Help with initial VLAN configuration

Question

Good evening! I recently purchased my first managed switch, a Dell Powerconnect 6248P. I have little (read: no) experience with VLANS and the like, but I am trying my hardest to learn. I have been banging my head for almost 2 months now trying to get a fairly simple VLAN config setup, but for the life of me I can't get everything working the way that it should be. I'm trying to setup a separate VLAN for a guest network. This will be VLAN 100. Upstream I have an EdgeRouter X that is set as the DHCP server for this VLAN as well as the DHCP server for my default (1) VLAN.  I have two UAPs that are able to tag traffic based on the SSID that the device connects to. So when connected to the Guest network, the UAP tags the traffic with PVID 100. I will also eventually be assigning other specific ports to this VLAN as well. I have no idea what I should be setting the ports for the UAPs and the router to. I feel like I've tried every possible configuration and still have not been able to figure it out. Does the router port have to be set as a Trunk port as well as the APs? Or are they supposed to be general? I feel like I've read that both of those are correct but neither of them work for me.   If anyone would be willing to help me, I would be greatly appreciative. I feel like I've read so much about these topics already, but for some reason it just isn't clicking in my head. Thank you for reading!

DELL-Stefan R · Answer

Hi billyjacoby!

I found a video that describes how to set up the ports, this might be handy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0TlQbB1-fA

You might also take a look into this thread here:

https://www.dell.com/community/Networking-General/Dell-2824-Ubiquiti-UniFI-Guest-WIFI-VLAN-tag/td-p/4462188

Last but not least we have a list of different guides for the 6248P here:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/powerconnect-6248p/docs

If you do not find your answer there and have an active warranty, you can always contact the network hotline for further assistance.

BR
Stefan

DELL-Tim G · Answer

Please note a private VLAN ID (PVID) or "native" VLAN in trunk mode refers to the VLAN untagged packets entering the switchport will land in.

So first step would be to choose a common untagged VLAN (default is VLAN 1 on most switches) which is also carrying some control traffic like rapid Spanning-Tree (RSTP) BPDUs.

Your end points or client devices usually only require a single VLAN and do not use tagging so the matching switchport mode would be "access".

Networking components which should work in multiple VLANs normally use the "general" or "trunk" mode.

"trunk" mode does allow all VLANs tagged and an untagged VLAN as "native" which is VLAN 1 per default.

Opposed to "trunk" the "general" mode does not allow any VLANs besides the "allowed" ones.

Assuming your UAPs need a management VLAN to talk to the Unify Controller you might set the switchports connecting them to "switchport mode trunk".

This would allow VLAN 1 untagged and all others tagged including the guest VLAN.

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/204962144

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000121373/how-to-use-general-switchport-mode-on-dell-networking-powerconnect-switches

Networking General

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