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Network Techy Question

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  Network Techy Question "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-05-21 10:15 +0000
    Re: Network Techy Question Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-05-21 11:52 +0100
      Re: Network Techy Question "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-05-21 11:20 +0000
        Re: Network Techy Question Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-05-21 13:05 +0100
      Re: Network Techy Question Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2026-05-21 12:41 +0100
        Re: Network Techy Question "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-05-21 11:49 +0000
          Re: Network Techy Question Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-05-21 13:11 +0100
            Re: Network Techy Question "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-05-21 12:58 +0000
              Re: Network Techy Question Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2026-05-21 14:29 +0100
                Re: Network Techy Question "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-05-21 13:45 +0000
                  Re: Network Techy Question Mike Scott <usenet.16@scottsonline.org.uk.invalid> - 2026-05-21 15:29 +0100
                  Re: Network Techy Question Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2026-05-21 22:29 +0100
              Re: Network Techy Question Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-05-21 15:26 +0100
    Re: Network Techy Question Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-05-21 21:33 +0200
    Re: Network Techy Question Raj Kundra <raj@kundracomputers.co.uk> - 2026-05-24 21:00 +0100
    Re: Network Techy Question Raj Kundra <raj@kundracomputers.co.uk> - 2026-05-24 21:17 +0100

#60567 — Network Techy Question

I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my 
Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.

They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices 
connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!

Presumably they can tap into my router?

Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs can 
speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond my 
ability.

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant

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#60568

Jeff Gaines wrote:

> I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my 
> Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.
> 
> They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices 
> connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!

Seems pretty low, what router is it?

> Presumably they can tap into my router?

Supplied by them? Yes.

Even without, they might use deep packet inspection to get clues about 
what's connected.

> Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs 
> can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond 
> my ability.
There's good ways to do it (Separate SSIDs/VLANs and firewall rules) but 
there are "other" ways of doing it - e.g. for devices you want to have 
no internet, give them a non-existent gateway address.

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#60571

On 21/05/2026 in message <n786gmFo0udU1@mid.individual.net> Andy Burns 
wrote:

>Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
>>I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my  
>>Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.
>>
>>They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices  
>>connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!
>
>Seems pretty low, what router is it?

Original Plusnet 1, they are sending me an upgrade.

>>Presumably they can tap into my router?
>
>Supplied by them? Yes.
>
>Even without, they might use deep packet inspection to get clues about 
>what's connected.
>
>>Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs  
>>can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond  my 
>>ability.
>There's good ways to do it (Separate SSIDs/VLANs and firewall rules) but 
>there are "other" ways of doing it - e.g. for devices you want to have no 
>internet, give them a non-existent gateway address.

Wouldn't that stop them communicating with each other though?

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Most people have heard of Karl Marx the philosopher but few know of his 
sister Onya the Olympic runner.
Her name is still mentioned at the start of every race.

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#60574

Jeff Gaines wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
> 
>> There's good ways to do it (Separate SSIDs/VLANs and firewall rules) 
>> but there are "other" ways of doing it - e.g. for devices you want to 
>> have no internet, give them a non-existent gateway address.
> 
> Wouldn't that stop them communicating with each other though?
No, machines on the same subnet can directly communicate without a 
default gateway ...

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#60572

Andy Burns wrote:

> 
>> Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs 
>> can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond 
>> my ability.
> There's good ways to do it (Separate SSIDs/VLANs and firewall rules) but 
> there are "other" ways of doing it - e.g. for devices you want to have 
> no internet, give them a non-existent gateway address.

Or two routers, one for the isolated devices.  That router's WAN port 
connects to your internet router.

There can be any number of restrictions or openings, depending on the 
capabilities of the routers.

Find a local contractor with network knowledge and discuss what you 
actually require.  Be prepared to pay sensible money.

