Network setup with two routers sharing a single network. Adjusting gateway settings between them.
Network setup with two routers sharing a single network. Adjusting gateway settings between them.
Hello Your idea is interesting. With two routers—A and B—connected to the main LAN and each with its own internet link, you could switch between them. Router A would act as the primary DHCP server at 192.168.0.1, while Router B would serve as a secondary router without DHCP enabled at 192.168.2.1. Changing your gateway from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.2.1 on your machine would direct traffic through Router B. This setup could work if configured correctly. Let me know if you need more details. Thanks!
On LAN you’d likely need to replace the Ethernet cable from your PC with one connected to the router you wish to link to. It seems you can’t skip a router to reach another—especially since I couldn’t connect to Router 1 when using Router 2 recently. With Wi-Fi, different SSIDs make it feasible too.
Only one NIC seems to work, which makes me doubt it. But with two, it becomes really easy.
Ensure all devices share the same subnet. Use a mask like 192.168.0.0/22, or configure two IPs such as 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2 within a 192.168.0.0/24 range. This setup is fine. You can also set up two gateways with distinct metrics for straightforward failover.
You can utilize multiple internet links during LoadBalancing or Failover setups by connecting them to pfSense in bridge mode. This approach has been reliable for many years. Advanced networking on Windows isn't ideal. https://www.pfsense.org/
My ASUS router handles that between USB Modem and WAN. (My main internet comes from 4G) I’m not sure if I can choose the gateway on the fly, nor do I know if I can run the B router in bridge mode or with a modem. I don’t have the necessary hardware to set up a pfSense box either.
There are various methods to automate this setup. A single router equipped with multiple WAN ports can manage both links and failover. Another router can take over the failover role (simply connect them in a chain). A third router can serve as the central controller. Sometimes the most straightforward approach works best. Changing the default gateway in Windows is simple and offers full control over which connection is active. I’ve used this method myself for that reason. Keep in mind—either configure both routers as DNS servers (with DNS forwarding enabled) or designate a single accessible DNS server, such as 8.8.8.8 or 9.9.9.9. Otherwise, you’ll need to adjust DNS settings alongside the gateway changes.
I don't want to change to the B router often. I'll keep it just because it matched the cost of a phone line alone. I'm having trouble using Youtube-DL on my 4G connection, so switching to the B router would make sense. If the 4G drops, I'd move the DHCP gateway to the B router. It's a reasonable price despite the slow speed—about 10 Mbps on DSL versus 80 Mbps on 4G.