How to connect 2 routers to same modem?

Question

I have a modem in my basement that can also function as a router, i also have 2 wireless routers that i want to use as access points to extend the wireless range of the network.

Here is what i want to do.

Make modem work solely as modem (bridge mode)
Connect a router to the modem on the third floor (1st access point)
Connect the second router to the modem in the basement (2nd access point)

Is this possible? I understand that usually the second router gets connected to a LAN port of the first router, but this will defeat my purpose as i want the 2 routers to be separated.

I also do not wish to use the modem for routing as i think it does a poor job at it, i have more features if i let the first router do the routing. I just need to know how i can connect the second router to the network to work as an access point, i should also point out that the second router is running dd wrt so i have more customization as to what it can do.

Help is appreciated :)

Answer 1

Just a couple of problems to actually help you. You say you want to "Make modem work solely as modem (bridge mode) " Some will some won't, so what exact unit do you have, it does matter.



As far as the other two, there are several ways. If you connect router two to router one using router two WAN port then you need to assure that the DHCP range is on a different subnet than router one! Say one uses 192.168.1.1 you need to be sure router two gets a WAN address set to say 192.168.1.2 with 192.168.1.1 as the gateway. Router two then needs it's LAN DHCP set to any other range say 192.168.10.1 . You then have TWO networks one on 1.1 and one on 10.1 -- they will not be able to communicate to lan hosts on each other but will be able to get to the internet. You also will find some "games" will not work on router two as there is no way to get past "double NAT".



You other option (probably a better one) is use your modem router as a "wired router". Set an address on each of your other routers to a static address (for management purposes) to any address in the range of the modem/router. TURN OFF DHCP on both the secondary units!! They will be Access Points Only! Setup the proper SSID and Passwords on them (you can use the same but be sure they are on two different channels!) Wire from the modem/router to any of the LAN ports on the two additional units (do not use the WAN/internet port).. poof, one router and two access points. All connected computers will be on the same Local network and can communicate between them.

Answer 2

routers can be daisy chained,as many as you like, however to do this they need the right firmware. they get that if they are cable routers that is a router with 5 lan ports( 4 lan + 1 wan-internet passthrough) that is usually supplied with a separate cable modem. so router 2 plugs into a LAN port of router 1 from router 2's WAN port(thats the port that a CABLE modem usually plugs into) thats the INPUT if you like. you can do this in a chain as many routers as you like. the one tiny catch being, each router needs its own private ip STARTING address so router one is 192.168.1.XXX router 2 is 192.168.2.XXX router 3 is 192.168.3.XXX and so on. then each router can reference back its gateway for the base router. an example of a router you can daisy chain is old cable router wgr614 ver 6 see link. note the 5th lan which is the wan in from the cable modem or a n other router lan port.

Answer 3

You can't connect two routers to a modem. The ISP will assign an IP address to only one router.



What you can do is operate the router/modem combo as is. Via a LAN connection on the router/modem combo connect to one of the other routers via one it's LAN connections. On the "other" router, you need to disable DHCP and you don't use the "WAN" port of the second router. Do the same with the third router. Both of your additional routers connect to the main router/modem.



You give each of your routers it's own SSID. Then you will have three different wireless networks, but one IP network.