How to transition to a new router without collapsing my whole network?

[Charlielo]

I currently have the Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream. I was having some issues so I decided to purchase the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500. DHCP is enabled in the Linksys EA9500. How do I transition over  to this new Nighthawk RAXE500 without imploding my whole home network? Do I disable the DHCP on the existing router and then setup the Netgear to take over the DHCP role or is it vice versa? I have a lot of wireless and wired devices and I like to slowly move some of the devices over. Eventually, I like to use this old router for unimportant things and perhaps for guest users. Thank you.

[config t]

Personally I would just rip the bandaid off. Configure the router before connecting it to the network, schedule an ASI (haha), and then just swap it out.

If it's necessary for your devices to retain current IP then make sure you configure the proper reservations and/or exclusions beforehand.

[Charlielo]

Thank you for the response. So you're suggesting I simply disconnect the current router, setup the new Netgear router to take over just let the old router RIP? I would be a lot of work...but on the other hand if the new router does not work like I hope it would, I can simply put the old router back and it'll still have everything.

[deanwebb]

Yes, a big bang is the way to go. Turn one off and turn the other on and, as you say, if things go wrong and can't be fixed on the new one, turn it off and turn on the old one and it's back to normal.

[config t]

Thank you for the response. So you're suggesting I simply disconnect the current router, setup the new Netgear router to take over just let the old router RIP? I would be a lot of work...but on the other hand if the new router does not work like I hope it would, I can simply put the old router back and it'll still have everything.

To put it into perspective; Cutting over an enterprise edge router is a lot of work. Configuring a home router with duplicate settings and swapping them out should be fairly uneventful.