Forum Discussion

nigelpt's avatar
nigelpt
On our wavelength
9 days ago

Cross networking

I have a slightly odd installation. My incoming broadband is handled by a Hub 5 which provides Wi-Fi for part of the ground floor of my old property and the garden. This is running the standard 192.168.0.xxx IP range. 

I have reserved one IP address and also set it as the DMZ . This feeds via a 20m Cat6 cable to a second Vigor 2830n-plus router two floors up in my office, running 192.168.1.xxx.

Connected to this network is a small web server, MQTT broker and PiHole - which manages DNS on this network only - plus the usual PC, laptop and various gizmos.

Both networks provide good internet access but don't talk to each other at present.

My problem is that I wish to be in the service range of the Hub 5's Wi-Fi and cross-connect to the  Vigor's network i.e be on 192.168.0.xxx and communicate with 192.168.1.xxx. I understand the term is 'static routing' but cannot find any way of achieving this.

The simple solution would be to set the Hub5 to modem node but the Wi-Fi service is needed for TVs on the ground floor which within a limited range, is very good. 

I would be immensely grateful for any guidance, if this is achievable!

 

static route

5 Replies

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    7 days ago

    Yes, I know hard coding IP addresses into things works, usually, and is a quick and dirty way of getting stuff to just work now. Does tend to bite you on the backside later on though! You obviously know what you are doing so maybe spin up a local DNS server and do everything with host names rather than IP addresses?

    MQTT? Home automation by any chance?

  • nigelpt's avatar
    nigelpt
    On our wavelength
    7 days ago

    Thanks for the excellent guidance it is greatly appreciated.

    Clearly I need to revamp my whole setup and start looking to use the 192.168.0.xxx network across the entire property, sending it into a Gigabit switch in the upper office. I can also set the Vigor as an AP there too, thereby maintaining the dual wi-fi service. 

    I do have some mods to make to quite a few devices pointing to the existing network with hard-coded references to an MQTT broker IP, but like many systems, this has grown over the years on the "I'll sort it properly later" basis, so it is time to bite the bullet.


    Sincere thanks again.

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    8 days ago

    I’ve had a look at the specs for you router and by far the best way is to run the VM hub in modem mode. If you want to keep the 192.168.0.0/24 network downstairs and the 192.168.1.0/24 network upstairs you could set up a VLAN on your router. Your router supports VLANs and you would be able to communicate between the two networks. Also the Pi-Hole is capable of running the DNS for both networks. I have a similar setup to this using a Ubiquiti UDM Pro router, but I run 2 Pi-Hole Raspberry Pi machines for contingency. 

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    9 days ago

    You need a LAN to LAN connection which will extend the hub's network, easiest done by setting the Vigor into bridge mode. It's best to assign a static IP address to the Vigor within the subnet of your hub but outside its DHCP range, so try 192.168.0.8. Disable the Vigor's DHCP (and NAT and firewall if there are settings for these). Of course the Vigor connection is to a LAN port. Why do you need a DMZ? Reboot the Vigor and it should get broadband and WiFi on the same subnet as the hub's.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    9 days ago

    Alas, you are right, the correct term is static routing and although you ‘could’ set this up on the Draytek, the problem is that you also need to set a rule up on the VM hub, and the VM hub has no facility to do this.

    As it stands then, no, it is not possible.

    But, suppose that you put the hub into modem mode, move the 2830 down to the ground floor and act as the (wifi) router. Then purchase a cheap switch and WiFi access point for the second floor? You already have the cables run so it should be simple to do.

    Everything would then be on the same subnet (192.168.0.0/24), so you wouldn’t have an issue.