Hey all, I was wondering if anyone could help me work out how to do this? Basically, I have a stupid number of smart devices and my router has become increasingly unstable. I want to have all my IOT devices on one router and reserve the other for priority devices like phones and PCs.
I plan to put my IOT hub on 2G only and my primary hub on 6G and 6e only to avoid 2G congestion.
Problem is, if I connect both my routers to my modem, only one can connect to the internet. I tried putting a network switch between the routers and the modem, no dice.
Does anybody know how I can have 2 separate networks using 2 separate routers on a single modem? Both require internet connection but they don’t need to be able to communicate.
Thanks in advance for any help people can give :)
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Vlans my dude.
You don’t need 2 routers for this. Place all your iot junk in one vlan and you useful in a second. 2 routers aren’t needed for this kind of seperation.
It was more to distribute load rather than separate traffic. My main router seems to start pooping the bed once I have 40+ devices connected to it, so I wanted to reduce the number of devices connected to it to prevent that as I need it to be stable for work… and gaming, haha.
If it’s the WiFi that’s crapping out, get a ubiquiti UniFi 6+ access point. It will handle up to 300 devices for $130. You will need to by the POE adapter for it but it’s ~$15.
Except they plainly said this was about stability.
Quick and dirty solution. Designate 1 as the primary, it gets the modem. The secondary gets plugged in, and appears as a single device to the primary. This works, but the secondary network is double NATed. This can make its internet connection a bit grumpy and laggy. It’s fine for IoT devices however.
Best solution, upgrade to some more robust kit. I personally use the Ubiquiti Dream Machine. It’s a massive step up from the cheap rubbish ISPs provide. It can do multiple vlans, and so separate the 2 networks, while sharing infrastructure. It also allows for things like remote management or VPN connections. It can be a good alternative for remote control, rather than exposing your master controller to incoming internet connections.
Also, what do you use as a master controller, and can it handle and internet dropout? I’ve known a couple of people burnt by their internet breaking, and taking their light switches with it! I personally use Home Assistant, but there are a few other options out there.
You could buy a pfsense capable mini-pc ~$200. It will give you, 1 wan port and 2 or 3 lan ports or repurpose an old desktop by updating it with a dual network card. The pfsense mini pc will use a lot less power long term. Then use your routers in access point mode, one for your IOT on 2.4ghz and one on 5ghz for the other stuff. You can set up the firewall to prevent the iot network on the second lan from seeing anything on the primary lan but still have full access to devices from the primary to the IOT network.
Easier solution is what was already suggested is by using vlans with one router and the setup the second router in access point mode for the IOT
This is the answer you’re looking for.
One router to control them all, and then 2 separate wifi ap’s
Two easiest options based on some general assumptions, not ideal but should work:
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Connect the WAN port on the second router to any LAN port on your first/primary router. To change router settings you’ll need to change networks. If this doesn’t work, then it’s possible both routers are issuing DHCP addresses for the same subnet. Connect to either one of the routers and change the subnet to something else.
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Disable DHCP on the second router, manually assign it an IP address within the DHCP subnet of your first router, and connect any of the second router’s LAN ports directly into any LAN port on your first/primary router. Leave the WAN port on the second router unnoccupied. You can change settings on either router you can be on either network
Slightly more advanced territory:
What routers are you working with? If these are standard off-the-shelf routers, you should be able to set up VLANs and separate wireless networks to isolate your IOT and personal devices, and set the IOT wlan to only broadcast on 2.4GHz.
Also how familiar are you with networking? This might need some knowledge of subnets, VLANs and a few other bits, particularly in regards to configuring your router’s dhcp settings, and other stuff so you can (optionally) access devices on the IOT network from your personal devices network.
You might get more help crossposting to the much larger !selfhosted@lemmy.world though.
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My router (asus) gets unstable with 35+ “smart” devices. What ive done is i bought a mesh extender and connected all the smart devices to that mesh so the router has free connections for wifi. Seems to work. More stable now and the wifi connection load is shared.
Unless you pay your ISP for two connections, you won’t get two routers connected to your modem. I’d suggest upgrading to a better router designed to handle higher traffic, like a business router. Or you can build your own router with a computer and OPNSense.
