2 routers 1 ISP

[smk12]

Hello. I want to learn more about networking. I want to have a separate network to learn on so I don't disrupt my family. This was what I was thinking about although I'm not sure if it will work. 

Spoiler

I have fiber from my ISP which comes through a media converter and into the router. What I want to do is have two routers that work independently. So if I have two NAT routers that are connected to a switch will they still route traffic properly? And if this works, each router would need a separate IP address correct? Would I need to contact my ISP about getting a second IP address or should it work automatically? 

 

If this is not possible what would be the next best option for me? 

[WereCatf]

1 minute ago, smk12 said:

So if I have two NAT routers that are connected to a switch will they still route traffic properly?

Yes.

1 minute ago, smk12 said:

And if this works, each router would need a separate IP address correct?

Yes.

1 minute ago, smk12 said:

Would I need to contact my ISP about getting a second IP address or should it work automatically?

Depends entirely on how your ISP has configured their systems. Some ISPs deliberately only hand out a single IP-address to a customer, some ISPs allow several ones. My ISP, for example, would let me have 5 IPs, if I wanted to. In your case, you'll either just have to try and see, or ask your ISP.

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 minutes ago, smk12 said:

I have fiber from my ISP which comes through a media converter and into the router. What I want to do is have two routers that work independently. So if I have two NAT routers that are connected to a switch will they still route traffic properly? And if this works, each router would need a separate IP address correct? Would I need to contact my ISP about getting a second IP address or should it work automatically? 

What isp? Is it a isp router? Some do some weird stuff between their routers and their ont.

 

Normally you only get one ip for a home internet connection, so this switch won't work at all. Id just put your router behind the first router and setup ip passthrough on it.

[oblivion-npc]

I am also trying to set up something like this. Most likely what you will have to do is put your experimental router downstream of your existing and disable DHCP for the new one. I think this means you'll have to do all your port forwarding (or most of it) on the family router. I think you will also have to manually assign IPs to the devices connected to your experimental router and setup VLANs if you want any sort of network segregation. Not sure which router you would need to configure for that part but most routers don't go through any sort of restart procedure if you're just assigning IPs to devices and port forwarding.

 

If you want both routers in parallel, the best way is with a second public IP. I don't know how that is configured in practice, but that seems to be the general consensus. The caveat is that it is usually not an option for most residential ISPs, even if you throw money at the problem. Double NAT may be another option but I don't know enough about that to say for sure.

[smk12]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What isp? Is it a isp router? Some do some weird stuff between their routers and their ont.

 

Normally you only get one ip for a home internet connection, so this switch won't work at all. Id just put your router behind the first router and setup ip passthrough on it.

One router would use pfsense. The other is the isp router.  If I use cascading what will carry over from the isp router? DHCP? or can I use my own DHCP server? 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, smk12 said:

One router would use pfsense. The other is the isp router.  If I use cascading what will carry over from the isp router? DHCP? or can I use my own DHCP server? 

If you cascade them you can use everything you want on your own router. It will function normally.

 

What isp though? SInce its a isp router Its probably not fully normal between the ONT and their router.

[smk12]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

If you cascade them you can use everything you want on your own router. It will function normally.

 

What isp though? SInce its a isp router Its probably not fully normal between the ONT and their router.

I have at&t. The router model is 2Wire 5268AC.

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, smk12 said:

I have at&t. The router model is 2Wire 5268AC.

then your not putting a switch or anything before their router, as they use 802.1x authentication. Just put your router behind theirs and your good. You also only have a single ip form them. Setup your router as the ip passthrough or second router.

[smk12]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

then your not putting a switch or anything before their router, as they use 802.1x authentication. Just put your router behind theirs and your good. You also only have a single ip form them. Setup your router as the ip passthrough or second router.

So I will be able to mess with pretty much anything I want without conflicts? 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, smk12 said:

So I will be able to mess with pretty much anything I want without conflicts? 

Yea you can do whatever you want on your own router, since its its own network, the att device won'at affect its usage.

[smk12]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea you can do whatever you want on your own router, since its its own network, the att device won'at affect its usage.

Awesome. Thank you so much!

[Falcon1986]

Sorry if I missed something here, but wouldn’t a more elegant approach be to let the pfSense box run two separate LAN DHCP servers (for each network) and share a single WAN connection? Then all the OP would need is one switch for LAN1 and another switch for LAN2 through which devices can connect?

 

I know the built-in wizard of the EdgeRouter-X has a WAN2LAN setup just for this kind of thing. So pfSense should be able to do it as well.

 

ISP device (bridged) --> pfSense --> Switch 1 (LAN1)
                  	 |
              		Switch 2 (LAN2)

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

6 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

Sorry if I missed something here, but wouldn’t a more elegant approach be to let the pfSense box run two separate LAN DHCP servers (for each network) and share a single WAN connection? Then all the OP would need is one switch for LAN1 and another switch for LAN2 through which devices can connect?

 

I know the built-in wizard of the EdgeRouter-X has a WAN2LAN setup just for this kind of thing. So pfSense should be able to do it as well.

 

ISP device (bridged) --> pfSense --> Switch 1 (LAN1)
                  	 |
              		Switch 2 (LAN2)

 

Then the pfsense box is a failure point for the rest of the network, letting ll the norml devices connect to the isp device mkes the pfsense box not. failure point for the rest of the network.

[smk12]

8 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Setup your router as the ip passthrough or second router.

I'm confused on the terminology here. Is there a difference between cascading, bridging and IP passthrough? 

 

Is this where I should be setting it up? 

Spoiler

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, smk12 said:

I'm confused on the terminology here. Is there a difference between cascading, bridging and IP passthrough? 

 

Is this where I should be setting it up? 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

not really. Really depends on the exacat isp router. Normally it just means that all ports are forwarded to a another device on the network(aka the other router)