Meraki AP setup question

[Silas1066]

I just ordered some Meraki APs for my office, but I was a bit confused about setup

I have worked with Cisco Wireless LWAPs in the past, which tunnel connections back to the controller, which in-turn has trunk connections to the switching network (that carries multiple VLANs)

Since these Meraki APs are cloud-managed, it will be different.

The model is MR33, and my question is this:

1. Does that model have only one Ethernet interface for both management and wireless client connectivity to the network?

2. If it is only one interface, does it need to be changed to a 802.1q trunk after I get the unit up and running? If I do that, will I lose management connectivity to the AP? (especially if I do this via dashboard/the cloud)

3. If I set up wireless networks that use bridged-mode, does it require a 802.1q trunk connection to the AP?

[MilesMeraki]

Hello @Silas1066, Welcome to the Community!

Please find answers to your questions below;

1. Does that model have only one Ethernet interface for both management and wireless client connectivity to the network?

Correct, one Ethernet Up-link which will be used for both management and wireless connectivity. You can use separate VLAN's if wanting to keep Management separate from user traffic.

2. If it is only one interface, does it need to be changed to an 802.1q trunk after I get the unit up and running? If I do that, will I lose management connectivity to the AP? (especially if I do this via dashboard/the cloud)

The port on the AP does not need to be changed to 802.1q, it acts as a trunking port natively. As long as the switch port which the AP is connected to is placed into 802.1q mode, multiple VLAN's will be able to parse over the link. By default when the AP is connected to a switch port it will send out a DHCP request to get it an IP to communicate with the cloud. Depending on the native VLAN/VLAN tag on the port it is connected to will depend on the IP it receives. If you want to set a static IP on the AP before having cloud communication, follow this guide - https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Monitoring_and_Reporting/Static_IP_Assignment_on_a_Cisco_Meraki_....

3. If I set up wireless networks that use bridged-mode, does it require a 802.1q trunk connection to the AP?

Yes, If you're going to set up a bridged-mode SSID you'll need to configure an 802.1q trunk port to the AP, allowing the bridge-mode VLAN over the trunk port. 

Have a read of this article which provides more information about bridge mode SSID's  - https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Client_Addressing_and_Bridging/SSID_Modes_for_Client_IP_Assignme...

Happy to answer more questions if required.

[Silas1066]

Thanks for the detailed answer ...

one more question: if I set up the switchport as a dot1q trunk, but leave the AP management VLAN untagged (as native), do I specify the VLAN in the AP static-address setup? Example:

on the switch

int g1/0/1

 switchport

 switchport trunk allowed vlan 11,12

 switchport trunk native-vlan 11

 switchport mode trunk

then go into static address assignment on the AP and specify an address within vlan 11 and specify 11 ?

I don't plan on using DHCP at all if I can help it

[MilesMeraki · Accepted solution]

I'd use a different native VLAN from the Management VLAN for the Switch configuration VLAN 1 should be fine. \ 

I'd then set the VLAN on the local status page of the AP to 11 (Assuming your management VLAN) when configuring the static IP address for the AP.