Moving from public IP to Private
Moving from public IP to Private
Hello! I'm trying to figure out a way to switch your business network from public IPs on every device to private ones (like 192.168.x.x). The goal is to move everything to a Draytek device, keeping the original public IPs on the NetGEAR and gradually consolidating them. You have a BT line coming in, which should help with connectivity. Since your networking skills aren't top-tier, I'll keep it simple and focus on practical steps you can take.
Are you certain all computers have a public IP address? This implies your ISP provides sufficient IPs and you direct them via your router for each device. What does a typical "public IP" appear like? (You can share just the first two parts for safety.)
It's definitely feasible, this was something before the Internet expanded so much. Long ago I even used a tiny subnet as a home user, since web servers didn't allow multiple subdomains on the same IP address back then. Companies are very hesitant to switch, especially because making such a change would be too slow and complicate things unnecessarily. It really needs to happen all at once.
It would be challenging to proceed step by step since you’d essentially manage both a LAN and a WAN simultaneously. With managed switches, you might isolate the new LAN in its own VLAN and add clients individually, but coordinating communication between devices for specific purposes remains tricky. The router could handle NAT if it supports it, though compatibility issues may arise with certain software and heavy traffic. Since it was only designed for basic routing, I’m uncertain about its capacity for robust Internet NAT or internal Public-to-Private setups. I’d focus initially on devices requiring just internet access.
It comes down to how the machines operate. If they're merely browsing the internet without directly managing servers, set up one of the routers with DHCP and place them in front of it. Choose any RFC 1918 private range you prefer. Owning the entire octet doesn't necessarily require using it. Some older ISPs demand every client device has a fixed IP address, which I question here. Unless all devices are running web services, simply move them through a router that handles DHCP.
My ideas revolved around devices such as printers, possibly requiring a fixed setup. As you mentioned, it depends on what's present on the network.