Description:

For some scenarios, it may be sufficient to provide a guest network in the LAN only. This may be the case where access points already exist and an IP address from the guest network should be assigned to them. With just a few changes to the configuration, the guest network can be used both in the LAN and in the Wi-Fi, provided that there is a router with an integrated WLAN module available.

This article describes how to set up a simple guest network in the LAN or LAN/Wi-Fi on a LANCOM router.


Requirements:


Scenario:

Scenario 1: The guest network is provided on the LAN only


Scenario 2: The guest network is provided both in the LAN and on the Wi-Fi

This scenario requires a router with an integrated WLAN module.

If additional access points should be used to transmit the Wi-Fi for both networks, you will need to use VLAN. This scenario is described in this Knowledge Base article.


Procedure:

The configuration of both scenarios is basically very similar. In addition to the configuration of the WLAN module, scenario 2 merely requires the modification of a few interface assignments.

1) Configuring a guest network on the LAN:

1.1) Open the router configuration in LANconfig, go to the menu Interfaces → LAN → Ethernet ports and choose one of the free Ethernet ports for the guest network.

1.2) Assign a previously unused logical LAN interface to the Ethernet port selected in step 1.1 (in this example LAN-2).

1.3) Go to the Port table menu.

As of LCOS 10.42 the Port table is located in the menu Interfaces → LAN → LAN bridge.

1.4) Make sure that the logical LAN interface assigned in step 1.2 (in this example LAN-2) is not assigned to a bridge group.

1.5) Switch to the menu IPv4 → General → IP networks. 

1.6) Click Add to create the guest network.

1.7) Enter the following parameters:

Networks that have been given an interface tag can only communicate with networks that share the same interface tag. 

This also means that the network INTRANET, which has the interface tag 0, is able to communicate with all networks, whatever interface tag they have. This makes it easier to access the GUEST network from the INTRANET network. Conversely, GUEST network users cannot communicate with the INTRANET network.

1.8) Switch to the menu IPv4 → DHCPv4 → DHCP networks.

1.9) Create a new entry and adjust the following parameters:

If the addresses for the DHCP clients and the name server addresses are all set to 0.0.0.0, the router sets its own IP address as the gateway and DNS server on this network, and it can use all of the free IP addresses on this network for address assignment. You can adjust the individual parameters if necessary.

1.10) This concludes the configuration. Write the configuration back to the router.


2) Differing configuration steps for setting up a guest network on the LAN and Wi-Fi:

The following steps are required in addition to the steps in the chapter 1) Configuring a guest network on the LAN: assuming that Wi-Fi should be made available on the guest network as well as the LAN.

2.1) Switch to the menu Wireless LAN → General → Physical WLAN settings.

2.2) On the Operation tab, modify the following parameters:

2.3) Change to the menu Logical WLAN settings and select an unused logical WLAN interface (in this example, the WLAN network 2).

2.4) Enter the following parameters:

The feature Data traffic between stations requires the protocol IAPP (Inter Access Point Protocol). If the access point does not support this, this communication cannot be prevented!

IAPP is supported by all LANCOM WLAN routers and access points.

2.5) Change to the tab Encryption and, under Key 1/passphrase, set a WPA key which must be entered on devices wanting to authenticate at the Wi-Fi.

We do not recommend that you operate an unencrypted network without operating a further restriction, such as the Public Spot, otherwise anyone can connect to the Wi-Fi.

2.6) Navigate to the menu Interfaces → LAN → Port table.

2.7) Assign the interfaces that are to be used for the guest network (see steps 1.2 and 2.3) to a previously unused bridge group (in this case BRG-2).

  

2.8) The Port table should now appear as follows:

2.9) Switch to the menu IPv4 → General → IP networks.

2.10) Edit the Guest network and, under Interface assignment, select the bridge group assigned in step 2.7 (in this example the BRG-2).

2.11) This concludes the configuration. Write the configuration back to the router.