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router A no wifi +--- pc01
                 +--- pc02
                 |
                 +--- router B wifi +--- pc03
                                    +--- printer

In my LAN I have a modem-router (say A) (no wifi connection) acting as DHCP server, and connected to the Internet. Now, I want to add another router (say B) (with wifi connection) to the LAN, in order to connect wifi pc's and net printers. Here I would disable DCHP server functionality.

Is it correct to connect router B to router A via an ethernet port? In router A I define an IP address (eg 192.168.1.100) to be assigned to router B (MAC address). I expect to see router B listed as an attached device, in router A's status, but on the contrary it is not listed.

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  • Router B probably won't assign an IP address to itself that has just been configured on router A - I.e. you'll have to assign it manually on router B. But you should be able to set it up as per your diagram.
    – ed.
    Oct 15, 2012 at 21:42

2 Answers 2

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Yes, put router B in bridge mode if you can rather than NAT mode. Otherwise PC01 - PC02 etc will not be able to see the wifi printer.

Assign a static IP address to router B on the public side that is in the same subnet as router A.

If you can't put router b in bridge mode, another way to do this is to connect Router B to Router A via the normal LAN ports (if it has any). Usually your router will have switch ports labelled LAN or similar, and another port labelled WAN. You can often get away with plugging Router A into the LAN ports on Router B. If you do it this way, make sure you assign a static IP to the WAN port and set it's IP address to something completely different to your existing LAN. i.e. if your LAN has 192.168.1.x. Set the WAN port to 10.1.1.1 or something. Only do this if you're not otherwise using the WAN port.

A third way to do it is to put it in normal router mode (no NAT and not bridged). But if you do this you'll need to add static routes on Router A and B in order for the printers & PC's to be seen on both networks.

Make sure you turn off DHCP on Router B when in Bridge mode or if connected as LAN to LAN. Otherwise you'll have 2 DHCP servers running. You only want the one DHCP server running on Router A.

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  • I've come across cases where WiFi Router can't bridge and is NAT only and otherwise quite dumb. So connecting them via LAN rather than WAN worked just fine.
    – hookenz
    Oct 15, 2012 at 22:30
  • Deleted my comment... So tired... I meant only the lan, never the wan! Sorry :( Oct 15, 2012 at 23:21
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To begin with, for home routers there are generally two kinds - Ethernet/cable routers and Modem Routers.

Modem Routers generally have a RJ11 wan port and ethernet ones have RJ45 wan ports.

As long as you disable DHCP on the router, and assign a static IP to the lan management interface(*), you should be able to use it fine - just remember to only use LAN ports and not the wan port or you will most likely have a disjoined network/two subnets or a single one with routing issues.

(*) - you should be able to assign the router a static IP, completely ignore WAN static ip settings - you are only interested in LAN settings.

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