Connecting two routers of the same brand D-Link

B

bradyfan123

New Member
I've posted this problem a long time ago and at the time decided to not attempt to solve it but I decided to give it another try. Basically I have two d-link routers and I have two computers (one upstairs, one downstairs). Also need connection upstairs for my xbox live. I tried to disable DHCP on the second router because correct me if im wrong ..the second router needs to act like a switch ..but i cant seem to get any connection to the second router upstairs..thanks 4 any help
 
How are you connecting them? Wireless or wired? Wired should work automatically so I am going to assume wireless. Wait for someone like The_Other_One to come around and help out more, but I believe it can be done with DD-WRT.
 
I dont think you can do an adhoc network wireless between two wireless routers... if thats what you are trying to do.
 
It may work, more than likely it will not or will experience onamolies, especially if you use encryption. Just buy an access point like you are supposed to do.
 
DD-WRT only supports broadcom based routers I beleive (linksys, buffalo, asus) so that is probably out of the question.

You need to set up one as your primary and have it act as the DHCP server, and then have other router get its DHCP and DNS and Gateway from the IP of the primary router. You will also have to give the secondary router a separate IP address, ie you can't have both routers have the same IP address it won't work that way.
 
Both routers have wireless capability but I'm connecting them using wires. Sorry for not mentioning that. both routers are wired and i get no connection from the second router.

^^thanks i will give that a try..i only disabled the dhcp on the second router wen i tried it the first time..i didnt set its dns or gateway to the same ip as the primary router..i'll try it out and get back to you guys.
 
on the router connecting the first router, the cable in can not be in the internet port. make sure it is in one of the porst (1-4)

so my digram

Code: 
first router
|------(port 1-4)------|   |--|(internet)
      |                      |_________________(modem)
      |
secount router
|-----(Port 1-4)-------|     |--|(nothing here)
 
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saying that one of the routers is supposed to act like a "switch" isnt really correct. routers are switches, they just take it one step further. if i were you i would disable DHCP on both routers, and assign your own static IPs.

if you are able to run a wire upstairs to connect to the second router, why cant you just run that wire to your xbox live?

anyway, having one router behind the other is entirely possible. set the static IP of your second router to the default gateway (the IP of the first router). turn off DHCP on both routers, then set static IPs on your two computers which if i read correctly are both connected to the first router. on the first router forward whatever xbox ports are necessary to whatever static IP you set the second router to. then in the second router forward the xbox ports to whatever static IP you gave the xbox. that will work.
 
Its easier than any of this, I have done it before. Sorry let me explain in more detail. For arguments sake we will say you set the Primary router to 192.168.1.1 and the secondary router to 192.168.1.2

Primary:
IP - 192.168.1.1
DHCP server - enabled
DNS - resolved by DHCP
Gateway - resolved by DHCP
wifi - set up SSID and security

Secondary
IP - 192.168.1.2
DHCP server - disabled
DNS - 192.168.1.1
Gateway - 192.168.1.1
wifi - mirror settings and SSID, bump up the wifi 2 channels to reduce interference

this will repeat your wifi network and act also as an additional switch.
 
tlarkin said:
Its easier than any of this, I have done it before. Sorry let me explain in more detail. For arguments sake we will say you set the Primary router to 192.168.1.1 and the secondary router to 192.168.1.2

Primary:
IP - 192.168.1.1
DHCP server - enabled
DNS - resolved by DHCP
Gateway - resolved by DHCP
wifi - set up SSID and security

Secondary
IP - 192.168.1.2
DHCP server - disabled
DNS - 192.168.1.1
Gateway - 192.168.1.1
wifi - mirror settings and SSID, bump up the wifi 2 channels to reduce interference

this will repeat your wifi network and act also as an additional switch.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU tlarkin. You saved my life! I been stressing over this problem for months now..thanks so much!!!
 
I was going to post and say make sure you give the second router a different IP in LAN settings. Seems the only thing you missed.

The wireless - can you use the same settings/passkey etc in both routers? The wireless coverage is then just increased? What shows up when searching for access points? Two access points with same name? And the laptop will connect to which ever has the best signal?
 
Lectrician said:
The wireless - can you use the same settings/passkey etc in both routers? The wireless coverage is then just increased? What shows up when searching for access points? Two access points with same name? And the laptop will connect to which ever has the best signal?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have done this many times in large homes and offices. I do contract work on the side and have set up numerous wifi networks. In fact I would go as far to say that my most common job is setting up wifi networks for people on the side.

If you have ethernet running to every router you just mimic the WPA/WEP passkey on each machine and mimic the SSID. However, make sure you bump each router up two channels on the wifi signal to reduce interference with each other. Also you may want to change channels if you have a cordless phone or soemthing else that is causing interference on your system. Make sure that you network them properly though.

If you want to monitor the noise on your wifi get a stumbler to see what your signal really is.

http://www.stumbler.net/?cat=4

Here is a free one for windows I have used in the past.
 
tlarkin just wanted to thank you again..but i do hav 1 question. so far everythings working fine but i've noticed that my computer upstairs, which is connected to the secondary router, has a much slower connection compared to the computer downstairs wich is connected to the primary router..is their anyway to make the connection for the secondary router faster or equal to the primary one?..or is this just how it is when we use this technique for connecting the two together.
 
There shouldn't be any speed difference, you may want to look at upgrading the firmware on both routers, or maybe set the speed of the router to 100mbit instead of auto. The setting should be in your control panel somewhere.
 
both firmware's are updated for both routers..i believe the one upstairs has 1.0 Gbps and the one downstairs, the one that's connected to the cable modem, has 100 Mbps..should i switch them?
 
everything's actually working very smooth. i was just impatient before..the connection is smooth on both routers..thanks tlarkin and everyone else for your help!!
 
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