-- 
Graham J

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#60573

On 21/05/2026 in message <10umr14$n4hs$1@dont-email.me> Graham J wrote:

>Andy Burns wrote:
>
>>
>>>Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs  
>>>can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond  my 
>>>ability.
>>There's good ways to do it (Separate SSIDs/VLANs and firewall rules) but  
>>there are "other" ways of doing it - e.g. for devices you want to have  no 
>>internet, give them a non-existent gateway address.
>
>Or two routers, one for the isolated devices.  That router's WAN port 
>connects to your internet router.
>
>There can be any number of restrictions or openings, depending on the 
>capabilities of the routers.
>
>Find a local contractor with network knowledge and discuss what you 
>actually require.  Be prepared to pay sensible money.

This is a homebuilt group :-)

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
This joke was so funny when I heard it for the first time I fell of my 
dinosaur.

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#60575

Jeff Gaines wrote:

> Graham J wrote:
> >> There can be any number of restrictions or openings, depending on the
>> capabilities of the routers.
>>
>> Find a local contractor with network knowledge and discuss what you 
>> actually require.  Be prepared to pay sensible money.
> 
> This is a homebuilt group :-)
People moan about Draytek routers being expensive, but they allow 
multiple segregated LAN subnets, even if you don't have a VLAN capable 
switch, you can connect one router LAN port to one switch with the 
"internet" devices, and another LAN port to another switch for 
"non-internet" devices ...

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#60576

On 21/05/2026 in message <n78b3pFon6rU1@mid.individual.net> Andy Burns 
wrote:

>Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
>>Graham J wrote:
>>>>There can be any number of restrictions or openings, depending on the
>>>capabilities of the routers.
>>>
>>>Find a local contractor with network knowledge and discuss what you  
>>>actually require.  Be prepared to pay sensible money.
>>
>>This is a homebuilt group :-)
>People moan about Draytek routers being expensive, but they allow multiple 
>segregated LAN subnets, even if you don't have a VLAN capable switch, you 
>can connect one router LAN port to one switch with the "internet" devices, 
>and another LAN port to another switch for "non-internet" devices ...

What about bringing one of my Gen8 microservers into use. They have 2 x 
NIC sockets, one could use 192.168.1.n - with the router on 192.168.1.1 
and the other socket 192.168.2.n. the .2 then being used by other computers?

I could either user fixed IP addresses or set up a DHCP server on the Gen8 
for the .2 network?

The kit in the WiFi cabinet would have to stay on .1 because it needs 
Internet access.

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day.
Tomorrow, isn't looking good either.

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#60577

Jeff Gaines wrote:

[snip]

> 
> What about bringing one of my Gen8 microservers into use. They have 2 x 
> NIC sockets, one could use 192.168.1.n - with the router on 192.168.1.1 
> and the other socket 192.168.2.n. the .2 then being used by other 
> computers?
> 
> I could either user fixed IP addresses or set up a DHCP server on the 
> Gen8 for the .2 network?
> 
> The kit in the WiFi cabinet would have to stay on .1 because it needs 
> Internet access.

So you will have to learn about networks.  You may get a certain amount 
of free help here, but you've no guarantee as to how trustworthy it will 
be.  Most respondents will offer different and mutually incompatible 
solutions.

You may have to start by specifying in detail what you have and what you 
want to achieve.



-- 
Graham J

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#60578

On 21/05/2026 in message <10un1bl$p2to$1@dont-email.me> Graham J wrote:

>Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>
>>What about bringing one of my Gen8 microservers into use. They have 2 x  
>>NIC sockets, one could use 192.168.1.n - with the router on 192.168.1.1  
>>and the other socket 192.168.2.n. the .2 then being used by other  
>>computers?
>>
>>I could either user fixed IP addresses or set up a DHCP server on the  
>>Gen8 for the .2 network?
>>
>>The kit in the WiFi cabinet would have to stay on .1 because it needs  
>>Internet access.
>
>So you will have to learn about networks.  You may get a certain amount of 
>free help here, but you've no guarantee as to how trustworthy it will be.  
>Most respondents will offer different and mutually incompatible solutions.

I have always found the advice in here to be excellent, I am still using 
my ASUS Z170-K recommended by Jaimie ten years ago, best mobo I ever bought.

