[SOLVED] Can I connect 2 routers together without lowering speeds?

[karmaaah]

My internet setup is slightly weird. Our home is attached to our business that has a 90Mbps connection via modem. That modem leads to a router in the business and a router in our house. Since its split in 2, the connection gets cut to 45 at our router in the house. Both these routers are fairly old and not great so the router cannot fully send a signal to the end of our house. Is there a way to add a second (technically 3rd if you count the business one) router off of the one attached in the house? Would it lower speeds drastically? Would it be good enough to play FPS games on the Ethernet connection?

There is no way possible for me to move the router that is in my home currently. I have previously tried powerline adapters (which worked decent, not great) and wifi extenders (bad experiences).

P.S: If there are any other ways to both extend the wifi and have an ethernet port close enough to play games off of, ill take the suggestions!

 

[rgd1101]

router don't split speeds like that
if you have old router, get a new one, new cable.

 

[karmaaah]

router don't split speeds like that
if you have old router, get a new one, new cable.

Two things with that:

1. I don't know if the new router would be strong enough to get the wifi to the other side of the house
2. The router is far away, that is why I was using the powerline adapters. I can't run a cable from one side of the house to the other. That's why I was hoping to connect the routers, I need a better signal AND enough ethernet ports to connect all my devices.

But you are right, I probably should upgrade the old routers too.

 

[jsmithepa]

Every time you take to the airways, is like crossing a stream, the water (distance, environmental interferences) will slow u down, is just the nature of the beast.

If you already tried powerline, MOCA, running a CAT cable out of the question, your last option is point-to-point WIFI, they use a pair of dish as transmitter/receiver with a focused radio link, you got a big house? This should close your distance gap as if you are next to the first WIFI router, but NEVER as good as ethernet, and by ethernet I mean an ethernet signal that was NEVER transported through the air, meaning if Modem ---> WIFI ---> Ethernet, you are still slowed down by the WIFI in the middle.

P-P WIFI, plan to spend usd$300 for the pair and you will have to mount them outdoors and line of sight between the 2.

 

[TJ Hooker]

How is the router in the house connected to the modem?

 

[karmaaah]

How is the router in the house connected to the modem?

The modem is in the business. There is a router directly next to the modem as well as a router connected to the same modem in the house. 1 modem in the house. 2 separate routers both connected to the modem using some very long cables.

 

[TJ Hooker]

How long is the cable between the modem and house router? What kind of cable is it? E.g. CAT5, CAT6, etc.

Your speed in the house should still be 90Mbps. When you measured 45, was that with a wired connection to the router?

2 separate routers both connected to the modem using some very long cables.

If you have two routers connected to your modem, your modem is in fact a modem/router combo.

 

[karmaaah]

How long is the cable between the modem and house router? What kind of cable is it? E.g. CAT5, CAT6, etc.

Your speed in the house should still be 90Mbps. When you measured 45, was that with a wired connection to the router?


If you have two routers connected to your modem, your modem is in fact a modem/router combo.

Honestly, I can't tell how long or even what type of cable it is, they all are running underneath the floorboards. If I were to guess, maybe about 75 - 90 ft? I just tested the speeds. The router right next to the modem is reaching 74 Mbps download and 18 upload. The router at home is reaching 48 Mbps download and 18 Mbps upload. Both were tested via ethernet with no other devices interfering. If you would like, I can even send you a video of the modem/router setup if light needs to be shed on it.

 

[TJ Hooker]

What models are the routers and modem?

 

[karmaaah]

What models are the routers and modem?

The modem is the netgear CG3000DCR business class
The routers are both linksys wrt54gs v7
I understand both the routers are EXTREMELY old. I am planning to upgrade them both to the Medialink AC1200 within a month.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Yeah, replacing them should help. In particular I think the fact that they lack gigabit ethernet might be why your connection in the house is slow even when wired.

You may want to see how well wireless performs with the new routers before you worry about how to make sure the signal reaches everywhere in the house.

 

[karmaaah]

Yeah, replacing them should help. In particular I think the fact that they lack gigabit ethernet might be why your connection in the house is slow even when wired.

You may want to see how well wireless performs with the new routers before you worry about how to make sure the signal reaches everywhere in the house.

How would having a gigabit router help, as I don't have gigabit wifi? Also, would the best solution to just buy new routers, and then run an ethernet (gigabit speeds) hub to the central location of all the devices, so I can have just 1 cable running from the router to hub instead of 3 or 4 running across the house?

 

[TJ Hooker]

Your internet speed is close to the theoretical maximum your network hardware can handle. So if you have an imperfect link between your modem and router such that you start dropping packets you could right away start being unable to sustain 90 Mbps. I don't know if that's what's happening though, maybe your routers are just old and crappy and that's why your speed is being reduced.

But the fact is that you should have no issues getting 90 Mbps with a wired connection in your house. If you are trying to improve wireless performance, you want to make sure your wired performance is performing as it should first. Any decent modern router you upgrade to will have gigabit ethernet anyway.

The 'best' solution would probably be to just have a single router (which it sounds like your modem already is) and then use ethernet switches and wireless access points to connect the other areas of your house. The maximum length for CAT5/6 cables is 100m, so as long as you're not getting too close to that it shouldn't really matter how things are connected.