Deploy Wireless Network with Virtual Controller

The Virtual Controller allows users to manage multiple APs connected by wireless or wired links in the same network. With the Virtual Controller, the network manager can easily deploy a large wireless network and share the same wireless settings by adding APs to the root AP’s device list.

Vigor Mesh and AP Management are protocols used to manage multiple APs in the Virtual Controller.

This article demonstrates how to deploy a wireless network using these two management protocols and the common scenarios where they can be applied.

Configure the wireless settings before starting:

1. For better compatibility, it is strongly recommended that all APs use the same country code and the latest released firmware version.

2. Access the WUI page and configure the wireless settings we want to sync to Node APs.

Please select a channel with a load lower than 70%.

3. Change the Group Admin Password in Role Setup. This value will be the Administrator Password of the Nodes after they complete the configuration sync.

4. (Optional)Make sure Mesh and AP Management are enabled. By default, Mesh and AP Management are enabled. We can ignore this step if the Root AP is in the default configuration.

Deploy the wireless network with Vigor Mesh:

Vigor Mesh is a proprietary mesh function developed by DrayTek. Supposing there are multiple APs that support the same Vigor Mesh version with the Root AP, the Root AP can manage them by adding them to the mesh group by wireless or wired uplinks.

Follow the steps below to add Node APs to the Mesh group:

Note:

• All nodes are in the default configuration and do not change the password of the admin account in this example. If we have logged in to node and change the password, the status will show "Auth Fail" after it joins the device list. It is recommended that the node be reset before the deployment.

1. Power on Node APs. Access the WUI page of the Root AP and go to the AP Adoption tab in Wireless / Device.

• Click Scan to find other nodes.
• Select the node APs and enter the name for them.
• Then click Apply and wait for the process to complete.

If the uplink type of the node AP is wireless 5G, please ensure that the device is not in DFS detection. By default, the 5G channel is set to Auto. It is possible that the node AP selects a DFS channel and starts the DFS detection for 60~600 seconds. The Root AP cannot scan the node AP's wireless uplink when the node AP is in the DFS detection.

It is recommended that new nodes be connected to the same gateway with the root by an Ethernet cable and added to the mesh group using the wired uplink first.

2. Wait for all Node APs to sync settings with the Root AP. Once the configuration sync is complete, the status of each AP will be displayed as Online in the Device List, and all APs will share the same SSIDs.

In Mesh Status, we can see the hop and uplink interface of Node APs.

3. Move the Node APs to the desired locations to extend the Wi-Fi coverage. Once powered on, the Node APs will attempt to reconnect to the Mesh Network using either wired or wireless uplinks.

Note:

• VigorMesh supports auto uplink. If a device is unable to access its gateway, it becomes a Wireless Node automatically. A Mesh Root or a Wired Mesh Node should be able to ping its gateway through Ethernet.
  
• VigorMesh can add new Mesh Nodes into Mesh Group through both wireless and wired. However, it is recommend to connect new Nodes to the Root using Ethernet cables and add them into Mesh Group first. Wait for the configuration sync to complete before moving the Nodes to their intended locations.
• VigorMesh supports up to 3 hops. However, it is recommended to limit the Mesh network to 2 hops or fewer for optimal performance.
• It is suggested to make the Uplink Signal Strengths of all Wireless Mesh Nodes be greater than -65 dBm.
• A Wireless Mesh Node with an Ethernet cable should not loop to another Node.
• If the Mesh Root disappears and there are online Wired Mesh Nodes with Device Role Auto, one of the Wired Mesh Nodes will become a Mesh Root automatically.
• A VigorMesh Group can be reset by the "Reset" button in Virtual Controller >> Wireless >> Device >> Device List. If resetting a Mesh Root, all online Mesh Nodes will be notified to reset. For those Mesh Nodes that cannot be reset remotely, please reset them manually. If resetting a Mesh Node, the device will become a New Node. The Wireless SSID settings of the device will be reset.

Deploy the wireless network with AP Management:

AP Management can only manage APs by wired uplink. For the Vigor APs that don't support the same Vigor Mesh version with the Root AP, we can connect them to the same gateway by Ethernet cables and manage them using AP Management. Follow the steps below to manage Node APs using AP Management:

Note:

• All nodes are in the default configuration and do not change the password of the admin account in this example. If we have logged in to node and change the password, the status will show "Auth Fail" after it joins the device list. It is recommended that the node be reset before the deployment.

1. Place Node APs at the place where we want to extend the WIFI coverage. And connect them to the same gateway with the Root AP by Ethernet cable.

2. Power on Node APs. Access the WUI page of the Root AP and navigate to the AP Adoption tab under Wireless / Device.

• Click Scan to find other nodes.
• Select the node APs and enter the name for them.
• Then click Apply and wait for the process complete.

3. Wait for all Node APs to sync settings with the Root AP. Once the configuration sync is complete, each AP's status will be displayed as Online in the Device List, and all APs will share the same SSIDs.