Setup WAN on secondary router

[janclaes47]

I have a primary adsl modem router TP-link AC1750 which is connected to the ADSL and the network hub.

 

In another room, which has a Ethernet wall socket I have few devices that need internet, and instead of using another Ethernet switch I prefer to use a wireless router.

 

I will use a Tenda FH350 and have already configured so it has the correct IP address and have DHCP disabled.

 

https://www.routersetup.co.za/manuals/Tenda/FH305

 

The router has 3 LAN ports and 1 WAN port.

 

I can connect to the network through the LAN ports, but when I plug the Ethernet cable connected to the wall socket in the WAN port no network connection can be established.

 

Is there a configuration to transform this WAN port to a 4th LAN port?

[janclaes47]

Nobody?

[carlyai]

As no one else is around, what does the manual say about the Wide Area Network connections?
You may have to go into the device and do some configuration, so you will need the manual with this information.
You could put a small switch into the LAN port, give you another couple of ports.
Sorry, that's all I can offer.

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

[KittenKong]

On 12/07/2017 at 1:34 PM, janclaes47 said:

I will use a Tenda FH350 and have already configured so it has the correct IP address and have DHCP disabled.

 

What do you mean by "correct IP address"? Just because you have changed some settings doesnt necessarily mean that they are correct. The fact that it isnt working would seem to imply that your settings are, in fact, wrong.

 

So please indicate all the main IP settings on both routers.

 

Also you dont indicate what you are hoping to achieve from this setup. Do you want to use the wireless function on this second router, or only the LAN ports? Do you want all the devices connected to both routers to be part of the same network or dont you care?

It's not clear but it sounds as though you really just want the second router to act as a switch, which begs the question why not just use a switch as this would require no configuration at all?

 

 

 

On 12/07/2017 at 1:34 PM, janclaes47 said:

I can connect to the network through the LAN ports, but when I plug the Ethernet cable connected to the wall socket in the WAN port no network connection can be established.

 

Is there a configuration to transform this WAN port to a 4th LAN port?

 

What do you mean? What network are you connecting to in your first phrase? And how can anything be connected if you dont have the second router connected to the wall socket?

 

 

[Crossy]

I'm assuming the "wall socket" has another router at the far end and our OP just wants to use the Tenda as a switch / access point.

 

Some routers do allow you do re-configure the WAN port as an additional LAN port, have to check the Tenda FH350 manual.

[janclaes47]

 

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

 

 

May be you didn't have your morning coffee yet, but it is all in the OP.

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by janclaes47

[janclaes47]

36 minutes ago, Crossy said:

I'm assuming the "wall socket" has another router at the far end and our OP just wants to use the Tenda as a switch / access point.

 

Some routers do allow you do re-configure the WAN port as an additional LAN port, have to check the Tenda FH350 manual.

 

Been reading the manual but can't find any reference to re-configure the WAN port

 

From these instructions it all looks easy peasy, but that doesn't work in my situation, or I understand it wrong.

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Cascade-Routers

[Crossy]

Which of the two options on that page are you trying to achieve, LAN-LAN or LAN-WAN?

 

It's not the clearest set of instructions I've ever seen

 

Do you want to simply extend your existing LAN by using the Tenda as an ethernet switch and WiFi access point? Or something more complex?

 

[janclaes47]

Just now, Crossy said:

Which of the two options on that page are you trying to achieve, LAN-LAN or LAN-WAN?

 

It's not the clearest set of instructions I've ever seen

 

Do you want to simply extend your existing LAN by using the Tenda as an ethernet switch and WiFi access point? Or something more complex?

 

Yes I use the Tenda as a switch, and want to create an extra LAN port out of the WAN, so that I can connect 3 devices to it instead of only 2, because 1 of the LAN ports is now already occupied by the connection to the wall socket.

[DineshR]

I think it would be easier for people to help you if you provided in depth data on your router(s), connections, settings etc


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[janclaes47]

3 minutes ago, DineshR said:

I think it would be easier for people to help you if you provided in depth data on your router(s), connections, settings etc


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

No idea what you mean with in depth data.

 

My router has been set to a fixed LAN address, and has DHCP disabled, because DHCP is obviously handled by the primary router.

 

Right now 1 of the LAN ports is connected to the home network through the wall socket, and 2 media devices are connected to the 2 remaining LAN ports.

 

So I want to use the WAN port to connect a third media device to the network.

[Crossy]

Do you have a .pdf (or link) to the manual for your Tenda router? I can't find that model number

 

Is it working right now if you don't use the WAN port?

 

[janclaes47]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

Do you have a .pdf (or link) to the manual for your Tenda router? I can't find that model number

 

Is it working right now if you don't use the WAN port?

 

Link is in the OP

 

And yes the LAN ports are connecting to the network.

Edited July 14, 2017 by janclaes47

[Crossy]

17 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

Link is in the OP

 

Duh, I can't see the wood for trees (must be age related), I'll have a look.

 

EDIT I don't see any option to re-configure the WAN port either. I think you're stuffed. Time to go an buy a switch, they're not expensive.

 

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, janclaes47 said:

May be you didn't have your morning coffee yet, but it is all in the OP.

