Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement

Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement

Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Saturday - last edited Monday
Model: EAP225-Outdoor  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

Hi all,

 

I have a small Omada setup to cover our home, garage, and backyard. The house is properly wired, and thus all the APs inside are connected via cable. The garage is about 10 meters behind the house and the backyard is located behind the garage. The garage has a metal roof, which severely affect signal strength, thus to have a proper WiFi coverage in the backyard, I use the following setup:

 

ER7212PC <----- wired uplink -----> 1st EAP-225 outdoor (facing the garage) <- - - wireless uplink - - -> 2nd EAP-225 outdoor (facing the house) <----- wired uplink -----> 3rd EAP-225 outdoor (facing the backyard)

 

The 1st EAP-225 outdoor is connected to the router/switch via a wired uplink and is positioned facing the garage. The 2nd EAP-225 outdoor is installed on the garage, facing the house, and connects to the 1st EAP-225 using wireless mesh link to bridge the 10-meter gap between the house and garage. Since the metal roofing of the garage blocks WiFi signals from reaching the backyard, a 3rd EAP-225 outdoor is installed on the opposite wall of the garage, facing the backyard. Instead of relying on wireless mesh, this third access point is connected to the 2nd EAP-225 using wired connection.

 

This setup works well, except for one issue: after a power outage, it's random whether the 2nd or 3rd EAP-225 connects via mesh to the 1st EAP-225. If the 3rd EAP-225 connects first, it has a poor signal (due to the roofing), and the 2nd EAP-225 then connects to the 3rd EAP-225 via cable instead of using the wireless mesh. As a result, overall coverage will be quite bad for both the 2nd and 3rd EAP-225.

 

This situation could easily be resolved if:

  • I could enforce that the 2nd EAP-225 always connects via mesh, while the 3rd EAP-225 uses a wired uplink,
  • or their connecting order could be prioritized,
  • or mesh could be disable for the 3rd EAP-225.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot find any of these possibility in the Omade web interface (hopefully I may overlook something). Do you know if there is any solution to the above issue?

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#1
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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement-Solution
Monday - last edited Monday

Hi  @bankoz 

 

You may refer to the solution in the following post:

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/714906

 

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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement-Solution
Yesterday - last edited Yesterday

Hi  @bankoz 

 

I got another idea. You may have a try:

1. Create a second site;

2. move the backyard EAP to that site;

3. disable the mesh feature for the second site.

 

 

 

The Mesh feature is tied to a site. This is another way to disable the mesh connection for the backyard EAP only.

 

In the meantime, I will record the request, you can also start a vote for the feature.

 

 

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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Sunday

  @bankoz 

 

Nope, you have stumbled across the main weakness in the Omada mesh feature.  There is no fixing this as their is no option in the controller to force a node to behave like a child node.  Right now, if an AP sees an active ethernet link, it assumes it's a root AP.   It's really sad, as it's not rocket science to do.

 

You're going to have to go low tech on this until TP-link adds this functionality.  I suggest something along the lines of a 3-5min time delay on power up.  Somethihng like this, on the POE injector for the backyard unit only, should do :)

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Refrigerator-Ortis-Electronic-Appliances-Abnormalities/dp/B09QCGN82D/

<< Paying it forward, one juicy problem at a time... >>
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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Sunday - last edited Sunday

@d0ug Thanks for the reply and the great idea. I think I’ll just add a time delay capable relay until we get a sw update from TP-Link.

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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement-Solution
Monday - last edited Monday

Hi  @bankoz 

 

You may refer to the solution in the following post:

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/714906

 

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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Monday

  @Vincent-TP Unfortunately the proposed solutions would not help me. 

 

I cannot lower the transmission power for the first EAP-225 as it would affect its coverage, while locking to a fix AP (which is a nice feature btw is also not resolve which EAP would connect first.

 

Is there any possibility to request features for future Omada Controller releases? I think preference of LAN/WiFi Mesh would be a nice addition.

 

In the meantime I found a workaround: I have both V1 and V3 revisions and as their boot up time differs somewhat, there is a determined order which will connect to WiFi.

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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement
Yesterday

  @bankoz 

 

 

Mmmmm ;). I love a good software race condition.  Good on you for finding that 'free' solution!

<< Paying it forward, one juicy problem at a time... >>
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Re:Wired vs. wireless uplink / mesh enforcement-Solution
Yesterday - last edited Yesterday

Hi  @bankoz 

 

I got another idea. You may have a try:

1. Create a second site;

2. move the backyard EAP to that site;

3. disable the mesh feature for the second site.

 

 

 

The Mesh feature is tied to a site. This is another way to disable the mesh connection for the backyard EAP only.

 

In the meantime, I will record the request, you can also start a vote for the feature.

 

 

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#7
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