[ QUOTE ]
So here's my question. I want to change one of the router's addresses so that in the event we need to use both of them at the same time on the the same network they don't create problems.
[/ QUOTE ]
To change the address, do the following:
1) Connect the router you want to change to the Laptop using one of it's LAN ports.
2) Open up a web browser and enter in
http://192.168.0.1.
3) It will ask for a username/password - if you havn't changed it (and you should) then the username is likely 'admin' and the password left blank. If that doesn't work, check the documentation that came with the router (different models sometimes have different defaults).
4) Generally there will be a button (typically down the left side of the screen) called LAN (I'd need to know the exact model number to be more specific).
5) On the resulting page, there should be a field called IP Address containing the current address - change that and click the 'Apply' icon.
6) Once the router reboots, it should be using the new address.
With that said, there are other issues that can crop up when using several residential routers on the same subnetwork - I'll get to those a little further down, so read on before making any changes [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
[ QUOTE ]
For example, at the Spurs' arena we have DSL coming out of the wall to a DSL modem that has four ethernet ports. Normally we just plug our laptops directly into the ports. Occasionally we share our line with visiting media by sending one of the ethernet ports from the DSL modem to one of our D Link routers. This gives us four more hard wires since the router has four more ethernet ports. But let's say that I need more ports than that and I want to plug D Link router #2 into an ethernet port from Router #1 (basically creating a chain). I believe this creates IP address issues.
[/ QUOTE ]
Given this configuration you would likely be better off using simple switches rather than routers - your modem seems to be handling the duty of a router on it's own, so all you need are additional network ports. Routers are designed to partition off segments of a larger network into smaller sub-networks - if you don't need to isolate those segments, then using routers is overkill.
The benefit to switches over routers is that (a) they are often less expensive and (b) they don't need as much setup (usually none at all). Unmanaged switches do
not need IP Addresses, and there is nothing you need to configure - just plug them into the modem's LAN ports (look for a switch with Auto-MDI-X ports) and you've got more ports you can use. When out in the field, this can be an asset as you don't need to make any adjustments to them to make them opperational.
[ QUOTE ]
To solve this problem can I just change the second router's address to 192.168.0.2? Or should I be changing one of the first three numbers?
[/ QUOTE ]
This depends a lot on how you are hooking things up. There are a few ways that you can do this:
1) Connecting the WAN ports of the two routers to the LAN ports on the modem.
When you do this, you are in-effect partitioning your network into three segments - computers attached to router A will not be able to communicate with computers attached to router B (without significant manual configuration). Computers attached to the modem won't be able to communicate with computers attached to the routers, but computers attached to the routers will be able to talk with computers attached to the modem. Since your routers are likely using NAT, it doesn't matter if they are using the same internal IP addresses as those network segments are unable to see one another. You won't have to do any configuration work in this scenario - just plug everything in and it should work (assuming the modem is using a different subnetwork than 192.168.0.x).
2) Connecting the WAN port of router A to a LAN port on the modem and the WAN port of router B to the a LAN port on router A (ie daisy chaining them).
When you do this, you will likely have to change the network number (ie the first three numbers in the IP Address) to something like '192.168.1.1'. If you don't, router B may get confused and opperate unpredictably as both it's WAN and LAN ports are using the same subnet. In this case, computers attached to router B will be able to communicate with computers attached to router A, however computers attached to router A will be unable to communicate with computers attached to router B.
3) Connecting the LAN ports of both routers to the LAN ports of the modem (note, if you do this leave the WAN ports on the routers unused).
In this case, the router portion of these devices are out of play and they are basically acting like switches. All devices attached to any of the three networking components will be able to communicate with one another as in this case the network is simply one large segment. You will want to disable the DHCP servers on both of the routers (so devices get their settings directly from the modem). You should change their IP Addresses (by changing the last number in the address), however since nothing will be communicating with them it isn't really critical (as long as the address isn't cooincident with the modem).
The first option is the easiest for you to set up, as you can likely leave them in their factory default configurations - however if you want your computers to communicate with one another it does make that more complicated. This partitioning can be a security asset if used correctly, however it can be an annoyance if users don't lay out their devices correctly [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
The third option gives users the most flexibility, as devices can be connected to any of the three components and will be able to communicate with one another. The downside to this, of course, is that it takes some setup work - if you want to use the routers as they are when in the office, you will need to reverse your changes. You can get around this by purchasing a simple switch instead of the routers - this would give you the same behaviour as scenario three without having to do any setup work.
Linear Mode
