Extending LAN to Another Building

[JoeGoff]

First, let me preface this by saying that I am not a networking guy so I apologize if I do not understand some terms used in replies.

My company has recently built a second building about 50 yards away from our current building so additional manufacturing can happen in it.  At the same time we have done a complete wireless infrastructure refresh and went with Meraki equipment.  After consulting with Meraki sales, they suggested using MR76 between the buildings for the bridge.

So on the back of the main building I have a MR76 with two MA-ANT-25 attached to it pointing to the new building.  On the new building I have a MR76 with two sets of MA-ANT-20 attached to it.  In the new building I have the MR76 attached to a MS120-8LP-HW switch and also two MR70 access points to fully cover the new building for WiFi.

I can see the three APs on the network working as repeaters, but the switch does not show up as accessible.

I have both MR76 set up on the same channels and in the Network Wide -> General -> Device configuration section set the Clients wired directly to Meraki APs option set to a SSID that is set up in Bridge Mode.

I will have to have Printers and VoIP phones connected in the new building, so I need the switch to recognize and direct traffic accordingly on the LAN.  Any ideas what I am doing wrong here?

[BrandonS · Accepted solution]

I have possibly bad news for you.  First, do you need VLANs for voice and printers or anything at the new building?  If you do, this won't work with the Meraki bridge you put in place because you can only push one VLAN across.

Have you seen the Meraki documentation and the supported and unsupported methods?

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Extending_the_LAN_with_a_Wireless...

I would probably get a "normal" wireless bridge for the building to building to link an repurpose the two MR's for something else.  You can get a pair of radios for a bridge for ~$150USD. Engenius ENH500 is an example.  Then it will be like an invisible cable and you can put whatever you want on the other end and trunk your voice and printer and any other VLANs there.

[JoeGoff]

Hi BrandonS, thank you for the reply.

I have read the link you provided.  This is where I found the device configuration setting that I was suppose to use to set it up.  That is where my confusion lies.  Right now, only the wireless equipment is set up so I should be able to see the switch in the new building but cannot.  I know that I would have to segregate the wired devices on a VLAN in the new building which is fine in that they only need access to the printer in the new building.

I'm just not understanding why I can't see the switch.  It is going to suck to have to buy even more equipment because the salesman screwed us.

[BrandonS]

I'm honestly not sure about the switch and if it should works as normal in this setup or not.  What does the status light on it look like?  Have you tried plugging in the switch at the head office and let it register in the dashboard and update its firmware?  Maybe try that and then move it back? 

[JoeGoff]

Actually did that very thing this morning.  It updated and showed correctly in the dashboard when I had it at my desk.

The status light is orange when it is in the new building. 

[BrandonS]

Did you try plugging a laptop into the MR instead of the switch to see what you can see/do?

And you followed this part?

By default, a client or device plugged into the Ethernet port of a repeater will gain no network connectivity. Once a bridge SSID has been configured, navigate to Network-wide > Configure > General > Device configuration, find the option to configure Clients wired directly to Meraki APs and set that option to have clients Behave like they are connected to the bridge SSID (as shown below).

[oldroo]

Meraki at the moment as far as i know dont have a wireless bridge point to point solution that will enable you to route many vlan's across it.

For this reason we used ubiquity for wireless point to point building to building connectivity.

[JoeGoff]

Thanks for the responses.

I cannot plug directly in from a laptop as I would need a PoE injector to power the AP.

And yes, I did set up the device configuration as per the instructions, but to no help.

I guess I'm just going to have to spend more money and go outside of Meraki to solve this.  It truly is a disappointment that I did not get what I paid for.  Guess that is what I get for trusting a salesman...

I do appreciate all of the time and effort into trying to help me with this.

[Twitch]

I know this isn't a Meraki solution, but have you considered just running dark fiber between the two buildings, if possible?

[JoeGoff]

I ended up running a building to building bridge from Ubiquity.