Wireless Product Recommendation

[aschweers]

Hello, I have a resort with several casitas, I'm looking to use Meraki mesh to connect the casita to the core network, however, I need to place an AP inside the casita to provide internet access. Can I hang an indoor AP off an outdoor Meraki AP? Or would I need a little switch to power both APs (indoor and outdoor) to make it functionable. Any caveats to doing something like this?

Thanks!

[mloraditch · Accepted solution]

In theory this should work:

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Wi-Fi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Extending_the_LAN_with_a_Wireless_Mesh_Link

You would just need to use two injectors and then connect their data ports to each other instead of having a switch. I personally would want a switch so I can fully power cycle the AP and only need one power plug, but it may not be worth it depending on your needs.

[BrandonD1]

Just to touch on the above comments as well as your question on caveats, as a general wireless networking rule: each wireless hop in a mesh network reduces the throughput of the link in half due to the half-duplex nature of wireless.

As a result, wireless mesh networking may not be the most viable solution for environments that are required to support high-bandwidth or latency-intolerant applications. Meraki recommends limiting the amount of wireless hops to one (1) unless more are absolutely necessary to serve additional wireless clients.

That being said, if getting a direct cable to the AP is not an option this is most certainly the next best option :). A very good Mesh resource/best practice article can be found below:

• https://documentation.meraki.com/MS/Meraki_Campus_LAN%3B_Planning%2C_Design_Guidelines_and_Best_Practices#Wireless_Meshing