Single guest network where devices can interact

[BGood]

Can I create a single guest network where devices can interact with each other and reach the internet but cannot reach the devices on any other network on my router? I want guests to be able to show pictures from their cell phones on my TV. The TV doesn't need to talk to other devices on my main network. (It doesn't really need to talk to the internet, either, because I have a Roku for that.)

So, is there an easy way to set this up?

 

[bennor]

It might be helpful if you post your router and it's firmware.

Don't remember offhand if the default Guest Network feature on Asus routers blocks Guest Network WiFi clients from talking to each other. If it does then one option, if using Asus-Merlin firmware is to use YazFi. Note that YazFi only works on the main router not AiMesh nodes (or AP nodes).

[Wireless Router] How to set up Guest Network on ASUS Router? | Official Support | ASUS Global

YazFi - YazFi v4.x - continued

v4.4.4 Updated 2023-11-26 Feature expansion of guest WiFi networks on AsusWRT-Merlin, including, but not limited to: * Dedicated VPN WiFi networks * Separate subnets for organisation of devices * Restrict guests to only contact router for ICMP, DHCP, DNS, NTP and NetBIOS * Allow guest networks...

www.snbforums.com

 

[BGood]

It might be helpful if you post your router and it's firmware.

Don't remember offhand if the default Guest Network feature on Asus routers blocks Guest Network WiFi clients from talking to each other. If it does then one option, if using Asus-Merlin firmware is to use YazFi. Note that YazFi only works on the main router not AiMesh nodes (or AP nodes).

[Wireless Router] How to set up Guest Network on ASUS Router? | Official Support | ASUS Global

YazFi - YazFi v4.x - continued

v4.4.4 Updated 2023-11-26 Feature expansion of guest WiFi networks on AsusWRT-Merlin, including, but not limited to: * Dedicated VPN WiFi networks * Separate subnets for organisation of devices * Restrict guests to only contact router for ICMP, DHCP, DNS, NTP and NetBIOS * Allow guest networks...

www.snbforums.com

Thanks, I'll have to look into YazFi.

 

[BGood]

How much care and feeding does YazFi need? Do I need to add a flash drive? Do I need to disable it to upgrade Merlin? How do I back up the settings?

Thanks

 

[bennor]

How much care and feeding does YazFi need? Do I need to add a flash drive? Do I need to disable it to upgrade Merlin? How do I back up the settings?

YazFi generally is set and forget. You do not need a flash drive or USB hard drive. YazFi is installed to and resides in the JFFS directory in the Asus-Merlin router. You do not need to disable it to update to a newer Asus-Merlin firmware. One can backup the YazFi configuration file if they want or need to. The configuration file is: /jffs/addons/YazFi.d/config Or one can just screen shot or copy the information on the YazFi GUI page located in the Guest Network section.

See the previously provided YazFi link for more information. Or see the GitHub page for YazFi for information:

GitHub - jackyaz/YazFi: Feature expansion of guest WiFi networks on AsusWRT-Merlin, including SSID -> VPN, separate subnets per guest network, pinhole access to LAN resources (e.g. DNS) and more!

Feature expansion of guest WiFi networks on AsusWRT-Merlin, including SSID -> VPN, separate subnets per guest network, pinhole access to LAN resources (e.g. DNS) and more! - jackyaz/YazFi

github.com

Note: YazFi does not work on AP or AiMesh nodes.

 

[BGood]

Thanks for your responses! Hopefully last question: Is there a way I can keep 2 or 3 of my devices on that guest network from talking to the Internet? (I want them talking to each other, though.)

 

[bennor]

Is there a way I can keep 2 or 3 of my devices on that guest network from talking to the Internet? (I want them talking to each other, though.)

Yes. But you will likely have to use custom scripting to accomplish what you seek if you want to block only specific YazFi clients. To block Internet access for all YazFi clients on a specific Guest Network one can do so from the YazFi GUI or CLI. See the custom firewall rules section on the YazFi GitHub page for more on using custom scripting with YazFi:
https://github.com/jackyaz/YazFi?tab=readme-ov-file#custom-firewall-rules

Some examples of trying to use custom scripting to block specific YazFi clients from accessing the internet is discussed in the following post and in several posts later on that same page:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/yazfi-v4-x.70308/page-22#post-736463
And more discussion in this older YazFi thread:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/disable-internet-access.76382/

A suggestion. if you haven't done so already. Use the subforum forum filter and search features in the Add-On's subforum to see the various discussions on YazFi. A lot of questions on how to use and configure it for specific use environments have been previously asked and discussed. There is a lot of information to be found and learned from in the prior YazFi discussions.

 

[BGood]

@bennor

Sorry I've been remiss in posting back, but I wanted to thank you for all your help with this YazFi topic! It was invaluable and finally let me do what I had long wanted. I even got some unexpected uses out of it as well. So thanks, again!