ER7206 - LAN Ports usage

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ER7206 - LAN Ports usage

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ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-03 13:51:53
Model: ER7206 (TL-ER7206)  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

Hello!

 

Sorry, I'm a newbie that bought a lot of TP-Link stuff... I use an ER7206 as router with a fibre-bridge connected to the WAN-Port (so the ER7206 is the "modem"). Works like a charm. Now I have 4 LAN-Ports left on the 7206. So far, so good.

 

Because I wanted more silent switches (than before) I use 3 TL-SG2210MP and 1 1008. In every tutorial I just see that they use one port of the 7206 for a switch (and all the stuff is connected to that switch) and when creating LANs they check the box for "LAN" at "LAN Interfaces". The others remain unchecked (nothing plugged in). For me (with 4 switches) it would be perfect to plug all switches in the LAN-Ports of the router. Is that ok and is that what they are thought for? Or should i just plug in 1 switch and then connect the other switches to that switch? If I connect it to the router do I have to check all "LAN Interfaces" on every LAN i create (children, guests, parents)?

 

Background:

1 POE switch is for my 7 APs (all from TP-Link)

1 POE switch is more or less for my Home Automating System (system itself, KNX-Bridge, Cameras, POE Tablets, Intercom,...)

1 POE switch is for all the other things (PC, TVs, AppleTVs, Treadmill,...)

1 switch is for all of my audio hardware that need an network/internet-connection (BeoSound Essence, Linn Majik).

 

And: does it make sense to buy SFP-copper inserts (TL-SM331T) to use it in the SG2210MP for Uplink to the router? Because my switches are already quite full I'd like to use the SFP as uplink port (the costs don't matter, I know it's not the cheapest solution!) to have one additional regular port free for other usage. Is the SFP a "good RJ45 Uplink-Port"?

 

Sorry if some questions are not very smart... I really tried to answer them by reading and watching a lot. Perhaps some things are "too easy" and they are just confusing me ;-)

 

Thanks a lot!

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Re:ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-03 19:17:23

  @TMathis 

 

You do not say it, but it appears to me that you have VLANs defined on the switches and use the ‘router-on-a-stick’ topology. There is nothing that would prevent you from using the same topology to connect more than one switch to the router. However you do not really want to do it unless you have no better option. If you do that traffic in the same VLAN but on different switches will flow through the router, too. This will make your local network lot more dependent on the Internet router and potentially make the router lot more busy. It also appears to me that you do not really use the SFP slots on your switches. So, why not to use them to connect the switches together in order to free up a couple of RJ45 ports. If your switches are located close to each other, you can use inexpensive DAC cables for that instead of fiber.

Kris K
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Re:ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-04 07:31:46

  @KJK Thanks a lot for your reply! Actually I don't use VLANs but in all videos I watched they use them and so I also wanted to try. BTW: I have an OC200 as controller and do everything in the Omada-Software.

 

That my network is more dependent of the router is clear to me, but for me that's no problem. If the router has a problem I don't have internet and in such situations I also have no real need for the local network. Or I just would plug the switches together in another way (all the things are in the same rack). But the workload-thing makes sense to me.

 

So I could use 1 LAN-Port on the router to connect switch 1 (SFP 1), and then from switch 1 (SFP 2) to switch 2 (SFP 1), switch 2 (SFP) to switch 3,... would this daisy-chain make sense? Or could I even use the last SFP 2 to connect to the router again to have a ring? Or does this slow down the network? I would do it with RJ45 inserts.

 

Should I plug the OC200 into the router or into a following switch? Does this make a difference?

 

Thank you!!

 

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Re:ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-04 14:18:35

  @TMathis 

 

I am a heavy NAS user so it is very important to me to have my network as much as possible independent of the Internet router. I find myself rebooting that router more often than any switch and don’t want my backups, surveillance camera recording or viewing, and accessing my NAS in general be affected by those reboots.

 

I understanding your determination to free up as many RJ45 ports as possible, but daisy-chaining switches is usually not a desirable topology. Also, be careful with that ‘ring’ configuration since that creates a loop. Such loops can make a network inoperative rather fast if STP/RSTP is not enabled. I would rather connect the TL-SG2210MP switches together using SFP and connect the switch in the middle to the router using its RJ45 port. Using SFP transceivers increases latency. Since you are not concerned about your network being independent of the Internet router, I would connect the TL-SG1008 switch directly to the router. I would just make sure that only low traffic devices are connected to that switch. I do not use an Omada controller, but to my knowledge it would be fine to connect it directly to the router, too. However I think the best place for it would be the switch the APs are connected to due to its role in the WiFi mesh.

Kris K
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Re:ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-04 14:54:06

  @KJK Thanks a lot for your reply!

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Re:ER7206 - LAN Ports usage
2022-08-09 18:33:21

  @TMathis 

 

the router doesnt have a "real" switch internally, you could of course create multiple networks (asing each LAN-port a different IP) but keep in mind, the ER7206 has a total routing performance of 1 Gigabit/s, so if multiple ports are used, it can become a bottleneck.

 

The OC200 should be the only thing which can be connected to everything, and would look also "cleaner" in the Omada-map if being connected to the router directly.

 

 

Other than that, you should try to stick to campus-topologies (edge-router - core switch - distribution switches). 

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