How a virtual LAN can better protect your home network - and the best way to get started

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Picture this scenario: You have one local area network (LAN) at home. On that network, you have your desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and IoT devices , such as thermostats, smart TVs, speakers, and more.

Your IoT devices can see other devices and vice versa. Even though the IoT devices have considerably less security than your desktops and laptops, they are allowed to connect to the same network.

Also: The best VPN routers: Expert tested and reviewed

Then, one fateful day, an IoT device is hacked. Malware is injected into the device, which then spreads to your desktops and laptops. Next thing you know, a hacker has your bank account information and is stealing your money.

All of this happened because an insecure thermostat had access to your desktop PC.

But what if you could avoid that scenario? You can, thanks to VLANs.

VLAN stands for virtual local area network. Without getting too deep into the muck and mire of network terminology, a virtual LAN is like a secondary network within your LAN that's isolated from the rest of your network. Your primary LAN might have an address scheme like 192.168.1.x, and your VLAN might have an address scheme like 192.168.2.x.