Preparing a second home LAN setup
Preparing a second home LAN setup
I’m working on setting up a new home and have joined with family temporarily. I need to maintain separate connections, which is causing some problems. I have two routers: R1, directly linked to the ISP, is functioning properly. I’m trying to link R2’s WAN to R1’s LAN. My current setup looks like this:
- Router 1 Gateway: 192.168.0.1
- Subnet: 255.255.255.0
- Static IP for R2: 192.168.0.253
Router 2 settings seem mixed up. I thought the LAN IP (10.0.0.1) should match the first router’s IP, but after updating it, the router resets it to 10.0.0.1. Since R2 is on its own network, I’m keeping DHCP active there.
I also tried using a subnet of 255.255.255.128 on R2, but that didn’t work well. I can access R2’s admin page, yet it doesn’t show internet connectivity. Could you help me figure out what’s wrong?
So…. This setup isn’t the ideal configuration because it creates a double NAT scenario in the R2 domain. If you need it to function, configure R2 to obtain an IP from R1 via DHCP on the WAN side. Static assignment is also possible, but the IP must stay within R1’s subnet (like 192.168.0.x). In your screenshot, it’s set to 192.168.1.1, which might be incorrect—try 192.168.0.254 instead (the highest usable number in R1’s range). This can lead to complications. The goal here is to manage traffic more effectively, but it often results in troublesome issues. What you’re trying to address is the double NAT problem, and the main concern is maintaining stable connectivity without conflicts. The proper approach would involve using separate subnets and a single firewall, which standard consumer routers usually can’t support.
Thanks for the update. It seems I had to maintain the same gateway for both R2 and R1, and align R2's WAN IP with R1's static address. Each network should manage its own NAT, but if needed, switching to LAN-to-LAN and turning off DHCP on R2 could help. The goal is to use R2's WiFi to connect family devices to the same SSID while keeping your devices linked to R1's without changing anything for everyone. I prefer separate networks mainly to avoid exposing all devices to potential interference. It’s not a major issue, but achieving this would be great. I’m aware some might view it as self-serving by using more of their WiFi bandwidth, but I’ve already disabled the 5G and 2.4GHz radios on both ends, limiting channel usage similarly to a dual router setup.
Yes, I managed to get R2 on an IP that communicates with R1 (.0.x, .0.253 functions well). It should work once the internet connection is established. However, devices won’t recognize a double NAT setup, and services like UPNP will fail because they expect a single NAT interface. Other applications might also not function properly. Many guides discuss this topic, but I’m unsure what your goal is—without clarity, I can only advise against proceeding. If you have a particular reason, let me know. It’s possible there are alternative solutions you haven’t considered.
Apologies for the change during your reply time. You might have missed the update.
This approach seems unusual, but each setup is valid. You're likely dealing with a double network configuration issue. Instead of multiple firewalls, consider using a single router with separate firewall rules for WAN and LAN segments. If you need a dedicated Wi-Fi network, switch the router to bridge or DMZ mode to disable the firewall and treat it like a simple access point. You can still assign a custom SSID for your Wi-Fi while maintaining connectivity. I've only tried this with identical networks, but I'm aware of the risks involved.
Here’s a clearer version:
I used our home office laser printer instead of the family’s inkjet machine because it’s more cost-effective for work. Windows 10 sometimes adds printers it doesn’t have drivers for, just because it detects them on the network. That was my main thought. It wasn’t a major problem. But if it caused NAT issues, I’d prefer a LAN-to-LAN setup to avoid random devices showing up on everyone’s PCs from both sides of the house.
When you enable R2 in bridge mode, you connect its WAN to R1’s LAN as usual, which usually creates a fresh subnet. This should work well in theory. However, I’m not completely confident everything will function perfectly—there might be some issues if R2 isn’t in bridge mode. I’m just not sure enough to confirm it fully.