Looking for guidance on setting up your home network with a game server.
Looking for guidance on setting up your home network with a game server.
You’re evaluating an alternative setup by swapping the EdgeRouter for a managed switch while keeping the Fritz!Box. This change could maintain your desired isolation and security, especially if the new switch supports VLANs. Ensure the switch you choose is compatible with your network needs and consider how it integrates with your existing firewall setup.
It doesn’t make much sense using a VLAN without switches. VLANs are useful when you need separate networks on one port, which isn’t your case here. You might be thinking about subnets instead. Otherwise it should work fine—just define the rules for which subnets can access specific ports. You can configure the FritzBox to forward all ports through the edge router. A managed switch could manage VLANs, but it won’t handle subnetting or file-level security as needed.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, you could avoid the double NAT by connecting your TV directly to the Fritz!Box. For multicast issues, consider using UFW or another firewall instead of EdgeRouter for server management.
Is this because of CG NAT or are you forwarding ports on both devices? I’ve set up port forwarding using a dual router setup before and it worked fine. What do you aim to achieve with the second subnet? Likely you’re trying to resolve something specific. You might not need to manage everything in one subnet here.
With Fritzbox, I never needed to set up port forwarding for Parsec. After adding the EdgeRouter, no port forwarding was required either. Now I'm facing Parsec errors 6023 or 6024, indicating problems such as CG-NAT or double NAT. Since I don’t have CG-NAT but have two routers in the setup, double NAT appears to be the issue. My aim is to keep the server isolated from other devices on my home network so it doesn’t draw unwanted attention and expose open ports. I want everything on separate networks, just like the server and all other devices.
Did you activate UPNP? Many of these tools require features like UPNP for automatic port forwarding. Manually forwarding ports on both routers can work—your edge router could connect directly to the server while other devices link into the firewall box. This way, the server wouldn’t be reachable from the main LAN. You might also rely on the server’s firewall, but if someone breaches it, they could disable it easily. It matters mainly if access is compromised, which likely isn’t a concern for a home setup.
The problem with parsec is resolved. The server will support many game servers for friends and a medium-sized Arma unit, accommodating 50 to 100 participants—most of whom I don’t recognize personally. I already have EdgeRouter installed and partially configured. In your view, is it reasonable to retain and use it as the firewall for this scenario?
For a straightforward configuration, link all your home devices to the FritzBox and use Edgeroute to handle the server traffic as a firewall. Restrict its access to your local network—likely unnecessary since an attacker would first need to compromise the server before reaching other devices. Keeping everything up to date should make this much harder.