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I've a pretty standard LAN to LAN setup, when the 2-nd router basically acts as a hub/switch (no DHCP/UPNP/NAT, AP turned on): 192.168.1.100 (DHCP starts from 192.168.1.101) I can access both Web Admin UI's and there is internet on all connected devices (no matter through which router the connection is held).

The problem is, that I can't access the internet from the 2-nd router itself. I need it for 2 things:

  1. Administration from the WAN
  2. Running services on it (that need access to internet).

Any ideas what have I possibly missed?

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    Are the 2 routers connected via Ethernet cable? If so did you plug the cable into the internet port or the lan port of the 2nd router?
    – Outdated Computer Tech
    May 17, 2019 at 1:52
  • @Sickest Yes, cable connected. LAN to LAN is plugging the Ethernet cable to 2nd router lan port (any port).
    – diman82
    May 17, 2019 at 15:03

2 Answers 2

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Some routers/firmwares do not full support being APs only.

A non-internet facing router still needs to know how do get to the internet. The second router needs to know what interface to use to connect to what its gateway and dns server(s) are.

You may be able to set these in the router UI but not knowing your make, model or firmware...

Alternatively it may require you to connect the 2nd router's WAN port to the first router's LAN ports as well as the second router's DHCP-less LAN port you likely already have connected.

You will also need to configure the requisite port forwarding on the first router to access the second router's management UI.

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    As in the router firmware may not be programmed to use a non-WAN port to access its gateway. It may not have a way for the user to set the gateway at all, hence the possibility of connecting via the second router's WAN port as well. This will allow the second router to pull from the first router's DHCP for its own purposes.
    – SHawarden
    May 17, 2019 at 4:09
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    Yes, as you mentioned the router doesn't even need to see 'local' traffic on the LAN switch. The problem it that home routers usually have no reason to look through the LAN ports for a WAN connection. If the router has the capability to bridge the LAN and WAN ports, great, this will (probably) not be a problem. He still needs to tell the router's OS how to connect to the internet though to run his router applications and services. The router OS may not be designed to facilitate this is all.
    – SHawarden
    May 17, 2019 at 4:51
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    Ah, I see what you mean now.
    – u1686_grawity
    May 17, 2019 at 5:02
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    @SHawarden Thanks for elaborative responses. A few things to mention: I'm using Netgear R7000 as the 2nd router running ASUSWRT-MERLIN firmware. Using a LAN to WAN setup is possible, but it complicates the management quite a bit! Still, I don't see why it should be a problem for the router going out to the internet, as it should behave as any other client connected to the network (provided by the 1st router). It doesn't do DHCP, nor NAT, so any request is forwarded to the 1st router anyway..
    – diman82
    May 17, 2019 at 15:05
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Eventually, I've resolved this issue by doing the following:

1st router:

  1. Create a DHCP reservation of the 2nd router mac address (otherwise you'll have to seek for the IP address that will be assigned to the 2nd router).

2nd router:

  1. Set the Operation Mode to: Access Point(AP) mode with all set to auto (that's including router IP, DNS and etc..)

  2. Verify subnet mask, default gateway and DNS settings - it should match to the 1st router settings.Verify settings

  3. Test that 2nd router (now it is considered to be an AP) that it has internet communication! Test internet connection

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