Anyone with TP-Link Omada experience?

[Tech9]

Hey guys, looking for some feedback on TP-Link Omada setup. I'm setting up a new learning place and I need to bring my own equipment there. The office space has all the wires needed. I use different setups from Cisco and Ubiquiti in other places with good results. I want to try something different this time and Omada looks similar to my other setups. There is a new Jetstream router TL-R605, Jetstream switches and EAP access points have good reviews. The controller OC200 is really cheap and looks good on paper. I'm planning 4 access points only; one for each room and spaced at about -60dBm for better roaming. Not too many wired clients, most will be wireless. Dual ISP is a must and the router should have reliable dual WAN failover. I know Cisco RVs, Edgerouters, Netgates work well. TL-R605 is from Jan 2021 and no reviews. Should I go with Omada for about $1-1.2K total cost or go classic with major brands for about $2k? Thank you!

 

[Krisbi]

I haven´t tried a full TP-Link setup, yet. So what would you like to buy?
1x TL-R605
1x OC200
1x TL-SG3428MP
4x EAP245v3

 

[Tech9]

This switch is huge for my needs. What about this:

1 x TL-R605
2 x TL-SG108PE
4 x EAP225 V3

Reading further the documents I don't need the Jetstream switch and the controller may run on a PC. There is an always on Win10 PC available. As far as I understand I need the controller running for roaming technologies. PoE for the APs and some VLAN management if needed of course. A nice small fanless cube of equipment. If it works properly it's a low cost and fast setup gear. My concern is the router and it's failover capabilities. I'm planning one Cable and one ADSL ISPs. Load balancing not needed. The reason I want to try something different is Ubiquiti's endless updates.

 

[Krisbi]

Indeed you need the controller for roaming and central management for the devices. An OC200 would be way easier to mantain than PC plus it´s cheap, fanless and needs less power. I`d suggest to take the EAP245v3 instead of the EAP225v3. MU-MIMO might not be a huge improvement, but it may help in your classrooms if you have more concurrent connected clients.

 

[Tech9]

Okay, slightly better sensitivity according to specifications and 3x3 radios. A little more in APs and OC200 is no big deal. MU-MIMO on 3x3 is up to two clients at the same time. I need one AP per room and MU-MIMO is useless even on paper.

1 x OC200
1 x TL-R605
2 x TL-SG108PE
4 x EAP245 V3

I still need some feedback on TL-R605. I don't like mix and match setups. This Omada is pointless for me if I have to use a different router.

 

[tipstir]

I have two of the EAP225 V3 on the ceiling here, I should have gotten the EAP 245 V3 to match the TGR1900 specs closely. My TL-6120 failed after 5 years of heavy duty usage. Now TGR1900 Jetstream much more powerful but I don't have much control over I did was able to gain access to hidden features. I know that TGR1900 doesn't work too well with EAP ceiling access points. I wanted to get the OCxx device but wasn't available now they have better one. But these EAP what I've notice from Cisco side they can to be placed in series to work the best 5 to 10 ft apart in the same direction.

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[Tech9]

Thank you tipstir. I'm not looking for high powered APs. UniFi UAP-AC-LITE works well enough. All wireless clients are mine and of the same type, all Chromebooks. About 15-20 clients per AP. One AP covers one room only and 30ft range is more than enough. I prefer not to blast Wi-Fi too much. It's an office building with 4 floors, I'm renting one floor. Omada OC300 is a bigger unit for large networks. I believe OC200 is good enough for a simple setup. The main question is what router to choose. Not really interested in controller based configuration. I can setup the router in 10 minutes in UI. There is a simulator for previous model TL-R600 at https://emulator.tp-link.com/TL-R600VPN_UN_4.0_Emulator/index.html and the UI is super simple.

 

[Krisbi]

So currently you already have access points which support 802.11ac? Which Chromebooks do you use? It might be an option to upgrade to EAP620HD (2x2:2) or to EAP660HD (4x4:4) access points which support 802.11ax on 2.4 and 5.0 GHz. OC200 is enough.

 

[Tech9]

So currently you already have access points which support 802.11ac?

This is a new setup and I have to buy new APs. AX is not needed and I'm trying to avoid 2.4 band. The Chromebooks will be probably Dell with 2x2 Intel wireless. I haven't decided yet what exact model. It depends on the price and availability because I need 60+ units. May go with Acer or HP if I can get a better deal. I don't expect compatibility issues with Chromebooks.

 

[Tech9]

I ordered the TL-R605 router from Amazon. It's only 60 bucks after all.

 

[chafeoverbuilt579]

If you don't mind me asking, I have a couple questions regarding this TL-R605 router. Not sure if you've been able to set it up, but just wondering if you'd be able to answer.

How is the setup? Is it difficult to integrate into the controller software?
Do the LAN ports function with an internal switch so that any devices plugged into the ports would appear on the same LAN network?

 

[Tech9]

The router arrives tomorrow. What I learned so far from documentation is both router and APs have own UI, but some functions are accessible only through the Omada controller. If all components work as advertised I'm planning to use the hardware version of the controller. The UI for all AP, router and controller look very simple, home router simple.

P.S. TL-R605 arrived today actually but I want to test the entire system before I give any feedback. I need more time for that.

 

[chafeoverbuilt579]

Any update?

 

[Tech9]

Yes - I don't like TP-Link setup process at the moment. The router is on initial firmware only. It has it's own UI and you have the controller. Some features are only available at the router's UI, others only through the controller. It works well for a $60 router, dual WAN fail over is adequate, VLANs native support, throughput is good, has the things expected to be present on a router. I'm not going to use it for my business, going with Cisco RV345P + Cisco WAP APs. This laughable video review is one of the reasons:

 

[chafeoverbuilt579]

Is there any option for SQM?

 

[Tech9]

Not with the initial firmware. This router is small like USG and any form of QoS is going to turn it into a Fast Ethernet router. The full detailed list of features is listed on TP-LInk web. See the bottom of the page for information what needs the controller to work:

TL-R605 | SafeStream Gigabit Multi-WAN VPN Router | TP-Link

TL-R605 supports Gigabit Ethernet connections on both WAN and LAN ports and multiple VPN protocols and high-security, high-performance VPN capabilities, making employees’ remote connections to their main offices as secure as if they were in the main office.

www.tp-link.com

I send it back because there is a firmware update from 2021-03-03, but a newer hardware version V1.60 is also available now.

 

[chafeoverbuilt579]

Where do you see info about the newer hardware version? I only see it mentioned on the firmware download page. Are you going to try to repurchase the v1.60? I'm not sure how you could guarantee getting that one.

 

[Tech9]

Yes, on the firmware download page. There is a firmware for hardware V1.60 now. The one from Amazon was hardware V1.0. The router is not available on Amazon anymore and the only guarantee to get V1.60 is purchasing it from a local computer store and checking what's written on the box. I'm not in a hurry to re-test this router because I need to install the system next week. Maybe sometime in the future.