Mesh Mode when all EAP are detected as wired
My current setup is as follows..
1x EAP610-Outdoor Centrally located and wired to router/modem
2x EAP225-Outdoor Connected to EAP610 via CPE710 in Client Mode on Channel 161 (required for CPE to connect to EAP)
EAP610 SSID EAP610 Central
#1 EAP225 SSID EAP225 Entrance
#2 EAP225 SSID EAP225 Back
If I change all of the EAP to SSID RV Park, is it possible to run as MESH?
I enabled MESH in the controller but it is not taking either because all three EAP225 are showing up as wired and / or I have not set a single SSID.
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Hey
2x EAP225-Outdoor Connected to EAP610 via CPE710 in Client Mode on Channel 161 (required for CPE to connect to EAP)
That is your issue there. If I am reading that right you have a CPE710 sending the SSID to the EAP225.. You wont be able to manage that EAP as its now a repeater and not an access point.
CPEs are designed to be run in pairs, think of it as 2x ends of a wireless cable.
The diagram below shows basically what you are after, hopefully i can talk you through it
OK so basically there is 3 sites, this can be Front, Back Middle whatever is appropiate for you. You are looking to have this as one giant network with one SSID, lets call the SSID "RV Yard" for example..
So you have 3x EAP225s dotted around the yard and each of these is connected to a switch, which then is connected to a CPE710. These CPEs are going to be your link between the 3 sections, think of them as a wireless cable.. it needs two ends.
Starting with Area1, you will setup the CPE with address 192.168.0.101, go the the Area 2 CPE and set it up with address 192.168.0.102 and get it to talk to Area 1 CPE . These may need their own SSID specifically for them and nothing else, something like RVCPELINK would do. Its only to allow them to talk and shouldnt be the same as the RV Yard that you are using for clients.
Once that is working those two areas should be connected as if there is a cable running between them. If you go to the controller on Area 1, it should see both Area 1 and Area 2 EAP225s, adopt these and enable roaming. Means if someone drive into area 1, and moved to area 2 it will move them over without disconnecting and keep the best signal fr them.
Once that working, repeat the same thing with Area 3..
In the end all 3x APs should appear on the controller, each one has the same SSID (RV Yard) and if someone moves around it will switch APs automatically by using roaming.
As far as the CPEs are concerned.. forget about them! They are purely to shift a signal from A to B, thats it.. the controller will not care that you have CPEs in the mix, it will see the connection between Area 1 and Area 2 etc as if its a cable ran, totally none the wiser and it doesnt need to be
However you mentioned you have the 225s currently in Client mode from a CPE. Thats, honestly not the best idea. Client mode is basically a repeater so its very limited and cant be controlled by the Controller, you need the 225s in normal AP mode. Also.. you have a REALLY strong CPE sending data, and a weaker AP sending it back, performance will be poor. CPEs are designed to talk to CPEs, as said these go in pairs. You can however have one CPE talking to 2x CPEs (as per diagram) provided the angles of signal are OK
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@Philbert I basically have what you show in the diagram with the expection of one less CPE710.
I have the two CPE710 in client mode, connected to the EAP610. So I have the below x2 with an EAP610 Outdoor as the central point. I can access and control all the EAP through the controller. I just installed the hardware controller and migrated over. The CPE710 are providing a very strong and fast connection for the EAP225. Full bandwidth of the ISP up and down.
I guess what I was hoping is that I could enable MESH, with the way its configured hardware wise, and clients would benefit from only having one ssid and automatically connecting to the nearest AP, and the data transmission being handled by the CPE, which is much faster.
What is strange is that when I migrated to the hardware controller, and then imported the settings from the original controller, one the APs meshed with the EAP610, even though the switch it is connected to it uplinked by a CPE710.
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Hey
There is a number of contradictions on what you have setup that dont make sense... I fear you have went down the wrong rabbit hole, let me explain
So I have the below x2 with an EAP610 Outdoor as the central point. I can access and control all the EAP through the controller. I just installed the hardware controller and migrated over. The CPE710 are providing a very strong and fast connection for the EAP225. Full bandwidth of the ISP up and down.
So you have setup the CPE with a SSID .. whatever it is and connected the EAP225s to this as Clients? That cant work with the controller as the APs need to be in AP mode and adopt for management via the controller, when you adopt them Client mode isnt an option anymore and it will stop listening to the CPE. Thats what makes me think you have done something wrong here, any chance you could post a screenie from the controller of the APs?
