Mesh as a backup in Unleashed

Question

I'm helping to build a WiFi network in a school (using h320 / h510 / r510 / r610 / r710 / t310 / t610) in a pretty big area. All AP should be connected by 1Gb PoE ethernet (2 big switches with 10Gb uplink). All L3 features like routing should be processed on a separate gateway that is connected by 10Gb.

Can enabling Mesh increase redundancy without side effects?

I hope I understand right:

* if all APs are connected by ethernet, they will not use mesh at all and all traffic will be redirected by switch as there is no mesh.
* if any AP lost ethernet, the mesh would be used so traffic from this API would be transferred through the best available AP with an ethernet connection.
* if there is be loss of connection between switches, the mesh would be used to transfer traffic from one switch to another.

In other words, it will be like switches with STP over air instead of ethernet.

However, I'm not sure if mesh can bring advantages as losing connection with a switch means losing PoE power and the switch will have double uplinks.

syamantakomer · Accepted Answer

Hello @namezys,

AP's mesh link is not a replacement for the SW to SW connectivity because with each AP mesh hop, bandwidth will be reduced by two. Not just this, overall speed also depends on how strong signal both AP receive, thus with poor signal strength between mesh APs will further degrade the overall speed behind the mesh AP network.

Using mesh is fine, but running a large network behind a mesh AP depends upon how big is the network and how much bandwidth is required.

I hope this answers your query.

namezys · Accepted Answer

@syamantakomer

Yes. As I expected.

In other words, if all wire connection works fine, mesh will not used.

To be honest, I realised that with PoE switches it's useless for me as broken switch means no power for all AP.