Using 2 wireless modems on the same network

[HockeyPuck]

So Shaw came over to my house last month for a existing customer deal which gave me lots of channels of basic cable, faster internet, and phone for $50/mo.

OK deal, however, Shaw switched my existing router (D-Link DIR 815) to their Cisco combo modem/wireless router (Cisco Docsis 3.0 Gateway). I'm finding the coverage from my D-Link was giving me better network coverage than the new one. I still have my old Shaw modem from before.

Could I switch back to my old Shaw modem and run my D-Link or would this change my internet speeds?

Is there a way to connect my D-Link to my Cisco router and run it on the same network? Maybe run a network cable from the Cisco (which is in the basement) and run the cable upstairs to my D-Link?

CP, please help!

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

So Shaw came over to my house last month for a existing customer deal which gave me lots of channels of basic cable, faster internet, and phone for $50/mo.

OK deal, however, Shaw switched my existing router (D-Link DIR 815) to their Cisco combo modem/wireless router (Cisco Docsis 3.0 Gateway). I'm finding the coverage from my D-Link was giving me better network coverage than the new one. I still have my old Shaw modem from before.

Could I switch back to my old Shaw modem and run my D-Link or would this change my internet speeds?

Is there a way to connect my D-Link to my Cisco router and run it on the same network? Maybe run a network cable from the Cisco (which is in the basement) and run the cable upstairs to my D-Link?

CP, please help!

You should be able to do that, just set your dlink to be an AP, keep the same ssid, and change the channel so 1 is 1 and 1 is 11.

[HockeyPuck]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

You should be able to do that, just set your dlink to be an AP, keep the same ssid, and change the channel so 1 is 1 and 1 is 11.

I'm kind of not network savvy, so, um.... wut?


I'm sorry, what's an AP, and how do I change the channels like you described?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

You should be able to do that, just set your dlink to be an AP, keep the same ssid, and change the channel so 1 is 1 and 1 is 11.

Be warned you cannot change the SSID on the new SMC modems from Shaw.

-edit corrected myself, it was the SMC, not Cisco ones.

[photon]

My SMC modem is setup in bridge mode, so I'm using my own router (so my SMC modem acts just like the old modem did), can the Cisco ones be setup that way? (It's something Shaw had to set).

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Be warned you cannot change the SSID on the new Cisco modems from Shaw.

You can, I just changed the one on mine a couple of weeks ago.

Originally Posted by photon

My SMC modem is setup in bridge mode, so I'm using my own router (so my SMC modem acts just like the old modem did), can the Cisco ones be setup that way? (It's something Shaw had to set).

Shaw has to upgrade the firmware or something to allow the Bridge mode setting to be put in place. I need to do this too because I have to buy a separate router since this Cisco won't work with PS3's or DLNA.

[cKy]

When shaw came last month and upgraded me to their new modem, i asked if he could let me keep my existing setup (router is 1000, Shaws is not) He said it was already setup like that and if i wanted to switch their wireless that I can just call in the and they will flip the switch.

[HockeyPuck]

So this is what I have done so far. I've ran my network cable from the Cisco unit (plugged in the '1' slot) and ran it upstairs.

I hookup my Dlink to my computer and turned off the uPnP and disabled the DHCP thing. I then changed my Router address from .0.1 to .0.11. I then unplugged my router from my laptop and hooked it up to the network cable and from my Cisco and plugged it into the 'Internet' slot.

I know I'm doing something wrong because when I try to access my DLink using the new address, I just get an error message. I also tried changing the SSID to the same network as my Cisco and that messed everything up and I had to reset my Cisco to get it working again.

What am I doing wrong?

[psyang]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

So this is what I have done so far. I've ran my network cable from the Cisco unit (plugged in the '1' slot) and ran it upstairs.

I hookup my Dlink to my computer and turned off the uPnP and disabled the DHCP thing. I then changed my Router address from .0.1 to .0.11. I then unplugged my router from my laptop and hooked it up to the network cable and from my Cisco and plugged it into the 'Internet' slot.

I know I'm doing something wrong because when I try to access my DLink using the new address, I just get an error message. I also tried changing the SSID to the same network as my Cisco and that messed everything up and I had to reset my Cisco to get it working again.

What am I doing wrong?

Hook the network cable from your cisco to one of the normal ports on the DLink (ie. not the Internet port). Also, make sure that 192.168.0.11 is not in the Cisco's DHCP range or else its possible to have an IP conflict.

[HockeyPuck]

^^^^ Thanks I'll try that when I get home. How do I ensure that the .0.11 is not in conflict? Is there a way to check?

[psyang]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

^^^^ Thanks I'll try that when I get home. How do I ensure that the .0.11 is not in conflict? Is there a way to check?

