Real IPs for k3s: MetalLB, VLANs, and Why I Had to Buy a Switch

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

I wanted two things:

a k3s cluster on my Proxmox mini-PCs with three nodes and
a Service type=LoadBalancer which actually gets a real, reachable IP — the way it would in the cloud.

The former was just getting three cheap mini PCs for my Frankencluster (Morefine M8, Minisforum UM700 and GMKtec NucBox M5).

The latter took me buying a managed switch, a VLAN redesign, a firewall VM, and a zero-trust overlay to get there. This post is the story of how a “just install MetalLB” afternoon turned into rebuilding the network underneath it — and why it was actually necessary.

Networking on René Welches

Real IPs for k3s: MetalLB, VLANs, and Why I Had to Buy a Switch