Need advise on using powerline adapter with 2 routers

[shawndh]

I know you're not supposed to have two DHCP routers on a network but I just left it like that because I could not get the second router configured as an access point. Currently I have this stupid U-Verse router and it does not reach to my basement. So I connected a Netgear Powerline Network Adapter Kit - XETB1001 to get a signal to the basement. It works well, but now I need wireless in the basement. So I connected a little Netgear WGR614v9 router to the powerline adapter In the basement. It still has DHCP enabled as well as the U-Verse router but the U-Verse router is routing 192.168.1.1 range and the Netgear router is routing 10.0.0.1 range. It's been working for a while but I want to set it up correctly.

I'd like to have the Netgear router in the basement set up as a wireless access point but I don't know if it will work correctly through the powerline adapter. Can someone confirm if this will work? Should the powerline adapter just be considered as a switch? I'm afraid if I screw with it nothing will work. What's the danger in keeping it like this and would it work with the netgear as an access point?

 

[stevech]

Yes, it should work. The pair of power line IP transporters are, conceptually, just a replacement for a cat5 cable run. They're "layer 2" devices. They don't route or know what's in the packets the move - just as is the case for a simple ethernet switch.

So re-purpose that WiFi router as an access point. There's an explanation of how to do it on this web site, perhaps several. Not so much in the forums, but at
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point
and others.

Remember- you don't use the WAN port.
If after reading the above, you're still stumped, we'll help.

 

[shawndh]

Thanx for the advice. I'm going to set up my home network with the 2nd router as the AP. But, One more thing - what if I want to have two separate networks and have two routers to do this? Can I just have a main router connected to the gateway and the 2nd router connected at it's WAN port to the main routers LAN port. I would have 192.168.1.1 as the main router and 192.168.2.1 as the network for the 2nd router. I would keep DHCP enabled on both, but I believe I need to disable NAT on the 2nd router?. Would this work for two Netgear WNDR3700s? There is no need to roam from one side to the other and both networks would have separate SSIDs. The routers will be about 75 - 100 feet apart.

I'm thinking about doing this for a location with two large auditoriums where one wireless router would only be able to cover one auditorium. We would prefer to have two separate networks instead of just using one router as an AP. But if the above will not work, I'll have to settle on one router being the AP.

 

[CaptainSTX]

It should work. That is the way I have my network set up.

Just assign the second router that is attached to a LAN port on the primary router a static IP in the primary router's sub net (192.168.1.2 ) .

To administer the second router you will need to be connected to it. Also it will be difficult to share resources between the two networks without some custom settings.

Depending on how many users will be on the second router having gigabyte LAN ports on the primary and a gigabyte WAN port on the secondary would be nice. Not a big deal if all people are going to be doing is checking e-mails and light browsing.

 

[shawndh]

It should work. That is the way I have my network set up.

Just assign the second router that is attached to a LAN port on the primary router a static IP in the primary router's sub net (192.168.1.2 ) .

To administer the second router you will need to be connected to it. Also it will be difficult to share resources between the two networks without some custom settings.

Depending on how many users will be on the second router having gigabyte LAN ports on the primary and a gigabyte WAN port on the secondary would be nice. Not a big deal if all people are going to be doing is checking e-mails and light browsing.

So, you're saying the downside of this setup is that I cannot administer the networks from one router - have to be connected to each network while configuring? I'll have to weigh this against having just one big network and having the 2nd router as a wireless access point. I thought it might be more efficient with two separate networks.

Also, are you saying that I give up Gig LAN ability with this setup? It's not a big deal for its usage. Just curious.

Also, I did some more research and I found out that I could not fully disable NAT on the Netgear WNDR3700. So I flashed the 2nd router with DD-WRT because it can be done easily with this firmware. Now my issue is I really don't know what this configuration is called to find a corresponding wiki article on how to configure the 2nd router with DD-WRT. I have the basic concept but there are so many settings in DD-WRT. I wish there was a specific wiki so I know that I have all the settings just right.
Thanx for the confirmation and info!

 

[CaptainSTX]

You are making this more complicated than it really is:

Here is an example of how I have set it up:

PRIMARY ROUTER:

GET IP AUTOMATICALLY

LAN IP 192.168.1.1

DHCP SERVER 192.168.1.100 -119

SECONDARY ROUTER:

Static IP 192.168.1.2

LAN IP 192.168.199.1

DHCP Server 192.168.199.100-119

Set up the wireless on both routers with different SSIDs and non overlapping radio channels. You should not need to do anything else.

As for using gigabyte ports this will help prevent the link between the two routers being a bottle neck.

If you and to administer the second router from the primary network then you will need to set up the second router so it can be administered over the WAN. In my case I find it is easier and more secure just to sign onto the secondary router using WiFi then log in and make whatever changes I need.

Good luck.

 

[shawndh]

You are making this more complicated than it really is:

Here is an example of how I have set it up:

PRIMARY ROUTER:

GET IP AUTOMATICALLY

LAN IP 192.168.1.1

DHCP SERVER 192.168.1.100 -119

SECONDARY ROUTER:

Static IP 192.168.1.2

LAN IP 192.168.199.1

DHCP Server 192.168.199.100-119

Set up the wireless on both routers with different SSIDs and non overlapping radio channels. You should not need to do anything else.

As for using gigabyte ports this will help prevent the link between the two routers being a bottle neck.

If you and to administer the second router from the primary network then you will need to set up the second router so it can be administered over the WAN. In my case I find it is easier and more secure just to sign onto the secondary router using WiFi then log in and make whatever changes I need.

Good luck.

Oh okay. So, I don't need to worry about disabling NAT on the 2nd router with this setup? If not, I'll just flash the stock firmware back in the 2nd router and go with that. Eventually someone else will have to administer this small network and I'd like to go with the stock firmware if possible.

Also, logging into the 2nd network via wifi should suffice.

And why are the DHCP ranges so short? You only have 100-119. I want to have as may available as possible.

BTW. All ports ar gigabit on the WNDR3700 so there should not be a problem with bottle necking btwn the two devices.

 

[CaptainSTX]

And why are the DHCP ranges so short? You only have 100-119. I want to have as may available as possible.

In theory you could make your DHCP range run from 192.168.1.2 -254 but most SOHO WiFi APs are not going to handle more than 20 -30 clients simultaneously in a satisfactory manner.

In my home I only have sixteen devices that connect to my network either using Ethernet or WiFi and I have, for administrative and control purposes, assigned most of them them static IPs.