Can this work

[Phillie14586]

My networking knowledge is very limited and I am trying to cobble together a home network. My problem is I don't have any routers that have enough wired ports. My original set up started with a cable modem. To that I have a D-link 4 port wireless router. To the D-link I have a computer, 2 HDHomeRun TV tuners and an Airport Extreme router. The D-link is in the basement so the wireless signal is very poor on the second floor so I turned off the wireless. The Airport is on the first floor and better serves the wireless network. It is also by the TV so the smart TV and the BlueRay player are connected to it. This was fine until I needed to add another wired connection for a computer. The kids computers from school are locked down tighter than Fort Knox and only sometimes will work properly on the wireless network. They will connect to the network but will not see the internet.

To add a wired connection for the kids I need to add it to the D-link in the basement since that is where the wires are all run to. The problem is the D-link ports are all full. So I pulled out an ole Belkin router. I moved the Airport router connection to the Belkin to free up a space on the D-link. I also added the new computer connection to the Belkin. I then plugged the Belkin router into the D-link. The [problem I am having is the wireless network now does not always see the internet and I use a couple different remote control apps on iOS devices to control things on the original computer. Now one remote app will see the computer and the other will not. The original computer and the TV tuners need to be on the same router to see each other.

I am betting this has something to do with subnets but don't know how to properly set that all up. I am betting the best answer is to get a big switch to replace the D-link router but I was hoping to not have to spend more money.

 

[abailey]

Make sure the Belkin router has DHCP turned off. If it has an AP mode (as opposed to a router mode), turn that on. Also only use the LAN ports, don't use the WAN port on it.

 

[Phillie14586]

I moved all the connections to the LAN ports and turned off the DHCP. Things seem to be all working now. The new issue I have is once I turned off the DHCP on the Belkin router I can no longer access its settings. I noticed it had an AP mode but now I can't access the settings to turn it on. Also I wanted to turn off the wireless radio just to cut down on any possible interference. It is working so I really can;t complain. Thanks for the help.

 

[abailey]

I moved all the connections to the LAN ports and turned off the DHCP. Things seem to be all working now. The new issue I have is once I turned off the DHCP on the Belkin router I can no longer access its settings. I noticed it had an AP mode but now I can't access the settings to turn it on. Also I wanted to turn off the wireless radio just to cut down on any possible interference. It is working so I really can;t complain. Thanks for the help.

Yes I should have told you to give the the Belkin a static IP address before making the changes. The Belkin is most likely getting an IP address from your D-link router. If you D-link router shows the addresses it has handed out, you should be able to find which one the Belkin has. Also, yes, if you can get back in then definitely turn off the wireless on the Belkin. If you can't find the IP address for the Belkin you can reset it to factory defaults and do it all again, but set a static ip address (one outside the range of the D-link DHCP scope).

 

[Phillie14586]

I can find the listing of addresses on the D-link. Two of the items were listed as unknown and the others were obvious what they were. Unfortunately none of the obvious ones were the Belkin router. I tired the two unknown but it looked like it searched for the IP address on the internet and not my local network.

 

[System Error Message]

i'd first ditch dlink though, they have been crap.

2ndly, for lan, they have 4 ports. Unless theres bridge mode the WAN port is useless for LAN use. Disable DHCP on the other routers and it will be fine. Reset the belkin router, give it a static IP that is on the same subnet, turn off DHCP and WAN, NAT, etc. connect the lan port of belkin to the lan port of dlink, this gives you a total of 6 ports.

with belkin router having a static ip it will not appear on the dlink router

 

[roguetr]

Yes I should have told you to give the the Belkin a static IP address before making the changes. The Belkin is most likely getting an IP address from your D-link router. If you D-link router shows the addresses it has handed out, you should be able to find which one the Belkin has. Also, yes, if you can get back in then definitely turn off the wireless on the Belkin. If you can't find the IP address for the Belkin you can reset it to factory defaults and do it all again, but set a static ip address (one outside the range of the D-link DHCP scope).

Or if you haven't changed the default IP on the Belkin, connect a PC with a static IP of say 192.168.2.10 and the interface will be on 192.168.2.1 (this is the default for nearly all Belkin devices).

If you do set the IP of the Belkin to an IP on your existing subnet, make sure it is outside the range of your active DHCP range or reserve it.

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