EAP772 + TL-SG3210XHP-M2 - Tuya Devices, Portal and Other Questions
Hi there!
I am moving from an apartment to a 2 story house with 300m2. I am currently planning the network + wifi and the idea is to use 4 EAP772 APs connected to a TL-SG3210XHP-M2 switch.
Internet connectivity / routing + DHCP + DNS will be provided by a pfsense appliance with 4 2.5 ether ports (one of those ports connected to the switch as LAN).
Omada Software Controller will be installed on a Mint laptop (might run in baremetal or inside a VirtualBox VM) - I use this laptop to run home automation (Home Assistant) and some scripts.
Right now, I have about 80 Tuya devices connected to a specific a legacy 2.4 GHz a/b/g network comprised of 5 TP-Link Archer C7 running DD-WRT. They are all working flawlessly, but it took me a great deal of time and effort to reach this - Tuya devices are known to be picky with the wifi network.
I also have a separate area (external area with a pool) where I want wifi coverage (need high perf wifi for mobile devices and legacy 2.4 ghz coverage as well for tuya devices and automation), but I guess that I won't be able to have a cat7 cable run from the switch to this location.
Questions:
- Does any1 here use tuya 2.4 wifi devices with EAP772? Do they work or are special configs needed for them to work? My idea is to get rid of the old Archer C7s and create a 2.4 SSID within a VLAN specifically for IOT devices;
- I would like to create a guest wifi network on a specific VLAN and use the Omada Software Controller for the captive portal. As far as I could read, this is possible and I won't have any problems with that. Any specific recommendations?
- About the pool. Are there any APs (or even the EAP772 itself) that can be configured with a WIFI backhaul to the EAP772 main mesh? My concern is the possibility that I won't be able to run a cable to connect to an AP there;
- Is the AI WLAN optimization available in such config?
Thanks in advance!
Hi @StealthNet
Thanks for posting and choosing TP-Link products. Please see my answers below:
Does any1 here use tuya 2.4 wifi devices with EAP772? Do they work or are special configs needed for them to work? My idea is to get rid of the old Archer C7s and create a 2.4 SSID within a VLAN specifically for IOT devices;
>>>
We haven’t received any feedback about incompatibility with Tuya 2.4GHz Wi-Fi devices, and there are currently no known issues in this regard.
To ensure compatibility, you can compare the encryption methods used by your 2.4GHz network with ours. If our system supports them, the devices should work without issues.
I would like to create a guest wifi network on a specific VLAN and use the Omada Software Controller for the captive portal. As far as I could read, this is possible and I won't have any problems with that. Any specific recommendations?
>>>
Yes, this should work. If the captive portal is applied to a guest SSID, don't forget to create an EAP ACL to allow the guest network access to the controller's IP. Below is the guide:
How to allow guest network to access specific device on the main network by configuring EAP ACL?
About the pool. Are there any APs (or even the EAP772 itself) that can be configured with a WIFI backhaul to the EAP772 main mesh? My concern is the possibility that I won't be able to run a cable to connect to an AP there;
>>>Yes, most EAP units can mesh with EAP772. You can consider an outdoor EAP, such as EAP650-outdoor.
Is the AI WLAN optimization available in such config?
>>>Yes, EAP772 supports WLAN optimization. But please kindly be noted that mesh EAP units will be excluded.
Hi @StealthNet
Thanks for posting and choosing TP-Link products. Please see my answers below:
Does any1 here use tuya 2.4 wifi devices with EAP772? Do they work or are special configs needed for them to work? My idea is to get rid of the old Archer C7s and create a 2.4 SSID within a VLAN specifically for IOT devices;
>>>
We haven’t received any feedback about incompatibility with Tuya 2.4GHz Wi-Fi devices, and there are currently no known issues in this regard.
To ensure compatibility, you can compare the encryption methods used by your 2.4GHz network with ours. If our system supports them, the devices should work without issues.
I would like to create a guest wifi network on a specific VLAN and use the Omada Software Controller for the captive portal. As far as I could read, this is possible and I won't have any problems with that. Any specific recommendations?
>>>
Yes, this should work. If the captive portal is applied to a guest SSID, don't forget to create an EAP ACL to allow the guest network access to the controller's IP. Below is the guide:
How to allow guest network to access specific device on the main network by configuring EAP ACL?
About the pool. Are there any APs (or even the EAP772 itself) that can be configured with a WIFI backhaul to the EAP772 main mesh? My concern is the possibility that I won't be able to run a cable to connect to an AP there;
>>>Yes, most EAP units can mesh with EAP772. You can consider an outdoor EAP, such as EAP650-outdoor.
Is the AI WLAN optimization available in such config?
>>>Yes, EAP772 supports WLAN optimization. But please kindly be noted that mesh EAP units will be excluded.
Hi @StealthNet
Yes. To be more specific, (3 of them connected to the switch with a cable and 1 of them connected to the mesh through a wifi backhaul), the one connected via wifi backhaul is the mesh AP.
For mesh EAPs, there will be a wifi symbol beside them, like this:
Once I get the external AP connected to the mesh trough a wifi backhaul, will it be possible to bridge its ethernet port to the ethernet segment it is connected, so I may connect this port to a another switch and get all the cabled devices over the external area / pool connected too?
>>> Yes, you can plug a switch into the ethernet port of the mesh EAP to get more wired connections.
Hi @StealthNet
Yes, you can achieve seamless roaming between EAP650 and EAP772 with proper installation.
These options will apply to all the EAPs adopted by the site. Clients connecting to the EAPs will roam between each other.