@Hank21 

Interesting product and I like that it can be managed by Omada Controller, curious if it can be added to a site like standard meshed devices, or if it operates as its own site.

Also, it looks like you can have up to 4 sub-APs per master, but I'm struggling with how useful that is with either 35' or 70' directional antennas only available, it would perhaps have been more flexible with the option to add an omni dipole accessory so that a single master AP could support sub-APs in 360' albeit at reduced range.

Also interesting that a 2.4G access radio was not included, especially since some older/cheaper surveillance/IOT devices don't have 5.8G capability.

Thanks for the update!

Hi @Lavouje,

Please refer to Q5:

Q5. When will the EAP215-Bridge KIT/EAP211-Bridge KIT be available in my region? What's the price of the EAP215-Bridge KIT/EAP211-Bridge KIT ?

This thread is mainly aimed to introduce the features of the new product. We don't have further insights into the availability or price of a specific product in certain regions. Different regions may have different sales strategies, you may check the online store or contact the local sales for the actual arrival and price of the product.

tc944 wrote

@Hank21 I just installed the EAP211 Bridge kit and I'm having all sorts of issues. 

A. They don't seem to work with Omada PoE switches, the port doesn't recognize it's plugged in and the 211 doesn't power up.

B. Using the supplied PoE passive PS on an Omada switch it will NEVER adopt

•    Sometimes it will go Adopting, Adopting/Fail, Disconnected....then repeat over and over
•    Sometimes the "main" unit will say Adopting in wireless mode even though it's hardwired then say Isolated and shows a list of AP's 

C. I have swapped cables, ports, and switches. I DID ge it to Adopt perfectly in 1 scenario and it and it worked every time. Plugging it into a dumb/generic 10/100 switch.

     With it finally adopted I was able to update the firmware to the current release, I have hoped that this would fix the previous Adopting issue but it did not. I would leave it on the         10/100 switch but this is remote access to security cameras so the performance was horrible. I did try plugging into a 1000 dumb switch but that also resulted in the endless             adopt and fail. 

 

Since my distance is about 500 feet I have gone back to 2 EAP650 outdoor units and they work much better than these at this point. I do occasionally have drop-outs which is why I was looking for a better solution. 

 

Hi @tc944 

The EAP211-bridge only supports 12V DC / 24V Passive PoE (Passive PoE adapter included.), since all the Omada PoE switches only support standard 802.3 POE, we cannot use the Omada PoE switch to power on the EAP211-Bridge currently.

For the adoption failure issue, it looks like that the connection between the controller and EAP211-bridge was not reachable. Could you confirm that the controller will be able to communicate with the EAP211-Bridge before and after the adoption? For example, if the controller can find the EAP211-bridge is pending on devices list, but failed to adopt it, it is probably that there should be some changes on the network after adoption such as the EAP211-bridge's IP will change.

You can try to replace the EAP211-bridge to the place of the current EAP650-Outdoor, and try to see whether it works. By the way, here is a video will show you how to manage the EAP211/215-bridge via controller.

  @Hank21 

Couple of questions before I buy bridge kits:-

I have TP-Link Omada OC200, ER706W-4G (1GB fibre), 2xCPE710, 2xSG2008P, 12xEAP650 (4 x mesh, 3xEAP650 per mesh 1uplink, 2down, 2.4Ghz access, channels alternated, 5Ghz devoted to wireless backhaul only)

1. I assume the 2 EAP devices in the kit are identical, ie. they all have 3 ports (non-PoE)?
   (I understand the primary differences of angle, distance and speed between each kit 211=70' & 1km@867mbps / 215=35' & 5km@867mbps ).
   If I buy two of the same kits can I use the total four devices as PtMP 1 main bridge paired with 3 sub-bridges? (with each sub cabled to an EAP650+PoE injector)
    
2. If used at an outdoors venue / live event with hundreds of people/phones will the EAP215/211 be affected by interference or are they more capable since they are better direction focused? I should clarify that the main problem for us is routing cables between masts at the event due to pedestrians and vehicles, hence the need for bridging (power is from generators in each area). The distances between each EAP650 location are at most 150m. The network is not for public use - only traders POS payments, so its low traffic and around 200 users connected.
   I guess all four EAP's in the PtMP bridge need to be on the same 5Ghz channel? (And the EAP650's I will be running as mesh will be configured on different 5Ghz channel).
    
