i have a wireless network at home. I work from home through a vpn. my kids come over with their friends and allow them access to my network by sharing the pass phrase. I need to know if I could set up a separate network for them to use with out having to purchase more or new equipment.
3 Answers
In short, you'll need more equipment.
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1I don't think this is necessarily true, and even if it is, you should provide a rationale for why you think that. There are other posts here explaining some potential workarounds.– nhinkleJan 19, 2011 at 7:46
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The equipment in use is (very likely) not capable of doing what is needed to segregate the data into two distinct networks. There's lots of workarounds and solutions, but they'll mostly involve more kit. The best solution would be a second access point on another wifi channel, and the firewall built into the router in use currently. Another workaround would be wifi station isolation, if it even supports that. If it was my private traffic though I'd want it on its own device, and not wifi, either.– SirexJan 19, 2011 at 9:47
It could be possible depending on the router you have. However it will not be easy. I think your best chance is try a custom firmware supported by your router, probably dd-wrt, check the documentation and try to follow some tutorials.
Another possibility is to get a router that creates two wifi networks. Some solutions to share the Internet connection works that way like the fonera. It will create a public network for everyone with a Fon account and a private network for you. It's not a very clean solution but is probably the easiest without expensive hardware.
A "No solution" that will just mitigate the problem is to change the parameters of the router momentarily so you have a different network when they are connected. There could be some conflicts and not be a practical solution if it has to be done many times or if your goal is preventing the other computers from accessing the same LAN and not just protect the pass phrase.
Unless you have a router with multiple radios (like the D-Link DIR-825 which has one radio for B/G/N and another for A) then you cannot setup "dual" wireless networks without purchasing more hardware.