Connecting a router to router

J

jacobdis

Hello everyone. I have recently encountered a network obstacle that is beyond my experience. I hope that my question is not too complicated and I have made drawings in ms-paint to best describe my network setup and the exact problem.


currentsetup.jpg

(old setup)

As you can see, I have 3 televisions and 2 PCs that require a connection. The problem can be immediately classified as not having enough ports in the back of my modem. I have a television and second PC in the back room that I need both functioning simultaneously; however only one wire, so I'm having to switch the ethernet cord from the PC to the television depending on which one I'm using. As you can probably imagine this is a hassle, I want them both working at the same time.

I asked my ISP what to do, and they told me to purchase another router and split the connection again. So I went to wal-mart and purhcased a $99 Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, model WRT54GS. I ran the Linksys autoconfiguration setup which guided me through plugging everything in and auto-configured the new network settings for the router and this is the new setup:

newsetup.jpg

(new setup)

The WLAN, Internet, 1, and 2 lights on the Linksys router are blinking, but both TV3 and PC2 are not working! (note: TV3 does get a listing of channels but everything says temporarily unavailable) I have no idea what to do next. I could call my ISP and have them come out and set it up for me, but they charge outrageous fees just to do simple tasks that I could probably manage myself. Is everything hooked up correctly? Is there something I must manually configure in the Linksys configuration settings? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if there's anything else you need to know just ask.

Thanks,
Jacob.
 
Welcome to TechSpot!

I can't see your images, but if you have two routers hooked up. One will have DHCP enabled the second one will have DHCP disabled. You would need to add the MAC address from 2 to 1.

Router #1 - DHCP enabled (mac address 00:00:00:00:00) -example
Router #2 - DHCP disabled (mac address 00:00:00:00:01) -example

Router #1 - if you have mac filter or bridge access you need to add Router #2 mac address here. Do the same for Router #1 mac address. So both can communcate with each other.

Note: if Router #1 and Router #2 are the same type of router. Example wireless router. Then you make Router #1 - DHCP enabled and Wireless Enabled. Make Router #2 DHCP disabled but turned on wireless bridge or access point feature also know as AP or WAP.

So Router #1 has DHCP enabled, WAN connected to your modem, uplink port connected to the second Router #2.

You have mentioned the usage of TVs? Are you doing HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computering) this would be use to streaming media over the network on to a media network device connected to the TV. Are you doing that?
 
tipstir: DHCP must be disabled for my primary router because my ISP does not support it. I will upload the images to another location because they give essential details of my setup.

old setup which demonstrates the problem: http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/9600/currentsetupsk6.jpg

new setup with solution to problem but doesn't work: http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2047/newsetupkr7.jpg

Also, the routers are different brands - primary is Westell, secondary is Linksys. Primary is wired, secondary is wireless.

As for the TV's, no it's not what you are thinking. My internet service provides both satelite internet and television both through ethernet cables, interchangable.
 
I can't see your images because I am at work, those type of image sites are blocked off.. I'll have to check out your images when I get home. But for now I can tell you I have 3 Routers in use at home.

1 - wired - DHCP LAN and this one is use to connect to the cable modem (WAN)
2 - wired/wireless - DHCP disabled in bridge mode these two are used as wireless access points

Before I even hit the 2 wireless routers I have 8-port switch between them.

DHCP has nothing to do with you ISP, that's for your usage at home LAN (local area network. That will automatically setup IP addresses for your network PCs. The router with DHCP enable manages and assigns IP, Subnet Mask and default Gateway. Router also communcates with ISP to your WAN (wide area network) to provide your network PCs internet access.

If you have one of those type of Modem/Router then you might have something not configured right there..?
 
For whatever reason, the last time I tried to enable DHCP it caused my satelite TV to not work. My ISP came out and disabled DHCP and told me to leave it off because apparently it causes problems with their television service. I don't know why this is, but are you implying that I cannot use two routers because DHCP is disabled? Is there absolutely no way to make both of them static and still work?