3. In relation to Q2 interference: Does TP-Link make a 60Ghz PtP/PtMP bridge product?

weirj55 wrote

  @UKJim Did you ever get answers to your Question #1?

 

I am in need of two receivers, but only need one distribution point. I am wondering if this system worked for you or if you went with a different product?

 

 

  @weirj55 

Hi, as you can tell I didn't get answers in this thread, and I needed to get on with the project I was working on, so I bought 1 x EAP215 kit (contains a pair of identical 215's) and 2 x EAP211 kits (which gave me four 211's, I'm not sure whether you can buy them individually, I think they're only sold as pairs in kits). So I will answer my own questions below:-

1. I assume the 2 EAP devices in the kit are identical, ie. they all have 3 ports (non-PoE)?
   (I understand the primary differences of angle, distance and speed between each kit 211=70' & 1km@867mbps / 215=35' & 5km@867mbps ).
   If I buy two of the same kits can I use the total four devices as PtMP 1 main bridge paired with 3 sub-bridges? (with each sub cabled to an EAP650+PoE injector)
   
   My answer: YES. All these bridge units have 3 ports (see below). These bridge devices only mesh with each other to form bridge groups (they do NOT mesh to other AP's like the EAP650). Both types 211 & 215 performed well and it's very convenient being able to configure them via the controller (Pharos CPE's you can't setup via the controller - we also had 2xCPE710's in our setup). This is what I did....
   
   EAP211
   I used the EAP211's as a PtMP foursome, the Tx beaming a wide-angle (70 degrees), two of them Rx about 100m away at the extremes of the wide angle, and the third was about 400m away in the middle of the wide-angle. The EAP211/215 have 3 ports, port 1 for LAN1 in + 24v PoE in, then LAN2 and LAN3 out (no PoE out). They use 5Ghz only and I used DFS channels to avoid any interference from other devices in our site [radar hits on DFS weren't a problem for us]. I used them as access points. Then In the Controller you simply adopt them and create a group (Devices->Groups->Bridge Group) with the first being classed as the Uplink (transmitter) and the others as Downlinks, except for your instance you will just have 3 in the group, 1 Tx and 2 Rx.
   
   [In our use-case the original intention was to have a couple of masts with an Rx EAP211 plus an EAP650 on each mast, the EAP650 direct-wired to LAN2 on the EAP211. The EAP650 needed its own 48v injector for PoE (the EAP211 requires a 24v injector for PoE, but does not provide any PoE out of LAN2/3). Since the EAP211/215's don't provide 2.4Ghz my plan was to add the EAP650 to provide 2.4Ghz. Our situation was a temporary outdoor weekend showground with long distances requiring the bridges, and minimal cable due to public on foot, and vehicles. In the end we did not direct-wire the EAP650's as we ran out of time for testing, and found that we didn't need the 2.4Ghz after all. After the show further testing showed the EAP211/215's will work fine with the EAP650's direct-wired (gives benefit of a faster "wired" backhaul - the PtP/PtMP bridges effectively act as if they are cable at 867Mbps max, although realistically more like 500-750Mbps depending on conditions and chosen settings). If using Mesh between access points it's wise to disable Mesh Auto-Failover in the Controller Site settings, otherwise a fail-over due to power or cable disconnect can result in EAP650 "healing" mesh backhaul wirelessly with a different live mesh AP, and then cause trouble re-connecting as direct-wired to the bridge again when the problem has been resolved.]
   
   EAP215
   The EAP215's acted as simple narrow angle PtP Tx and Rx, and although capable of 5km, we only needed about 150m.
    
2. If used at an outdoors venue / live event with hundreds of people/phones will the EAP215/211 be affected by interference or are they more capable since they are better direction focused? I should clarify that the main problem for us is routing cables between masts at the event due to pedestrians and vehicles, hence the need for bridging (power is from generators in each area). The distances between each EAP650 location are at most 150m. The network is not for public use - only traders POS payments, so its low traffic and around 200 users connected.
   I guess all four EAP's in the PtMP bridge need to be on the same 5Ghz channel? (And the EAP650's I will be running as mesh will be configured on different 5Ghz channel).
   
   My answer: Careful choice of different 5Ghz channels to avoid interference between the bridge units and the access points, provided good performance and the bridge units worked well.
    
3. In relation to Q2 interference: Does TP-Link make a 60Ghz PtP/PtMP bridge product? My answer: No I don't think so.

Regards

Jim

Jim, thanks for the project update, much appreciated :).   So the acid test question...will you volunteer to it again?