Router/Modem Convo

[PurgatoryVision]

I have a Modem/Router Convo the SURFboard Dual-Band AC2350 with 32 x 8 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

now I also own a NETGEAR - AC1750 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 5 Router - Black Router

would I see a benefit if I only use the Arris as the modem & Connect the Netgear as the Router?

[Boomy Beatle]

Purely spec-wise (on paper), no. Combo units however are often known to perform less favorably than separate modems and routers, with heat generation being the main issue. Unless you're having problems though, I see no reason to change your setup.

Someone else correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can't have two routers on the same network. If you want to do something like that, you'd need a proper range extender or access point.

[TheBean]

4 minutes ago, Boomy Beatle said:

Someone else correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can't have two routers on the same network. If you want to do something like that, you'd need a proper range extender or access point.

you can have 2 routers. your ISP provided combo units are F-tier trash just so they can say free router. Using a separate unit is always preferred. individual units are faster, more reliable, better range,  have better control in the settings etc. 

 

tl;dr use the netgear router if you can. 

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, Boomy Beatle said:

Someone else correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can't have two routers on the same network. If you want to do something like that, you'd need a proper range extender or access point.

Eh, you could, technically (fail over/disable DHCP in one of them) but there's little/no reason for it in a home setting and you usually want to avoid it (Double NAT unless you can enable Bridged Mode in the Modem/Router.).

 

Chances are if OP is already getting the advertised speeds he's paying for introducing a new router isn't going to make his Internet any faster.

 

The situation could be different if the AC1750 has better wireless connectivity and he wants to communicate with other local devices but I haven't checked the spec on the two of them yet.

[Enderman]

11 minutes ago, Saksham said:

you can have 2 routers. your ISP provided combo units are F-tier trash just so they can say free router. Using a separate unit is always preferred. individual units are faster, more reliable, better range,  have better control in the settings etc. 

 

tl;dr use the netgear router if you can. 

The netgear router would still have to plug into the cable modem in order to get internet connection.

Other than better wifi there is really no benefit from the second router.

Plugging a wired connection into the second router would just mean you have twice the latency and two firewalls in the way.

[TheBean]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

The netgear router would still have to plug into the cable modem in order to get internet connection.

Other than better wifi there is really no benefit from the second router.

Plugging a wired connection into the second router would just mean you have twice the latency and two firewalls in the way.

you can disable the firewall on the main router and set it up in bridged mode. would latency be a real problem on ethernet?

[SansVarnic]

-= Topic moved to Networking =-

[dalekphalm]

51 minutes ago, Saksham said:

you can disable the firewall on the main router and set it up in bridged mode.

Well if it has a bridge mode, that usually disables the firewall automatically. If it doesn't have bridge mode, almost all routers can usually still be manually placed into "AP Mode" or "bridge mode" by disabling the Firewall/NAT, DHCP, and assigning it an IP on the existing subnet.

 

It can be a bit jank on some routers though.

51 minutes ago, Saksham said:

would latency be a real problem on ethernet?

No. I mean, eventually, sure, if you're daisy chaining like a dozen switches or something. But in real world performance, the latency between just the combo unit vs the combo unit + another router setup as an AP is going to be negligible. You might not even be able to measure the difference.

 

1 hour ago, Saksham said:

your ISP provided combo units are F-tier trash just so they can say free router.

This is a generalization, and while often true, it's not always. The Gateway the OP is talking about is one of the ARRIS Surfboard series - which are among the better Gateways.

 

[Thaelin]

A little late but I use 1 modem/router and 2 other routers as well. All have wifi available too. Just have to offset address ranges and wifi channels .

[dalekphalm]

4 hours ago, Thaelin said:

A little late but I use 1 modem/router and 2 other routers as well. All have wifi available too. Just have to offset address ranges and wifi channels .

Can you clarify what you mean by "offset address ranges"?

 

Do you mean you have each router on it's own subnet (Eg: Gateway: 192.168.0.1 - Router #1: 192.168.1.1 - Router #2: 192.168.2.1)

 

Or do you mean the DHCP Address Pool is offset (Eg: Gateway gives out .100 to .150, Router #1 gives out .151 to .200, and Router #2 gives out .201 to 250)

[Thaelin]

Yes it gets an address from the modem/router and then issues out its own sub-addresses.  From the modem is a 10.0.x.x addy and then it sets up 192.168.x.x set. Can even add another as long as I make sure the 192.168 addys do not conflict and wifi channels are different.

[dalekphalm]

8 hours ago, Thaelin said:

Yes it gets an address from the modem/router and then issues out its own sub-addresses.  From the modem is a 10.0.x.x addy and then it sets up 192.168.x.x set. Can even add another as long as I make sure the 192.168 addys do not conflict and wifi channels are different.

I see. While that setup can work, it’s far from ideal (unless you’re doing static routing between the subnets with no firewall on the router, vis a vis enterprise network setups).