 

It most certainly is not.

 

[janclaes47]

55 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Duh, I can't see the wood for trees (must be age related), I'll have a look.

 

EDIT I don't see any option to re-configure the WAN port either. I think you're stuffed. Time to go an buy a switch, they're not expensive.

 

I'm aware of the switches, and have may 5 laying around here, but I thought it is a bit silly to install an extra switch and extra wires just to connect one extra device, since I want to keep it as neat as possible.

 

All other routers I have in use have a WAN port that can used as LAN as well without any configuration involved, so I thought the same would apply to the Tenda.

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

All other routers I have in use have a WAN port that can used as LAN as well without any configuration involved

 

Well as a minimum you would have to tell them to use the WAN port as a LAN port.

 

The Tenda hardware can almost certainly do it, but the firmware doesn't. Sadly the Tenda does not appear to run any of the third party firmwares (DD-WRT, Tomato). So one is stuck with adding a switch or using a router with more LAN ports if one is available.

 

 

[KittenKong]

12 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

I'm aware of the switches, and have may 5 laying around here, but I thought it is a bit silly to install an extra switch and extra wires just to connect one extra device, since I want to keep it as neat as possible.

 

You dont need to install an extra switch. You just need to remove the Tenda and use a switch instead.

 

All switches will have at least 5 ports available (4 after you have used 1 to connect to your TP-Link), which is more than the Tenda will ever have. If you need more, daisy-chain them.

 

Also they require no configuration at all.

[janclaes47]

32 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

You dont need to install an extra switch. You just need to remove the Tenda and use a switch instead.

 

All switches will have at least 5 ports available (4 after you have used 1 to connect to your TP-Link), which is more than the Tenda will ever have. If you need more, daisy-chain them.

 

Also they require no configuration at all.

And they will also give me the wireless connection, the wireless  router will give me. NOT

 

Yes it is in the OP.

 

 

instead of using another Ethernet switch I prefer to use a wireless router.

 

[thedemon]

If all you require is internet access for the devices connected to the Tenda, you can make it work by setting the WAN connection to DHCP (client). Then it will be assigned an IP address by the main router.

 

Since WAN & LAN can't be on the same subnet you will also need to re-enable DHCP (server) on LAN and set the LAN IP address on a different subnet than the other router/network (e.g. if the main router uses 192.168.1.0 then set the Tenda to 192.168.2.0). Then set the DHCP range accordingly.

 

You will have double-NAT with this configuration but that won't matter for internet access. Using LAN resources like printer sharing between the 2 networks will be a PITA though. 

[janclaes47]

32 minutes ago, thedemon said:

If all you require is internet access for the devices connected to the Tenda, you can make it work by setting the WAN connection to DHCP (client). Then it will be assigned an IP address by the main router.

 

Since WAN & LAN can't be on the same subnet you will also need to re-enable DHCP (server) on LAN and set the LAN IP address on a different subnet than the other router/network (e.g. if the main router uses 192.168.1.0 then set the Tenda to 192.168.2.0). Then set the DHCP range accordingly.

 

You will have double-NAT with this configuration but that won't matter for internet access. Using LAN resources like printer sharing between the 2 networks will be a PITA though. 

 

Thanks I will give that a try.

 

Sharing between the networks is no requirement, so that's no big deal.

[KittenKong]

11 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

And they will also give me the wireless connection, the wireless  router will give me. NOT

 

Yes it is in the OP.

 

 

instead of using another Ethernet switch I prefer to use a wireless router.

 

As I mentioned, your explanations are very unclear.

 

Yes, you said that you "prefer to use a wireless router" but you didnt say why, nor did you say that you wanted to use wireless devices with it. I did cover that particular question but never got a definitive answer. You still dont say whether you want to do that, and you dont clarify whether you want to end up with one large network with two access points or two separate networks each with its own access point, though in your very last post you do finally indicate that you dont care. Nor do we know how many wired devices you want to connect to the second router, or even how the second router connects to the first. You did say "I can connect to the network through the LAN ports, but when I plug the Ethernet cable connected to the wall socket in the WAN port no network connection can be established" but it is not clear which network you are referring to, or what technique you are using to connect the two devices. We dont even know where the wall socket goes to or why you want to connect to it.

 

My questions were highly relevant as they were designed to find out exactly what you want to get from the setup. Without knowing that it's impossible to give a proper answer.

 

Edited July 15, 2017 by KittenKong

[janclaes47]

18 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

As I mentioned, your explanations are very unclear.

 

Yes, you said that you "prefer to use a wireless router" but you didnt say why, nor did you say that you wanted to use wireless devices with it. I did cover that particular question but never got a definitive answer. You still dont say whether you want to do that, and you dont clarify whether you want to end up with one large network with two access points or two separate networks each with its own access point, though in your very last post you do finally indicate that you dont care. Nor do we know how many wired devices you want to connect to the second router, or even how the second router connects to the first. You did say "I can connect to the network through the LAN ports, but when I plug the Ethernet cable connected to the wall socket in the WAN port no network connection can be established" but it is not clear which network you are referring to, or what technique you are using to connect the two devices. We dont even know where the wall socket goes to or why you want to connect to it.

