Review on 🔌 TP-Link Omada Hardware Controller: SDN Integrated, PoE Powered - Easy Network Management for Up to 100 Devices with Cloud Access & Omada App (OC200) by Justin Jeppi

If you have a LAN server that isn't busy enough (windows or linux) then you can Download and install the free Omada Cloud Controller software and you don't need this device. Or if you don't have many Omada access points and don't mind configuring each one manually, then you don't need this device. I'm in the second camp (only 2 Omada AC1350 APs), but I've decided to go ahead and spend $$ on it anyway. I may get an AC1200 backyard access point this summer that will fit my network and be controlled by this device. This hardware cloud controller can manage up to 50 devices. This is a cool device and I love it. You connect via a web browser and can always check the status or reconfigure your hotspots. Together, all access points act as one entity. And Omada hotspots don't include a router, so need to pay 1 less feature and then disable it. I now have many routers and firewalls. All my Omada devices are hard-wired to my LAN via Gigabit Ethernet. During setup, I activated each device and looked at the status on my DHCP server (I'm using pfSense on a dedicated device). My DHCP software allows me to select a device and configure it with a static IP address that is tied to the device's MAC address. This way all my access points and cloud controllers have static addresses and it was easy to do. This cloud controller does the rest and makes it easy. I like lightness. The photo looks up to the ceiling of my basement. 2x8 bars on 12" centers (10.5" space between). The big blue box is a POE switch (the only thing connected to AC power). The little black box at the end of the yellow ethernet cable is the Omada cloud controller (POE powered). It's only 100Mbps, but it doesn't let any LAN traffic through, so it's slow. Two white wires go to Omada AC1350 Access Points (POE powered). The gray wire goes to the patch panel, which goes back to my LAN switch.