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A mess of a home network (alien.top)

submitted 9 months ago by PaydayJones@alien.top to c/homenetworking@selfhosted.forum

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I am sorry in advance if this is the wrong spot to ask for advice....but here goes..

My network consists of 1 fios modem and 2 routers. Basically, the Modem brings the signal, router 1 is a netgear that I want to handle the wireless throughout the house. I would prefer the Modem not handle any of the wifi responsibilities.

Router 2 is in a separate room and is situated there in order to have everything in that room hardwired.

The network, overall is a mess of a mess. It's not streamlined and I am assuming there is non-stop collisions.

Overall, in my head, the set up is Modem-->Router 1 which handles the wireless and a guest network-->router 2 which is really just hardwired back to router 1 so that I can have wired devices for work in a separate room.

I would _prefer_ not to run any more wire even if it means eliminating the second router, but how do I organize all of this so that the network runs at full capacity smoothy and (hopefully) all the devices can see each other for sharing purposes...that part isn't 100% necessary.

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[–] leewhat@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Did you setup router 2 as Access Point mode and plug the cable from router 1 to LAN port, not WAN port router 2?

[–] Brkdncr@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

There aren’t any collisions.

Disable the router components on router2. If it has an AP or bridge mode do that. If it doesn’t, just turn off dhcp. The “wan” interface should be unplugged. Also change its management ip to something other than router 1’s.

It’s now effectively a layer 2 switch with an access point.

[–] MrMotofy@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Router 2 should be a switch unless you need the extra stuff for something. At a minimum it should be in AP mode. Otherwise it's very unlikely you're getting "collisions", it's just humming along like networks do

[–] PaydayJones@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I think it's in AP mode. I don't belive switch mode is an option... And the network, as a whole, is not humming along, unfortunately. But it does sound like, thanks to yoh and everyone else, I have a few other things to address.

[–] MrMotofy@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

You can tell by the IP address range if they're on the same network, normally. If device behind router B can successfully ping device on router A then you're on the same

[–] asterisk_14@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

This. If you're not trying to use the wifi on the 2nd router, and it's already wired to the 1st one, just replace it with a switch with the needed number of ports. Having a second router can definitely cause problems if the routing functions are still active.