I have two routers in my network, connected LAN-to-LAN, with the secondary router acting as a bridge. DHCP is forwarded from the primary router. The primary router is Netgear but, unfortunately, it is not among pynetgear’s supported devices. The secondary router runs DD-WRT.
I presently have nmap working for device tracking, but it’s slow. I would like to set up the DD-WRT component, but it looks like it only tracks devices actually connected to it. Most of my devices connect to the primary router.
Is there a way to get DD-WRT to report all devices on the network in this configuration? If not, can someone suggest an alternative setup? I’m open to reconfiguring since I can’t use most of what DD-WRT has to offer in my current setup. However, I think running a subnet is out of the question since I have many devices that need access to the full network (HA, printers, etc.) wired directly to the secondary router.
What about simply switching the 2 router? And use the dd-wrt router as the dhcp server?
I imagine you could do all the setup on the dd-wrt router and let the netgear act as a simple switch? (Might even want to replace it with a switch?)
I should have mentioned earlier: the Netgear is the primary router because it’s actually a router/modem combo. Since it’s also serving as my modem, I’d prefer not to replace it. That being said, is it still possible to shift DHCP management from the Netgear to the DD-WRT? Sorry, my knowledge of networking is fairly limited.
I believe so, is there any other reason for you to need 2 router except than for the modem part?
If not, you can go to the settings of your netgear and you should be able to deactivate the router functionality altogether. It will then act as a simple modem.
Activate routing and dhcp on the dd-wrt and connect the netgear to a wan port on your dd-wrt router.
Thanks so much! I will try this setup and configure HA accordingly.
Since you asked why two routers: it’s possible I’m using terminology incorrectly and/or have things set up poorly. I happen to have two routers, so I was just trying to make the best use of both of them and strengthen coverage across my house. The Netgear is more powerful and the DD-WRT offers more features; I want to take advantage of both, but haven’t quite figured out how.
Except if your are using too separate network, for example for lot and for other client, you probably already use one as a router and the second as simple switch.
Real switch have dedicated chip and are a little bit more efficient at switching than router used as switch (but the difference is minimal).
To do the routing on one router while letting the other one act as a DHCP should be possible, however complicated.