Subnetting w/AXE16000 and MoCA

[Zim]

I recently read about how subnetting can reduce broadcast traffic in busy networks and improve performance, which is particularly of interest since I have nearly 200 devices. I've noticed that my IoT devices can be slow to respond, possibly due to high latency.

Not knowing much about subnetting, I spent several hours learning and started tinkering with my setup. Below is a diagram of what I’m trying to achieve, including details on IPs and subnets. I also followed this link to set up Static Routes on the main router so that computers can access the file server.

Hardware:​

• All Asus AXE16000 routers (running Merlin firmware 3004.388.8_2) connected to the main router via MoCA adapters.

Objective:​

• Create separate subnets for load balancing and to reduce broadcast traffic, thus improving network performance.
• Ensure all subnets can access (read/write to) the file server connected to the main router.

Achievements:​

• Successfully created subnets.
• Subnet routers are configured as routers, and devices connected to them (both Ethernet and WiFi) can access the internet.
• Devices connected to subnet routers can ping each other and access each other’s configuration pages.

Problems:​

1. Devices connected to the subnet routers cannot access files on the file server, although they can ping it and tracert works fine (less than 4 ms).
2. Devices connected directly to the main router via MoCA adapters experience extremely slow connectivity (tracert shows over 3000ms response time). They can see the directory listing on the file server, but opening files takes a long time, and internet access is also very slow. This issue did not exist in AiMesh mode.

Questions:​

1. Should the subnet routers have NAT and DHCP enabled?
2. If I’m running AdGuard and Unbound on the main router, will all traffic be filtered through those? I want all traffic to benefit from AdGuard. Do I need to configure anything differently for this to work?
3. Should static routes be set only on the main router or all routers?

Thank you for your help!

 

[ColinTaylor]

I suggest you don't use 174.50.x.y addresses as they are public addresses owned by Comcast and not intended for private use. Use something from the reserved ranges: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network#Private_IPv4_addresses


Should the subnet routers have NAT and DHCP enabled?
DHCP - Yes. NAT, that depends on the use case.

If I’m running AdGuard and Unbound on the main router, will all traffic be filtered through those?
If the subnet routers are using their default DNS configuration.

Should static routes be set only on the main router or all routers?
Main only