 

My questions were highly relevant as they were designed to find out exactly what you want to get from the setup. Without knowing that it's impossible to give a proper answer.

 

 

I suggest you let it go, because every one else involved in this thread seems to have had no problem to figure out from the OP what my intention was.

 

I clearly said that the primary router gets the ADSL connection and is connected to the network hub, I assume you know that a network hub provides a wired connection to all other rooms in the house. It should then also have been clear that network means private home network, and that the home network connects to the internet through the primary router, as already explained in the OP.

 

You also know then that the wall sockets are connected to that network hub, and if I want to have the use of 4 LAN ports I probably want to connect 4 wired devices.

 

If the wireless connection was of no use I wouldn't have used a wireless router, as I mentioned in the OP, would I? Take note that I also didn't mention the colour of the router. Let me know if that is important to you.

 

And no I don't want to hook up specific wireless devices to it, but since telephones have no LAN port, and not everyone lives in a 50 sqm condo where 1 wireless router covers the whole living area, an extra wireless access point always comes in handy..

 

In fact I have 4 wireless routers installed spread all over the house to provide sufficient wireless coverage everywhere.

[janclaes47]

2 hours ago, thedemon said:

If all you require is internet access for the devices connected to the Tenda, you can make it work by setting the WAN connection to DHCP (client). Then it will be assigned an IP address by the main router.

 

Since WAN & LAN can't be on the same subnet you will also need to re-enable DHCP (server) on LAN and set the LAN IP address on a different subnet than the other router/network (e.g. if the main router uses 192.168.1.0 then set the Tenda to 192.168.2.0). Then set the DHCP range accordingly.

 

You will have double-NAT with this configuration but that won't matter for internet access. Using LAN resources like printer sharing between the 2 networks will be a PITA though. 

Apologies for the dumb question, but my connection was setup as DHCP, but it doesn't get a IP address assigned.

 

This is screenshot with one of the connected devices active.

 

 

Or do you mean I have to make changes here?

 

[KittenKong]

9 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

I suggest you let it go, because every one else involved in this thread seems to have had no problem to figure out from the OP what my intention was.

 

I clearly said that the primary router gets the ADSL connection and is connected to the network hub, I assume you know that a network hub provides a wired connection to all other rooms in the house. It should then also have been clear that network means private home network, and that the home network connects to the internet through the primary router, as already explained in the OP.

 

You also know then that the wall sockets are connected to that network hub, and if I want to have the use of 4 LAN ports I probably want to connect 4 wired devices.

 

If the wireless connection was of no use I wouldn't have used a wireless router, as I mentioned in the OP, would I? Take note that I also didn't mention the colour of the router. Let me know if that is important to you.

 

And no I don't want to hook up specific wireless devices to it, but since telephones have no LAN port, and not everyone lives in a 50 sqm condo where 1 wireless router covers the whole living area, an extra wireless access point always comes in handy..

 

In fact I have 4 wireless routers installed spread all over the house to provide sufficient wireless coverage everywhere.

Actually very little of what you say is clear, and you certainly dont provide enough precise information to allow anyone to give proper advice. But then I'm just an overpaid IT consultant, so what do I know about the topic?

 

I will indeed leave you to dig your hole, but I will just point out that I currently use an old wireless router with the wifi and the routing functions all turned off because doing it that way saves me from buying a switch that I dont need. Pointless expenditure is for the uninitiated.

 

Edited July 15, 2017 by KittenKong

[Scott]

Please keep it civil.  

[janclaes47]

3 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Actually very little of what you say is clear, and you certainly dont provide enough precise information to allow anyone to give proper advice. But then I'm just an overpaid IT consultant, so what do I know about the topic?

 

I will indeed leave you to dig your hole, but I will just point out that I currently use an old wireless router with the wifi and the routing functions all turned off because doing it that way saves me from buying a switch that I dont need. Pointless expenditure is for the uninitiated.

 

 

Well you honorable overpaid IT conultant, why is it that you haven't been able to figure out what this was about, while all the other that have actually have offered help had no problem understanding my question.

 

Here is the question to you again.

 

Is there a configuration to transform this WAN port to a 4th LAN port?

 

Now tell us all what relevance any of your silly questions, of which the answers were actually in the OP, have to the solution to my question.

 

What relevance has the wireless connection to configuring the WAN?

 

What does the nature of the devices I want to connect to the router has to do with the solution?

 

However it is clear from the OP that I want to connect to my private home network, what has this to do with the solution.

 

Since the router has 3 LAN and 1 WAN, which I want to configure to a 4th LAN, it would be clear that I want to connect 3 devices to it.

 

I mentioned that I had entered the the correct IP address and disabled DHCP, which would make it even obvious to a rookie IT consultant, that I meant LAN IP.

But you didn't figure that out?

 

I guess you were right in your statement that you were an overpaid IT consultant, in my opinion, waaaay overpaid.

 

 

Moderator can now close this thread, since my question was answered, and there is no need for any further silly arguments.

 

 

 

[Scott]

Per request, this topic is closed.