2 modems, 2 routers, 2 subnets

[lisach]

We have router connected to a DSL line and have our devices and printers on the subnet of 192.168.0.X. We have another ISP account with Clear which allows us to move the modem/router to different locations. It uses 192.168.15.X. Due to circumstance we no longer needed it at the other locations. So I brought it here. Well the speeds are so much greater on that signal that we found out selves hopping over to that signal for streaming and such. This is no problem. But the printers are on the other main subnet. Sometimes I might be on the main subnet and someone else on the other and I need to get to their hard drive.
I understand all this and often I just switch routers but it is a pain in the butt and the other people here don’t know about all that.
Since I can’t combine the 2 subnets into 1, how do I allow traffic from the one subnet to flow seamlessly between the 2 subnets? No domain server just a mixture of XP, Windows8, Android and Ipad.
Why don’t we get rid of the DSL connection? We use a SPRINT AIRAVE signal booster for cell phones and it has to use a wired connection…. Also sometimes I unplug that CLEAR modem/router and take it with me. So printers will remain on the DSL subnet.
Very simply I want to allow resources from DSL subnet to CLEAR subnet and vice versa. No big setup just a few users and a few resources.

 

[rusabus]

Why can't you combine the two subnets into one? Change the IP address on one of your devices to 192.168.0.2 and disable its DHCP server. Then when you want to use one Internet connection, just change your default gateway to correspond to the correct device and all will be well.

If you don't want to do that, you could change your DHCP server on 192.168.0.1 to handout IP addresses with a subnet mask of 255.255.240.0. That would mean all your IP addresses from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.15.255 would be in the same subnet. You would still have to reconfigure the default gateway on your devices to point to the appropriate device, but it should work. (You'll have to configure both of your routers with this subnet mask otherwise they won't be able to talk to some devices on your network.)

If you wanted the ultimate setup, you could configure a router that could load balance between the two connections, but that is probably more than you want to do. (Although you would learn a ton about networking if you do it.) A good place to start may be with Shorewall's multi-ISP documentation at http://www.shorewall.net/MultiISP.html.

Best regards,

--Russel

 

[lisach]

Thank-you Russel for your very prompt reply and suggestions.
"Change the IP address on one.....disable its DHCP.....change your default gateway....." Yes this would work except the other users use win8 and android because they POINT & CLICK so if I'm not around even basics are lost. Just not their forte even in the slightest. You know who I mean I know. LOL!!

As for changing the subnet mask... I have been working on that. Why is nothing ever as simple as it should be?! Every time I change the mask, the Sprint Airave device goes crazy. I have a scheduled support call with them tomorrow. I will get back to you and let you know how things work out.

Still plugging along...

 

[rusabus]

Okay, I think I have two suggestions that might work for you then.

#1:
Change the IP address on one of your devices as I suggested so that the Sprint one is 192.168.0.1 and the Clearwire is 192.168.0.2. Disable the DHCP server on the Clearwire device, and make sure the Sprint device leases addresses that are higher than 192.168.0.2. You probably also want to point all DNS to either a public DNS server or to 192.168.0.1. If you have the option of specifying multiple DNS servers, I'd add 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2. On your Windows boxes, create 2 .bat files on the desktop. Call one of them "sprint.bat" and the other "clearwire.bat'

The contents of the clearwire.bat file should be:

@echo off
echo This will direct all Internet traffic to Clearwire
route delete 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1
route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.2
pause

The sprint.bat file should contain:

@echo off
echo This will direct all Internet traffic to Sprint
route delete 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.2
route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1
pause

Make sure both files are set to run as administrator, and switching between the two ISPs will be as simple as running the correct bat file. This will continue to work until your computer renews its IP address, at which point you'll just have to run it again.

This of course won't work on the iPad or Android stuff, so for those I suggest creating two wireless profiles. For both profiles, set the same SSID and encryption, but use static IPs on both of them. On one, set the default gateway to 192.168.0.1 and on the other 192.168.0.2. In order to switch between ISPs, just connect to the "other" wireless network.

Solution #2:
If you have to keep your subnets the way they currently are, and if you can add static routes to all of your devices, you could just add static routes to the other subnet. I highly doubt you'll be able to do this on your routers, iPad, Android device, and printers, but may be worth looking at. For devices on your 192.168.15.0 network, the syntax on Windows would be something like this:
route add 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 <ip address of the local network adapter>

For devices on your .0 network, it would be something like this:
route add 192.168.15.0 mask 255.255.255.0 <ip address of the local network adapter>

For this to work, you would have to be able to add static routes to devices on both subnets, which probably precludes you getting it to work. I don't think you can change the routing table on mobile devices without rooting/jailbreaking them first.

Hope that helps
--Russel