One Internet, Two Private LANs

[bgrffdave]

I read with great interest the article about One Internet connection - Two Private LANs. I've wanted to do this very thing for some time and no "guru" near me could tell me how to do it or even if it was doable at all. The article left me with a couple questions. I posted them as comments on the article and then thought this might be the more appropriate place.

I have a small apartment attached to my house. I want to separate my LAN from the tenant's while sharing one internet connection. I'm using a wired Linksys router (BEFSR41) with two Linksys wired/wireless routers (WRT54GS).

First, I'm assuming the clients on each LAN need to get their addresses from the router they're connected to... so on the two separate LAN routers, should DHCP server be enabled or disabled?
Second, should the two LAN routers remain set to Gateway or be changed to Router?

Many thanks!

 

[thiggins]

Leave the DHCP servers on and all routers set to "Gateway" mode.

 

[bgrffdave]

Thank you.

 

[bgrffdave]

One other thing came to mind...

Can a computer on one of the LANs manage all routers or would a computer have to be plugged into the router on which you want to make changes/updates? Put differently, could a computer on LAN #1 do firmware updates and MAC address list maintenance on the router running LAN #2?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I like the VLAN approach. Some routers..usually business grade routers..allow you to do port based VLANs on their managed switch side. Such as the Linksys RV0 series. 1x router...make port 1 and 2 or so VLAN 1...make ports 3 and 4 or more VLAN2. If you need many ports..just uplink a switch to one of the VLANs.

On the budget side...the Linksys wrt45gl with DD-WRT 3rd party firmware also offers this function.

 

[bgrffdave]

Disregard my last... I figured out the answer to that question after getting everything set up tonight. I'll have to "manage" the second LAN by occasionally plugging in a laptop... no problem.

I am slowly teaching myself about networking both out of curiosity and to free myself from the crazy fees the local "experts" charge to do basic stuff; at the same time learning to make a Mac and PC play well together (which is not as hard as I thought). I just started reading about the VLAN approach and may consider that for the future. It certainly sounds like a more cost effective option if you have to start from scratch or don't have three routers.

By generously offering to free friends of "unused" equipment I already had everything to do the three router setup. I have to say that it all came together quite easily... largely due to a great write-up and website (thanks Mr. Easy!). Worked through each router setup step by step. In the end, much to my surprise, it all worked the first time!

Hope I didn't just jinx it !!

 

[thiggins]

You're welcome bgrffdave. That's what we're here for.