I guess what I was hoping is that I could enable MESH, with the way its configured hardware wise, and clients would benefit from only having one ssid and automatically connecting to the nearest AP, and the data transmission being handled by the CPE, which is much faster.
What you are describing is ROAMING not MESH..
Mesh is simply the ability of AP1 to talk to AP2 directly over a separate WiFi (not through a cable or CPE, literally 20-30meters distance). As you mentioned earlier your APs are too far apart for Mesh to work so it's not an option for you. Two APs can be MESHed together, but that alone wont mean it can roam clients.
What you are referring to is ROAMING, it doesnt require mesh.. it simply requires all the APs (not CPEs) to be adopted by the controller, SSID set on the controller and Roaming enabled. How the actual APs talk to each other, be that Cable, Wireless (Mesh), CPEs or magic is irrelevant, roaming simple needs them talking
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What is strange is that when I migrated to the hardware controller, and then imported the settings from the original controller, one the APs meshed with the EAP610, even though the switch it is connected to it uplinked by a CPE710.
Yeah. When you enable MESH it will bypass any CPE you have in place and try to talk directly, this is not what you want. As you say you want the CPEs to do the heavy lifting here, best disabling MESH
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@Philbert Ok so I will leave the CPE in place with MESH off.
Roaming does not work. I have tried over and over and phones stay connected to the intial AP unless you just leave the park and lose connection completely then come back. Does not really matter since it would really not accomplish anything.
I went with this TPlink setup to simplify the connection process for guests. Having one SSID and automatically connecting to the strongest AP was the goal but its not going to happen unless I add more APs, which is not an option due to power sources. Since that is not going to happen I will likely return all the TPlink and go back to Wavlink.
Philbert wrote
So you have setup the CPE with a SSID .. whatever it is and connected the EAP225s to this as Clients? That cant work with the controller as the APs need to be in AP mode and adopt for management via the controller, when you adopt them Client mode isnt an option anymore and it will stop listening to the CPE. Thats what makes me think you have done something wrong here, any chance you could post a screenie from the controller of the APs?
Yes...the CPE are in client mode, not the APs. The CPE will not have an SSID in client mode. I am controlling them with the controller, making settings changes and viewing network stats one each one. Its working great with the expection of not being able to have MESH mode.
CPE is in client mode. Note AP section is void. Only reference to SSID is the AP it is connected to.
All APs operating normally with CPE710s linking the EAP225s to the EAP610
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I am going to have to be honest here my friend and say I think you should speak to someone local to you who can help you with this.
What you are trying to do is rather a simple setup, one that I have personally installed dozens of times and it works.. roaming and all. There is something you have done incorrectly here and unfortunately, without some screenshots of what you are seeing or more info about how you have set this up, I cannot help you with it.
Roaming requires a controller, that requires all the APs managed. Its fairly simple and will be the same with any other vendor, wavlink included. I do wish you the best in trying to get this working, but honestly at the risk of offending you should get someone who is familiar with networks to help you accomplish what you are after. The hardware you have at present is better than anything Wavlink will offer, the issue is the way you have set it up.
Best of luck and hopefully you get a solution that works for you
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@Philbert Appreciate your attempt to help me figure this out. If there is something incorrect, its in the settings. The CPE are not the culprit since the issues exists without them. The OC200 hardware controller shows everything is normal. I have read a few other posts where roaming was not working and it came down to manually setting a threshold so I will give that a shot.
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EDIT
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@RickJamesBish so to summarize, you cannot Mesh wired EAPs but in my scenario MESH was not the best solution.
CPE710 connected in Client Mode to EAP610 Outoor. EAP225 Outdoor feeding from CPE710.
Works great and provides superior bandwidth compared to Mesh in my scenario. Full bandwidth offered by ISP over 200 feet away, through 60 feet of trees with minimal LOS.
You still maintain the ability to control all of the EAPs with the hardware controller.
An EAP with CPE710 connected is detected as wired, therefore will not Mesh with another wired EAP.
I plan on testing in a few days to see if I can Mesh another wireless EAP225 Outdoor to the "detected as wired" EAP in the diagram above. It should work without issue.
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