RHEL6 and Cisco WRVS4400N Networking

Background

This weekend I decided to upgrade my home network with a Cisco WRVS4400N wireless router. Like a typical router it can provide standard wireless services WPA2, DHCP, etc, but the this model also provides support for four distinct VLANs and four distinct SSIDs. This has allowed me to create separate networks for work, play, and a renter who resides in an upstairs apartment.

 

Table of Contents

Basics

The goal of this network setup was to have three distinct SSIDs connected to three different VLANs. This would allow me to separate traffic for work, play, and a renter. Here are the main objectives:

  1. Create three VLANs mapped to three different SSIDs
  2. Allow Cisco router to provide DHCP service on VLAN 1 (virbr0)
  3. Allow RHEL6 Server to provide DHCP service on VLAN 2 (virbr1)
  4. Allow Cisco router to provide DHCP service on VLAN 3. VLAN 3 is a non-standard VLAN only at DC4 which provides Internet access to the rental unit.

The goal was to have the RHEL6 provide the exact same IP addresses that are provided on VLAN 2 because it is bridged to virbr2 which is attached to all virtual machines created on the RHEL6 server and RHEV Cluster that is housed at DC4. This allows all new virtual machines and physical machines to communicate with all of the crunchtools.com network

 

Caveats

There is a caveat with regard to DHCP. According to the this post, the Cisco WRVS4400N cannot pass the RHEL 6 provided DHCP to the wireless network because of some missmatch with the wireless and switched network modules. This means that when a laptop is connected to VLAN 2, it must be assigned a manual IP address.

 

 

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