My second router is plugged into the 4th port of my first router. The Internet lights etc are blinking so I would assume it should work. I will have a look at the MAC addresses now and see if that fixes anything.

EDIT: It seems the second router is assigned the IP/gateway 192.168.1.1. This is the same as my first router. Will this cause any problems? Shouldn't their IP's be different so that I can access both of the router configurations via http?
 
Oh you're getting SATV and internet on the same service okay... So you can setup everything manually though as static DHCP without using DHCP. Does your wired router support that feature. If not then. Might be the best way to do this is to have one PC setup with two NIC cards.

NIC 1 - WAN --- SAT modem device
NIC 2 - LAN ---- connected to wired 8-port switch then to each PC2,3, 4 etc..

Or use the routers with DHCP disabled as you were instructed by the SAT tech or company. You'll need to post some images of your configuration here to see if you can do what I think you can do. Not going to be easy if the wired router is not full feature for this stuff. You might have to go out and buy a better router? But let's see what can be done first..
 
Oh okay I can now see your images...
So you TV signal is coming out of the modem/router then you're adding more TVs.. Don't you have a SAT box for each TV you need to hook up. This is a mix environment both TV and internet are in the loop. What type of options you have in the modem router combination?
 
Yes I have a SAT box for each television. However the ethernet cable plugs directly into my PCs network cards.

To be honest I think it is something with these settings (for new router):

Firmware Version: v7.50.0, Jan. 16, 2007
Current Time: Not Available
MAC Address: 00:1C:10:43:E0:91
Router Name: WRT54GS
Host Name:
Domain Name: myhome.westell.com

Configuration Type
Login Type: Automatic Configuration - DHCP
IP Address: 192.168.1.47
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 0.0.0.0
DNS 1: 192.168.1.1
DNS 2:
DNS 3:
MTU: 1500

My network card static IP is 192.168.1.100. The default gateway shouldn't be 0.0.0.0 should it? Also, the router options are the standard firmware options for Linksys routers.
 
Try disabling DHCP in the Linksys Router..

Go all static...

Remember you have numbers 192.168.1.0 thru 254 for IP address
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

What's the settings in the Router/Modem for:

IP: 192.168.1.251
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1


Router#2- Wireless

IP: 192.168.1.252
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

Each PC would be:

PC #1

IP: 192.168.1.10
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1


PC #2
IP: 192.168.1.11
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1


PC #3
IP: 192.168.1.12
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1


PC #4
IP: 192.168.1.13
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

If you're using DNS: 192.168.1.1 then change the Default Gateway: 192.168.1.2 instead of the 1

This how is should be for static but you need to take a look at your main then set up everything else manually since you can't use DHCP with your SAT/Modem/Router

Are you paying for a domain name you have it myhome.westell.com Are you running a domain or workgroup at your place?
 
I got tired of fussing with all of these specific settings and such, so today I exchanged the $100 router for a $20 hub. Not only did I save $80, but the investment actually solved my problem. The television *and* PC in my back room are working simultaneously, with no noticable decrease in speed or usability.

Your help is greatly appreciated, tipstir! Thankyou for your assistance.
 
This problem could have also been easliy resolved by substituting a second router with a hub. The hub could then have been plugged into one of the ports on the modem/router and any additional connections would then be made through the hub instead of a second router. This is the easiest way to do it. I've networked my home this way, with the router being on the first floor in my shop, and a T3 cable run through the wall and upstairs into my daughter's bedroom to connect her XBox 360, desktop and her laptop (even though it's wireless, the ability to connect wired is there). I had to do this because I sometimes have more than 4 wired connections going at one time due to running a pc repair shop in home.
 
Well that was mention prior if you look up into the orginal posting.. I didn't see his images until later.. as they were blocked... Good the hub worked, but the linksys router is really one better and could have been used as describe above as a switch only. Save yourself some extra crash.. Oh well great it's working... :)
 

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