Managed switches

[NormanKR]

All ports on the Meraki Managed switch are POE. Use as many ports as needed on the first Meraki switch for APs. If you have more than 4 APs and 2 Vlans in a building then a second 8 port switch is being provided for growth purposes. But if you can fit all APs and various VLAN devices on the first switch then you may not need the second Meraki Switch. The eventual goal is to Merakify the entire building so use the 2nd switch if you have one.

[Moderator note: NormanKR is a church employee.]

[Biggles]

Thanks for the clarification. The Church installation guide gives conflicting information about connecting AP's!

[dcburnett]

Has anyone successfully installed the new switches yet? I tried, but the switches do not work with the supplied SFP modules. The switch status light stays orange. I can connect to one of the rj45 ports- they the switch status turns green. The sfp modules I received are Approved Networks, model GLC-TE-A. After I spent an hour on the phone with global services, they suggested I contact FM for replacement modules. Our FM is not in the loop, so they don't know what to do.

[russellhltn]

Has anyone successfully installed the new switches yet?

Mine are due to arrive today. I'll try my first building this evening.

[dbaresrc]

Has anyone successfully installed the new switches yet? I tried, but the switches do not work with the supplied SFP modules. The switch status light stays orange. I can connect to one of the rj45 ports- they the switch status turns green. The sfp modules I received are Approved Networks, model GLC-TE-A. After I spent an hour on the phone with global services, they suggested I contact FM for replacement modules. Our FM is not in the loop, so they don't know what to do.

I have installed two buildings with 2x8 port switches in each. The additional SFP modules sent with our units worked just fine. (Did you plug them in far enough?) F/W Internet to first switch (SFP) then cross-connect the switches together from second SFP (on switch 1) to SFP on switch 2. Configuration of the switch ports was absolutely trivial and easy to do through TM. I have submitted an RFE to add a logical name to the switches in the TM interface similar to APs so you don't have to remember the switch serial number for managing them.

You can get SFP modules from Amazon which work in these switches. Try this one.

Carlton
Lewisville Texas Stake

[dcburnett]

Has anyone successfully installed the new switches yet? I tried, but the switches do not work with the supplied SFP modules. The switch status light stays orange. I can connect to one of the rj45 ports- they the switch status turns green. The sfp modules I received are Approved Networks, model GLC-TE-A. After I spent an hour on the phone with global services, they suggested I contact FM for replacement modules. Our FM is not in the loop, so they don't know what to do.

I have installed two buildings with 2x8 port switches in each. The additional SFP modules sent with our units worked just fine. (Did you plug them in far enough?) F/W Internet to first switch (SFP) then cross-connect the switches together from second SFP (on switch 1) to SFP on switch 2. Configuration of the switch ports was absolutely trivial and easy to do through TM. I have submitted an RFE to add a logical name to the switches in the TM interface similar to APs so you don't have to remember the switch serial number for managing them.

You can get SFP modules from Amazon which work in these switches. Try this one.

Carlton
Lewisville Texas Stake

I used the pre-installed modules, and also tried the spare modules. I'm pretty sure it was pushed in far enough. Can you tell me which modules you have? Is it the Approved Networks GLC-TE-A? Apparently there are some issues with compatibility. The instructions show F/W internet to SFP-9, then use sfp-10 to connect to a second switch. Is that what you did?

[russellhltn]

The sfp modules I received are Approved Networks, model GLC-TE-A.

From the shipment I got:

The units that shipped already installed in the switch are MA-SFP-1GB-TX-A and SPF-T (1 GB)

The additional ones that are for use in adding another managed switch are GLC-TE-A (100MB)

I wonder if it makes a different what port they're installed in?

[dbaresrc]

I used the pre-installed modules, and also tried the spare modules. I'm pretty sure it was pushed in far enough. Can you tell me which modules you have? Is it the Approved Networks GLC-TE-A? Apparently there are some issues with compatibility. The instructions show F/W internet to SFP-9, then use sfp-10 to connect to a second switch. Is that what you did?

Correct, that's the wiring I did.

The SPFs in my box were the GLC-TE-A. They weren't labeled as Cisco or Meraki though. They looked like third-party.

There are differences between SPF models / versions. If you are looking on Amazon, you can search for GLC-TE and get results. If you add the "A" suffix, there aren't any models listed. At least I couldn't find any. I was not able to find any documentation that explained the difference between the "A" and non-"A" models. The unit I linked to in my earlier post is a GLC-TE.

Carlton

[dbaresrc]

The additional ones that are for use in adding another managed switch are GLC-TE-A (100MB)

According to their website specs, these SPFs are 1 GB/Sec not 100MB.

[russellhltn]

I stand corrected. It says "1000BaseT", not "100". I missed a zero.

Bottom line, it seems one model is being used for "in" and one for "out" - at least according to my shipment. I don't know if there's a technical reason or if it was just availability. But when new things don't work, that's the kind of questions I start asking.