How do you get two Linksys routhers working together?

[DaDakota]

I have run out of ports on my wireless router... (LOL I know...wireless...hehe)...and I need one more port for the new color printer I just got.

Now I have a couple of old liksys routers around, and figured I could daisy chain them together, but they all have the same starting IP addy, and seem to conflict when I put them together.

Is there a way to turn of DHCP in one and just have it perform pass through duties?

Help !

Thanks,

DD

[R0ckets03]

I had trouble running one of them properly, so good luck to you figuring out how to run two simultaneously.

[rockbox]

You can get them to work together but not elegantly. Since all home routers use NAT, you would have to set up port forwarding to the printer on the inside router. Some routers have a DMZ setting which allows you set up all incoming traffic to that particular IP address.

My advice to you is to buy yourself a 10-15 dollar switch and attach it to the router. Make sure it has an uplink port. If it doesn't, you will also need a crossover cable.

[xcrunner51]

You can do it but it takes a little bit of work and technical know-how. What you're effectively trying to do is turn the 2nd router into a switch. First you need to find out if you router is one of the linksys varieties that has a flashable firmware. Then search for a firmware on the internet that can switch into "Switch" mode instead of "Router" mode. Then download that firmware and flash your router to the new firmware. Switch to the switch mode and you're done.

The whole process isn't that easy and it could easily brick the router you're flashing if something goes wrong. I've done it before, but as stated before, it'd be much easier just to buy a cheapo switch and attach that to your primary router.

[DaDakota]

So I could get a Linksys Switch and just use the port from the regular router to daisy chain in the switch?

How would the switch work? Would all traffic through the switch go through the one port on the router the switch is hooked into?

Would everyone on the network still be able to see the printer?

Would the IP be assigned by the Linksys router?

I appreciate the help.

DD

[MexAmercnMoose]

quick question? how the hell did you run out of ports? lol

[DaDakota]

quick question? how the hell did you run out of ports? lol


In my office, I have 2 PCs..one for work and one for home, then I have the XBox360 wired in and the Hava(slingbox) wired in as well....so I am out of ports.

Heck on my wireless router, we have these devices taking up IPs - 4 regular PCs, 3 notebooks, an Iphone, A Nintendo DS, 2 XBox 360s (one wireless) and a Nintendo Wii....all taking their own IP addys...

And now I need to add the new Color LaserJet printer I got from CompUSA as they are going out of business.....I got the duplexing Networked printer.....I was tired of inkjet cartridges so I just went with a color laser....I hope to get it working today.

:D

I know....too much crap...my wife agrees.

DD

[Mack]

I did this a long time ago. I connected a laptop to one Linksys router and disabled DHCP on it, to turn it into a switch. Then I disconnected the laptop, and ran an ethernet cable from my other wireless router to my "new" switch (to a regular port, NOT an uplink port). Then I connected my computers/printers/VoIP adapters, etc.

Or, you could just buy a cheap switch.

What kind of printer was it, and how much? I need to replace mine too.

[bejezuz]

DaDa,

Given what you've said so far, you should probably just buy a small switch or hub (do they even make hubs any more?) and plug the uplink port from the switch into one of your ports on your router. You could turn one of your routers into a switch, but it's probably not worth the trouble because it may require a change in firmware to do right.

Switches are cheap and handy, every geek should own a few. Something as cheap as this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817130108) should work fine.

[Stack24]

If you don't care about actually connecting from one computer to the other to share files then you can just plug one of the ports from one router into the uplink of the second router and have internet for as many computers as you need. You will have to go into one of the routers and change the starting IP to a different one which is easy enough. That way you don't have a confilict.

If you want to share files between all the computers on the network then you are going to have to go into the settings of one of the routers and make it into a switch so it doesn't try to assign IP's and such. You basically have to turn off the DHCP server and a few other settings. A few googles and you will find a step by step way of doing it.

[rockbox]

So I could get a Linksys Switch and just use the port from the regular router to daisy chain in the switch?

How would the switch work? Would all traffic through the switch go through the one port on the router the switch is hooked into?

Would everyone on the network still be able to see the printer?

Would the IP be assigned by the Linksys router?

I appreciate the help.

DD


The answer to all those questions is yes. Not all the traffic would go through the one port. Only the traffic that needs to go through that one port to get to something else.