Use a switch to connect modem directly to 3 routers

[Bd75sy]

Can I use a switch to directly connect 3 routers to the modem via the WAN port and still distribute network traffic across the 3 routers? All routers share the same subnet and can be configured to use DHCP across 3 separate segments. Diagram below:


|------------ router 1 192.168.1.1 DHCP range (50-99)
Modem--------switch ------- router 2 192.168.1.2 DHCP range (100-149)
|------------ router 3 192.168.1.3 DHCP range (150-199)

The house is old stone walled and quite sizeable thus the requirement for 3 routers. One downstairs, one upstairs and one in an extension beyond the old stone walling.

All routers will be hard wired directly to the switch. I am aware that I can simply use the lan ports of the first router to connect the other 2 routers however I would lose the ability to login to those 2 when away from the home which is not desirable, the same loss of function occurs if I disable router functionality and enable AP / Bridge mode.

I am very grateful for any assistance offered

 

[Bd75sy]

The diagram above should show router 1 and router 3 connected to the switch not to the modem as shown above, this is a formatting error. Apologies in advance.

 

[BuddhaSkoota]

Can I use a switch to directly connect 3 routers to the modem via the WAN port and still distribute network traffic across the 3 routers? All routers share the same subnet and can be configured to use DHCP across 3 separate segments.

All routers will be hard wired directly to the switch. I am aware that I can simply use the lan ports of the first router to connect the other 2 routers however I would lose the ability to login to those 2 when away from the home which is not desirable, the same loss of function occurs if I disable router functionality and enable AP / Bridge mode.

There are a couple of problems which will prevent you from using this configuration.

1. Your ISP provides only one public IP address to a device in your home. Normally, this is the one router connected directly to the modem. A switch will not allow several routers to each share that IP address. In effect, only the first router connected would be get the public address and allow connected devices to access the Internet.

2. Even if your ISP provides several public IP addresses for your use, you are still creating 3 separate LAN's with this configuration. Packets destined for an address in the same subnet will not traverse the router via the WAN port to another router in the network. Devices connected to one router will not be able to communicate directly (share files/media) with devices connected to the other routers.

If your only concern is web access to each router's GUI, you might instead consider an RDP program (e.g. Teamviewer) to remotely access a PC, then access the routers (in AP mode) from within your network.