I had a unique requirement that I was able to solve using VLANs. I needed to locate 802.11ac router in the center of the house to eliminate five wi-fi access points needed to cover a 4,000 sq ft single story house. I had a CAT6 cable between a media room on the west side to an office on the east side. The Internet router was in the office.
I had to run another cable but was only willing to run one. Running from the west side to the center was much easier so I did that. My network was now ISP Router -> West side switch -> 802.11ac WiFi router. I needed to get the Internet to the WAN port of the router and the wired clients to the LAN port of the router.
I bought 3 D-Link managed switches. two 5 port & one 8 port. 8 port to the west side, 5 port to the office and 5 port to the new center location with the wi-fi router. Port based VLAN 1 on each switch is for the local LAN. VLAN 2 is for Internet traffic. Trunk ports on each switch carry traffic for both.
Internet switch: Port 1 is the trunk port carrying VLAN 1 & 2 traffic. Port 2 is VLAN 2 only and connects to the Internet router. Ports 3-5 are VLAN 1 for a printer, home security router uplink and an open port.
Media room switch: Ports 1 & 2 are trunk ports allowing VLAN 1 & 2 on them. One handles traffic from the east side the other moves traffic to the central location. Ports 3 - 8 are VLAN 1 only for DirecTV DVR, Bluray, music player, home theater remote & Magic Jack phone.
Center location switch: Port 1 is a trunk port allowing VLAN 1 & 2 traffic from the rest of the house. Port 2 is VLAN 2 only and brings Internet traffic to the WAN port of the new 802.11ac wi-fi router. Ports 3-5 are VLAN 1 only for the LAN port on the new router and a link to a Powerline adapter.
Using VLANs I was able to use a single pathway to deliver both Internet and local traffic to three locations in the house without complex cabling. Wi-Fi traffic on a single 2.4GHz & dual 5GHz bands cover the entire house from the central location as designed.
I hope this helps anyone with a similar requirement.
I had to run another cable but was only willing to run one. Running from the west side to the center was much easier so I did that. My network was now ISP Router -> West side switch -> 802.11ac WiFi router. I needed to get the Internet to the WAN port of the router and the wired clients to the LAN port of the router.
I bought 3 D-Link managed switches. two 5 port & one 8 port. 8 port to the west side, 5 port to the office and 5 port to the new center location with the wi-fi router. Port based VLAN 1 on each switch is for the local LAN. VLAN 2 is for Internet traffic. Trunk ports on each switch carry traffic for both.
Internet switch: Port 1 is the trunk port carrying VLAN 1 & 2 traffic. Port 2 is VLAN 2 only and connects to the Internet router. Ports 3-5 are VLAN 1 for a printer, home security router uplink and an open port.
Media room switch: Ports 1 & 2 are trunk ports allowing VLAN 1 & 2 on them. One handles traffic from the east side the other moves traffic to the central location. Ports 3 - 8 are VLAN 1 only for DirecTV DVR, Bluray, music player, home theater remote & Magic Jack phone.
Center location switch: Port 1 is a trunk port allowing VLAN 1 & 2 traffic from the rest of the house. Port 2 is VLAN 2 only and brings Internet traffic to the WAN port of the new 802.11ac wi-fi router. Ports 3-5 are VLAN 1 only for the LAN port on the new router and a link to a Powerline adapter.
Using VLANs I was able to use a single pathway to deliver both Internet and local traffic to three locations in the house without complex cabling. Wi-Fi traffic on a single 2.4GHz & dual 5GHz bands cover the entire house from the central location as designed.
I hope this helps anyone with a similar requirement.
