Member Avatar for Mel_3

We want to connect an off the shelf router (Router-1) to our cable modem

Then...

- Connect a switch to Router-1 client Port-1
- Connect one set of computers to the switch (student computers)
- Connect Router-2 WAN connector to client Port-2 on Router-1
- Connect a 2nd set of computers to the client ports on Router-2
(These will be employee computers and a peer computer acting as a File Server on a peer to peer network)

Most likely we will use simple Linksys routers from Circuit City or elsewhere

1 - Do we assign a 'fixed ip' address to Port-2 on Router-1
2 - Then setup Router-2 to use that 'fixed ip' address as it's default gateway?
3 - If not will Router-1 assign a DHP ip address to Router-2?
4 - Will Router-1 (if set to do dhp) assign IP addresses to each computer on the switch?
5 - And to each computer on the back side of Router-2?

- We are using Windows XP on all computers.
- Our network is a small peer-to-peer network
- One computer on the emplopee side of Router-2 will be designated a file server even though it will not be running server software... just another peer to peer computer.

One day we may pay the cost of buying and setting up a Windows Sever... but not now.

Thanks for any help with this.

Mel_3

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 184 Views
  • 7 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Suspishio

Dani AI

Generated

raised the right questions and correctly pointed out that Router‑2 can be treated as a switch/AP — there are two practical ways to wire this setup and each has predictable tradeoffs.

Option A — single flat network (best for simple peer-to-peer file sharing): place Router‑2 in LAN‑to‑LAN mode so all machines are on the same subnet and get their IPs from Router‑1. Give Router‑2 a fixed management IP on that subnet (outside Router‑1’s DHCP pool) and leave its WAN port unused. This avoids double‑NAT, makes the employee “file server” visible to the student machines, and is the least work to maintain.

Option B — routed/isolated network (best for segmentation/security): connect Router‑2 WAN to Router‑1 LAN so Router‑2 creates a separate subnet for employees. Router‑2’s WAN can be a DHCP lease from Router‑1 or a statically assigned/reserved address; its LAN should use a different subnet and its own DHCP. This isolates traffic but requires port forwarding (and sometimes double port forwarding) to reach a server behind Router‑2, and some VPN/P2P services may be affected.

Example addressing (illustrative):

Option A (single subnet)
Router‑1: 10.0.0.1  DHCP 10.0.0.100-199
Router‑2 (management): 10.0.0.2  (LAN-to-LAN, DHCP off)
Clients: DHCP from Router‑1

Option B (segmented)
Router‑1: 10.0.0.1  DHCP 10.0.0.100-199
Router‑2 WAN: 10.0.0.10 (static or DHCP reservation)
Router‑2 LAN: 10.0.1.1  DHCP 10.0.1.100-199
Server: static on 10.0.1.x or DHCP reservation

Operational tips and cautions: give the file‑server a static IP or DHCP reservation for predictable shares; ensure Windows XP’s File and Printer Sharing is enabled and Windows Firewall allows TCP 139/445 and UDP 137‑138; avoid overlapping subnets; change default admin passwords and disable remote admin on consumer routers. For a small office wanting simple access across both groups, the LAN‑to‑LAN (single subnet) approach is usually the most straightforward.

Member Avatar for Suspishio

The concept works provided you recognise that you are turning the second router into a switch.

Your thinking is basically good. The following should thus work:

1/
Disable DHCP on the second router

2/
Change the IP address on the second router
so that is on the same network (e.g. 192.168.1.x) but assign an IP address that is outside the range of the starting address of the DHCP
server. should be fine on Linksys

3/
Change the range of IP addresses that the second router can assign to be different from the first.

Let us know.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.