Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?

Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?

Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
2025-06-27 07:29:48 - last edited 2025-07-04 04:31:06
Model: ER605 (TL-R605)  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 2.3.0

Hi there

 

We're still in the R&D phase but we're stuck at stage two, and I'm now worrying that the design may not work.

 

We will be placing multiple "pods" (standalone meeting places) into multiple sites, each of which will be served by its own ER605 ER and an EAP653 offering VLAN isolation for IOT hardware as well as captive access for users wanting to connect to the network. They connect to the network via the host's internet (we are not the host).

 

The first setup worked flawlessly. Then we copied the site and adopted a new pair off ER and EAP, and now the first site works but the second does not connect any WiFi devices to the internet. The network (clumsily drawn) looks like this:

 

 

network

 

 

 

Note that we've designed it like this for good reason - some physical sites are huge and these two Omada "sites" could be 800m apart, therefore each AP will never see the other.

But with other sites, and in our R&D setup on the bench, they can obviously see each other (ERs tied to the same no-name switch, APs in the same WiFi space).

 

Is this whole approach flawed or is there any advice you can offer on what could be going wrong with the second Omada site setup?

 

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?-Solution
2025-06-30 13:13:40 - last edited 2025-07-04 04:31:06

So I found the problem. I was copying Site 1 to Site 2 and the symptom was that a device could connect to one of Site 2's WLANs but never got an IP address..

 

The red flag was that when I copied the site I had to reset the gateway for the second site as it is using an ER605 v2.20 and the site I was copying from has an ER605 V2.0

 

Despite looking like it was copying networks it didn't actually copy either of the networks that attached to the WLANs. So setting them up again (30 seconds of effort) has addressed it, and now both Sites are happily co-existing.

 

Leaving this here for anyone who comes across a similar problem in the future.

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
2025-06-30 01:22:44 - last edited 2025-06-30 01:24:47

  @swskotl 

What do you hope to do in the end?

This part would work. But they are under the same "another" router? That'll be fine as well. As long as they don't have duplicate IP addresses.

 

Cascade like would work but I am not sure I understand what issue you run into. 

Controller will have different sites for different "Pods". And you need to port forward if necessary and place the controller in the network. VLAn is not a problem as it is inside another LAN. It does not affect the WAN side. 

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
2025-06-30 07:49:00

  @Clive_A Thanks for responding!

 

As set up just now, the second set never assign an IP address to anything connecting over wifi. I'm going to blow the site away and set it up again with the first site powered down (even though I can't see why that would affect it).

 

Good to know that it should work though - that was my main concern. In terms of what I'm trying to achieve, each mini network ("site" in TP Link parlance) will be a standalone meeting pod that connects to a host's network. We are not the host and can't really mandate anything on the host's network.

 

The setup needs to support a single site in a host's physical site, but we may also have 2 or 3 in the same physical location. On huge sites, EAPs won't be able to see each other but they will on smaller sites (which raises another question of whether meshing will just auto-magically work, or if we need to do specific configuration for mesh).

 

That's why we're trying to make the design as standalone (per TP Link "site") as possible.

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?-Solution
2025-06-30 13:13:40 - last edited 2025-07-04 04:31:06

So I found the problem. I was copying Site 1 to Site 2 and the symptom was that a device could connect to one of Site 2's WLANs but never got an IP address..

 

The red flag was that when I copied the site I had to reset the gateway for the second site as it is using an ER605 v2.20 and the site I was copying from has an ER605 V2.0

 

Despite looking like it was copying networks it didn't actually copy either of the networks that attached to the WLANs. So setting them up again (30 seconds of effort) has addressed it, and now both Sites are happily co-existing.

 

Leaving this here for anyone who comes across a similar problem in the future.

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
2025-07-18 14:09:12

  @Clive_A 

 

So I have a similar question. I am doing some testing and pre-configuration for a remote site.

 

I want to configure VLAN's on remote networks and connect the sites with VPN. 

Can I configure on the same physical network until I am ready to move it to the remote site?

 

meaning, can I configure the VPN on 2 VPN gateways different VLAN's on each side and route all the traffic between the 2 for testing?

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Re:Two Omada sites/networks on a single physical network?
2025-07-21 01:38:11

  @bfarinella 

bfarinella wrote

  @Clive_A 

 

So I have a similar question. I am doing some testing and pre-configuration for a remote site.

 

I want to configure VLAN's on remote networks and connect the sites with VPN. 

Can I configure on the same physical network until I am ready to move it to the remote site?

 

meaning, can I configure the VPN on 2 VPN gateways different VLAN's on each side and route all the traffic between the 2 for testing?

2 VPN routers Site-to-Site requires two public IP addresses. You can preconfigure it before you move the second router to the remote site. 

Yet, you have to input the correct parameters in the VPN before you move it.

Once it is powered on at the remote site, it can auto-connect. 

 

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