TP-Link Router+POE+AP Controller and POE AP

[xiaofan]

I read some Chinese reviews and it seems to me TP-Link solution is pretty popular for large homes and some smaller commercial set up.
https://www.acwifi.net/6292.html

1) Router + POE + AP Controller. RMB699 or S$140.
https://m.tb.cn/h.Vwy9red?sm=b93c99
【TP-LINK 千兆一体化路由模块 7口PoE 内置AC管理AP 双WAN口叠加 支持APP管理 TL-R498GPM-AC】
https://m.tp-link.com.cn/product_1301.html

2) POE AC1900 AP, RMB399 or S$80
https://m.tb.cn/h.VDpIauD?sm=544486
【TP-LINK 1900M双频千兆无线吸顶AP 企业级酒店别墅wifi接入 TL-AP1907GC-PoE/DC】

3) WiFi 6 AX1800 AP, RMB419 or S$84.
https://m.tb.cn/h.VDpDv06?sm=4e863a
【【WiFi6 AX1800】TP-LINK 双频千兆6无线面板AP 企业酒店别墅wifi无线接入点PoE供电AC管理 TL-XAP1800GI-PoE】

Review of TL-AP1907GC-PoE Ceiling mount AP
https://post.m.smzdm.com/p/adwrgg0n/

Tear down of TL-1800GI-PoE in-wall AP
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/150065382

 

[xiaofan]

More POE APs

More POE routers
TL-R470GP-AC should be good enough for average home, at RMB 379 or about S$76.
https://m.tb.cn/h.VDEwZ3W?sm=bd3bfc
【TP-LINK TL-R470GP-AC PoE供电AP管理一体化企业级路由器千兆端口】

 

[xiaofan]

H3C is another vendor offering similar solution, with POE router and POE AP.
https://www.acwifi.net/6382.html

华三（H3C）H5套装，包含一台智能中枢H100和3个AG200面板。H100集AC、路由、POE供电于一体，不需要另购POE交换机，三个A200G千兆网口面板，无线规格是AC1200M。

 

[xiaofan]

Basically these solutions are the cheaper alternative to Ubiquiti POE Router + POE AP.

Just for reference.

 

[xiaofan]

Some TP-Link Enterprise product
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/omada/

Controller like the software controller or Hardware Cloud Controller OC200
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/management-platform/oc200/

Ceiling mount AP like EAP225 and EAP245 and In-wall AP like EAP225-WALL
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/omada-eap/#ceiling-mount-ap

OC200 is about S$159
$159.00 -16% | TP-LINK OC200 Omada Cloud Controller ( EAP's Series Controller ) | https://s.lazada.sg/s.GlbQ

EAP225 is about S$139
$139.00 | TP-LINK EAP225 AC1350 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Ceiling Mount Access Point | https://s.lazada.sg/s.GSUe

 

[xiaofan]

TP-Link Enterprise Singapore product
https://www.tp-link.com/sg/campaign/omada-wifi6-office/

 

[TanKianW]

Just sharing:

I also use quite few TP-link smart 5 port switches in my home. Quite value for money for small managed switches (set VLANs) in rooms for kids, tv-consoles and light use.

But I also experience quite few failures of their products through the years, on the field, especially those running 24/7 or running more load on them, though covered under warranty.

Non-critical areas of the network I dun mind using them. Router/firewall and main switch wise I will look else where.

Their APs I never use before, so cannot comment.

 

[xiaofan]

TL-XAP1800 in-wall WiFi 6 AP review.

Wifi 6 mode not working in FIT mode (thin AP under management from the controller), only working in FAT AP mode (standalone AP).

Speed of course can not beat RT-AX86U but cost only 1/3 of RT-AX86U. This one is more suitable to be put at every room.

The youtuber is using TL-AC100 controller (not using the 100Mbps port, just the AP controller function) since he has better gigabit PoE switch. TL-AC300 is more suitable if you need gigabit port. Actually TL-R470GP-AC is more suitable for home use as it integrates router, PoE switch and AP controller function.

 

[xiaofan]

https://www.10bests.com/tl-r470gp-ac-wifi-seamless-roaming/

TL-R470GP-AC FW V2 supports 802.11 k/v/r so the roaming becomes better.

Comparison of TP-Link, H3C and UBNT, as well as Mesh.

https://www.10bests.com/seamless-roaming-wifi/

 

[xiaofan]

YouTube introduction of TP-Link OC200 and EAPs.