Usually in the router's config pages, you will see a page that says what range of addresses DHCP will give out. Or what's the first address and max. # of addresses. If the first address is 192.168.0.10, and DHCP will give out up to 100 addresses, then your range is 192.168.0.10 to 192.168.0.109. So any static ip addresses (like what you are setting on your dlink) should be outside this range to remove the possibility of conflict.

If you don't see a page like this (I'm at my parent's right now, and their Telus router doesn't have such a page), then pick a high address for your dlink - maybe 192.168.0.253, to minimize the chance of a conflict.

[CKPThunder]

Just gave the d-link dir 815 manual a quick read and you did everything right HockeyPuck except when you plugged the ethernet connection to your WAN(internet) port. You should have connected it to the LAN port.

psyang is correct in that most routers will have an area that specifies their DHCP range or scope. Just pick an address outside of that range and you will be fine in that regards.

Since we are talking about two different types of routers, I would be interested in seeing how seamless the wireless hand-off between the two devices will be. I remember back in the old days where some access points were quite 'sticky' in regards of releasing a client to another devices.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by nik-

You can, I just changed the one on mine a couple of weeks ago.

Shaw has to upgrade the firmware or something to allow the Bridge mode setting to be put in place. I need to do this too because I have to buy a separate router since this Cisco won't work with PS3's or DLNA.

Yes sorry I meant the SMC ones, not the Cisco ones.

[CKPThunder]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Be warned you cannot change the SSID on the new SMC modems from Shaw.

-edit corrected myself, it was the SMC, not Cisco ones.

Is this true when SMC router is in router mode or bridge mode? In router mode, we changed my brother-in-laws ssid to match his restaurant and he is using the older SMC router from Shaw.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by CKPThunder

Is this true when SMC router is in router mode or bridge mode? In router mode, we changed my brother-in-laws ssid to match his restaurant and he is using the older SMC router from Shaw.

I have the SMCD3GN in router mode and the SSID is greyed out. Some people with this model on Rogers used to be able to access the full functions and change the SSID by logging in with the special Rogers techician administration account that they built in before shipping to customers but I was never able to find one for Shaw that worked.

That really annoys me. If it was purely their modem, that's fine...but when it also operates as a Router/Bridge and I have to get Shaw's permission or their help to operate basic routing functions or to change it to a bridge by deploying firmware from their end that really annoys me.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I have the SMCD3GN in router mode and the SSID is greyed out. Some people with this model on Rogers used to be able to access the full functions and change the SSID by logging in with the special Rogers techician administration account that they built in before shipping to customers but I was never able to find one for Shaw that worked.

That really annoys me. If it was purely their modem, that's fine...but when it also operates as a Router/Bridge and I have to get Shaw's permission or their help to operate basic routing functions or to change it to a bridge by deploying firmware from their end that really annoys me.

Weird. Like CKPThunder, when I had the SMC, first thing I did was change the SSID without issues. Not sure why yours would be disabled.

[HockeyPuck]

I appreciate the feedback so far. So I've tried the above the suggestions, and now I noticed that my DLink has 2 networks associated with it. A network called "Dlink" (2.4gHz) and a "Dlink Media" (5 ghz). Both these are unsecured.

Should I have changed the SSID to the same as the Cisco one?

[CKPThunder]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

I appreciate the feedback so far. So I've tried the above the suggestions, and now I noticed that my DLink has 2 networks associated with it. A network called "Dlink" (2.4gHz) and a "Dlink Media" (5 ghz). Both these are unsecured.

Should I have changed the SSID to the same as the Cisco one?

You should change the ssid to the same as your Cisco router and use the same security as well. If your Cisco is using wpa2, then you should set your D-link the same way with the same password.

Is the Cisco router a dual band router? Does it have both a 2.4GHz and 5 GHz band?

[HockeyPuck]

Originally Posted by CKPThunder

You should change the ssid to the same as your Cisco router and use the same security as well. If your Cisco is using wpa2, then you should set your D-link the same way with the same password.

Is the Cisco router a dual band router? Does it have both a 2.4GHz and 5 GHz band?

No I think it has only a single band. Not sure though.

[McG]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

No I think it has only a single band. Not sure though.

this is a great thread. the dlink 815 is a simultaneous dual band router so you can assign different devices to the 2.4 or the 5.0 networks.

when i set up my shaw docsis 3.0 router, i disabled the wireless on it and plugged my linksys router with wireless into it to provide the same dual band functionality. i did not reassign IP addresses or anything like that and so far everything works fabu. of course, i am only using one lan port on the docsis router, but i have a gigabit switch behind the linksys router to give me extra ports. i do not have the shaw router operating in bridge mode.

i was just wondering if someone could explain why my setup works...but hockeypuck and others have had to manually assign IP addresses in their solution? i'm not sure why mine works when i didn't do any of that stuff. thanks!