daisy chained routers

[rans6andrew]

I run a modem/wireless router connected to our incoming copper phone line but found that the wireless coverage out to my workshop in an outbuilding was poor. So I added a 10 metre ethernet cable to a second wireless router at the other end of the building, conveniently in our bedroom so that I have a point close to the bedroom telly which I can plug a freeview recorder into. Unfortunately the freeview recorder cannot "see" an intenet connection from this second router. Every thing else connects to the internet through the second router if cable connected or by wireless if it is the strongest signal seen by the device. This includes a VOIP telephone plugged in, a laptop PC works both plugged and wirelessly, both of our old and new mobile phones connect wirelessly and a tablet connects wirelessly. If I take the freeview recorder to the front door and plug it into the first router it sees the internet and does what it needs to do. I have tried the ethernet cable and it works as expected with other things.

Why does it not connect when the internet is through two routers? What can I do to get the freeview box to connect when in the bedroom?

Please

Rans6...............

[Saab Dastard]

Are you able to see the IP settings for the FV box when connected (or trying) to the secondary - check that the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway are correct for the secondary router, not the primary.

Does the freeview box have a fixed IP address or DHCP? One plausible answer is that the FV box has a fixed IP address that works with the IP subnet provided by the primary modem/wireless router, but not the second, which is operating with a different IP subnet to the primary. Of course, that assumes that the uplink (internet) port of the secondary is plugged into one of the downlink ports on the primary.

If wireless, the FV box might not have the correct credentials for the secondary wifi network. Maybe the secondary has a MAC address filter set that blocks the FV box. Another possibility is that both routers are providing DHCP addresses in the same IP address range, and a duplicate IP address is on the network.

[Jetstream67]

Many possible answers. I have a printer that only likes a direct connection to the router but all the settings are right.

It is worth resetting the freeview recorder network settings and also worth trying connecting it directly to the main router, then powering down then powering up again when connected to the bedroom router

[rans6andrew]

further digging around in the freeview box menus has revealed a manual connect mode which asks for IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, primary DNS and secondary DNS. I don't have a clue what it is looking for or how to find the numbers needed. The freeview box doesn't do wireless connections so the id and password issue doesn't arise. Downlink and uplink connections are logical to me. The second router cable is into one of the 4 output ports on the primary router and to the modem input connection of the secondary router. Every thing else just connects when plugged in or wirelessly (with password) linked.

If I pull the cable from the input of the secondary router and poke it into the freeview box it gives me a load of addresses for the above items and connects to the internet. Does this give me any help with the address numbers when the secondary router is in the chain?

Rans6.............

[rans6andrew]

ps. When the freeview recorder is connected directly to the primary router there is then two of the same model of freeview recorders connected to it. I assume this rules out a duplication of address of freeview box issues?

[jimjim1]

Does the errant box get an address when plugged into the inside of the new router?

What are the addresses and subnet masks in each case?



Step TWO if it doesn't get an address from both -

Please:-

Get a pc and connect it to the two networks in turn using a cable. Make sure it is working.

Then from each network, noting WHICH is WHICH please, post the output from the following command
ipconfig /all
for the relevant interface. The example below shows a wireless one but yours will probably be called "Ethernet ..."

C : \Users>ipconfig /all

It will look like this

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR5B93 Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-1A-04-xx.xx.xx
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6176(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.149(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 28 February 2019 23:03:17
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 03 March 2019 02:52:08
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 326113796
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-A1-6B-C2


DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 9.9.9.9
8.8.8.8
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

You can cut/paste out of the command window or if you are having trouble with that you could do screenshots. [Alt]PrtSc does a screenshot of the current window.

If you had to type it all in I guess the essential info is :-

Make SURE you get info from a WIRED interface.

IPv4 Address
Subnet Mask
Default Gateway
DHCP Server . .
DNS Servers

but a machine copy would be much better.

