Network/Router setup question

First off, this is not that Linux related so I apologize for that. I do know the expertise on this is here though.

Currently we get our internet connection in our house using the router our ISP provided.
More and more people prefer an ethernet cable over wireless internet though. So I wonder: will plugging in a second router in the first one and connect more PCs to the second router affect the network and/or network speed negatively?

Thank you in advance and again my apologies if one frowns upon posting this here,

~Tinuva

I do this myself at home, to connect my ISP connection from the home-office to the rest of the house. The secondary router will need to be configured as a bridge, not as a router. Most can do that with a setup option. Our original Linksys router is now configured as a bridge. It was a simple configuration menu option.

Will it impact speed? Truthfully it depends on how many devices you intend on connecting to it and the quality of the router.

What it will do though is make talking between devices more complicated. You would have to set up routes between devices connected directly to the router and devices connected through the second router. So, if you have printers or something networked, this could be a PITA.

A better solution would be to hook up a switch. This will keep all devices on the same subnet, and switches work on layer 1/2 so they will be a little faster.

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Originally Posted by mizzle

Will it impact speed? Truthfully it depends on how many devices you intend on connecting to it and the quality of the router.

What it will do though is make talking between devices more complicated. You would have to set up routes between devices connected directly to the router and devices connected through the second router. So, if you have printers or something networked, this could be a PITA.

A better solution would be to hook up a switch. This will keep all devices on the same subnet, and switches work on layer 1/2 so they will be a little faster.

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True for using routers. Not true for using bridges or (as noted) switches.

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Originally Posted by Rubberman

True for using routers. Not true for using bridges or (as noted) switches.

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Yeah, your reply is good too. I didn't think of that (I have never done it). But, I hadn't seen your reply yet. (That's two posts now!)

Thank you all for your reply!

As far as I know not all switches relay the actual internet connection though, do they? Or am I thinking really old school here.
As for the bridge feature, unfortunately the router I have left from a cheap setup is only an ICIDU 150N wireless router which probably has no bridge feature.

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As far as I know not all switches relay the actual internet connection though, do they? Or am I thinking really old school here.

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Uh, what?

Switches don't care about IP stuff, they just switch packets based on MAC address. You shouldn't need to do anything extra if you use a switch. Just plug the uplink into the router, and plug the boxes/devices on the ports.

Well it seems my knowledge is lacking here but I have a small five port switch here. With plugging in the uplink to the router I assume you mean just having an ethernet cable from the router to one of the switch ports since the switch doesn't have a dedicated 'internet' port?

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Originally Posted by Tinuva

Well it seems my knowledge is lacking here but I have a small five port switch here. With plugging in the uplink to the router I assume you mean just having an ethernet cable from the router to one of the switch ports since the switch doesn't have a dedicated 'internet' port?

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In computer networking, there are two types of equipment. Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and Data Communication Equipment (DCE). Your PC is DTE, your router is DCE. A switch is also DCE.
DTE transmits and receives signals on certain pairs of wires. DCE transmits and receives on the opposite pairs of wires. Think of it as male and female, even though the connector is the same on both ends for ethernet cables.

So, the Up-Link port on a switch lets your switch talk to the router. You may need a cross-over cable if your switch doesn't have one, or you may just be able to plug it into any port and be good to go.

Yeah, never did this with routers and switches but did with the PCs where you first needed a cross cable but nowadays they connect with any ethernet cable, though they do not assign IP addresses which seemed problematic for internet routing.

I thank you once again for your information and I will try to do it with this switch I have here. I fear it might not work but alas, at least I know for sure then since I don't have a 25m cross cable here!

Edit: I added a 5 port switch on it with port 1 going to the router thru a 25m cable and port 2, 3 and 4 going to PCs and it does work like a charm. Thanks for all the help I got here, mainly from mizzle!