Cascading router

[JonnyB]

I have been using a cascading router setup for about a month now and everything is running great.

Current Setup... Modem->Asus 86U 192.168.50.1(I call this public router)->Asus 86U192.168.1.1(private router)->Asus 68U in AP mode on the 192.168.1.xx

My question is do I turn the firewall off on the second 86U (192.168.1.1)?

 

[ColinTaylor]

You might as well leave it as it is if everything is working for you. The only reason you might want to disable the firewall is if there was some service running on the private router that you wanted to access from the public router or internet.

 

[JonnyB]

You might as well leave it as it is if everything is working for you. The only reason you might want to disable the firewall is if there was some service running on the private router that you wanted to access from the public router or internet.

First off thank-you.

I never put too much thought into because everything was working just how I wanted it to...but today YouTube autoplay was on in the background and I heard a tech creator say "you do not want a double firewall" So again thank you!

 

[CrystalLattice]

I have been using a cascading router setup for about a month now and everything is running great.

Current Setup... Modem->Asus 86U 192.168.50.1(I call this public router)->Asus 86U192.168.1.1(private router)->Asus 68U in AP mode on the 192.168.1.xx

My question is do I turn the firewall off on the second 86U (192.168.1.1)?

yes

 

[CaptainSTX]

If it is working leave it on.

 

[adampk17]

First off thank-you.

I never put too much thought into because everything was working just how I wanted it to...but today YouTube autoplay was on in the background and I heard a tech creator say "you do not want a double firewall" So again thank you!

It kind of depends what role you were expecting that second router to fulfill. If you essentially just need it to be a switch then turns the firewall off

 

[CaptainSTX]

If by cascading you mean double NATed no harm or performance issues in leaving it on. If you are re purposing a router as an AP or as a switch then you can turn it off it it isn't already disabled.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It kind of depends what role you were expecting that second router to fulfill. If you essentially just need it to be a switch then turns the firewall off

Turing off the firewall won't make it behave like a switch.

 

[adampk17]

Turing off the firewall won't make it behave like a switch.

Won’t it be closer though?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Won’t it be closer though?

Not really.

 

[dosborne]

I heard a tech creator say "you do not want a double firewall" S

+1 for what Colin says. The only reason to turn it off is if you have performance issues or it is blocking something you need. Otherwise it is just extra protection, which doesn't hurt.

 

[CaptainSTX]

If you are using a router in a switch mode only all the devices are connected on the LAN side and the all the router's functions including the firewall DO NOT COME INTO PLAY. A firewall protects the WAN port from the WWW. Makes no difference if the firewall is on or off to the LAN.

Even on ASUS or other routers where you have the option to make the WAN port into a LAN port once it becomes a LAN port it is a LAN port and the firewall has no effect.

All I do when I re purpose a router as a switch is:

1. Assign it a static IP outside the DHCP of the router. (Optional)
2. Diasable the DHCP server function.
3. Disable the WiFi radios.
4. Remove the antennas. (Optional)

 

[JonnyB]

If by cascading you mean double NATed no harm or performance issues in leaving it on. If you are re purposing a router as an AP or as a switch then you can turn it off it it isn't already disabled.

Yes it is double NAT so because everything works I am not going to change a thing. Thanks!

 

[Klueless]

You might as well leave it as it is if everything is working for you. The only reason you might want to disable the firewall is if there was some service running on the private router that you wanted to access from the public router or internet.

I agree.

I found myself in a similar situation once. I had a modem to my router. Switched ISPs and the new ISP put in a modem/router and refused to "bridge" it. I could've removed my router but I had some internal services with static IPs which meant I would have had to reconfig a dozen some devices. Not a huge deal but I'm lazy and it was working ... so I left it.

(On the down side I had to remember not to plug any Ethernet devices into the ISP's router and if I had to do any port forwarding that I had to do it for both routers instead of just one. On the plus side my router's WiFi was much better than the ISP's.)