Comments on: Using a router as a switch/hub

By: bing

bing — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:30:18 +0000

show as more picture of a networked computers using hub,switch, and router…… thank you!!!!

By: scott j

scott j — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:26:00 +0000

What if i have a wireless network set up in another part of the house and i have 2 computers with wireless cards installed and want to use the wireless router only as a way to transfer files and backup a computer? when i plug both computers into the router it makes my internet connection go slow and then stop working? any info would be greatly appreciated.
scott

By: Broofa

Broofa — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:21:29 +0000

@paul: That’s a great question, and I’m not 100% sure of the answer. From what little reading I’ve done, this is definitely “the deep end of the pool” in terms of how wi-fi networks work.

What you’re describing is a “wireless bridge” or “wireless repeater”, a device that relays wireless signal to/from your your primary network/router. You can get dedicated hardware that does this for well under $100 (e.g. the Linksys WRT-11), but that sorta defeats the purpose of this post.

I suppose you could statically assign IP addresses to your clients on the 2nd network and see what happens, but I’m skeptical that will work. (I don’t think your suggestion of switching them from auto-connect to manual connect will make a difference, btw – what you care about is how a clients IP address is assigned, not when it’s assigned).

But honestly, the best I can do here is suggest you read up on this subject – google for “wireless bridge” and “wireless repeater” – and just play around. Also be sure to check out the DD-WRT project since there’s a chance one or both of your router’s are supported. This project provides a firmware upgrade for many routers that, among other things, enables WDS Repeater Mode.

Definitely drop a comment here if you figure this out – I’ll be curious to know what solution you end up with.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:08:44 +0000

Hi, just a suggestion (or question) can u still turn on the wi-fi on both the routers and let your devices connect(wirelessly) to the routers manually, instead of turning the auto-connect, or will this affect the assigning ip address to the devices? The reason why i want to do 2 routers cos every time im in the basement i always get poor signal. I got a long ethernet cable going to the basement(for my desktop) where i can hook up the 2nd router. i have an extra router lying around my house, too. Might as well use it.

By: alek

alek — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:49:04 +0000

A big thank you from a recent expat arrival in Bangalore, India! I was sure there was a simple way to do this and with your help I was up and running in 5 min. This is after 1 week of arguing with the phone company, who insisted it was not possible! My local Airtel installation engineer swore that my router could not be set up to work with their ADSL modem and that I would definitely have to buy a so called “Airtel” router. All my colleagues have also been fooled into buying the Airtel routers just because they were convinced by the sales man that it was not possible! I refused to buy it and finaly came across your article so thanks again!

By: sccworlds.com

sccworlds.com — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:17:18 +0000

I tried to add a Netgear RP614v2 to an existing network that was using a netgear WR624. I followed the instructions here exactly, and found that it would not work. I did read the help file with the 614 and found that it auto senses the need to be a router, switch or hub. Also, the provided software has a setting for the addition of multiple routers. If you select the the numbe rof routers you are using, it will auto configure and the network is set.

After hours of the instructions here, and no luck, it took less than 15 minutes with the help file.

Not saying the instructions here won’t work, but may not be needed in all cases. At least in mine it wasn’t.

By: Broofa

Broofa — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:25:19 +0000

Harry, great point!

It hadn’t occured to me to make this distinction in my post, and my use of the word “hub” is simply a relic of the days when these devices were routinely marketed as “router/firewal/hubs”.

I’m pretty sure the hub .vs. switch behavior is built into the device’s hardware design. I suppose there might be a product out there that lets you configure this, but I’ve never seen that option in any of the SMC/LinkSys/Belkin products I have personal experience with.

By: harry

harry — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:48:40 +0000

Your scheme will actually configure most routers as a switch, not a hub. While that is good for extending your network, it not that same as a hub.

I wanted to configure my extra router as a hub so that I could evesdrop on traffic with ethereal, but since it acts as a switch only the ARP traffic makes it to all ports, thus unlike a hub, there no evesdropping ability.

By: asish

asish — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:56:22 +0000

how would i know if mine is capable of it?
it is a netgear 54Mbps ADSL Modem Router DG834G v3

PS: It worked perfectly as a hub though

By: Broofa

Broofa — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:07:29 +0000

Asish, it looks like I might have been a bit hasty in implying that any wireless router could be used as a relay. I’m afraid it depends mostly on whether or not your particular brand of router is capable of that.