Cant make a second router work... need suggestions

Question

Good afternoon. I have a need, can not figure out how to make it work, and would love some help or suggestions...

My house is wired for ethernet and I have quite a few deviced plugged in, throughout my house. This setup has worked really well with UVerse, at least until recently.

I have a new work need, and it will require me to run my own DHCP service in the house. And as near as I can tell, I am unable to turn off the DHCP on my 2Wire GR. So my thought was to separate my internal network from the Uverse router by way of my own little internet router. And I even got it to work! I used the DedicatedVPN option on the 2wire, and most everything worked great. However, the TVs will not work when behind this alien router. And I do not have the option of plugging them directly into the 2Wire, because they are on the same network wiring as my other internal devices.

So... am I screwed? Is this a multicast issue, and if so, is there a router that will work with this setup?

HELP! Thanks in advance. Andy

SomeJoe7777 · Accepted Answer

Yes, this is a multicast issue. TVs will not work behind your own router.

However, you can share the same physical Ethernet cable for two different networks by using VLAN-capable switches. This is the way I have my network set up in my house and it works well.

The least expensive VLAN-capable switch that I know works properly for this application is the NetGear GS108T-200 (http://www.directron.com/gs108t200nas.html). You will need one of them at the RG, and one of them at each location where you can split out the two networks again (probably near the STB(s) ).