TP-Link Omada Hardware Controller | SDN Integrated | PoE Powered | Manage Up to 100 Devices | Easy & Intelligent Network Monitor & Maintenance | Cloud Access & Omada App (OC200)

Makes AEP245 access points work better
In short, I had a lot of problems with my TP-Link AEP245 access points before getting this, and now I don’t. This is a better alternative to a mesh system if you have ethernet in a few spots in the house.I have a large house and a large number of smart devices. I was having a hard time getting good wireless signal in remote corners of the house and my router kept failing because of too many wifi clients. I thought about getting a mesh system, but since I have ethernet in several spots across my house, I would have used the ethernet backhaul anyway. No need to use a mesh system, which is designed to send info wirelessly from device to device at a slower speed. Instead I decided to do what is done in commercial contexts: just use several access points.I purchased three TP-link AEP 245 access points and set them up in a way that gets coverage all over the house. It worked OK, except I kept having problems with devices that roam, like cell phones. They wouldn’t let go of one and go to the other. Or something. They always said they were connected but some of the time no internet would get through. The AEP245 is supposed to work in standalone mode when you do this as long as you set them all up with the same SSID, password, and settings, but on different channels. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend them for that configuration.I decided as a last ditch effort to buy this controller. It advertises the ability to use fast roaming technology to tell certain roaming devices to go from one access point to the other as you walk around. Anyway, it did actually solve my problem. You can now walk all over my house with whatever device you want and it will always work. It never goes down, the speeds are awesome, and it was easy to configure and to maintain.To be honest, I’m not actually sure whether my system is using 802.11(k/r/v) or some other technology. All I know is that I had tons of problems with my wifi before getting this, and now I don’t.It’s a little hard to explain what this device does and TP-Link doesn’t make it obvious. It does take control of all your access points and let you configure them from a central location instead of having to connect to each individually. I don’t think of that as a huge deal. It allows you to monitor all the clients on all access points and see which is downloading how much, disconnect them, and do all sorts of other stuff.Actually, besides the monitoring of bandwidth and clients and allowing central configuration, it’s hard to identify what this really does that you can’t do in standalone mode without any controller. However, I can tell you that the internet experience is 100% better with this controller. I don’t really understand why it’s necessary or exactly how it works, but I’m really glad I got it.I recommend it to anyone who is using multiple TP-Link access points

Makes multipl Wireless Access Points a breeze
In the attached photograph, the OC200 is the device on the left.TP-Link Omada equipment is primarily marketed to business. I am using it in a home network.I am using it to control three ceiling mounted TP-Link EAP610s (fed by the red patch cables in the PoE switch on the right) and an ER605v2 router.The OC200 is powered by PoE (it can also be powered by USB) reducing power cable management needs, and once set up, it just runs and lets you administer Omada devices without the need to have a software controller running is a 24/7 powered PC or a need for cloud management.The user interface (web based) can be a little confusing to figure out, but there is a fairly detailed PDF user manual you can download.It can do much more than I am using it for, I am using it to manage three ceiling mount EAP610s in a large house.First we just installed one to see how it went, and when it worked well we ordered the other two, importing them was literally a click of a button and they were configured to integrate with the settings used for the first.The controller makes management of the wireless network a breeze and it’s designed so you can automate backup to a USB key so that if the unit ever fails, you can restore to a new unit from the backup (devices under it’s control will continue to work if it fails, but you won’t be able to change configurations until a new one is in place and restored)It could be argued it is too powerful and complex for a home network but if you are technically inclined, with a little help from online communities and the manual, it isn’t too difficult to figure out.It’s a good system.

Is great Alternative to Software OMADA CONTROL software cloud.If you want to or already run an OMADA network which has/or will have in excess of say 75 clients (switches, NAS’ cellphones computers and the like) then this controller is is for you.I say this because while you could get an OC200 OMADA controller (and they are great and much cheaper) your future proofing yourself because admit it if you have 75 to 99 devices (which OC200 can handle) your above the average home user and will more likely then not get to over a hundred at some point.This is where this unit shines, bring you a controller that is POE and can handle over 100 (to 500 devices), keeping all of your network in house and still offering what the OMADA network gives over the cloud with a subscription fee.TP-Link support is very good with fast responses and can help with setup as well.I use this myself for my OMADA neatwork without issues, and it allows for hassle free updates to this and your other OMADA devices.I would/will buy again if using OMADA for a large network.Ace

Best investment for a centralised home network.Build quality is great and supports a lot of other Omada devices and functions.Very easy to setup if you know your stuff. And it’s easy to learn if you just look for a few tutorials on YouTube if it’s really necessary.