My router has a 10-user license. If I plug more than 10 computers to the router, it will not let the extra computers to surf the web.

What if I plug another router to the existing router. Let's say I plug a $80-buck Linksys router to the router I am using. The Linksys can take 255 computers without any restriction. Will this trick the existing router to take more than 10 computers?

thanks!

 

My guess is no, but it's based on two things:

1) If you're using your router for DHCP, it doesn't really matter how many switches you plug into the router, I'm sure it won't distribute more than 10 addresses to computers.

2) Even if not, I'd think that the router would maintain a list of MAC addresses that have accessed it. And if so, I'm pretty sure the switch would maintain the MAC address on the ethernet packet, which means any packets that are from hardware above the 10 computer limit would probably be dropped.

Item one is an almost for sure, assuming that you're using the router for DHCP. Item two is quite probable as well. I would recommend either ponying up for more computers, or taking some old box and installing NetBSD on it and setting up routing, firewall and VPN software on it.

 

I think it may work if you use NAT on the router attached to the main router.....Is it your router?

 

How many internet surfing families do you have living in the same house?

And while I know this is another BS thread, why wouldn't you just switch out the routers instead of trying to piggy-back them?

 

When I first read his post, I read switch instead of router. Oops. As he describes it, though, he should just ditch the 10 computer limited router.

 

So, if I plug another router to the main router, the second router (not a switch) will just pass whatever MAC addresses from the computers plugged to it to the main router.

Am I understood correctly?

 

Yes, it is my router. It is a eSoft router with a 10-user license.
The problem is when people come in with their laptops, the router registers their computers and starts counting right away. There is no way to reset the count unless I restart the router... which takes at least 5 minutes for it to reboot.

The router even registers my Nintendo DS.

 

No one finds this statement odd?

 

No. I trust every word he types implicitly.

 

No. I support a business here that has the same, not sure why, but they do exist. As others said, just get a new router and get rid of the old one.

 

Didn't he say before he works at a hot dog stand or something? WTF is a router doing there, providing wi-fi for his customers?

 

I'm sure you will find all sorts of incosistencies in his posts.

bz - didn't you say you had a few employees "stay behind" overseas? Doesn't that free up enough slots on the router?

 

Unless i am misunderstanding you... you are going to try to put a router behind a router and try and NAT a previously NAT'd address? Unless the router is in "bridge mode", It will not work. How many wireless connections and or wired connections do you have at one time or want to have at a time?

 

I have to reset the router to clear the count. It takes 5 minutes for the router to reboot. Those guys sometimes bring a different laptops here. They start complaining when they can't surf the web. I have to restart the router and nobody can do nothing for 5 minutes.

 

When you refer to a router by it's price (wherever that was taken from) instead of it's model number, then you got lots of learning to do...

 

 

Shouldn't they be working instead of surfing the web... like we are.

 

8 desktops, 1 laptop, and 1 printer. totaling 10 licenses from the router.

The problem starts when people bring their laptops here.

 

Printers don't surf the web...Make sure the printer MAC address doesn't use a license...

 

his does

 

The printer is used to send emails. So, it takes a count from the router.

So, can I just add another router to the main router? Will the main router just treat the second router as just 1 computer? So, everything behind the second router will just go through?

 

Thats called a fax machine....

 

How the hell are you the IT guy at that company......????

Simple answer to a simple question, go buy a new router.

 

It is a HP 4101mfp. It sends fax too. but it is used to send emails all the time.

 

Spend the money and get a good router...maybe a Cisco PIX 501E w/ a 50 user license. Then you get VPN support as well...

 

I am not the IT guy. The IT guy left the country to run around the rock in middle east and not back yet.

 

Looks like it scans to e-mail...Do you guys use it to do that? If not, disable it.

 

Good luck with your router problem. It's a simple one, but I'm sure that you'll have to give a gallon of blood and your first born to get a new router (if it's anything like my company)...

 

Does the Cisco have Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware? The IT guy said to get the eSoft instead of the Cisco.

 

They use the printer to send emails all the time.

 

It's both and that people keep trying to help the helpless/hopeless.

 

You don't have enough MAC addresses to access the Internet...Try a cheap router to piggy back onto the one...If it works, then great....If not, return cheap router and buy an expensive one that does what you want and replace...

/thread

 

Wouldn't a simple access point work for those with laptops. Or would this also contribute to the 10 lease limit?

 

It would...These routers go by MAC addresses...

 

That was what I thought. I got an access point but it didn't work. It passed the MAC addresses to the router. The AP worked like a switch.

 

Fixed.

 

You do know the internet is just a series of tubes... right?

Here, I have a schematic for you. Just go to Best Buy and pick up a few more tubes:

 

You guys kill me, I want to give a serious answer but for some reason I can't bring myself to it.

 

The answer to your question is yes, it will work. So long as the new cheapy router uses NAT as most do.

The main thing you will have to check is that the IP subnets are different. Most routers are set as default with the IP subnet 192.168.1.0, 255.255.255.0, with a gateway of 192.168.1.1. You must change this on one of the routers if both are set like this.

If both routers are using the same subnet address range, you will not be able to "route" out, so make sure they are different.

If your cheapy router is using NAT, only 1 MAC address will get passed along to your main router (the MAC address of the cheapy router).

Another option is to just buy more licenses. It probably costs more than the cheapy router, but less to worry about...

What kind of router is your main router? Sonicwall?

 

^^Agreed. (We're talking layer 3 here guys - the outer router has no idea what MAC addresses are behind the inner router - because of the inner router's use of NAT)
Why are you depending on your router for antivirus and antispyware? Shouldn't that really be on each PC? What happens when those rogue laptops come in from "whoknowswhere" and get connected to your network behind the router. Where's your protection now?

Just get a different router that simply functions as a router and put the protection where it belongs - on the PC.