Hello, I’m not super knowledgeable on networking stuff, so I will do my best to explain this clearly.

I’d love some advice on how to get my Google Wifi Mesh router system to work with my new internet connection. The problem is that our ISP stopped offering cable internet, they are swapping their offerings to fiber. They installed the service, with an ONT (as far as I understand , kinda like a modem, except not as simple as plugging that into our router since our ISP uses VLAN tagging).

Google Wifi (2018) doesn’t support VLAN tagging. So we have to either go through the 3rd party router that does (Nokia Beacon 2}, then to the Google Wifi OR got from ONT to managed switch to Google router.

I’ve factory reset all 3 of the Google wifi access points.

What I’ve tried:

  1. I’ve tried going through the Nokia Beacon 2 and have been getting error messages when trying to setup the Google router. So it’s ONT connected to Nokia Beacon 2 WAN port, then ethernet cable from Nokia Beacon 2 LAN port to Google Wifi WAN port. No luck. Failed to setup Google WiFi error message each time.

Should I be placing the Nokia Beacon 2 into bridge first, mode when trying this?

  1. I got a managed switch - TP Link TL-SG105SE. Unfortunately, I’m a moron and didn’t think about my laptop not having an ethernet port on it. So I can’t configure the managed switch until this weekend, when I’ll borrow a friend’s laptop. I plan on setting up the VLAN tagging on the switch, then it’ll be ONT to Switch to Google WiFi (will need to setup PPPoE on Google router too, I imagine that stuff is all requested during setup though).

So I’m basically repeating a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve read and barely understand. I guess ideally, it would probably be easiest to use the Nokia Beacon to handle the VLAN tagging and then go to the Google WiFi, but I can’t figure it out. I hesitated to try to put the Beacon 2 into bridge mode since it said that would wipe all the PPPoE info from it and it also said that mode should only be used when you have another router “ahead” of the beacon 2 in your networking setup, which wouldn’t be the case.

Anyway, this is getting to be a novel. Any advice, words of wisdom, suggestions would be very much welcome. This single Beacon 2 isn’t cutting it for coverage when we were used to the full house Google WiFi mesh system.

Note - I realize I could ask my ISP for another Beacon 2 and mesh those, but I bought the Google wifi in 2018 and it still works great, so I’d prefer to use that (unless I’m convinced otherwise here?).

Tha k you very much for taking the time to read through all this!