Wireless Router with Segmented Guest Network or VLAN support

[Nasi Jose]

Friend is looking for a new Wireless router that has a guest network that is isolated from the main network. (Not a bunch of boxes or flashing firmware to achieve it)

Wireless router that has vlan support is fine. WiFi 6 support is a plus.

Suggestions?

 

[Trip]

As you may know, most consumer-class wifi routers and and their factory firmwares do not offer full VLAN support. That said, most of them do provide simple guest network functionality (which underneath is usually implemented via some mix of ACLs and/or possibly an actual VLAN). If your friend can suffice with that, then most any wireless router or mesh product will do.

Beyond that, you're options are fairly limited, more so by operator skill set than anything else. There are options (which I'll mention below) that natively include both VLAN and ACL capability, but the administrator is going to need at least intermediate-level network knowledge and/or a strong willingness to learn. If that's the case, then one such option is OpenWRT, which can be found preloaded on routers such as the small but capable GL.iNet series (example: the Slate), or more powerful/expensive options such as the Turris Omnia 2020. There is also the likes of Mikrotik, whose RouterBoard models offer a plethora of all-in-one form-factors, and RouterOS is as fully-featured a routing/firewall OS as you'll ever find anywhere. Again, though, any of these options are going to require moderate to serious chops in order to be able to administrate them.

I hope that helps to paint the picture of your options, at least a little bit.

 

[Nasi Jose]

Anyone invest in a small business oriented wireless router with vlan support? I searched amazon and see these:

Trendnet TEW-829DRU
Cisco RV160W or RV260W

 

[Trip]

@Nasi Jose - Actually, yes, I forgot about those. They would suffice and will be more friendly to use than Mikrotik, likely OpenWRT as well. In addition to TrendNET and Cisco, you might also consider Draytek, although they're a bit tougher to find in the USA currently (DSL-Warehouse.com has a few different models). If given the choice, I'd probably lean towards the Cisco's if you're in the USA, for reliability, ease of support and availability.

 

[degrub]

forget the RV1xx or 2xx series. Just use dedicated APs with a RV340 or 320 router.