Connecting two switch together with different IP range

[Bakamonky]

Need some help here. Currently my company has two switch where one is connected to a router with ip (192.168.1.X) and the other switch is running ip (192.168.0.X) but is not connected to any router.

What do I need to do to be able to ping between these two switches?Thanks!

 

[john-b691]

You need an actual router...the things most people call routers, sold to give internet access, are actually gateways.

There are a couple of consumer grade devices that actually can support multiple networks but most people load dd-wrt on the consumer "gateways" and make it into a true router. You would plug each switch into a different lan port of the router and configure it to route between them.

Most the time a company will buy what is called a layer3 switch to do this function because it is so much faster than a router. Depends on your budget there are dlinks available that cost under $300.

 

[choucove]

As John is stating, you need a router to be able to pass information between two different networks. Technically a basic layer 2 switch doesn't care what network range something is in, it's all running off of MAC addresses. However, your computer network operates at layer 3, and thus even if you directly connect the switches together, you will not be able to properly direct traffic from one network range to the other. You need a router for this.

Determining what router you should use is going to be pretty complex though. It comes down to a lot of factors including what amount of traffic bandwidth and bandwidth management features your business needs, what type of quality of service or similar features you might need, and security features. For instance, what do you already have in place that actually connects to your switches and allows devices out onto the internet?

If you don't have anything yet, then I'd recommend taking a look into at least an entry-level business firewall. Most all of these units can give you a lot of network customization such as multiple network ranges and quality of service, but also give you security features that might not be found on something like a layer 3 switch or basic router. I have had great luck with the Sonicwall TZ series firewalls, but again picking the exactly right one for your needs is going to be determined based on a lot of other factors including network size, necessary security features or VPN features, etc.

 

[Bakamonky]

Thanks all for the solution, I currently have a Dlink DSL-2640T. Does this consider a router?

 

[choucove]

The Dlink model that you described is, as John put it, a gateway really and not a router. It is designed to work with only one internal LAN network connecting to one external WAN network. It won't be able to route between two network ranges.

There are two ways to do this really. You can use three simple home routers, or gateways. One router would connect to each switch and act as the gateway for each of those switches' networks. Then the two routers would be connected back to a third router, which would be in a third network range, and allow cross-network communication as well as access out to the internet. However, this can get pretty messy and doesn't operate near as efficiently as the second way of doing this, which is just with a proper business-class router that can do multiple LAN segments.

 

[Bakamonky]

The Dlink model that you described is, as John put it, a gateway really and not a router. It is designed to work with only one internal LAN network connecting to one external WAN network. It won't be able to route between two network ranges.

There are two ways to do this really. You can use three simple home routers, or gateways. One router would connect to each switch and act as the gateway for each of those switches' networks. Then the two routers would be connected back to a third router, which would be in a third network range, and allow cross-network communication as well as access out to the internet. However, this can get pretty messy and doesn't operate near as efficiently as the second way of doing this, which is just with a proper business-class router that can do multiple LAN segments.

I recently bought a Linksys EA2700 does this do the trick?

 

[choucove]

The Dlink model that you described is, as John put it, a gateway really and not a router. It is designed to work with only one internal LAN network connecting to one external WAN network. It won't be able to route between two network ranges.

There are two ways to do this really. You can use three simple home routers, or gateways. One router would connect to each switch and act as the gateway for each of those switches' networks. Then the two routers would be connected back to a third router, which would be in a third network range, and allow cross-network communication as well as access out to the internet. However, this can get pretty messy and doesn't operate near as efficiently as the second way of doing this, which is just with a proper business-class router that can do multiple LAN segments.

I recently bought a Linksys EA2700 does this do the trick?

Unfortunately no, a Linksys EA2700 is just a basic home gateway. You need an actual router which can be configured with multiple subinterface IP address zones. The Linksys EA series is just a gateway that can only connect one internal zone to the outside WAN zone. The routers I most commonly use for this are Sonicwall TZ 105 series because they are quite flexible and have a huge set of firewall and VPN features as well. There are other options, though, that are a bit cheaper but I can't personally recommend anythi8ng because I just don't know them.

Another alternative I have heard is trying to utilize certain routers in DD-WRT which, depending upon the model and the version, can support configuring multiple network ranges. If you are hesitant to try and go through setting up DD-WRT yourself, you can buy routers pre-installed from flashrouters.com

 

[Beachnative]

Try looking at MikroTic for a solution...Little boxes Big performance at a low cost....but be prepared. These things can be as easy to set up as you want to make them.

 

[helpdesk12345]

you require a network device that can perform layer 3 routing, those that state you need a router are only technically correct, typically you would use a router ie) gateway device for wan connectivity.

assuming that they layer 2 switches you can simply purchase a layer 3 device such as switch or firewall. on the two layer 2 switches to an interface on the layer 3 device, then configure a layer 3 route on the switch or firewall, normally this is done by creating two vLANs on the layer 3 switch.

there is absolutely no point to purchase a router unless you plan to connect it to another router and create a network route.

hope this helps

 

[Beachnative]

Buy a cheap Microtik router HERE..problem solved!