U two connections, two routers, want one LAN HELP!!

[elpasoeric]

OK guys, I have been reading for three days straight now and still can't seem to figure this out. I will do my best to describe the problem with my current setup but I am not an expert so please bear with me. And if this has been answered before please let me know.

Background - I switched from RoadRunner to ATT DSL - got two incoming lines because of the speed difference. Have now two incoming DSL lines.

The setup - two incoming lines, two routers - One Cisco WRT600N and One Linksys WG54?. All feeding 7 computers, one switch and one network printer.


-Linksys Router-
IP - 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0

WAN Port- Incoming DSL
Port 1 - PC#1 - IP - 192.168.1.101 DG - 192.168.1.1
Port 2 - PC#2 - IP - 192.168.1.102 DG - 192.168.1.1
Port 3 - Switch
Switch Port 1 - PC #3 - IP - 192.168.1.103 DG - 192.168.1.1
Switch Port 2 - PC #4 - IP - 192.168.1.104 DG - 192.168.1.1
Switch Port 3 - Printer - IP - 192.168.1.107 DG - 192.168.1.1
Port 4 - Not Connected

-WRT600 Router-
IP - 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0

WAN Port - Incoming DSL #2
Port 1 - PC#5 - IP - 192.168.1.105 DG - 192.168.1.2
Port 2 - PC#6 - IP - 192.168.1.106 DG - 192.168.1.2
Port 3 - PC#7 - IP - 192.168.1.108 DG - 192.168.1.2
Port 4 - Not Connected

All computers are running windows XP, before I had the routers nested together with the single large incoming net connection and all file sharing was working, as it is all of the internet is working fine, all of the computers can see each other through THEIR routers but I am trying to get file sharing from PC#1 to PC#7 and such so I need to connect both of the networks together. I have them all with the same subnet mask and I ran a wire from Port 4 to Port 4 on both routers but nothing. DHCP is off and all IPs are manually applied.

Please help, as it is now I am sharing my printer on the internet, using port forwarding on my router to get it all to work. I do appreciate any help.

Thanks, Eric

 

[eibgrad]

As you've described it, it all seems correct (assuming you reconnect port 4 on each router, of course). In fact, if the WAN ports were not even connected, it's nothing more than chaining switches within the same network. So something else is wrong here. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe port #4 is defective? A bad cable? Might need a crossover cable instead (shouldn't be necessary w/ modern equipment and auto-mdix pretty much everywhere, but who knows, maybe that’s not working for some reason).

I think it's a hardware issue or perhaps you THINK it's configured as described but somewhere deep in some configuration lies an error. Because on the face of it I don’t see a problem.

 

[eibgrad]

P.S. Here's a temporary workaround that will eliminate your need to use the WAN port for communicating between routers. If you have at one Windows PC off each router, each w/ an additional network adapter (wired or wireless, whichever is easier), then just establish a network connection between them and bridge them back to their respective primary network adapters, thereby creating another route for your Ethernet traffic.

Btw, this could also help prove whether it’s a hardware problem or configuration error. If it works, it’s probably the former, if it doesn’t, it’s probably the latter.

 

[elpasoeric]

I will try bridging with two more ethernet cards (One on PC#7 and one on PC#3) as soon as I can get them. I am thinking it has to be something with the software in the routers.

I have PPoE internet service and as such it it working fine to connect all PCs online but I still cannot get the two LANS to act as one by connecting port 4 to port 4. I tried a known good cable and also tried making a cross to no avail.

Would the firewall in the routers cause them not to act as one network?

Thanks guys for all the help.
Eric

 

[eibgrad]

Would the firewall in the routers cause them not to act as one network?
Eric

Not normally. The default is to allow all local LAN-based traffic. The router assumes that's safe. It's the WAN connection it considers the primary threat. That doesn't mean you couldn't add local rules, but I seriously doubt any such rules are present unless YOU added them.

Btw, I’m wondering if may the routing tables on those routers are somehow messed up. Since you were using a different configuration previously, I’m just wondering if maybe old information is hanging around in those tables (you’d think it would be flushed on a reboot, but maybe not). At this point I’d be tempted to reset each router to factory defaults and start over. At least I know that would clear the routing tables. Couldn’t hurt to flush the clients either (route –f, then renew DHCP or reboot).

Purely speculative, and a bit of a hassle, but sometimes it’s just best to start from scratch, esp. when you’ve reached a deadend in your analysis.

 

[sturm]

You need to setup an IP route on both routers so they know where the other network is. Each router will only see the one IP address from where the cable is plugged into. They won't know about the other components plugged in behind it. I don't know if those routers will handle IP routes or not. I know higher end business class routers will.

 

[eibgrad]

You need to setup an IP route on both routers so they know where the other network is. Each router will only see the one IP address from where the cable is plugged into. They won't know about the other components plugged in behind it. I don't know if those routers will handle IP routes or not. I know higher end business class routers will.

But both are on the SAME network (192.168.1.x), they only need to be switched, routing shouldn't be necessary.

 

[sturm]

Are you able to ping from router to router? Computer to other network router? What does a tracert show?
I would do what eibgrad suggested and do a factory reset on the routers and work from there.