Business Community > WiFi > What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
< WiFi

What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.

What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-01-29 19:05:20

I am currently running Omada Controller Software v4 to manage my two EAP225. I know the controller allows for a central location to manage the APs and easily apply/adjust the WIFI broadcast to both at once. I see the options and also understand it can assist in handoffs when a client is roaming between two neighboring APs.

 

Now I have heard that the controller can help optimize broadcast parameters, like transmition power and channel, which is critical in neighboring APs. However, I dont see anything that explicitly says this in paperwork for the controller nor do I see settings that enable this within the controller. Does this controller actually do this? If so, how do I enable it if its not already enabled? I am skeptical if it does this at all because both APs are 80mhz on the 5.8ghz band and both utilize 40 and 48. Shouldn't one be using the ~40 channel and the other the ~150 channel? I know but are equally free of traffic.

 

Thanks.

 

 

  0      
 
  0      
 
#1
Options
6 Reply
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-01-29 20:48:27

@PBGBBB2020 

it can't do that yet.  That feature was announced as part of the new SDN and was supposed to be available in 2020 but it didnt ship.  We did just get the ability to manually scan from the APs, so i assume that was part of the groundwork for a more advanced automatic feature.

  0  
  0  
#2
Options
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-02-01 16:42:44

Hi @PBGBBB2020,

 

As @mackworth said, the SDN does not yet have the advertised capabilities.  It's also still not entirely clear what features will be offered for free on the on premise installed versions of SDN versus the future cloud deployments (which are subscription based, I think).

 

Regardless, the per EAP automatic channel selection, should, in theory, choose the least occupied channels on their own.  But, I too, have found that this Algorithm doesn't always seem to pick the same channel choices as I do when using inSSIDER or Airwatch or similar.

 

Generally speaking, your knowledge of the environment will often prevail.

 

That said, I've experimented with both manually setting channels and using the current generic "auto channel" capability (that all AP's have) and haven't seen significant differences in performance.  But my residential environment is not very crowded and my neighbor's AP's are fairly far away / fairly weak.

 

-Jonathan

  0  
  0  
#3
Options
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-02-01 19:29:58

@PBGBBB2020 

 

Interesting. So it doesnt seem like there is any benefit, at least for now, to using the SDN or even buying the OC200, besides that it gives you a central management interface? I had thought it was going to control and modulate AP parameters based on the evironment to give optimal performance. Man I wish I didnt spend so much time getting the SDN up and running on my raspberry pi...

 

  

  0  
  0  
#4
Options
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-02-01 19:38:51

@PBGBBB2020 It is required for 802.11k/v roaming support.

  0  
  0  
#5
Options
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-02-01 20:00:59

@PBGBBB2020 

 

Keep in mind that the TP-Link EAP business product line is not really mean for home power users -- though many of us use it that way.  It's really designed for small, medium, and large business deployments (many of which are in Asia and Europe).

 

So the main utility of Omada / SDN is really for the central management of large fleets of EAPs -- e.g. deployment, configuration, monitoring, firmware updates, etc.

 

The fact that TP-Link gives away this software / capabilities for free with such a value priced  and performant product line is really exceptional in the industry.

 

-Jonathan 

  0  
  0  
#6
Options
Re:What Does the Omada Controller Actually Do?
2021-02-01 21:18:07
Yeah, I definitely agree, Jonathan. I am certainly not knocking them; I was surprised the software was even available for free. I was just hoping there would be a few more automated features with the SDN. Now that my wife and I are working from home, I have discovered that my house is a nightmare for Wifi. Wood walls, a large central stone chimney, and neighbors that use fat channels really complicate things.
  0  
  0  
#7
Options

Information

Helpful: 0

Views: 1133

Replies: 6

Related Articles
Omada controller does NOT actually turn the radios off !!!
273 0
First time setup, few issues, very happy ending
477 0
About Us
Press
Copyright © TP-Link Corporation Limited. All rights reserved.