Connecting two BT home hubs with a LAN cable

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I'm slowly educating myself through the Uni of YouTube so please bear with me here :eek:


I have 2 BT infinity home hub 6 units, one already installed at home, the other still boxed. I want to make use of the second one by connecting them both using the second as a slave repeater.

I have cat six cable and a couple of sockets to run a LAN cable from the downstairs main router into the loft where I'd plug in the the second router and use this as a slave unit.
I am hoping to achieve two things..
1) install cctv equipt in my loft patched straight into the slave router so that I have a good connection
and perhaps
2) patch in my son's TV Xbox etc from his bedroom.

Richard Lloyd on youtube suggests that this is pretty straightforward. I'd welcome your expert opinions about feasibility and if this is as simple as suggested then I would welcome any advice or guidance for when I'm setting up.

thanks

 
It is and it isnt. :)

yes i know its perverse lol

Lets call router 1 the main BT in/out router & Router 2 the repeater

They are not true routers as such they are modem/ routers

the router bit routes, and the modem MOdulates & DEModulates the signal so your

isp can deal with it

When you turn on router 1 it syncs with your ISP via the modem, and sends a

broadcast of your wirelless access point name around the ether.

if you plug a cable from Router 1 to router 2,

Router 2 will also try to sync with your ISP - because the router bit, routes and

You guessed it, the modem bit wants to modem, bt it cant as router 1 is doing

that allready, so it has a paddy lol.

There are 3 options to go forward with

Option 1

Use the 2nd Router in bridge mode, this turns off the modem part of

the unit and lets the router part route. This will only work if there are bridge mode

options built into the firmware of both routers.

Option 2
Flash an alternate OS to one of the routers dd-wrt is the best one

https://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index,

it allows you to tweak the router to buggery lol - increase power - bridge mode,

turn off modem etc ..

Only downside - you have a to have a suitable router to install it on, and you can

brick the router if you get it wrong.

I did it to my downstairs router, and its been fine for years.

Option 3

This is the 2nd cheapest option.

Buy a 5 port switch hub, this is basically 5 network ports in a box,

The box has a small pcb in which does all the switching for you ... the lead from

that goes into the back of your main router as a device.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compu...1005d-network-switch-5-port-10137896-pdt.html

£13 :)


One thing to note, newer routers have gigabit ports 10/1000

early routers were 10/100 speed ports so if you attach a 10/100 router into a

gigabit port it wont run any faster

If you want any more info PM me
 
Thank you guys, I appreciate the help.

Santa, it looks like option 3 then, ta.

If I’m putting a switch in instead of another (slave) router, I’d still like to improve the Wi-fi upstairs if I could. What are your thoughts about adding in an access point to do this? My house has been extended and the plug in extenders don’t work so well on the seperate wiring circuits.

Thanks
 
It is and it isnt. :)
if you plug a cable from Router 1 to router 2,

Router 2 will also try to sync with your ISP - because the router bit, routes and

You guessed it, the modem bit wants to modem, bt it cant as router 1 is doing

that allready, so it has a paddy lol.

Does it really do this?
I thought on most of these ADSL Routers the ADSL bit (the bit that tries to communicate with the ISP) only tries to do so via the ADSL port, the only traffic passed through to the router bit is anything that is demodulated from the ADSL Port (i.e. the router can only sync with the ISP through the ADSL port).
Therefore if there is no traffic coming through the ADSL port nothing will get passed to the router, and it will just behave as a router.
I know that some of these ADSL routers have an option to shut of the ADSL side of things, but thought that was to just stop it continuing to ping for an ADSL connection thereby saving power, and processing power. :nenau

Bob
 
Does it really do this?
I thought on most of these ADSL Routers the ADSL bit (the bit that tries to communicate with the ISP) only tries to do so via the ADSL port, the only traffic passed through to the router bit is anything that is demodulated from the ADSL Port (i.e. the router can only sync with the ISP through the ADSL port).
Therefore if there is no traffic coming through the ADSL port nothing will get passed to the router, and it will just behave as a router.
I know that some of these ADSL routers have an option to shut of the ADSL side of things, but thought that was to just stop it continuing to ping for an ADSL connection thereby saving power, and processing power. :nenau

Bob

The problem is router 2 is following a bootup script in ROM

Dependant on what the bootscript is, it will either hang as it waits to handshake with the ISP -

or go into an endless reboot loop, as it tries to sync over and over again.

Invariably this prevents the router from completing its initialisation and letting the lan ports from communicating.

you need to put them into bridge mode, or tweak the firmware if possibe
 
The hub 6 are supposed to have extremely good range for WiFi, and are well thought-of........

I think it is do-able, but think you might need one on 2.4Ghz and the other on 5GHz (think that's the freqs) to avoid conflicts?

A simple Wifi Repeater might be a better option?
 
OP -

All depends on what you want to do ??

My setup is

Phone line in - downstairs - cat 5 twisted pair to rj45 plug into BT smart socket.

The cable runs behind pipework upstairs to Primary router.

