New ISP router has no guest network. How to separate IOT devices?

[harinder]

I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to networking so this night be a basic question.

I've always only bought a modem from my ISP and always used my own router.
This time though, they gave me a modem+router combo device - it's a Technicolor XB8. But to my surprise this fancy thing does not have a guest network config.

Since my house is wired, I put the Asus router on the main floor and hooked it's WAN port to XB8. So all my APs are still there and all devices are working. This allows my IOT devices to use the guest network on the Asus. But I don't think this is really separating them out as I want. I don't know how to test this though.

My end goal is to have a setup similar to what I had with Asus router.
- All my home devices (PCs and phones) go on the main wifi
- All IOT, work PC, guests go on the "guest" network (I had these on their separate guest networks but at this point I'd settle for just one guest network)

I read else where that the Profiles functionality of XB8 might be useful. The idea is that every time you add a new device, assign it to a profile. But profiles only appear to be for setting up internet access duration and not to separate out various devices on the network.

Sorry for the ramble. Looking for suggestions.

 

[tgl]

Put the XB8 into bridge mode, then pretend it isn't there and keep on using your preferred router. ISP-supplied routers are notoriously bottom-of-the-heap gear when it comes to features and configurability.

 

[harinder]

ah perfect! Thank you so much!

 

[sfx2000]

Put the XB8 into bridge mode, then pretend it isn't there and keep on using your preferred router. ISP-supplied routers are notoriously bottom-of-the-heap gear when it comes to features and configurability.

Always interesting and I agree on the config items - that being said, out of the box, the most recent crop of service provider CPE is pretty decent on wireless performance, and they're getting clued in on things like QoS...

for most folks - the residential gateways do a better job than most off the shelf router/AP's these days...

 

[Ripshod]

Always interesting and I agree on the config items - that being said, out of the box, the most recent crop of service provider CPE is pretty decent on wireless performance, and they're getting clued in on things like QoS...

for most folks - the residential gateways do a better job than most off the shelf router/AP's these days...

Seems not so in the the UK. Most ISPs are providing very capable router's but with dumbed down firmware. If a user can't change settings they can't get in trouble, reducing the calls to support and saving money on contracts to call centres.
Vodafone UK are a great example - can't even split wifi bands or specify channels.

 

[tgl]

Most ISPs are providing very capable router's but with dumbed down firmware.

Yeah, I think we're all saying about the same thing here. For instance, the Verizon CR1000A FiOS router that's sitting on my shelf at the moment was pretty top-of-the-line hardware when I got it a year and a half ago: WiFi 6E, 10G WAN port, one 10G LAN port and a couple more 2.5G. Not much to complain about there, and the average residential user would be perfectly happy with the software too. But if you're the sort of person who wants to configure their own firewall rules, or create anything beyond a very basic guest wifi SSID, you won't be happy for long. It's not very configurable, and there's a bunch of undocumented hard-wired magic for things like their streaming TV service.