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I have two networks with the same IP addresses in use and I need to connect them.

I have a third network between the two to connect them but I need to know : - is it possible to communicate iof the IP are the same on both side ? - Which technology to use to configure the router to achieve this ? Do I need NAT, or something else ?

Example : I have network A in 192.168.1.0/24 with one machine 192.168.1.10 I have network B with the same configuration I have a third network C in 192.168.222.0/24 connected to A and C with routeurs How to access the machine on network A with the one on network C ?

John Gardeniers
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Stéphane V
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1 Answers1

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It's very, very ugly. The simplest way is to construct a bridging network with two routers in it, with those two routers connected in the bridging network.

Each bridging router NATs 192.168.1.0/24 to a different /24 inside the bridging network. Assuming 192.168.10.0/24, 192.168.11.0/24, 192.168.3.0/24 are free and 192.168.1.251 is free in each network:

Router 1 works as follows:

  1. Router 1 is assigned IP address 192.168.3.1/24 in the bridging network and 192.168.1.251 in its own network.

  2. Router 1 has a connection to one of the 192.168.1.0/24 networks and NATs 192.168.1.x to and from 192.168.10.x

  3. Router 1 has a route for 192.168.11.0/24 with a next hop of 192.168.3.2 in the bridging network.

Router 2 works as follows:

  1. Router 2 is assigned IP address 192.168.3.2/24 in the bridging network and 192.168.1.251 in its own network.

  2. Router 2 has a connection to the other of the 192.168.1.0/24 networks and NATs 192.168.1.x to and from 192.168.11.x.

  3. Router 2 has a route for 192.168.10.0/24 with a next hop of 192.168.3.1 in the bridging network.

In this way, machines on the 192.168.1.0/24 network connected to router 1 can access machines in the second network by using 192.168.11.0 addresses. Vice-versa for the other network, using 192.168.10.0 addresses.

The default router in each network must be configured to route packets for 192.168.10.0/24 and 192.168.11.0/24 to 192.168.1.251. The routers can be cheap wireless routers running OpenWRT, Tomato, or DD-WRT. These routers can also be used for other purposes. For example, if they're already the default router for their 192.168.1.0/24 network, the configuration is slightly simpler.

While it should be possible to do this with a single router using both SNAT and DNAT, I've never gotten it to work. Others I know have reported similar issues. I believe it's because the ARP system can't handle two distinct ARP entries for the same IP on distinct interfaces.

David Schwartz
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