How can I add another independent network to an already existing one?

Question

I'm planning a network, but unfortunately I'm not professional network admin, so I need your help, please. Here is the picture of what I plan to do:

I have a normal router for internet ADSL connection with WiFi. This router has several PCs connected to it by WiFi and LAN cables (PC1 and PC2). They use router's DHCP to obtain IPs. That is what I have right now.

Now I have to add another network to it, but this network should be independent from those first PCs. All PCs from 10 and above have static IPs. The physical distance between Router and Switch is 50 meters and one of the new PCs has to be connected to router because of its physical position. All of the PCs (1, 2 and 10+) should have access to Internet through the router.

The question is, will this work?

I have to buy and install all the wiring for new PCs and the switch. So before buying it, I would like to ask if the structure is ok. Also I need a bit of help with the configuration of my router, to give access to Internet for all PCs from both networks. What should I look for in configuration?

Answer 1

It depends on the exact capabilities of your router. If it lets you define multiple IP subnets, bind different ports to different subnets and route between subnets then it should all work as you've diagrammed it, but lots of consumer-grade ADSL routers lack this level of flexibility. You'll need to set the router's 192.168.1.x address as the default gateway for the 192.169.0.x subnet to give Internet access to that subnet.

Be aware that 192.169.0.x is not in the IP ranges reserved for private networks by RFC1918, and you could get conflicts with public IP addresses in this range. You'd do better to use something under 172.16-31.x.x or 10.x.x.x for your second subnet.