2 ISP 2 Routers 1 Network

[burgarwulf]

Hi all, long time browser, first time poster.

So recently I got fed up with our DSL as it would drop randomly and frequently (especially when receiving a phone call, 56k style). After having dealt with the ISP numerous times, rewiring everything, and endlessly toying with settings I switched over to a cable ISP and its been working great since.

But for whatever reason the others want to keep the DSL (convinced its faster even after showing speed tests). I've got a spare router I hooked up but this then would leave one network without access to the printer, hopper, NAS, etc. So I'm slowly trying to figure out how to connect both routers, but keep them on their own gateway for internet access, while still allowing internal access to the other devices.

So far I've gotten this to work with static IP addresses but I'm the only one whos really comfortable with the settings, and can foresee when they take their laptop on vacation I'll be getting a call to help fix it. Would rather avoid that

The main router with the cable is an ASUS RT-N66U (DHCP on), and the secondary with the DSL is an old Dell True Mobile 2300 I put Tomato on.

This is possible right? I was messing with the routing tables on Tomato to no avail (still in over my head with routing tables for sure). For the time being the static IP works, I get the DSL IP address when queried instead of the cable's.

 

[System Error Message]

you might want to try dual WAN. Tomato should be capable. This means you use 1 router with 2 modems. You can try selective routing where only those that want DSL get routed to DSL.

Its not always true that cable is faster than DSL, it depends on the ISP. In the UK BT uses VDSL and has a midrange download while having twice the highest upload of virgin media whereas virgin media uses cable and DOCSIS 3 (they brag about it) only to bring 150Mb/s down and 15(7Mb/s practical) up. Some VDSL based ISPs in the UK had faster downloads (basically your internet is the speed at which your modem syncs at) but they've switched because of the network closure.

Cable i dislike mainly because of its shared architecture and both DSL and cable suffer from the usual environment and wear and tear conditions and that you need a modem. For fibre optic you can just use SFP instead of a modem.