EAP Control options

 

[Anything_Whatever]

You seem like promoting TP-link products.... lol

 

[TanKianW]

I will expect TP-link’s product becoming better and better. Eventually making the big boys lower their price to compete. For consumers, will be win-win.

They probably need to up their marketing more like Unifi and Asus.

 

[xiaofan]

You seem like promoting TP-link products.... lol

Haha, recently I read quite a few Chinese articles promoting AC+AP against Mesh for homes (larger homes), typical they will promote TP-Link. Then some of them will mention H3C, and usually Ubiquiti will be mentioned as the higher end solution.

Comparison is usually against expensive Mesh solution from Asus AIMesh/Lyra, Linksys Velop or Netgear Orbi.

 

[xiaofan]

I will expect TP-link’s product becoming better and better. Eventually making the big boys lower their price to compete. For consumers, will be win-win.

They probably need to up their marketing more like Unifi and Asus.

I think for consume routers their long term support is not good, Asus is much better.

For business, I am not sure.

Original idea of the post is to show the cheaper alternative to Ubiquiti, mainly for homes.

We use quite a bit of wired Ethernet and expensive industrial grade managed switch (but no PoE) at work for product testing but I myself do not know much about them.

 

[firesong]

Used the EAP245 for quite a while before moving on to Ruckus.

My take. The software controller can be hacked to run on a RPi, but I'm not sure about the newer solution - didn't try it. On one hand, it offers a unified control experience and network monitoring for practically free, but on the other, the engineering isn't the best around. It's ok.

What I dislike is that TP-Link has no long-term support, much like any other consumer class item there. Once they introduce newer models, all support for older models is gone. This can be an issue for some. Here's an example: I discovered at a friend's place that simple features were omitted when they upgraded software controller versions. There's a pretty standard way to identify APs in any controller solution: if you set the option for the AP to identify itself, some lights will blink so you can track down/trace if necessary. But in this case, I noticed that this was left out of newer controller versions and forgotten, and the promised firmware updates to enable full support for existing (the v3 hadn't been introduced yet back then) never arrived.

We ended up having to troubleshoot the network a rather silly way - disconnecting APs and pinging to see which were down, and then tabling it on paper. A lot of time wasted tracking 6APs even before we got down to troubleshooting. In the end, he abandoned TP-Link and went with Ubiquiti for the AC wave2 upgrade.

Despite being termed an enterprise solution, it has consumer level support. They prefer you just sell and upgrade rather than keep with them long term, and I guess this philosophy is reflected in their lower cost. At the end of the day, long-term-ownership costs might be higher than upfront capex, so ymmv. Still, I recommend this highly over the overpriced Asus solutions we have now. Better to deploy a good router and switch and 2/3 APs in strategic locations at home than try to get one wifi router to blanket a HDB flat. Close the door, and signals just drop real fast - not good for that Ms Teams/Skype/Zoom meeting. The in-wall units are great investments for each room and are very easy to install, so don't ignore them. Best part: need a wifi upgrade down the line, simply replace the AP without much fuss.

 

[xiaofan]

Good sharing on the experiences using EAP245.

TP-Link Enterprise is probably not the leading vendor, mainly playing in Small Enterprise side.

In China, Huawei, H3C and Ruijie seem to be stronger even in small business side than TP-Link. TP-Link is No 1 in home market followed by Huawei.

But then TP-Link (AC+AP solution) seem to be popular for large homes in China.

 

[xiaofan]

Good sharing on the experiences using EAP245.

TP-Link Enterprise is probably not the leading vendor, mainly playing in Small Enterprise side.

In China, Huawei, H3C and Ruijie seem to be stronger even in small business side than TP-Link. TP-Link is No 1 in home market followed by Huawei.

But then TP-Link (AC+AP solution) seem to be popular for large homes in China.

Official TP-Link China Document compares three solution.

1) PoE AC+AP integrated router with PoE AP, best for big homes with Ethernet

2) Mesh

3) PLC

https://service.tp-link.com.cn/m/detail_article_4356.html

 

[jamesco]

Hi after reading , I suppose this will work in SG homes? The Tp link ac1900 ap comes with POE switches, there is don’t need an injector? Thanks!

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?s...26000461&ns=1&abbucket=11&skuId=4899595682049