Member Avatar for naugiedoggie

Hello,

I want to have two networks that will connect to the internet through my DSL modem.

I hooked a switch into the modem and two linksys WRT54G wireless routers into the switch. One of these routers connects by PPPoE to the internet through the modem (which is set in bridging mode). This works fine. (The PPPoE connection has a static IP.)

The modem connects to the uplink connector on the switch, and the two routers are connected to standard connectors on the switch via their uplink connectors.

The first or gateway router uses local IP net of and the second router uses 192.168.2.0. I configured the second router as a static IP on the first network, IP , with a local IP of 192.168.2.1.

I can't get routing from one network to the other. From the .2 network, I can ping the external IP of the router () and that's it.

These Linksys routers have the capability to have routes manually set, but I lack the proper knowledge to make it work.

Routing Table on gateway router (.1 network):

Destination LAN IP	Subnet Mask	Gateway	        Interface
204.60.4.194	      255.255.255.255	0.0.0.0	       WAN (Internet)
192.168.2.0	      255.255.255.0	192.168.1.210  LAN & Wireless
192.168.1.0	      255.255.255.0	0.0.0.0	       LAN & Wireless
0.0.0.0	               0.0.0.0	        204.60.4.194   WAN (Internet)

Routing Table on second router (.2 network):

Destination LAN IP	Subnet Mask	Gateway	         Interface
0.0.0.0	                0.0.0.0	      192.168.1.200	WAN (Internet)
192.168.1.0	      255.255.255.0   192.168.1.210	WAN (Internet)
192.168.2.0	      255.255.255.0   192.168.2.1	LAN & Wireless
204.60.4.194          255.255.255.255 192.168.1.210	WAN (Internet)

Any help with getting this routing properly configured would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

mp

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rch1231

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Short answer: nothing mystical was wrong with the Linksys boxes — it was the wiring and which side of Router‑1 the switch lived on. When the second router’s WAN was plugged into the upstream switch (between the modem and routers) it was not on Router‑1’s LAN, so Router‑1 and Router‑2 weren’t on the same L2 segment and the static routes couldn’t actually be used. Plugging Router‑2 into Router‑1’s LAN made Router‑2’s WAN visible to Router‑1 and everything started working.

Two practical ways to fix this (pick one):

  • Keep it simple (double‑NAT, easiest): put the switch on the LAN side of Router‑1 (or run a LAN cable from Router‑1 LAN to the remote switch). Plug Router‑2 WAN into that switch, let Router‑2 get a DHCP or static LAN‑side address, and leave NAT on Router‑2 enabled. Devices on Router‑2 will reach the Internet immediately. If you need hosts on Router‑1 to initiate connections to Router‑2 hosts, either disable NAT on Router‑2 (see note below) or create specific port forwards.

  • Proper routed setup (no NAT): connect Router‑2 WAN to Router‑1 LAN, give Router‑2 a LAN‑side static IP, set Router‑2 to “router” (not “gateway”) mode to disable NAT, and add a static route on Router‑1 pointing the Router‑2 subnet to Router‑2’s WAN IP. Also allow the Router‑2 firewall to accept the desired traffic. On stock WRT54G firmware the “Advanced Routing” page has Gateway vs Router mode.

Quick wiring diagram:

Modem(bridge) --> Router‑1 (WAN: PPPoE)
Router‑1 (LAN) --> Switch --> Router‑2 (WAN)
Switch --> other LAN devices

Troubleshooting checklist if things still fail: confirm the switch port is connected to Router‑1’s LAN (not the modem), check ARP tables and link lights, try direct cable between Router‑1 LAN and Router‑2 WAN to verify behavior, test with an unmanaged switch (to rule out port‑isolation/VLAN settings), and avoid overlapping subnets. As suggested, treat Router‑2 as a separate network — but make sure its WAN is actually on Router‑1’s LAN to get predictable routing; this explains the behavior observed.

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Member Avatar for rch1231

Ok here is the way I would set your routers based on your configuration

Router1
WAN: <DHCP from Modem>


LAN:
IP:
NM:


Router2
WAN:
IP:
NM:


LAN:
IP:
NM:

You have to think of it as a separate network. Treat the second router as if you were connecting straight to the modem without the PPOe login. You could (if you have DHCP for the local network set up on the first router) set the second router to Obtain address DHCP for the WAN and then for the LAN.
I take it the first router is able to connect to the internet OK?
If so try a traceroute from router 2 to the modem and see what you get.

Member Avatar for naugiedoggie

Ok here is the way I would set your routers based on your configuration

Router1
WAN: <DHCP from Modem>


LAN:
IP:
NM:


Router2
WAN:
IP:
NM:


LAN:
IP:
NM:

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. You are describing what I have set up already, except that the external IP address for the internet is static. The problem is that the routers don't "route" between the two networks. Unfortunately, traceroute does nothing. Because there is no route to trace. I just get rows of stars.

If I compare the routing tables for the two routers, I notice this:

Router 1: 192.168.1.0	      255.255.255.0	0.0.0.0	       LAN & Wireless
Router 2: 192.168.2.0	      255.255.255.0   192.168.2.1      LAN & Wireless

I don't know if that matters or not. And I don't see why that would prevent a data connection from the .2.0 network to the .1.0 network. Right now, I can ping the external IP address of the second router from inside the .2.0 network and that's it.

Thanks.

mp

Member Avatar for naugiedoggie

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. You are describing what I have set up already, except that the external IP address for the internet is static. The problem is that the routers don't "route" between the two networks. Unfortunately, traceroute does nothing. Because there is no route to trace. I just get rows of stars.

If I compare the routing tables for the two routers, I notice this:

Router 1: 192.168.1.0	      255.255.255.0	0.0.0.0	       LAN & Wireless
Router 2: 192.168.2.0	      255.255.255.0   192.168.2.1      LAN & Wireless

I don't know if that matters or not. And I don't see why that would prevent a data connection from the .2.0 network to the .1.0 network. Right now, I can ping the external IP address of the second router from inside the .2.0 network and that's it.

Thanks.

mp

Hello,

It's the switch. This morning, I tried setting the second router to DHCP for the external address, and it would not pick up an address. I then hooked the cable from the second router directly into a port on the first router. It immediately picked up an address and now the second network has proper routing and can hit the internet.

Why? It is not something like a bad port on the switch because I moved the connections around earlier, to eliminate that possibility.

Perhaps, I'm misunderstanding how switches work, but shouldn't I be able to connect two different networks through the same switch? Isn't it supposed to look at the frames and determine which network to send them to?

Thanks.

mp

NB Wiring up the two routers directly works in the short term because they're in the same room. But the long-term plan, they will not be adjacent. I need to be able to connect through the switch or something like.

Member Avatar for rch1231

Is the router address or ?

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