Home parallel routers

[GORDON]

I was just thinking about what a pain in the ass it is going to be when my router dies, how it is a few years old and I prolly won't be able to get an identical model on which to upload my saved settings, and how I am going to have to reconfigure the settings of about 20 devices from memory.

So is parallel routing a thing, two routers running hot and side by side and not interfering with each other? Like RAID 1 routing, able to replace a dead unit without losing connectivity?

[Leisher]

I replace my router every 2 years or so, and never have to reconfigure anything because I use the same name for each router.

Home routers are not built to last. Somewhere in the 2-4 year range is when they start sucking.

Also, if you're talking about two WiFi routers running parallel, that would not be advised. Your WiFi devices would struggle trying to talk to both at the same time. Although, you could turn off the WiFi on one, but to what end? So you can double the life span of that router model? Then you'd be screwing yourself out of updated technology improving signal strength, security, etc.

[Malcolm]

A buddy of mine built his own router. Other than 1-2 pain in the ass maintenance issues every year, it's been working for the last decade or so.

[GORDON]

Now that I think about it, I seem to recall seeing some rack mountable servers that could be used as routers, and I could actually run RAID 1 on those.

[TheCatt]

Parallel routing is a thing, but not at the consumer level.

Just have two routers, if one dies, buy another backup, rinse/repeat.

Is your router separate from your wifi?

[GORDON]

Parallel routing is a thing, but not at the consumer level.

Just have two routers, if one dies, buy another backup, rinse/repeat.

Is your router separate from your wifi?

Kind of. I have another "clean" router upstairs used as a WAP. But all of the custom settings are on the basement router.

[TheCatt]

Maybe you have too many custom settings? I dunno, my router mgmt has gotten a lot simpler. Two reserved IPs (server + printer), Wifi PW, and DynDNS, the end.

[GORDON]

I haven't looked at it in so long I don't even remember.... I know that whenever I get a new device, I always reserve it a specific IP based on its MAC address. Then I have DHCP turned off, and only a couple available IPs for guests to sign in on. For security reasons... don't want neighbors on my WIFI.

[TheCatt]

I haven't looked at it in so long I don't even remember.... I know that whenever I get a new device, I always reserve it a specific IP based on its MAC address. Then I have DHCP turned off, and only a couple available IPs for guests to sign in on. For security reasons... don't want neighbors on my WIFI.

I only do IP reservations for things that have to be static. Everything else is DHCP, and I use good passwords on my wifi.

[Leisher]

Parallel routing is a thing, but not at the consumer level.

How are parallel WiFi routers running without signal overlapping issues?

I have another "clean" router upstairs used as a WAP.

That's a good thing to use your old WiFi routers for, as signal extenders.

A buddy of mine built his own router. Other than 1-2 pain in the ass maintenance issues every year, it's been working for the last decade or so.

What does he do to maintain the new WiFi standards? Does he push everything with software or does he make hardware changes?

[TheCatt]

1 - Parallel routers using different channels, there are 3 distinct channels in US with no overlap.

2 - Malcolm's buddy said router, not WiFi. Probably just a wired router, and uses AP or other for WiFi. A friend of mine did this as well about a decade ago.

[Malcolm]

Malcolm's buddy said router, not WiFi. Probably just a wired router, and uses AP or other for WiFi. A friend of mine did this as well about a decade ago.

I think he's got a separate bit of hardware for wireless connectivity. There were times I couldn't get a wired conn at his place and had to fall back to wireless.