Configuring the MR36H PoE port to support a Voice and Data VLANS

[JordanCN]

I have a couple of areas in my facilities where we need WiFi and just have one or two clients there, so I picked up the MR36H access points.  The built in 3 switch is not exactly what I was expecting because I thought it would operate similar to the MS switches.  I am confused by the way I have to assign a SSID to the port.

For my regular MS switches I would set the port types to Access and enter my VLAN (data) and Voice VLAN.  This allowed me to use the one port for my VoIP phone and plug my computer into the passthrough on the Phone.  On the MR36H It looks like I have to select an SSID for the port to get connectivity for that port and I can only use the port for a single VLAN.

In order to get the switch ports to work for my I had to create a hidden SSID that connects to my VoIP VLAN and apply it to Port1 on the MR23H, then apply my SSID that connects to my data network to Ports 2+3.

Is that the way these are meant to be setup or is there a way to get all 3 ports so they can have data and voice vlan access?

[alemabrahao · Accepted solution]

The MR36H access points have a different configuration setup compared to the MS series switches. The MR36H is designed with integrated Ethernet ports that behave like access ports on a switch, and they will not accept incoming traffic if it has a VLAN (802.1q) tag applied. This means that each port on the MR36H can be associated with a single SSID, which in turn can be associated with a single VLAN.

For your specific use case, where you need both data and voice VLANs accessible through a single port, the MR36H might not function in the same way as an MS switch. The MR36H's ports are designed to provide connectivity for a single VLAN associated with a selected SSID. This is why you had to create separate SSIDs for each VLAN and apply them to different ports on the MR36H.

There is a way to set per-SSID VLAN tagging in the Meraki Dashboard, which allows you to configure SSID-wide single VLAN tags or per-AP multiple VLAN tags. This feature is typically used to extend VLANs from your wired network to your wireless network. While this doesn't change the fact that each port on the MR36H is still limited to a single VLAN, it does provide flexibility in managing VLANs across your wireless network.

If you require a port to handle multiple VLANs (data and voice), you might need to consider using a separate MS series switch in conjunction with the MR36H.

[PhilipDAth]

I share your frustration.  They do work very differently to a standard MS switch.

These units were designed around a Hotel use case (hence the "H" in the name), where you want WiFi in the room, and some wired ports.