Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions

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Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-29 13:47:51 - last edited 2021-11-29 14:00:06
Model: EAP225-Outdoor  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: 505 Build 202110604 Rel. 51118

Hello all,

 

I am looking for general recommendation on deployment for the EAP225's around a family farm. I have ordered 3 of these currently and they should all be within around 100m of each other. I did see online that it is not suggested to go over 180m in distance between them. One of the EAP's will be installed on a house, one installed on a barn and these two will have line of sight. Finally one will be installed on a shed surrounded by metal grain bins with no line of sight between either the House or Barn EAP's for now. Side note for the Shed EAP there is a spot I can mount it so it has line of sight with the barn in the future but will still be surrounded by grain bins as it is getting to cold to run cable outside. I did decided to buy the OC200 controller as well for the cloud functionailty ease and since I am hoping this can turn into a broader solution in the future to allow the installation of poe cameras in some hard to reach areas and provide wireless access to a handfull of devices as well if this works out. The House EAP will be the one with the router/wan connection while the Barn EAP, and Shed EAP will be connected via mesh. Currently the wireless dBm is bad between the EAP's (70+ to 80+ range) since the only ones properly mounted to the side of the buildings are the Barn and Shed EAP's. The House EAP is sitting in the house currently behind a window since it got too cold to run the cable outside the other day. As I said before I am expecting the Shed EAP for the time being to remain with poor signal quality due to location. Currently there will not be much of a load on the EAP's since for now I am just trying to just get basic connectivity between the buildings.

 

Any notes or suggestions that someone has from trying to do something similair in the real world would be a big help and much appriciated.

 

Also if I have posted this in the wrong forum or if my spelling is bad I do apologize and thank you.

 

"Desperate times call for desperate desperateness."
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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-29 19:58:33

@Daggett 

 

Hey Daggett and Welcome!

 

After reading over your ideas it does sound possible but can I ask are these going to be cable into each other?   You did mention running a cable outside, so if that is the case then 100% go for it!

 

However, if you are not intending to cable them together and want to use the mesh, instead opting for a WiFi connection between them I would recommend thinking about installing the EAP225-Outdoors in the Barn and Grain house and perhaps a 3rd on the side of your house external to the others.. .  As these are weatherproof they can be mounted on the external wall to have some better line of sight and should penetrate into the barn/grain also.. best of both worlds!   In the house go for the standard 225 on a ceiling.

 

The 100m range is going to be your issue, its do-able but not ideal... usually 70m is the maximum hence my thinking of the extra 225-outdoor on your house.. purely for talking to the other 225-outdoors.  80+db is close to dead air space sadly, you are likely going to need to go external.

 

How much is your budget on this?   If you can afford you could use CPE devices to send the signal between the barn / grain and house.. then use the EAP225 inside the buildings..

 

Whatever way you decide its going to need an OC200 to control them, enable Mesh on the controller and you can adopt the others from there.

 

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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-29 20:27:25

@Philbert 

 

Thank you for your input I could have sworn I said they were the outdoor model EAP225's but after re-reading my post I did not so I do apologize.

 

I did buy 3 of the EAP225-Outdoor models to install on the farm and the one on the barn is in its perminent spot. I know the placement of the house and shed eap are currently horrible and will be fixed once weather permitting. I know wireless bridges you want unobstructed line of sight and I would assume you would want that with a mesh network as well between the AP's. Not working with mesh before I want to be sure that my understanding is going in the right direction with placement, potential problems, or something I am just not seeing from lack of knowledge in general before I sink a lot of money into it.

"Desperate times call for desperate desperateness."
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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-29 20:55:39 - last edited 2021-11-29 20:58:36

@Daggett 

 

Wireless Bridging and Mesh are not the same, you more than likely want MESH

 

Bridging is basically the WiFi version of running a cable between A and B... It doesnt offer any connection to clients (Phones, laptops etc) it just gets the data to the other point and then you can use something like the EAP225 to serve the clients.    Bridges are generally the CPE range of devices.

 

Mesh is just the ability to have multiple APs connected via WiFi to extend the range and serve more clients.   As you are likely wanting to have Phones, laptops etc in the barn/grain this is what you are after.   Its not the ideal scenario for your setup (the range) but it should work!   the 2x other APs (Barn and Grain) will communicate with the house as "extra nodes" and extend the range to their effective areas.  