>You may have to start by specifying in detail what you have and what you 
>want to achieve.

I want to split the network so one group of kit has Internet access and a 
different group doesn't but all kit can communicate with each other. I 
can't itemise my spares box because over the years it has become a spares 
room but I do have a network card with 4 sockets and may even have some 
old modem/routers :-)

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

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#60581

On 21/05/2026 14:45, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> I want to split the network so one group of kit has Internet access and 
> a different group doesn't but all kit can communicate with each other. I 
> can't itemise my spares box because over the years it has become a 
> spares room but I do have a network card with 4 sockets and may even 
> have some old modem/routers 🙂

Ok, set up your own router and use the firewall to govern what can talk 
where. You can use a triple-homed machine, and two subnets, or a 
dual-homed one and select by IP address - you'll to think about (DHCP) 
address allocation as well as firewalling and routing.

One of your box's interfaces connects to the ISP's box and only that, 
your network(s) are spread across the others.

I did it once (FreeBSD box), it was fun but it really wasn't worth the 
extra hassle. As a side benefit, you can monitor network traffic more 
easily though.

-- 
Mike Scott
Harlow, England

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#60584

Jeff Gaines wrote:

[snip]
> 
> I want to split the network so one group of kit has Internet access and 
> a different group doesn't but all kit can communicate with each other. I 
> can't itemise my spares box because over the years it has become a 
> spares room but I do have a network card with 4 sockets and may even 
> have some old modem/routers :-)

Get a router (Draytek would be a good choice) that supports VLANs, and 
if necessary a network switch that also supports VLANs so you can 
connect a larger number of clients.

Configure the router to control how the VLANs communicate with each 
other and the WAN connection.

OR

Get a second router to support the kit which must not have internet 
access.  Connect the WAN port of this router to your internet router. 
Configure the "private" router's firewall to allow traffic inwards from 
the "Public" router.  If you need to use WiFi configure the routers to 
use different channels and restrict each router's connections to 
specific clients.


-- 
Graham J

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#60580

Jeff Gaines wrote:

> What about bringing one of my Gen8 microservers into use. They have 2 x 
> NIC sockets, one could use 192.168.1.n - with the router on 192.168.1.1 
> and the other socket 192.168.2.n. the .2 then being used by other 
> computers?

Yes you could do that, have a "non-internet" switch on the second NIC, 
and do *not* enable forwarding on the server

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#60583

Am 21.05.26 um 12:15 schrieb Jeff Gaines:
> 
> I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my 
> Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.

Did the sync speed of DSL/DOCSIS etc. change or only the measured speed 
from your devices?

> They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices 
> connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!

That sounds like nonsense to reject customer tickets.

To measure the actual speed, connect your computer using a cable and 
disconnect any other device.

> Presumably they can tap into my router?

If they gave it to you, the probably have a way to do this.
You can buy your own and have them out.

> Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs 
> can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond 
> my ability.

Not without some effort.

-- 
Gruß
Marco

Spam bitte an abfalleimer2001@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

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#60589

On 21/05/2026 11:15, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> 
> I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my 
> Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.
> 
> They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices 
> connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!
> 
> Presumably they can tap into my router?
> 
> Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs 
> can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond 
> my ability.
> 
Buy a cheap used 16/24Port HP Managed switch from e bay. Connect all 
devices to switch. Then connect switch to Router using one pot on 
router. Then you can manage all devices etc using switch software.

-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com

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#60590

On 21/05/2026 11:15, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> 
> I just spoke to Plusnet, who want to take my landline away, and said my 
> Internet speed had dropped from 30 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s over the last 4 years.
> 
> They ran a check and said I had 5 WiFi devices and 12 wired devices 
> connected to my router which is only designed to connect  3 devices!
> 
> Presumably they can tap into my router?
> 
> Is there a way to run 2 different networks at home whereby all the PCs 
> can speak to each other but only some have Internet access? Way beyond 
> my ability.
> 
Ah, Make sure it is Layer 3 switch.

-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com

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