Yes, you can combine an easy-smart managed switch with an unmanaged switch.
Yes, you can combine an easy-smart managed switch with an unmanaged switch.
In short, I'm looking forward to getting an internet upgrade soon. Parents are constructing a new home and I intend to manage the network there, covering IoT and security needs. I plan to use a MikroTik hAP lite RB941-2nD router for VLAN, firewall, access control, and a TP-Link TL-SG108E smart switch for VLAN management. One VLAN will serve security cameras, which I want to restrict access to only specific devices—like VLAN 20 for them. The idea is to keep costs low by using an 8-port smart switch as the main device, connecting just one untagged VLAN 20 port for the camera, and linking that port to another 8-port fast Ethernet switch (perhaps TP-Link TL-SF1008D). Since the cameras aren't bandwidth-heavy and I don’t need PoE, I’ll only use VLAN 20 on the unmanaged switch. The setup should look like this: Mikrotik → easy smart switch → one port shown for VLAN 20 → all cameras on that port. But... Is this feasible? Or will it require a more expensive smart switch with extra ports? Thanks ahead!
This process functions this way. When you assign a port in an upstream managed switch to VLAN 20, every device connected downstream will automatically join that VLAN. You can combine managed and unmanaged switches, but it's usually wise to position unmanaged switches behind managed ones as intended.
To lower costs further, since the home network will support only about 10-15 devices, can I use the Mikrotik router to restrict external access? Should I allow just a few specific devices through a firewall without VLANs? For the guest network, I’ll rely on the existing Guest Network feature on the routers (Tenda AC9 and TP Link TL-WR840N). Segmentation via VLANs would add extra safety but isn’t necessary right now—it would cover only two cameras and possibly some early-stage IoT devices using ESPHome.