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Help with network hierarchy (5G antenna, raspi server, switches, PV, EV charger etc.)
(zerobytes.monster)
The original post: /r/homenetworking by /u/setarkos113 on 2025-04-03 10:26:33.
Hi,
I'm looking for feedback on my planned network topology.
Situation
- We have a barn and a house on the premises, approximately 20 m apart, with two underground Cat 7 cables running in between.
- Internet will be via 5G directed antenna mounted at the barn. Probably only up to 80 Mbit/s. If not sufficient, it will be replaced by Starlink (or Kuiper at some point...). Hoping for fibre in a decade or so...
- The barn also hosts the PV inverters for both roofs including compatible smart meter, one (or at some point two) EV chargers, maybe a PV battery in the future
- 5G antenna and router will be provided and cannot be exchanged for other products, no info currently on what they are and what their capabilities are
- Anything particular I have to check?
- The house has Cat 7 connections to every floor
Requirements
- Good WiFi coverage in both building on all floors
- Internet connection for all displayed devices
- Same WiFi (name and pw) in both buildings
- with possibility to add more outdoor APs and mesh devices
- VLANs should span entire network
- Time scheduled VLAN capability
- Raspi server for home automation needs to communicate with smart meter, EV chargers and potentially more in the future (boiler, wireless sensors)
Devices
- Omada (or UniFi equivalent)
- Switches: TP-Link TL-SG108PE (Ubiquiti USW-LITE-8-POE)
- APs: TP-Link EAP655 (Ubiquiti U6+/U6LR)
- Controller: Omada OC200 Cloud Controller (Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra)
- Kostal Smart Meter (PV)
- Tinkerforge Warp 3 (EV charger)
- Raspi server would run evcc and home assistant, potentially switch controlling SW to replace the hardware controller
Questions
- Does the design as depicted above work?
- Can I manage both switches and all APs with the router in between?
- Are the Omada/UniFi devices the correct versions or is anything missing/non-compatible?
- Should I make any changes?
- The provide mentioned a direct connection between 5G antenna and router might be needed. Can this be true? Would this alternative below still allow full VLAN support across both buildings? Would the switches need to be connected in series instead?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!