Home Network Subnets: A Beginner's Guide

You don't need to be a network engineer to subnet your home. Here's a practical guide to setting up separate networks for different device types.

Why Subnet Your Home?

Default: 192.168.1.0/24 (or 192.168.0.0/24)
Router: 192.168.1.1 (or 192.168.0.1)
Range: 192.168.1.1 - 254

This is what most routers give you out of the box. Fine for 20-30 devices, but you can't isolate device types.

Main:    192.168.1.0/24   (computers, phones)
IoT:     192.168.2.0/24   (smart bulbs, sensors)
Guest:   192.168.3.0/24   (visitor devices)

Some routers support VLANs (Virtual LANs). Examples:

Router 1: Main network (192.168.1.1/24)
Router 2: IoT network (192.168.2.1/24)
Router 3: Guest network (192.168.3.1/24)

Connect each secondary router to the main router's LAN port, not WAN.

VLAN 1: Main devices
VLAN 10: IoT devices
VLAN 20: Guest

This requires more setup but gives you unified WiFi names.

10.0.1.0/24     (or 192.168.1.0/24) → Main
10.0.2.0/24     (or 192.168.2.0/24) → IoT
10.0.3.0/24     (or 192.168.3.0/24) → Guest

Avoid 10.0.0.0/24 - too confusing when other ranges exist at 10.x.x.x.

Many routers have "client isolation" or "AP isolation" - this is simpler than full subnetting:

Start with guest WiFi isolation if your router supports it. Add VLANs later if needed.