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VLAN tagging using managed switch in front of primary Google Wifi point

1mattmc
Community Member

Hi everyone. I've recently changed my ISP to a fibre connection, and so I now have an ONT box that converts the fibre signal to ethernet. My ISP is Giganet (I'm UK based), who use PPPoE and a VLAN ID of 911.

As described on this Google support page, "Google supports VLAN tag values of 2, 7, and 10", and so I've followed the advice to use a managed network switch in front of the primary Google Wifi point.

My setup is as follows:

  • ONT -> Managed Network Switch (port 1)
  • Managed Network Switch (port 2) -> Google Wifi Primary WAN

I've configured the switch to tag port 1 traffic with VLAN ID 911 and untag port 2 traffic following the instructions here under "Configure TP-Link TL-SG105E". I'm actually using a TL-SG105E. I then factory reset my Google Wifi network and configured the primary to use PPPoE.

The problem: The primary Google Wifi gets the correct WAN IP but not an internet connection. I'm guessing something is going wrong somewhere with the VLAN tagging but I've tried setting this up from scratch multiple times to no avail. I'd really appreciate any help on this, else I have to use my ISP's router and create a double NAT issue for myself.

13 REPLIES 13

ianlandmon
Community Member

Put the switch after the 1st wifi point. It's able to distribute multiple ip's whereas the ont only provides one. Everything connected to the switch straight off of the ont will be fighting over one ip

Thanks @ianlandmon - will this definitely work though? I think because the Google Wifi points don’t support a VLAN ID of 911 the PPPoE connection will fail if I connect it directly to the ONT?

1mattmc
Community Member

I should add that nothing else is connected to the switch - I’m only trying to use it for the VLAN tagging!

olavrb
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

I don't think that would work, no. You'll need to solve the VLAN tag part before going into the first Nest Wifi puck.

What happens if you connect a computer to where you'd connect the 1st Nest Wifi WAN port (to the switch port where you've untagged the VLAN)? Does it get an internet connection, and a typical public IP?


I don't work for Google.

1mattmc
Community Member

Hey @olavrbThis works perfectly. I created a PPPoE service on my laptop with my username and password and the connection works - public IP and access to the internet. I didn’t have to do anything with VLAN tags. 

olavrb
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Roger that. Then I don't know why it's not working with Nest Wifi. I've never delt with PPPoE and/ or VLAN with Nest Wifi myself, so I have no experience to share.

I'll escalate this thread in hope of getting you some help from Google.

Edit: Found this interesting read about the switch:

Got me thinking, maybe some features like flow control, QoS, jumbo frame or similar is enabled and shouldn't be?

There have also been people having trouble with CAT6/ CAT6a cable with Nest Wifi, try with a CAT5e between the switch ans Nest Wifi router just in case.


I don't work for Google.

1mattmc
Community Member

It’s now working!!!

 

Rather than factory resetting the whole Google wifi network, I got it connected to the internet via the ISP’s router, setup the smart switch in isolation, unplugged the Ethernet cable from the primary Google wifi point, and then changed it to use PPPoE. I left the Google Home app alone after hitting save on the advanced networking screen and then the flashing amber turned to white after about 10 seconds!

I had also totally missed the ‘Save config’ button on the switch’s web UI that the link you found mentions, so that will have certainly saved me a lot of pain down the line!

I’m only seeing about 500Mbps download speed right now, so losing 50% somewhere. Will try to find out why and hopefully it’s not a processing limitation of the managed switch.

Anyway - thank you very much @olavrb for all of your help! Really appreciate it. 

 

olavrb
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Great to hear! 🙂

About speed throttle, try to disable all preferred activities. Then wait some days for the automagic QoS functionality (fq_codel) to adjust, in hopes of getting better speed. I have 1/1gbps fiber, get around 900/900mbps behind Nest Wifi router on cable.


I don't work for Google.

1mattmc
Community Member

I did some googling and it looks like it’s a known issue that the Google Wifi Router has much worse performance than Nest Wifi Router. Even wired in the speeds were 250Mbps download and 125Mbps upload on a 1Gbps connection.

 

For now, I’ve ended up going back to the router in front of Google wifi setup, but have hard wired the devices that I want to avoid double NATing. I’ll see how I get on with this!

EdwardT
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi folks!

 

@olavrb and ianlandmon, we always appreciate the help!

 

@1mattmc, I'm glad to hear that you were able to get it working. Thanks for sharing the steps that you've done to make it work. Let us know if you have other questions and we'd be glad to help.

 

Thanks,

Edward

EdwardT
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi 1mattmc,

 

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

 

Thanks,

Edward

1mattmc
Community Member

Thanks @EdwardT. I'm all sorted on this one so no more help needed, thank you though!

EdwardT
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi 1mattmc,

 

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear that it's working fine now. I will be locking this thread in 24 hours. Please feel free to create a new thread should you have some more questions or concerns in the near future and we'll be more than glad to help.

 

Thanks,

Edward