[Philoctetes]

This is quite a good site - and what is more I got it to work!!
How To Daisy Chain Two Wireless Routers Using Ethernet Wire Cables

[jimjim1]

Originally Posted by Philoctetes

This is quite a good site - and what is more I got it to work!!
How To Daisy Chain Two Wireless Routers Using Ethernet Wire Cables

That is good and is the strategy I would recommend.

NOTE - It REQUIRES that you use a LAN port on the second router.

rans6andrew as already stated that he is trying the WAN port (to the modem input connection of the secondary router).

By using the WAN port you introduce another NATter (Network Address Translation) into the situation. This will work for Internet browsing and email but will cause problems for say local printer access across the router.

I am not up to date with the latest wireless stuff but a few years ago (802.11a/b/g time), using the same SSID for both routers caused more problems in practise than it was worth and I would most likely use different SSIDs even though using the same one is somewhat seductive.

I don't know why the OP's one device isn't working unless it is an address conflict. He used the default address on both routers and there is just a chance it might work a bit if they ended up overlapping. Maybe one side is working with IPV6 and the the broken device does not support it?

[rans6andrew]

Right, it took a while to get hold of the portable PC. It was in use running a battery discharge test which went on somewhat longer than I expected. Good for the client's customers.

I have plugged it into the two routers and noted the following lines of stuff:

Ethernet Adapter local area connection:
Link-local IPv6 Address is the same in both cases
IPv4 address 192.168.1.15 on primary 192.168.0.105 on secondary
Subnet mask is the same in both cases
Default Gateway 192.168.1.1 on primary 192.168.0.1 on secondary

I also note that there is also:

Tunnel Adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface with different IPv6 addresses (primary to secondary) and different Link-local IPv6 Addresses (primary to secondary).

In both cases the PC was connected to the internet by cable with it's wireless connection disabled.

I guess I need to put a few of the address differences into the manual setup on my freeview box and see if it connects?

Rans6.................

[Saab Dastard]

If the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 for both, then 192.168.0.0 and 192.168.1.0 are different networks.
If the freeview box has a fixed (i.e. manually / statically assigned, not DHCP) IP address in the 192.168.1.X range, and you connect it to the secondary, it won't work because it's got the wrong IP network address for that network (192.168.0 is not the same as 192.168.1).

You would need to either set it to pick up a 192.168.0.X address via DHCP from the secondary router (ensure that the default gateway address - 192.168.0.1 - is also assigned correctly by DHCP) or else manually set its IP address for the secondary network as 192.168.0.X (choose an X between 2 and 254 not already in use!), default gateway = 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask = 255.255.255.0 (assumed).

You will also need to supply a DNS IP address - this could be 192.168.1.1 if that's what other devices on your network use - it doesn't have to be on your network, or even from your ISP, it can be internet based, e.g. OpenDNS. There's an interesting selection here: https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-dns-server. jimjim1's example has Quad 9 as DNS (9.9.9.9), which is another of the free DNS services mentioned.

[jimjim1]

Originally Posted by rans6andrew

If I pull the cable from the input of the secondary router and poke it into the freeview box it gives me a load of addresses for the above items and connects to the internet.

# # #

Ethernet Adapter local area connection:
Link-local IPv6 Address is the same in both cases
IPv4 address 192.168.1.15 on primary 192.168.0.105 on secondary
Subnet mask is the same in both cases
Default Gateway 192.168.1.1 on primary 192.168.0.1 on secondary

I guess I need to put a few of the address differences into the manual setup on my freeview box and see if it connects?

Rans6.................

I guess that for reasons unknown that DHCP is not working for your freeview box on the secondary router.

SO:-

You should be able to manually configure it.

You want an address that is not going to be assigned by DHCP or in use by the router.

Valid range is 1-253.

Say-
192.168.0.2 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.0.1
DNS 192.168.0.1

# # # # #

This is still a kludge. You would be best to use a LAN side port on the secondary to join the two networks and to turn DHCP off on the secondary.

You should change the address of the secondary so that you can manage it. Say to 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0

Don't forget the addresses. Put labels on kit.

In BOTH cases hopefully .2 is out of the DHCP range and not statically assigned to anything else.