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Comment by publicfig | Hacker News Reader

I've seen a lot of complaints about this router only having one ethernet LAN port. This really could just be an issue of different use cases, but are there a large amount of modems out there that don't have plenty of ethernet ports on them? I have never needed to plug in anything to my router that I can't just plug into my modem, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't connect too much to either to begin with.

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If your modem (which isn't really a modem if it has >1 LAN port) is plugged into the WAN port on the OnHub (or any other router), anything plugged into the ports on the modem will have trouble seeing things on the LAN because of NAT and firewall rules.

Has nothing at all to do with either NAT or the Firewall rules; it has to do with routing. Assuming your modem/router has this capability, all you should need to do is set up a static route pointing to the network/subnet that the devices behind the other router. You should not need a corresponding route on the other router because since it's on both networks, it already has a route to the other network. Even if it didn't, the default gateway on the router is the modem which can take care of routing the packets correctly. This is all assuming that the modem/router combo is assigning an IP on a private network/subnet to the additional router.

Most at home modems (think Surfboard) have one, maybe 2, ethernet ports, unless you're using a modem/switch or modem/router hybrid device.

Also, I'd much rather plug things into my router, which has ingress filters, than my modem.

It does kind of suck, you could grab a little ethernet hub for pretty cheap, though. Would be nice if it just came with it.

> I don't connect too much to either to begin with.

Inclines me to believe that you haven't been burnt, yet. If your WiFi setup works stick with it until the day you die, possibly pass it on to your descendants - they'll appreciate it.

Exaggeration aside: WiFi has to be the most horrifically inconsistent technology that we have. A friend's setup will spontaneously hit 200ms latency, which can only be repaired with a restart of the device. Other friends have lesser horror stories to tell, but most people I know do have them.

I only use WiFi when I don't care about the quality of the internet connection. In truth: my setup is probably excellent but I simply no longer trust the technology at all and I suspect that many of the people complaining about the ethernet port are in the same boat.

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