1Using a TP-Link EAP225 as a wired outdoor access point for my Eero Pro 6 network
I currently have six Eero Pro 6 routers, all with a hard line ethernet connection throughout my home. I have excellent wifi coverage in my house, but as soon as I venture any distance into my front or back yard, the signal drops off considerably.
I was thinking about adding a TP-Link EAP225 long-range outdoor access point to my Eero network, which I can also connected directly via ethernet cable. I'd like to know if this is possible or not, and if it is, then what would be the best way to go about it?
I've gotten so far as pulling the TP-Link EAP225 out of the box and using the iOS app to set it up by instructing it to broadcast an SSID with the exact same name and password that the Eero is currently configured to use. Will this work? Is there a better way to go about it?
I'm by no means a network guru, so any advice or suggestions you guys have would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
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Hello m021478 ,
Connecting the TP-Link EAP225 to the eero network will work just fine. However, you do not want it to have the same SSID unless it is entirely out of range of your eero network. If you have a device that sees both networks and they are the same SSID it will cause a lot of problems with the device as it will have conflicts when trying to connect to that network.
Set it up with a different SSID and you can use the same password if you want. Your devices will roll over to it when they feel their connection to the eero network is failing.
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But with the approach you suggested, don't I run the risk of having some of my devices latch onto the outdoor TP-Link EAP225 WiFi network from time to time, even though those devices are being using inside my home and are meant to be connected to the indoor Eero network? I know in a perfect world our devices should latch onto whatever network signal is the strongest, but in the real world I've found that it doesn't always work out that way.
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I have the exact same question. Were you able to get the EAP225 to mesh with the eero pro 6 system so that your phone seamlessly and automatically connects to either the Eero system or the EAP225 based on signal quality?
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I'm doing this, except with eero 5's (the cupcakes).
When I first set it up, there were a lot of issues with signal dragging. Same SSID/password as my eero network. The outdoor AP would hang on when going back into my house, and, it wouldn't work reliably as a result.
This wasn't acceptable to me, so I used it with a different SSID/password to my eero for a while, but that was annoying (for basically the same reasons - it would signal drag).
The solution was to turn on 802.11r on the TP-Link EAP225 Outdoor via their Omada controller software and use the same SSID/password as your eero network. You have to use the Omada SDN controller - you can't enable 802.11r on the EAP225 any other way. Their documentation says that you have to have the controller running in order for 802.11r to work, but after set-up, I've shut the controller down, and it's been working great.
I still wish eero would make an outdoor AP (preferably PoE, too). I'd buy that in a heartbeat.
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I have set the same SSID/password as the eero network as you suggested. How do you change to 802.11r on the Omada App?
I purchased the EAP225 as I have outdoor speakers connected to my network and everytime I am outside I lose signal when streaming from my phone. With your suggested set up, do you think this will resolve the issue?
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slimjim You can only enable 802.11r in the Omada app if you're controlling the EAP225 via their software controller (you can spin one up on a PC, Pi, or Linux box, or as a Docker container on a PC/Mac/Linux/Whatever. You can also buy their OC200 and plug it into your network.
You'll need to "adopt" the EAP225 to the controller. Once you've done that, you'll be able to enable 802.11r.
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