Networking – How to make a private network in the home

networkingprivate-networkrouter

First off, I need to specify that I'm a newbie when it comes to networks. I know how to set static IPs, reroute ports, and do (basic) configuration of WiFi networks.

I would like to make a private network in my home for my own computers/phones (so both Ethernet and WiFi are required), while keeping a public network (using my ISP's box and its integrated WiFi) for guests. This is made to ensure the files shared in my private network are not discoverable for anyone tempted to snoop around. And obviously, the computers in the private network need Internet access.

Here is a schematic of what i'm thinking (please pardon my poor design skills…) :

Is what I'm thinking doable ? If yes, do I need a specific router (I haven't bought it yet) ? And how do I need to configure my network so that the computers in the public network can't see those in the private one ?

Thanks everyone for your help !

Best Answer

Is what I'm thinking doable ?

Yes this can be done & all you need is a wireless router that allows Guest Network

With that, your guests would be able to connect to your wireless router not your ISP box.

I am not sure if you really want to allow your guests to connect to ISP box & why but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me

If yes, do I need a specific router (I haven't bought it yet) ?

Most of the modern age routers have this feature be it Netgear, Dlink or Cisco Linksys etc.

If you don't want to spend money on a new router, depending on what kind of router you currently have, you can also try some firmwares that provide such functionality

And how do I need to configure my network so that the computers in the public network can't see those in the private one ?

What you are trying to do is called Wireless isolation & it shouldn't be more than few clicks to enable it.

Note : Above screenshots are taken from Netgear & may vary from one router manufacturer to other.

Related Solutions

Public/Private IP addresses

First, understand that any idea of network classes lost its relevance sometime in the mid 1990's. Protocols where classes were significant have versions that accept subnet masks as additional parameters and do not care about what class an IP address is in.

There are three ranges of private IP addresses, and one for each class, but the class doesn't have any meaning anymore, unless you are using an ancient protocol that doesn't let you specify a subnet mask with IP addresses. What does have meaning is the subnet associated with each "class":

RFC1918 name    IP address range                subnet mask     
24-bit block    10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255       /8  or 255.0.0.0
20-bit block    172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255     /12 or 255.240.0.0
16-bit block    192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255   /16 or 255.255.0.0

If your company is really distributing private addresses to customers (this is called Carrier Grade NAT), then you are stuck with what your ISP provides as far as the interface where your computer or network connects to the ISP.

Second, your router has two interfaces. One faces the IP and receives an IP from your ISP's DHCP server. The other is facing your network and completely up to you what you do with. Now, if you are going to reuse any addresses your ISP is using, then you will have to juggle some complex NAT rules. A consumer-level router may not support such complex NAT rules - a Linux PC with iptables can do it but it's difficult to set up.

So, it is possible, but usually a lot easier to just select a range your ISP is not using. It doesn't matter which one. 10.0.0.0/8 is typically what businesses choose by convention, but it is just a convention.

Now, with the right NAT setup, you could pick any IP range out of thin air and use it on your home network. However, if your configuration has an error, traffic destined for your home network may go to external hosts instead. The above "private" IP ranges are agreed to be "non-routable" - if they happen to make it to your ISP, your ISP is supposed to drop them. With carrier-grade NAT being an exception of course. So if you use a private IP range that your ISP is not using, it protects you from a consequence of accidental misconfiguration.

Networking – Who owned 192.168.x.x IP address

It appears that your ISP uses 192.168.1.0/24 for something inside their network. When you are bridged to their network, you see whatever they've setup machines on their network to see. It's possible that someone messed up and these were intended to be private, but it's also possible that they were intended to be reachable by you.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Public/Private IP addresses

Networking – Who owned 192.168.x.x IP address

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