one LAN output from the main router to another LAN output in the other router. And then connect the other outputs into my XBox. Will it sorta work like a HUB? Or do I have to connect it to the WAN? I don't want to dial the connection on the other router. Need advice. Many thanks in advance.

 

[SMM]

Is it possible if to hook up two Routers and only use one? What I mean is, I've two routers @ home now, I've been using one router but ever since I've got my XBox 360, sorta have to unplug one ethernet cable each time when I need to use Live as all four ports are being used. Is it possible for me to connect one LAN output from the main router to another LAN output in the other router. And then connect the other outputs into my XBox. Will it sorta work like a HUB? Or do I have to connect it to the WAN? I don't want to dial the connection on the other router. Need advice. Many thanks in advance.

It sounds to me like what you need is a switch to provide extra connections, right? Multiple routers on a network requires technical expertise and is extremely unusual for a home network. You can go low-tech and get a hub, or step-up and buy a switch. If you can afford it, buy a Gigabyte switch.

 

[mad jew]

Although you can use two routers so long as they distribute completely different IP address ranges, such as 192.168... and 10.0... or whatever. You need addresses that won't overlap, and most routers should then be able to handle it as one will act like a switch.

 

[DarkNetworks]

I have two routers and I don't want to spend more money to get a switch. So do I plug it in to the LAN or WAN from one router to the other? I'll try and limit the IP address on one router to start at some address.

 

[swiftaw]

Modem -> WAN Port on Router 1

LAN Port on Router 1 -> LAN port on Router 2

Disable DHCP on Router 2

 

[DarkNetworks]

Modem -> WAN Port on Router 1

LAN Port on Router 1 -> LAN port on Router 2

Disable DHCP on Router 2

Awesome!
Will try it out tomorrow, pretty late here..any other tips or things I should watch out for?

Cheers!

 

[rogersmj]

Just as swiftaw said, it's actually pretty simple. I use this on my home network because I had a couple old routers laying around and didn't want to buy a separate switch -- since a router IS a switch. I don't know what the first responders were talking about, saying it's "highly technical" or whatever. I really wish people would know what they're talking about before they post.

The one thing you'll want to do in addition to swiftaw's concise instructions is to set the LAN IP address of the secondary router to be one that you can access. For example, my primary router is a Linksys, with a LAN IP of 192.168.1.1. I used a Netgear router as my switch; Netgear routers by default have the address of 192.168.0.1. If I left it at that address, if would function on my network but I would not be able to access its control panel, should I need to. So after disabling DHCP, I set its IP address to 192.168.1.2, placing it on the same subnet as the rest of my network.

 

[DarkNetworks]

Awesome input mrogers, switched the IP on my DLink to 192.168.1.110, hooked it up to the LAN port, boom worked! Many thanks to all that replied.