Observatory with four buildings, Meraki and UniFi devices throughout, seems to be very sub-optimal

RodeoSkies
Comes here often

Observatory with four buildings, Meraki and UniFi devices throughout, seems to be very sub-optimal

Hi,

I bought a place that has a house and three outbuildings.  It came with no documentation.  It does have a Meraki license for 5 devices.  I believe the former owner intended the Meraki to be the substitute for cabling between the buildings and the UniFi devices to be the wireless LAN APs in each of the buildings.  I am not an IT guy and as such I have not been able to discern if this setup is right, wrong, or sub-optimal.

 

So in brief, I have a LAN which is called Rodeo and I believe that was done through the UniFi setup. There is another LAN which is called Sky and it is the Meraki setup.  All switches are 1Gig switches (one each for the house, the garage, and the two outbuildings (Netgear ProSAFE 8-port Gigabit Smart Managed Switch)).

 

Regardless of which LAN I am on I see all the devices, there are about 55 assigned IP addresses (devices) on the network, e.g. phones, tablets, thermostats, cameras, switches, computers, APs, etc.

 

Internet provider is Starlink, it is wired into a Peplink Balance 20 (router).  From the Peplink it goes to a switch, connected to this switch is:

 

  • an inside Unifi AP (in fact there are three UniFi APs in the house, different models)
  • an outside mounted Meraki MR66 with 4 antennas
  • other switches in the house
  • a security camera
  • some AV equipment
  • a cable which runs to the garage.

In the Garage about 100 feet away there is a switch and connected to it are:

 

  • Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP LR
  • a cable from the house (all cables are CAT 5e)
  • a cable to the next outbuilding
  • a Meraki MR12
  • two security cameras

In the next outbuilding (an observatory about 200' from the garage) there is another managed switch with:

 

  • a cable coming from the garage
  • a cable going to a pole outside with a security camera and a weather station
  • a Meraki MR12
  • Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP LR
  • another switch in the dome for the telescope

The next stop on this journey is the Instrument pole (30 feet from Observatory).  It has a switch with the following connected to it:

  • a security camera
  • an USB to ethernet device
  • a Meraki MR66
  • a weather station
  • an ethernet cable coming from the observatory

Finally, there is a building (about 120 feet from the Observatory) which does not have wired ethernet cable going to it. It has the following:

 

  • Netgear ProSAFE 8-port Gigabit Smart Managed Switch connected to it:
    • a security camera
    • a weather station
    • computer
    • a Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP LR

It did have an outside mounted Meraki MR66 with 4 antennas connected to this switch.  I disconnected the Meraki66, left it powered and I seem to get better results than when it was plugged into the switch.

 

So, my speed between the buildings is quite bad.  I am not certain if these devices are fighting each other.  I'm not certain that the Meraki system is doing anything at all.  I guess I could unplug all the Meraki devices and see if that is better or worse.

I would like to improve the link to the last building that appears to be relying on a connection between the Observatory's Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP LR and its Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP LR.

 

Any ideas of what I should be testing would be helpful.  I find virtually all the documentation to be inapplicable to my situation (as well a double tech speak).

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

 

 

5 Replies 5
PhilipDAth
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

This has so much complexity to it - I think you are going to need to get someone in to help you with this.

RodeoSkies
Comes here often

I live about 160 miles from any city so getting someone out here hasn't really worked. Also most would say just replace it all with what I am selling now.  

 

Perhaps if I simplified my question to how (if possible) to use a pair of Meraki MR66s to extend a LAN from one building to another.

cmr
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

@RodeoSkies do you have the logins to both the Unifi and Meraki dashboards?  One point to note is that the Meraki APs are old models that no longer receive updates, so perhaps the Unifi were to replace the Meraki?

RodeoSkies
Comes here often

I do have the logins.  All the hardware is working and all updates there are available have loaded.  I do not think it is a hardware or software issue.  It is a configuration issue.

In fact, the Unifi APs were there first.  The second owner added the Meraki system since he thought the ethernet cable was failing between the buildings.

RodeoSkies
Comes here often

Should I have asked this on a different forum?

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