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I used a reality long Ethernet cable to connect another router - did I do it right?

idh1oi12jkl31jk2bgve3jk12b
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Go to solution Solved by Eigenvektor,
3 hours ago, idh1oi12jkl31jk2bgve3jk12b said:

I bought a router (TotoLink) and connected the cable to this new router (wasn't sure if I was needed to connect it to one of the regular ports, or to the WAN port????)I configured it so that it takes DHCP from main router (no idea what this means but that's what I read online) and then I limited it's ip range of addresses (so it doesn't collide/interfere) with other router???

Using DHCP means the second router automatically gets an IP assigned from the first router. Which is fine, but you typically want routers and servers to have static, well-known IP addresses. So it would probably make more sense to manually configure it to use something like 192.168.0.2, if the first router uses 192.168.0.1.

 

Two routers acting as DHCP server and handing out IP addresses can be acceptable if, as you said, their IP ranges do not overlap. But you also want to make sure that devices connected to them understand that these are different networks, meaning you need to set an appropriate netmask.

 

But, in most cases you actually want the second router to run in bridge mode, meaning it simply passes stuff on to the first router and doesn't run as an independent DHCP and doesn't do double-NAT.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/867942/what-is-router-bridge-mode/

 

Your phone taking a while to switch between networks can have multiple reasons. Usually, a device will try to stay in its current Wi-Fi as long as possible. Which means it might still be able to see the basement Wi-Fi, even though its too weak to be usable. That effectively prevents it from switching to the other network, until it figures out the current one is actually too weak to use.

 

If you walk from basement to another area, check which router it is connected to/how long it takes before it switches. Once it switches, check how long it takes before it gets a new IP address from the other router and whether it also receives all the other important bits, like DNS and default gateway. If, from the phone's point of view, this is still the same network (e.g. 192.168.0.x / 255.255.255.0) it might not switch IPs at first, since it thinks it is still in the same network and should be able to communicate.

Posted

So, I needed to have wifi/eth at the basement. 

 

bought a long cable (50 meters), connected it to the main router. 

 

I bought a router (TotoLink) and connected the cable to this new router (wasn't sure if I was needed to connect it to one of the regular ports, or to the WAN port????)I configured it so that it takes DHCP from main router (no idea what this means but that's what I read online) and then I limited it's ip range of addresses (so it doesn't collide/interfere) with other router???

 

so main router - signs addresses from 20 to 100

 

and basement will assign addresses from 0 to 19???

 

am I right?

 

I have a problem where if I go up with my phone after being connected in basement, I'm not getting internet. I have to wait a while. Maybe my phone thinks I'm on the same ip address???

 

any advice regarding all of this is appreciated!!!!!!

 

new to this. 

 

improvements? Will appreciate 

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3 hours ago, idh1oi12jkl31jk2bgve3jk12b said:

I bought a router (TotoLink) and connected the cable to this new router (wasn't sure if I was needed to connect it to one of the regular ports, or to the WAN port????)I configured it so that it takes DHCP from main router (no idea what this means but that's what I read online) and then I limited it's ip range of addresses (so it doesn't collide/interfere) with other router???

Using DHCP means the second router automatically gets an IP assigned from the first router. Which is fine, but you typically want routers and servers to have static, well-known IP addresses. So it would probably make more sense to manually configure it to use something like 192.168.0.2, if the first router uses 192.168.0.1.

 

Two routers acting as DHCP server and handing out IP addresses can be acceptable if, as you said, their IP ranges do not overlap. But you also want to make sure that devices connected to them understand that these are different networks, meaning you need to set an appropriate netmask.

 

But, in most cases you actually want the second router to run in bridge mode, meaning it simply passes stuff on to the first router and doesn't run as an independent DHCP and doesn't do double-NAT.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/867942/what-is-router-bridge-mode/

 

Your phone taking a while to switch between networks can have multiple reasons. Usually, a device will try to stay in its current Wi-Fi as long as possible. Which means it might still be able to see the basement Wi-Fi, even though its too weak to be usable. That effectively prevents it from switching to the other network, until it figures out the current one is actually too weak to use.

 

If you walk from basement to another area, check which router it is connected to/how long it takes before it switches. Once it switches, check how long it takes before it gets a new IP address from the other router and whether it also receives all the other important bits, like DNS and default gateway. If, from the phone's point of view, this is still the same network (e.g. 192.168.0.x / 255.255.255.0) it might not switch IPs at first, since it thinks it is still in the same network and should be able to communicate.

Remember to either quote or @mention others, so they are notified of your reply

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