I have a LAN with a 380 router. It is a mix of static and DHCP, with the DHCP confined to a specific range. I now have about 200 devices at peak times so am concerned that I will soon run out of LAN addresses. What is the process to add more than 254 addresses? Is that what a VLAN does?
Is that what the Extended DHCP Option does?
I am not using WAN port 3, so should I configure that as another LAN segment? Can I have two different LAN address schemes on the same wiring, as in 192.168.50.x and 192.168.51.x? Or is it pointless to have two WAN ports connected to the same network switch?
Let’s start from the DHCP extended option, has nothing to do with what you are looking for.
For having more than 254 clients on one network you have two options:
Option one, assign the subnet mask of 255.255.254.0 so you will have 512 clients or modify accordingly your subnet for more clients. A subnet mask calculator can help on that. This is the simplest way, you need to modify your DHCP server for the subnet mask (computers needs to be rebooted, or power off/on your switch) and for the computers with static its you need to modify the subnet mas as well.
Option two, create multiple VLANs, the Peplink can support it, check your switch if it can supports it.
Your simple method is one, if you decide for two and you need more help let me know.
Jupiter is spot on here. VLAN’s are generally used to isolate networks but in your case you can just change the subnet mask of your DHCP server to allow for more addresses to be handed out.