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Two Routers one internet

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tmurray4192

New Around Here
Goal: extend wifi coverage in house.
hardware: asus rt-ac3100 qty 2
Details: Network needs primary vlan (family network wired/wireless for laptops,desktops and printers) and guest network (friends/family/smartdevices/xbox/cameras/alexa).

One RT-AC3100 just isn't enough when it comes to wifi coverage. If I run everything on primary network (no guest networks) there are multiple ways of extended wifi coverage with 2 routers. The problem I am running into is maintaining the guest wifi network and keeping it isolated from primary network using 2 routers. Using just one router i can setup my primary and guest networks and have them isolate. Once I try to extend wifi coverage with two routers there is always something that lacks. Examples would be AIMESH does not work with guest wifi networks, AP MODE doesn't work with guest wifi, media bridge is for wired connections and repeater doesn't work with guest network.

high level:
I also tried using the vpn server/client between the 2 routers. Daisy chaining where wan port of 2nd router plugs into lan port of 1st router. Finally i tried where the 2nd router lan port is plug into 1st router lan port.

All of this boils down to when the guest networks are supported and can be used in the above solutions the quest networks of the second router have visibility to the primary network. The primary network guest network works fine (primary network is isolated from secondary)

I wasn't sure if I can augment one of the above solutions with some scripting? I started playing around with the YAZFI script that allows for "vlans" to be applied to guest networks. I need to modify this script somehow..

Well i will stop here and see what responses i get. I can add much more detail than is listed here. Thanks in advance.
 
I think it would be much simpler with a wired router and how ever many wireless APs are needed. Setup a VLAN network for each group and assign a group to an SSID. Setup a trunk connection to the wireless APs and broadcast the SSIDs.
 
I think it would be much simpler with a wired router and how ever many wireless APs are needed. Setup a VLAN network for each group and assign a group to an SSID. Setup a trunk connection to the wireless APs and broadcast the SSIDs.
It would, except his Asus routers don't have VLAN support.
 
Most of the wired only routers have the features he needs. People are not realizing when they have out grown their basic network equipment. They are trying to make it do things which it was not designed for.
 
Most of the wired only routers have the features he needs.
Indeed. But in this case the issue is the lack VLANs on the access points to separate the guest from the non-guest SSIDs. Sounds like he would have to replace all of his equipment, not just the router?
 
Thanks for all the replies. Sorry for the delay in responding back. I was testing SYNOLOGY routers. Nice routers. They worked out of the box the way I needed them to. Until, the newest firmware that came out that disabled that one feature I was looking for. LOL, my luck. I am back to using my ASUS 3200 and two 3100's. I am living with the fact each 3100 guest network is isolated to itself.
 
I've had the same problem and decided guests are just that, "guests", and they get what they get.

Anyway we had occasion to extend our network with a Ruckus AP. It's "professional" gear but with an interface that an amateur like me can handle.

Anyway, when setting up SSIDs there's a "guest" button you can check. If you check it the Ruckus looks at your LAN IP and automatically generates a bunch of rules to keep "guest" from accessing your LAN.

It was a most pleasant surprise and seems to work.
 
Never really saw the point of a guest network. Doesn't fit any of my use cases though I'm sure some people want it. Al my devices have password access of one sort or another so once you are allowed on my network there isn't really anything to access other than the internet anyway.
 
Never really saw the point of a guest network. Doesn't fit any of my use cases though I'm sure some people want it. Al my devices have password access of one sort or another so once you are allowed on my network there isn't really anything to access other than the internet anyway.

Depends on the router's implementation. In Asus's case, Guest clients can be configured to prevent them from accessing your LAN.
 
Depends on the router's implementation. In Asus's case, Guest clients can be configured to prevent them from accessing your LAN.
I know guest networks can be useful for some people, just not me personally.
 
Guest networks can be used help to isolate IoT devices which may have minimal security from other devices on your network. Never know what someone can do if they take over a IoT device and use it to compromise a PC etc.
 
Depends on the router's implementation. In Asus's case, Guest clients can be configured to prevent them from accessing your LAN.

Yep - AsusWRT has a lot of flexibility - some want to use the "guest" SSID as a different SSID, and there, Asus has provided quite a few options - and under the hood on the command line, there's more capability - just not obvious for some.
 

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