@Sankeeth yes its possible, but, that means running the router in one of two modes:
1. Full router mode: where you end up with a double NAT situation and the router effectively firewalls its network from anything upstream.
2. Access Point mode: where the router firewall and DHCP server are disabled. That leaves the modem in charge of the network. The router is a much better choice of devices to run the network, given that you have greater access to the various settings in the router, something that the modem will not provide. There is a built in Access Point mode in the router firmware.
Fwiw, I run an Asus RT-AC86U in full router mode with the modem running in Bridge mode.
Note that the modem can go anywhere where you have a cable port on a wallplate, so, it doesn't have to sit downstairs. The techs will typically install the modem in or near the structured wiring cabinet due to the location of the cable splitter that is usually installed on the inbound cable, and the location of the ethernet cabling which you have in your home. But, the modem doesn't have to reside in the basement.
Personal opinion, here's what I recommend, which is exactly what we have in our home. Park the modem upstairs and connect it to the house cable system. Since we have more than one Rogers service, we have a splitter installed to feed the various services. One port of that splitter connects to an RG-6 cable that runs upstairs to the office, which then connects to the modem. With the modem in Bridge mode, the connected RT-AC86U runs in full router mode, so, that puts the 86U in charge of the network. With the power cranked up and Beamforming enabled for 802.11ac operation in the 5 Ghz band, the 86U easily outperforms the modem, in terms of the wifi performance.
With the router and wifi taken care of, one port of the router connects to the ethernet cabling that runs back down to the structured wiring cabinet. At that cabinet, that ethernet cable connects to a gigabit switch which then connects to the rest of the home. That is the same ethernet cable that you're proposing to use to connect to the router upstairs.
So, if you happen to have a cable port and ethernet port at the same wallplate, you should be able to use the same physical configuration and use the router to run your network, with much better ethernet and wifi performance all around.
Fwiw, if you're running an Asus router, you should check out Merlin's Asuswrt, which is an improved version of the baseline Asuswrt firmware that Asus develops. There are a series of add-ons which have been developed to provide better IP address and country blocking, add-blocking, improved QOS and others. Since you already have gigabit service, you shouldn't need to load the improved QOS, but, its one of many add-ons which are available. To run those add-ons you would need to connect a USB flash drive, preferably a USB 3 flash drive which has reasonable to good performance. The flash drive serves as a host drive for the various services and for a swap file as well. If you're interested here are a few links to the latest developing Merlin Asuswrt and to the add-ons:
Merlin's latest Beta firmware: that will probably become a release version in the next two to three (?) weeks, maybe .....
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/beta-asuswrt-merlin-384-11-beta-is-now-available.56325/
Add-ons:
1. The Asuswrt Merlin Terminal Menu, which has been developed to allow easy installation of the add-ons:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-the-snbforum-asuswrt-merlin-terminal-menu.42415/
2. Skynet, which is used for IP address and country blocking. This works very well.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/release-skynet-router-firewall-security-enhancements.16798/
3. Diversion, which is used for add-blocking. This also works very well.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/diversion-the-router-ad-blocker.48538/
There are others as well which can be seen in the AMTM menu. The various threads for those can be found in the Merlin sub-forum in the Small Net Builders forums:
https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asuswrt-merlin.42/
If you're looking to run different DNS services for your kids, or looking at running VPNs, DNS over TLS, DNSSEC, look at the Merlin sub-forum and the thread for the latest beta firmware. This version has seen a considerable amount of development done, including the addition of DNS over TLS and DNSSEC. This is well beyond what is included in the baseline Asus firmware.
What router did you buy, just out of curiosity's sake?
@Sankeeth there's no magic solution for your current modem, router and cable configuration. Even if you placed the router in a DMZ in the modem, you would still have the NAT issue to deal with in the modem. If you choose to run the modem in Gateway mode with the router in Access Point mode, then that leaves the modem in charge of the network. Neither choice is a good choice 😞
The problem, as usual in cases like this is the lack of right type of cabling between the home's structured wiring cabinet and the desired location for the router. Here's some food for thought:
1. Take a wallplate off of the wall in a couple of locations and have a look behind the wallplate to see if there are any other cables tucked in behind the wallplate. If your home was built within the last 15 to 20 years, there's a chance that it has structured wiring installed. That's a cable bundle that is installed between the structured wiring cabinet and some location in each room in the home. Each room gets its own run from the cabinet to the room. Typically that bundle has two RG-6 cables for tv/satellite/intenet modems, one Cat 5e ethernet for data, and one Cat 3 (possibly Cat 5e) for telephones. If your home has that installed, its possible that the remaining cables are tucked in behind the wallplate waiting to be discovered and put to use. You should see the other end of those cables in or near the structured wiring cabinet.
2. If you happen to have a second router on hand, you can use that to connect to the other rooms. The modem, in Bridge mode will support 4 or more devices connected to it. Two of those devices will receive both IPV4 and IPV6 addresses. The remaining devices will receive IPV6 addresses only. So, with the modem in Bridge mode, and two routers connected, each router would run a network which is independent of the other network. That has good points and bad points. That configuration will allow you to use a VPN which doesn't affect the other network. (If you load Merlin's Asuswrt, from what I understand you can run VPN and non-VPN traffic thru the one Asus router). The bad point, is any requirement to access some device on the other network, such as printers, servers, etc. That won't work as each network runs independently.
So, there may be an easy way to solve the problem, depending on the cable situation and whether or not you happen to have another router on hand.
Fwiw, Asuswrt-Merlin 384.11 is available. That was released today. There is one problem with IPV6 operation with the RT-AX88U which can be resolved by using a command line solution. If you don't use IPV6 at the present time, then it shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully Asus will fix the problem in their next firmware update.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/release-asuswrt-merlin-384-11-is-available.56501/
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