Connecting 2 Routers

[poolg]

I've read on the GRC website that it is possible to connect your pc to one router and have it in turn connect to a second router which then connects to the web and that this set up offers better security.Thing is how do i do it.I have a standard wired router and one for wireless internet access for my PS3.I would like to have the pc behind my wired router which will connect into the wireless one which then connects to the web.Both have 4 lan ports and one adsl port and as i understand it i should have a cable connecting the lan on one to the wan on the other but neither has a wan port as far as i can see.

My wireless router is a Zoom X6 and the wired one is an Aoylnk DR814

[lincsat]

As you're connected to ADSL internet, only your first router can be an ADSL router - all other routers in line must have an Ethernet WAN input.

You can also use a network switch behind the first router, assuming your first router is performing NAT and DHCP you should be pretty secure and not have too many configuration problems.

[Annabell]

Yes you can link 2 routers together, depending on what you want to do, you have to plug the cables into the proper port. No crossovers needed. Regular cables work just fine, You could connect from router A lan port to router B lan port. You would turn off dhcp on router B, I have not yet heard of anyone being successful going from lan port to router wan port though in theory it should be possible, if going from lan to lan you will need a crossover cable since I don't believe these SOHO routers lan ports are auto mdx (senses if it needs cross or not and configures itself to work with whatever is provided) - Note DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol that assigns IP addresses to client machines, including configuration options such as default gateway, subnet mask, DNS servers, etc, SOHO routers include DHCP servers in them to make configuration easy for PC's using the router to get to the internet.
If you don't disable the DHCP in the router that's not plugged into the internet, there would be two DHCP servers, and only one of them would actually configure the computers correctly -- the one that's plugged into the internet. So to ensure your getting configuration from that router, you disable the DHCP server in the router not plugged into the internet. but why, the small extra security you may get hardly seems worth it, one router (configured correctly) and your security installed on your computers sat behind, is all you need, I read some time ago of some guys trying to set up multi Firewalls -

Ann X

[poolg]

Ok cheers to you both.its just a plan b at the moment as the X6 router seems to have some difficulty in properly stealthing all ports whereas the other one was quite adept at it.I waiting for tech support to get get back to me on how to get it fully stealthed.

[Annabell]

Hi Poolg

Hope it all goes well for you hun

Ann X

[poolg]

OK Annabel I reckon I want to do this because the wifi router dosen't have the ability to stealth all ports but the other one does so I'd like to have the wired one used as the one going to the internet and the wireless one behind that.I'll keep the pc connected only to the wired one and the wifi one will be purely for the PS3 so I just need to get a crossover cable and turn off DCHP on the Wifi router yeah?

[Annabell]

Hi poolg

Yes DCHP needs to be off on the second Router and one crossover cable, please post back to let us know how this works out hun.

Ann X

[Nosferatu]

I've done something similar.
My adsl router is connected directly to the Internet and has DHCP turned on. This router has 4 ethernet ports for devices.

I then connected a wireless router to one of these ports (you need a router that has ethernet as it's WAN port) because you must use the WAN port to connect.

I also had DHCP enabled on the wireless router with no problems. The trick is to have different network settings for the DHCP.

So, for the first (ADSL) router have something like 192.168.1.x
And for the second (wireless) have something like 192.168.2.x

When the second router boots up, it will get it's WAN settings via DHCP from the first router. In this example, the WAN address would be 192.168.1.x and you can fix this address using the DHCP reservations in the first router.

Now, when you then connect your pc to the second router, you get a dhcp address from it in the 192.168.2.x range. All outgoing traffic will leave the second router hiding behind the 192.168.1.x address that it was allocated.
And the first router just thinks it's seeing traffic from a local pc.

Things get complicated if you need people on the Internet to connect to your pc behind the second router. You have to add changes on both routers. The first router needs ports to be forwarded to the second router WAN ip address. And then you need to add forwarding ports on the second router to point to your pc behind it.

Hope this makes sense?

[poolg]

It does make sense thanks.I had read an article from somebody who did exactly what you did which is what got me thinking of doing it myself.Problem with this approach for me is I don't think the wan port on either of my routers is ethernet so I can't try it that way.I'll be trying Ann's method at some point this week and see what happens.Cross over cable is made,just need time to try it all out.

Thanks for the response.

[brian873]

If you have a spare pc I would use either IPCOP or endian they will do what you want and more.