# Multiple wireless router setup



## mukh (May 29, 2008)

I need to set up 4 wireless routers on the existing network which has 4 hubs located at different floors. These hubs will be replaced by wireless routers. The signal from each wireless routers will allow access to multiple computers on each floor. Any suggestion as to how I should set up new routers. If there is a diagram available I would appreciate if you could display or email.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

If you want 4 separate LANs just plug the current hub "feed" into the replacing router's WAN port. If you want everything on one network each of the routers is a secondary in the following.

JohnWill's procedure for configuring a secondary router as a switch and, optionally, wireless access point follows.

*Connecting two SOHO broadband routers together.*

Configure the IP address of the secondary router to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address.

*Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.*

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response.
I am still have some difficulty. I hav 4 Linksys routers WRT54GS and I have connected the first router to cable modem which works fine. From port 1 of ist router I am connecting to 2nd router's wan port. From the 2nd router's 1st port I am connecting to 3rd router's WAN port. From 3rd router's 1st port I am connecting to 4th router's wan port. I have named each router as Linkys1, Linksys 2, Linksys 3, Linksys 4.

I am able to get internet connection in the 1st and 2nd router only, but not in 3rd and 4th.

Please if possible describe to me how to change each router's IP address and disable DHCP in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th routers.

Thanks a lot.


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

You have the network wired wrong if you intend on making all your devices operate on the same subnet. What you need to do is either wire up Linksys 2, 3, and 4 to Linksys 1 via the LAN ports on all the routers. So Linksys 2 would wire in to LAN port 1 on Linksys 1. Linksys 3 would wire in to LAN port 2 on Linksys 1 and so on. If the cable lengths get too long or you opt not to go through the work to pull the long network cables required to wire the floors, then you can do a modified version which has the same wiring configuration for Linksys 2 to Linksys 1. But with Linksys 3, you would wire it to LAN port 1 on Linksys 3 go to LAN port 1 on Linksys 2. And Linksys 4 would wire up the same way to LInksys 3.

Using the WAN port requires routing which you then must create independent subnets to have traffic move through the routers properly.

You need to turn off DHCP at each of the 2, 3, and 4 routers via the admin GUI. You also need to assign an IP to each of the routers which are not used by another network device so you can get in each router to manage them and not have IP conflicts. Also, You need to create separate SSIDs and use different channels for each wireless router as having all the wireless routers operating on the same wireless setup is going to cause you problems in areas where router signals overlap. The only way to keep everything the same is if you are using WDS. The channels I would pick are 1, 6, and 11. The remainder I would pick some channel which isn't being heavily used. 1, 6, and 11 are non-overlapping channels.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

See post #2, it's the exact solution to this issue.


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

Thanks for the response.

If I am using second option do I still have follow your second and third paragraph which I assume is meant for first option installation?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Actually, you need to configure all the secondary routers using the whole procedure. Obviously, they need to have unique base addresses outside the DHCP range of the primary router. I've had three secondary routers working like this, they used three wireless channels for added wireless bandwidth, works like a champ.


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

Thanks. I will try this method. Any suggestion as to what IP address and subnet shall i be setting for Routers 2, 3 & 4.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

What is "this method"? Is it the procedure for "Connecting two SOHO broadband routers together"? If so, ...

Tell us for the first router what its LAN address is, the Mask, and its Dhcp Server address range. Then we can pick 3 of the "leftover" addresses for the other routers.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If the "primary router" has a 192.168.1.1 base address for instance, and the DHCP pool is 192.168.1.2 thorough 192.168.1.100.

Secondary router #1: 192.168.1.250
Secondary router #2: 192.168.1.251
Secondary router #3: 192.168.1.252

That's one scenario that will work, and it's how I addressed mine when I had three routers running. I now have two secondary routers in the mix, but one is on a different subnet for "private" networking.


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

Actually first router is D-Link with Lan 
MAC Address : 00:1C:F0:EF6:12 
IP Address : 192.168.0.1 
Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0 
Default Gateway : 0.0.0.0 
Primary DNS Server : 0.0.0.0 
Secondary DNS Server : 0.0.0.0 

DHCP Server : Enabled 

WAN:
Connection Type : DHCP Client 
QoS Engine : Active 
Cable Status : Connected 
Network Status : Established 
Connection Up Time : 1 Day, 6:47:50 

MAC Address : 00:08:A1:165F 
Authentication & Security : 

IP Address : 98.211.129.130 
Subnet Mask : 255.255.252.0 
Default Gateway : 98.211.128.1 
Primary DNS Server : 68.87.74.162 
Secondary DNS Server : 68.87.68.162 

Remaining 3 routers are Linksys


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

So, subtract out the Dhcp server's address range (or DHCP pool) from the range 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.254 and you have the set of IP addresses you can assign to the other 3 routers.


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

It did not work at all.

The 3rd and 4th routers are not accepting new IP addresses, It does not get saved.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Either you're missing an "apply" or "save" button or the routers are defective. The routers are the same model as the 2nd one, right?


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## mukh (May 29, 2008)

Yes they are same. They have save buttons. But neither one saves the setting.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

It's worth looking for a firmware upgrade, and a reset to factory defaults, but if those don't change anything I believe the units are defective.


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