Arch Linux

MagnaPossum

Member

Registered: 2025-10-25

Posts: 4

Want to use two routers, one for LAN over Ethernet, and one for WiFi.

So I'm currently using the latest version of Arch with KDE Plasma and Network Manager.

I wanted to use wireless VR but since our router is in the living room on the opposite side of my parents house, I bought a seperate router without any internet connection to wire to my computer for my headset to connect to for ALVR.
Since I knew Linux could use ethernet and WiFi at the same time, I figured it'd be pretty easy. I thought too simple.

Because of course Linux sees ethernet and goes straight to it for most connections, incoming and outgoing. So I tried to fix this by telling it to use the ethernet only for resources on its connection.
This did cause it to use the WiFi as a primary connection so I could use the internet, and my headset was detected through the ethernet router connection. However, it basically only takes incoming connections and not outgoing, and wireless VR heavily relies on the outgoing part.

I don't know much more about networking so I'm kind of stumped. I'm wondering if there's a way to get it to send outgoing connections for ALVR and SteamVR through the ethernet connection, while everything else goes through the WiFi connection. That's the part I need help with because I'm not too informed on networking.

-thc

Member

Registered: 2017-03-15

Posts: 1,066

Re: Want to use two routers, one for LAN over Ethernet, and one for WiFi.

Please show us how exactly you connected what to what in what mode.

Router (parents - what mode?) <- Ethernet? WiFi? -> router (separate - what mode?) <- Ethernet? WiFi? -> your PC

MagnaPossum

Member

Registered: 2025-10-25

Posts: 4

Re: Want to use two routers, one for LAN over Ethernet, and one for WiFi.

Please show us how exactly you connected what to what in what mode.

Router (parents - what mode?) <- Ethernet? WiFi? -> router (separate - what mode?) <- Ethernet? WiFi? -> your PC

Router(parents - WiFi) -> PC
Router(separate - Ethernet/LAN) -> PC
Router (separate - WiFi/LAN) -> Headset

The parent and separate router are not connected since it doesn't have that ability unless I were to spend more money than I get paid to as a food service employee in college.
So in short terms, the two routers are not connected.

But essentially how my computer is routing stuff at this moment:
Incoming traffic: PC <- Parent Router & Seperate Router
Outgoing traffic: PC -> Parent Router only.

The outgoing traffic is good if you just need to draw data from something over LAN, but ALVR requires a two-way connection over LAN to get wireless VR to work for obvious reasons.

Either that or I didn't understand your question, which is very possible, knowing me.

Last edited by MagnaPossum (2025-11-30 01:28:39)

-thc

Member

Registered: 2017-03-15

Posts: 1,066

Re: Want to use two routers, one for LAN over Ethernet, and one for WiFi.

So - here's what I think you did - feel free to correct me on anything.

1. There's only one path to the internet - via (distant) WiFi through your parents router. Only your PC is attached to this WiFi (subnet A).
2. You want to use ALVR with your headset and your PC and the distant WiFi is a bottleneck.
3. You acquire a second WiFi router with no internet uplink and connect your PC via Ethernet and your VR headset via WiFi - both devices are now in that second, separate network (subnet B) but can at least "see" each other. The second router probably nevertheless promotes itself as the "default gateway" and "DNS server" - which is pretty useless because of the missing internet uplink.
4. You realize that your Arch PC prefers the Ethernet and has consequentially no internet access.
5. You set Arch to use the Ethernet connection "only for resources on its connection" - which is correct.

In the end your VC headset can be reached from the PC via Ethernet (subnet B) and only the PC can reach the internet via WiFi (subnet A).

I absolutely don't get what you mean with "outgoing traffic -> parents only".  How did you arrive at this conclusion?

If your VR headset has a valid IP address on subnet B, try to ping it from your PC. If the ping (outgoing) reaches the headset and is answered - you have no such problem.