160MHz support for US RB4011

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

I’m a bit confused, but why doesn’t the US model of the RB4011 w/ WiFi support 160MHz channels?

The option is selectable in the interface settings, and the output for the allowed channel list for “united states3” which is my only option says ac160 and ac80+80 are supported for both indoor and outdoor configurations.

[admin@RB4011] /interface wireless> /interface wireless info country-info country="united states3"
  ranges: 2402-2472/b,g,gn20,gn40(30dBm)                                                          
          5170-5250/a,an20,an40,ac20,ac40,ac80,ac160,ac80+80(30dBm)/indoor                        
          5735-5835/a,an20,an40,ac20,ac40,ac80,ac160,ac80+80(30dBm)/outdoor

However, setting the option gives a “no supported channels” error, and trying to set a custom frequency yields this message:

[admin@RB4011] /interface wireless channels> add name=test frequency=5170 width=160 band=5ghz-onlyac
list: test                                                                                          
failure: license does not allow non-standard channel width

Nearly every other 4x4 MU-MIMO Wave 2 AC capable device on the US market works with 160MHz channels, what’s so special about these that they don’t work?

Or am I simply just doing something wrong?

Audience in USA - 160mhz WLAN3
AT&T FTTH, VLANs, CapsMAN Full Config (RouterOS 7 Updated)
understanding Channel-Width options and limitations due to country registrations plus interface vs CAPsMAN settings
2

For 160MHz channel, it would have to be possible to use a contigous 160MHz frequency channel. Which with limitations from “united states3” is not the case:

  • chunk from 5170MHz to 5250MHz is exactly 80MHz wide, thus it can be used for 80MHz channel or 80+80MHz channel (one half of it)
  • chunk from 5735MHz to 5835MHz is 100MHz wide, thus it can be used for 80MHz channel or 80+80MHz channel (another half of it)

I’m not entirely sure is the frequency limits of chunks are actual boundaries or rather centre frequencies of 20MHz channels (so the chunks are wider). In this particular case they’re probably actual boundaries or else these chunks would actually overlap. As consequence, one can not set channel frequency to one of boundaries because frequency setting in ROS means center frequency of a channel (and in case of 20MHz channels it means that channel spans 10MHz lower and 10MHz higher than the setting … however the whole used channel needs to fall within permitted frequency bands).

Unfortunately there’s a gap of 15MHz between these two chunks which prevents them from being used for 160MHz channel.

3

Sorry, but we are still in the process of certifying for US (U-NII-2), that’s why you cannot choose any frequencies with the 160MHz configuration when country is set to united-states-3.

Regarding 80MHz+80MHz, you can achieve it by enabling secondary frequency. Simply set channel-width to any 80MHz center frequency and set secondary-frequency to auto. Example:

If you have any other questions, maybe you can look at a previous post I’ve answered to regarding 160MHz and 80+80 configuration/behavior:
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/why-channel-50-isnt-selectable-in-the-160mhz-band/131249/13

4

I tried setting

frequency=5180

,

channel-width=20/40/80mhz-Ceee

, and

secondary-channel=auto

and get an error

      ;;; no supported channel and secondary channel combination

Notably, setting my frequency and channel width now reduces my allowed channels to

channels: 5180/20-Ceee/ac(27dBm)

Also, your screenshot seems to show 20+80, not 80+80.

5

You have to set country and regulatory settings which will allow such configuration.


You can find interface capabilities for the current configuration running command: /interface wireless info allowed-channels interface=wlan1
And what is allowed for a specific country and settings, running command: /interface wireless info country-info latvia


If you look closer, the first one shows 20MHz+Extension channels where the second frequency shows 80MHz. They simply show the “same” in a different syntax.

6

Any update on 160MHz support for the RB4011?

7

Bump. Unable to use 160mhz channels on Audience too. It’s been over a year since Reinis said Mikrotik was working on it.

8

Changelog of 6.45.1 shows:
*) wireless - improved 160MHz channel width stability on rb4011;
So i guess it works… But…

I ll make a test on a RB4011 right now and let you know if it works…

Edit: You can effectively set 160Mhz channel width…it works…
The secondary Frequency parameter though… maybe it existed in previous versions? Can not remember right now…
That parameter indeed exists under CapsMan Facility but not on Wireless Interface…

But Reading again, no one is perfect :smiley: i saw that:
*) winbox - added “secondary-channel” setting to wireless interface if 80 MHz mode is selected; on 6.42.7

So trying both ways, either setting channel width 160Mhz or setting the channel width to 80Mhz and setting secondary frequency, they both work…

9

Can I get a configuration example, please?

10

What error are you getting?
Also sorry but my test was not for US (U-NII-2)… So my question is, you can not make it work for any country and or frequency ?

11

Here’s a link to my thread for my Audience hardware. http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/audience-in-usa-160mhz-wlan3/138984/1

My only two countries are united states3 and canada2. Regardless which is chosen, “No supported channel” is the error message when setting the bandwidth to 160mhz.

12

For testing purposes i did try Regulatory Domain for Canada and United States 3. They both did work when setting Channel Width to 80Mhz and Secondary Frequency to Auto…

13

Out of curiosity are you testing on an RB4011 or on an Audience? My particular issue is with the Audience and I suspect they’ve fixed it on the 4011. My googling brought me to this thread.

14

On a RB4011…