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    Adding AP to PFSense , Vlan trunking

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    • A
      Adnanx
      last edited by

      Hello everybody

      I have two questions

      First one How can i add AP to PFSense ( to work as wireless controller )

      and are AP and wireless router will do the same job if they configure wih bridge settings

      Second question  i install PFSense on pc that connected to switch 1 and switch 1 is connected to the core switch which is distributing traffic to other switches as the figure shows

      how can i use vlan called wifi in all switches 1 ,2 ,3, 4 core and so on so that i can connect AP to any switch and it will work with wireless controller

      Untitled.jpg
      Untitled.jpg_thumb

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      • johnpozJ
        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
        last edited by

        You would trunk (tagg) the vlans you want between your switches..

        Every connection you list in your drawing would be trunked (vlans tagged).. Unless you have your core switch doing routing, is that a L3 switch and your routing traffic at it?  If not and pfsense is doing the routing between vlans then you need to tag all the vlans on uplinks between switches/routers (pfsense).

        What are the make and model of your switches?

        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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        • NogBadTheBadN
          NogBadTheBad
          last edited by

          Are all the switches vlan aware ?

          If they are :-

          1. Create the VLANs you require on the switches.

          2. Pass those VLANS across the other links to switches, the uplink ports need to carry all the VLANS and also the port that connects to pfSense

          3. Configure the ports that the AP and controller will go on.

          I've set mine up like this :-

          LAN      172.16.1.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:1::1 < VLAN 4093 untagged
          USER    172.16.2.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:2::1 < VLAN 2 tagged
          GUEST  172.16.3.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:3::1 < VLAN 3 tagged
          IOT      172.16.4.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:4::1 < VLAN 4 tagged
          DMZ      172.16.5.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:5::1 < VLAN 5 tagged
          VOICE  172.16.6.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:6::1 < VLAN 6 tagged

          One of the vlan's will more than likley need to be untagged, if your going to get a Ubiquity AP you'll need an untagged vlan for the AP & CloudKey.

          I made the LAN interface my untagged network management subnet, switches & access-points sit here.

          Creating vlans in pfSense is dead easy :-

          1. Interfaces ->Interface Assignments

          2. VLANS

          3. +Add

          4. Select the Parent Interface, add the vlan number & Description

          5. Configure the IP info on the interface

          I've also renamed my interfaces from OPTx to their function.

          Remember you need to carry all the vlans required on the edge switch across the interlink.

          Untitled.png
          Untitled.png_thumb

          Andy

          1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

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          • A
            Adnanx
            last edited by

            @johnpoz:

            You would trunk (tagg) the vlans you want between your switches..

            Every connection you list in your drawing would be trunked (vlans tagged).. Unless you have your core switch doing routing, is that a L3 switch and your routing traffic at it?  If not and pfsense is doing the routing between vlans then you need to tag all the vlans on uplinks between switches/routers (pfsense).

            What are the make and model of your switches?

            all switches are extreme switch
            the core switch is extreme 8000 series and switch 1,2,3,4 are extreme switch x250e

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            • A
              Adnanx
              last edited by

              @NogBadTheBad:

              Are all the switches vlan aware ?

              If they are :-

              1. Create the VLANs you require on the switches.

              2. Pass those VLANS across the other links to switches, the uplink ports need to carry all the VLANS and also the port that connects to pfSense

              3. Configure the ports the the AP and controller will go on.

              I've set mine up like this :-

              LAN      172.16.1.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:1::1 < VLAN 4093 untagged
              USER    172.16.2.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:2::1 < VLAN 2 tagged
              GUEST  172.16.3.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:3::1 < VLAN 3 tagged
              IOT      172.16.4.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:4::1 < VLAN 4 tagged
              DMZ      172.16.5.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:5::1 < VLAN 5 tagged
              VOICE  172.16.6.1  2a02:xxxx:yyyy:6::1 < VLAN 6 tagged

              One of the vlan's will more than likley need to be untagged, if your going to get a Ubiquity AP you'll need an untagged vlan for the AP & CloudKey.

              I made the LAN interface my untagged network management subnet, switches & access-points sit here.

              Creating vlans in pfSense is dead easy :-

              1. Interfaces ->Interface Assignments

              2. VLANS

              3. +Add

              4. Select the Parent Interface, add the vlan number & Description

              5. Configure the IP info on the interface

              I've also renamed my interfaces from OPTx to their function.

              Remember you need to carry all the vlans required on the edge switch across the interlink.

              yes my switch is vlan aware

              fisrt the port of switch 1 that connect PFsense to Switch 1 shoud be un tagged

              second  ports from switch 1 to core and versa are tagged also from core to any switch

              Finally switch 2 , 3 , 4 the port that is connected to AP will be untagged

              and i have to make vlan in pfsense with the same tag and add it it will  be as a sub-interface of lan  with it's ip separated from lan

              also how i can AP to pfsense  i mean in web interface

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              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                last edited by

                "fisrt the port of switch 1 that connect PFsense to Switch 1 shoud be un tagged "

                No - not unless pfsense is just on a transit network to your core switch

                "Finally switch 2 , 3 , 4 the port that is connected to AP will be untagged "

                NO - unless you just going to run 1 network via wifi that all clients are on the same vlan no matter what ssid they use, etc..

                If your going to run more than one vlan via wireless - then those vlans to your AP would be tagged on the uplink port to the AP.

                Are you going create the vlans on pfsense and route between them on pfsense?  Or is it just a transit network between pfsense and the core switch, and the core switch is doing all the routing?

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                • NogBadTheBadN
                  NogBadTheBad
                  last edited by

                  Don't, save your self a lot of trouble and buy a Ubiquity AP they are cheap as chips and you'll be able to have multiple wireless networks off the one device.

                  Andy

                  1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

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                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                    last edited by

                    "First one How can i add AP to PFSense ( to work as wireless controller )"

                    You want pfsense to be your AP for your wireless?  As NogBadTheBad mentions - that is not very good idea..  Get yourself real AP or APs that support vlans.  The mentioned Unifi stuff is very cost friendly and feature rich!!  The AC lite models are like $78..  So very reasonable priced, pro models retail for $130 but have seen them cheaper.

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                    • A
                      Adnanx
                      last edited by

                      No i dont want pfsense as wireless AP
                      And no i dont want pfsense to route the vlans , my core do every thing i want one vlan for wifi and i want pfsense to distribute the internet through wifi vlan  :-\ i have more than 25 switches in more than 8 places 
                      I have for ex d link Ap i want to connect it to switch 2 and get internet also i want to manage the client through pfsense that's it i dont want pfsense to route any thing  and i want one vlan exited in all 25 switches that can provide internet for ap

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                      • johnpozJ
                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                        last edited by

                        well if pfsense is your edge only, and you have downstream router.. ie your core switch.. Then pfsense would be connected via a transit.

                        Pfsense could give two shits about vlan IDs then.  And you are correct the connection from pfsense to your switch, and then the connection from that switch to your core switch would/could be untagged.

                        You would just need to configure routing with pfsense, so it knows about this downstream networks and the gateway IP to get there - ie the IP of your core switch on that transit network

                        you would then need to adjust the firewall rules on this transit interface (lan I assume in pfsense) to allow your downstream networks.  And you would need to make sure your outbound nat rules on pfsense are doing the natting of these downstream networks.

                        Pfsense will not be able to do dhcp for these downstream networks.. Pfsense can only be dhcp for networks that are attached to it.

                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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