Vlan of MX65

[nbk]

I want to explore  utilizing multiple Vlans so I can have users assigned different IPs but still on the same network considering I am running out of the allocation I have for 192.168.1.0/24 - VLAN 1. I use the MX for DHCP

My configuration is ISP >>> MX65>> Non Meraki Switch>>> NOn Meraki Switch, AP(Open MesH) >>> Clients (terminals, phones,tablets) Thanks and regard

[Nash]

Your primary question is whether or not you can manage your switches. Can you setup VLANs on the switches themselves?

If you can setup VLANs, how much routing are you expecting to do? The MX can do some, but may get bogged down if you have A Lot going on.

In order to use a vlan, you're going to need to draw it from your source of routing through your switches and exit at your endpoints. It looks like your WAP is also a cloud solution, so you're going to have to draw the VLAN to your AP, and ensure that your SSIDs are configured to assign devices to the correct vlan.

Assuming all that - check out this doc for how to setup vlans on the MX itself: https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/Networks_and_Routing/Configuring_VLANs_on_the_MX_Security_Applia...

[nbk]

Thanks @Nash

[MerakiDave · Accepted solution]

Without trying to invite debate on properly sizing broadcast domains (different topic with many variables to consider) if the only issue is IP address exhaustion on your one VLAN, perhaps instead of introducing an additional VLAN just for more addresses, you might simply change the subnet mask to /23 and that way you can keep a single VLAN but with 512 addresses.  So you could make this the 192.168.0.0/23 subnet and have 510 host addresses from 192.168.0.1 through 192.168.1.254.  (Subnet bitmap of 10nnnnnn.nnnnnnnn.sssssssh.hhhhhhhh)

[nbk]

@MerakiDave
Thanks for the insight....Purely mine is IP address exhaustion issue here well for now nad I would truly would love to explore this further given I get to do less of redoing the reservation list. So how do I actually do this without affecting the 192.168.1.1-254 lineage I already have running?
Thanks

[Nash]

I'd plan for an outage.

If you change your subnet mask, you're going to have to update that on all devices with static IP configs. 

Force devices on DHCP to refresh their IP address, and they should be updated. If you've got that outage window, you can also reboot your MX in order to clear its DHCP leases, if I recall correctly. I don't believe there's any other way to force an MX to clear its leases.

[sfalloon]

*Disclaimer* I'm a noob to the Meraki platform, just want to see if I could help somehow with the chain of thought. 

I am thinking you could use VLSM to split up your network into the parts you need. For example, using network address 192.168.1.0/24, one could divide it into four subnets of 62 hosts /26 mask. Each subnet will represent a vlan. Under Addressing and Vlan you'd enter the subnet, vlan ID, Name, MX IP and group policy if you have one.

Example:

  Subnet                    V_ID        Name              MX IP          G_P 

192.168.1.0/26           10          Sales         192.168.1.1       None

Then under DHCP, each vlan you created should come up with the option to configure DHCP for it.

example:

VLAN 10 (Sales)192.168.1.0/26
Client addressing: Run a DHCP server
Lease time: 1 Day
DNS nameservers: Enter your own or use google DNS depending on your needs

Add reservations if required.

Next, set one of the MX's port to Trunk which would be connected to the 1st non-Meraki switch and allow the vlans you created.

While on that switch you would trunk the corresponding link back to the MX, create the vlans and also configure a trunk port to the 2nd non-Meraki switch, trunk the corresponding link back to the 1st switch and create the vlans. just to assign the ports to the respective vlans. Also, set your default gateway to the ip of the MX on both switches.

I hope I didn't miss anything important, but if I did hopefully someone can point it out and we both can learn from the experience.

I think all that is left is to for you, however, is to select the most appropriate netmask for your network's needs and you should be good.

[PhilipDAth]

Change the subnet mask from a /24 to a /23 to allow twice as many clients.