VLANs for IoT devices worth it?

DHR

DHR

Soldato
Joined
30 Apr 2003
Posts
3,476
I'm on the verge of buying an unmanaged switch to save a few quid, but then I've momentarily started wondering whether VLANs are the way to go again.

I'm more bothered security wise by things like Hikvision and YiHome cameras etc. than the more mainstream brands, Philips hue, hive etc. but I am contemplating the benefits.

I use my mobile & wifi frequently to access most of that stuff so the care free person in me thinks it's more hassle than it's worth, but I know it's potentially not the case though.

List of devices...

Hive
Philips Hue Bridge
Hikvision NVR + camera wired
3 x YiHome cameras
Roon Rock NUC
2 x QNAP
Sonos (Various)
...usual console, PC, TV, firesticks etc.

So out of the above, I'd like to segregate YiHome from everything else, but have it accessing the web so I can use the cloud service via my phone, just not sure if it's worth the hassle or not though.
 
It's something I do, I have everything separate in its own VLAN, one for cameras, one for IoT devices. They can't talk to anything but the internet. It also allows me to have a WiFi network on 2.4 Ghz only for IoT which I've assigned to one of my Access Points, allowing the other to not be bogged down by slower devices. It's worth setting it up as some devices are not very secure and IoT devices are widely used in botnet attacks.
 
It depends. If you're going to just move the IoT devices to a new VLAN and then have open communication between the VLANs then don't bother.

I've got my IoT devices in a separate VLAN and have blocked all comms from the IoT VLAN to main VLAN except for DNS lookups on my Pi-Holes.
 
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