 

You will need the OC200 on the main house, wired into the ROOT (main) Access Point..  that should all work fine for you :)

 

The links below might help you with this

 

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/2949/

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/2283/

 

 

  1. Get the house OC200 setup first (SSID, Password, Fast Roaming and enable MESH etc) then cable in and power on the House AP..
  2. Once its up adopt it via the controller, it will start broadcasting the SSID you set in step 1.
  3. Test this  on a Phone / Laptop
  4. If OK take the next nearest AP (say Barn) and power it on.   Let it sit for few mins and go back to the OC200.  Look for it appearing on the list of devices with a small WIFI symbol beside it indicting its MESH.. click ADOPT on this.  it will reboot and configure the same as the first AP.  (link earlier shows this)
  5. Do stop 4 again for hte 3rd AP

 

Test..

 

 

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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-30 04:43:44 - last edited 2021-11-30 04:43:59

@Daggett 

I saw the keywords a shed surrounded by metal grain bins. 

If that's the case, I am a little bit worried about this shed. Metal could be a serious factor in this kind of setup. EAP225-Outdoor can be really powerful. But, the enemy of the wireless is the metal. Other EAPs should be good as far as I can tell. Avoid the metal if possible. Try and adjust the plan. 

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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-11-30 18:03:03 - last edited 2021-11-30 18:19:26

@Philbert 

 

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/2283/

 

I did find this one link you suggested the other night and the more I read and lurk on the forums it is starting to make a lot more sense. I occasionally have the habit of making things harder to understand then what they need to be and have no problem admitting it. If this solutions works which I do not see it not working the EAP225-Outdoor's would handle the wireless mesh ssid and network traffic building to building. Then within the buildings I would ideally want another eap-ap and ssid to handle the wireless client devices if in the future they decide they want wireless in the buildings.

 

@John1234 

 

Yeah since it is a farm pretty much all the buildings are metal unfortunately and there is room to adjust part of the shed surrounded by metal grain bins is part experiment on my part I won't lie. I have an EAP225-Outdoor out there now connected to the barn eap and it is surprising up more than it is down with its dismal dBms it currently has which shows to its strength I believe. I think in the past 3 or 4 days it has only gone down 3 times for about no more the 15 minutes as for the shed eap if it works out great if not I have an old bridge I can throw up if needed.

"Desperate times call for desperate desperateness."
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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-12-01 06:29:27

@Daggett 

Since it is used in UK? EAP outdoor has some kind of DFS channels avail? Try not to use the DFS and use a fixed channel. DFS detected will drop the WiFi pushing. So, use none DFS will make it more stable. 

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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-12-02 12:44:59

@John1234 

 

Currently DFS is enabled for the outdoor eap's not that it needs to be honestly and these eaps are being used in the US. The farm isn't really near any residential development so there isn't a lot of interference from other sources in general. I thought about using fixed channels but with how little the congestion is wireless wise from other sources does not seem warranted. Unless there is a benefit I am not seeing having the channels fixed that is.

"Desperate times call for desperate desperateness."
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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-12-03 06:27:13

@Daggett 

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/763/

How does DFS affect you?

The 5GHz device may choose a DFS channel during its initial state, so client device will not be able to find its wireless network for a while.

If the device is already operating on a DFS channel and radar signals are detected you will encounter disconnection, however the connection can be restored after a while. But you may see the change in the operating channel.

Note:

  1. If operating on channel 52,56,60,64,100,104,108,112,132,136,140, 5GHZ devices should detect radar signals for about 1 minute, and it should take for about 10 minutes when operating on channel 116,120,124,128 according to ITU-T Radio Regulations. Wireless client are not able to find the wireless signal broadcasting by the AP during this period.
  2. Although DFS give you the choice to use DFS channels but it may be annoying when there is radar operating nearby. To mitigate the effect of DFS you may choose a fixed non-DFS channel if available.

 

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Re:Omada EAP225 Deployment Configuration Suggestions
2021-12-06 14:22:24 - last edited 2021-12-07 12:08:16

@Philbert 

 

Over the weekend I was finally able to get the House EAP mounted and more accurate distance measuring between the house and the barn I am around 60m with a signal of -56dBm. As of yet I have not been able to move the grain shed eap so that is still at an -84dBm. Was the 70m range based on experience or documentation that you have come across over time? As for the grain shed I think that eap will be around the 80m mark maybe there is a dryer that the bins surround that has line of site with the barn I mounted the eap to. Currently the eap is probably around 18ft in the air give or take and fluctuating between 64 and 68dBm 75% of the time I wanna say the eap is at 68dBm's however. 

 

@John1234 

I was unaware of the wait period essentially with the dfs channels I probably will turn that off since the farm is in a more rural location anyway so there isn't much interference.

"Desperate times call for desperate desperateness."
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