Is it possible to daisy chain two routers?

Question

I currently use a Linksys wired cable router to use my Cox high speed internet. There are three computers in my household that use this router - a personal desktop, a personal laptop, and a laptop I use for work. I connect to my company's network via ROVA.

I recently purchased a Netgear wireless router. My company's ROVA configuration will not work with a wireless router. Is it possible to leave the wired router hooked up to the cable modem as it is today, and hook up the Netgear wireless router to the Linksys wired router, so that I can use a wireless network for my personal laptop only?

Answer

This question was answered on April 20, 2005. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

Yes, it is possible, but it is a bit tricky to configure. You should have a good understanding of networking to do this.

You would have to configure the Linksys router to be a gateway, and the Netgear wireless as the router and not a gateway (gateway is usually the default setting). Both need to have different IP address, the subnet mask must be the same on both routers and you may need to manually enter the DNS addresses in both routers.

However, switches are usually inexpensive and if you are not so network savvy it may save you from a few headaches. Just connect the switch to the netgear wireless router.

Author

Posted by Charles of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on April 20, 2005