QUESTION: I have several computers at home and cable modem high-speed Internet service. At the moment, I run the cable modem into a standard wired router for my main home network, which works fine. I have it set up for pretty tight security against intruders.
I want to add a second home network for purely entertainment purposes (streaming music and video, reduced security levels for faster on-line video games and P2P transfers, etc.) using a WiFi router, linking it to the same high-speed Internet connection if possible. I don't like having WiFi on all the time, so this setup would also let me keep my wired router running full-time for the main home network, and I could turn on the wireless router and its secondary LAN only when I need it for entertainment and gaming.
My question is, can I run the ethernet cable from my cable modem into a hub or switch to "split" the Internet connection, and then connect both routers to that switch/hub to share the Internet service ... creating two completely separate local area networks running to the same cable modem? Will each router work properly if the pair of them are sharing the same cable modem and ethernet connection?
Thanks very much.
Confused Home Network Guy
ANSWER: No, you can't do this unless you ask your internet provider for another IP address (for which they usually charge about $10/mo).
You can connect one router to the other though (leave the wired connected to the cable modem and connect the wireless to the wired). Rather than having a separate subnet (which would create some other potential problems) I would turn off DHCP on the wireless router and use it as a hub.
Any performance benefit by connecting both routers to the cable modem would not be noticeable if the two plugged into each other are configured properly.
Nerds On Site Support Team and Globetechnology.com
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