Router outs as follows

Port 1 NAS
Port 2 Into TPlink nano powerline for upstairs ring
Port 3 Printer
Port 4 Main PC

Each Upstairs bedroom has a nano powerline adapter so that xbox / tv or DVD as required can be plugged in (invariably its xbox)

Downstairs has a Nano powerline plugged in feeding into / from 2nd router

This is DD-WRT'd so acts only as a router

It takes feeds / supply from AV amp / DVD / SKY /

Wireless is only OK at best - to much congestion on the 2.4ghz band -

5ghz is better but not a lot of kit is set up for it ;)

The routers are gigabit - the tp nanos are 600's so will cope with steaming 3d films from the NAS

250 or 500 nano's struggled

Any more questions fire away
 
The hub 6 are supposed to have extremely good range for WiFi, and are well thought-of........

I think it is do-able, but think you might need one on 2.4Ghz and the other on 5GHz (think that's the freqs) to avoid conflicts?

A simple Wifi Repeater might be a better option?

BT stuff is good, but seriously hobbled.

I havnt had the pleasure of the HH6 but i'm guessing its the same as 5

DNS is locked to BT - so you cant tweak to better DNS servers
Access times - you only get the ability to set access times for a 24 hr period over 7 days
So you cant have differing access for weekends

There is no simple on/off for the access, you have to log in as admin turn each linked item on or off every time you want to make changes

No guest Wifi access - so you cant limit what is being sent

You cant set priority of access for media / normal traffic - it all gets the same priority

If i could use the DD-WRT'd router as my primary i would , but its ADSL and i'm on VDSL
 
I think the 6 has different priorities according to which frequency you latch on to. It's different from the 5 and has the title "Smart-Hub". That might indicate better tweakeability. I know it has more wifi aerials and drills through more internal walls than the 5.

Al
 
The problem is router 2 is following a bootup script in ROM

Dependant on what the bootscript is, it will either hang as it waits to handshake with the ISP -

or go into an endless reboot loop, as it tries to sync over and over again.

Invariably this prevents the router from completing its initialisation and letting the lan ports from communicating.

you need to put them into bridge mode, or tweak the firmware if possibe

Ah, I misunderstood your post (as you've probably gathered), I get it now.

Bob
 
Ah, I misunderstood your post (as you've probably gathered), I get it now.

Bob

No Problem, dont worry it confused the hell out of me when i first tried it ..

Routers are easy, modems are easy, put them together and there a bloody nightmare

Early BT fibre had a seperate modem - hugley tweakable

Now its modem routers and the mainstream stuff is hobbled .

Linksys Billion and Dreytek are usually good units - but you pay for what you get ;)
 
You can get the original BT Openreach modems from Ebay for around £17.
 
Just going to down a couple of paracetamols before I digest the most excellent advice proffered :bow

Cheers gents thank you for your words of wisdom.

:beerjug:
 
Hi guys, I appreciate your helping this numpty so far, I’m slowly getting there :thumb2

Option 1, use a second router as a slave, is a possibility (I understand that I may have to buy another router if the HH6 is incompatible thought)

For now I would like to investigate option 3, the switch, a bit further and seek your advice if that’s still ok?

I’ve attached a diagram of what I gather the setup would look like, does it look viable.

I know that the lengths of the cables diminish the signal but are these significant No No’s or just minor issues, preferably avoided if poss??

any advice still very much welcomed. :beerjug:

(BTW I already have some power line adapters but they aren’t too successful as the house has been extended and has separate ciruits- more than one consumer unit.)

Edit- Apologies.
Bastid Apple IPhone- even if I rotate the image it still comes out upside down :blast
 

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Problem with this stuff is that you need to be slightly Telecom techie like a few on here.
The power line link is essential if you are going to set up another WAP (Wireless Access Point) that needs to be solved so you can achieve a cat 5/Ethernet connection between the two devices.
Once you have comms working many routers like old sky or BT units can be used by turning off DCHP, simply not using the upstream link and configuring a unique static IP address.

Some basic basic IP Networking tips:
Your main router will have an IP address like 192.168.1.254. this is the gateway address for accessing the www via your ISP (BT etc). I think Sky routers use 192.168.1.1
You might notice you use this address over wifi to configure the router or to check on device names connected if you are into that.
open a browser and in the search line type the IP address you need to access.

Your old router may have the same standard address - this needs to be given a new static address and the DCHP turned off to become a WAP.

On your main router you need to reconfigure DHCP (this is an application in the router that allocates IP addresses to devices you use like your TV, phone, PC etc..)
Set the DCHP range so that it does not allocate IP addresses that you want to use for devices like your WAP.
Suggest you set DCHP to allocate addresses between 70 to 253. That still gives you far more IP addresses than you will ever need.

On the WAP router the DCHP service needs to be turned OFF and a static IP address set for it - 192.168.1.64 for instance. (you could use maybe 61,62,63 etc) anything below 70 which may be allocated by the main router using its DCHP that you just changed.

Configuring the WAP router needs to be done using a cable between your PC and a spare ethernet port on the WAP router.
Nothing else connected at all, just power and the ethernet cable to the PC.
Note once you save the config changes on the WAP router you will loose contact with it on its old address (eg 192.168.1.254)
Once the router is configured you can unplug the PC, connect it to the TP Link ethernet cable and your main router should find it.
Also with your laptop you should be able to see the WiFi service from your new WAP (give it a nice name when you set it up)
you use the password for the unit to log into it like you do anything else.
You should now be able to use Wifi from the new point to get onto the www.
By now you have probably fallen asleep - it is boring and you probably already know all this stuff, apologies..
 


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