For Service apartment or dormitory, tenants come and go that when the tenants are under contracted, they should be able to access the wire and wireless securely without sharing the same network with the tenant next-door. When the tenants' contract is expired, then the access privilege should be cancelled properly and the access code such as WiFi passcode should be changed accordingly to protect the next tenant in the same unit.
The design consideration should include:
Internet Availability with dual WAN connecting to 2 different ISP's
SSID should include
Resident (or Tenant) Network
Guest Network
The apartment can share single guest network passcode
Staff/Operator Network
Separated VLAN to be able to access servers for privilege setting and management
IoT Network
For authorized IoT devices like door access, intercom system, sensors...etc who require less bandwidth
Surveillance network should be separated as a VLAN to have better bandwidth
Central management for multiple apartments and dormitory
Networking Design Consideration
Each Unit should have PoE switch to connect to PoE-powered AP's to provide WiFi and Wired Access. For each floor or the building, there should be an aggregated switch to connect to all switches in each unit.
Recommend to use EnGenius Extender in each unit to save cabling cost.
Extender is a PoE-powered Switch which can be connected to an aggregated PoE switch with one single UTP cable and powered by the switch. The Extender then can provide PoE to connected AP's or other PoE IoT devices in the unit, so the installer can save the power cabling cost and work.
Resident Network Access Privacy
Each resident nit should have their own VLAN to separate from other unit's networks to protect the data privacy of the residents in the unit, and the family in the same unit should be able to use their own VLAN for multiple devices connection.
When the neighbors visit to the other unit, they should be able to access the WiFi in the other unit to connect back to their own VLAN.
EnGenius myPSK function provides the capability to assign an unique passcode for each unit family members and associate them to their unique VLAN
Create a “Resident SSID” across all AP's
Enable myPSK of the SSID and assign unique Passcode to each unit mapping to an unique VLAN, so every member in the unit can use the passcode everywhere in the apartment to connect to the Resident SSID and connect back to his family's VLAN.
As an operator, you have the ability to set the "Period" of the valid myPSK passcode for the unit during a resident's stay. This feature allows you to control the duration of time that a passcode will remain valid for a specific unit.
WiFi Calling Service
For short-stay tenants, they might want to use "Wi-Fi Calling" service of his Telco service to save the phone bill through the free WiFi in the unit.
EnGenius AP offer “Wi-Fi Calling” function to prioritize “voice service” traffic and enjoy better voice quality when there are other traffic occupying the WiFi bandwidth, say, gaming or streaming.
Volume VLAN Creation and Management
When an AP supporting myPSK and allow many VLAN to the Switch port the AP connects to, it will be very tedious to set up the switch port to allow these tagged VLANs.
“VLAN Trucking” option allows the switch port to forward whatever VLAN from the port to uplink port, so users simply need to enable the option instead of setting all VLAN’s on the port.
Central Management and Configuration
Each apartment or dormitory might have hundreds of units that the network needs to have hundreds of VLANs created. It will be very tedious to create those VLAN for the aggregated switches of each apartment.
EnGenius provides VLAN import/export function to allow Operator to export VLAN configuration of one apartment and import to another apartment easily
Each apartment can have an ESG, EnGenius Secure Router, to
Provide load-balanced dual WAN to connect to 2 different ISP's to make sure the Internet access is available all the time
Use "Auto VPN" to connect all ESG in each apartment back to headquarter securely so the Operator can manage the remote servers
The Operator can also design the infrastructure to make each apartment an separated Organization and each unit is a separated Network. In this case, there will be multiple Organization (or Apartment) to manage.
"MSP" portal will be highly recommended to be able to manage multiple Organization easily
Demands and Features Quick Links
Vertical Application Wizard (MDU, Service Apartment, Dormitory) | Leads to Key Features (PRO) |
Create “Apartment Network” with unique PSK and VLAN for each unit | MyPSK (Unit / myPSK / VLAN / Rental Period) |
PoE-powered Switch for easy cabling | |
Aggregated PoE Switch | |
Save port configuration work to forward all VLAN to uplink port | |
Prioritize WiFi calling traffic | |
Big deployment >500 stores (Networks) |