3G only available on 1 of 2 WiFi radios installed

Hi everyone,

I have a 411UAHR RouterBOARD + MC8705 wireless module + R52Hn MiniPCI card installed.

I use this setup for internet and networking at my home office. I use a number of devices on the network and some devices like printers and phones only support 2.4Ghz 802.11g and others like the iMacs support 5Ghz 802.11n. What I want to do is provide 5Ghz 802.11n for the iMacs while still providing 2.4Ghz for the older devices. The reason I want to do this is so that I can take advantage of the faster 5GHz 802.11n to add NAS storage for backups.

I want to configure the onboard WiFi radio to work at 2.4Ghz 802.11g and the R52Hn at 5GHz 802.11n.

The 2.4GHz WiFi and Ethernet works as expected and internet connectivity is working just fine.

However on the 5GHz WiFi the DHCP server doesn’t lease an IP to the computers and if I manually enter the IP, gateway and DNS on the computer there is still no internet connection.

Here is the configuration as done through the WebFig interface:

wlan1 = 411UAHR onboard Wifi
wlan2 = R52Hn
ppp-out1 / lte1 = MC8705

Initial Setup:

“Quick Set” →

  • “Mode” = Bridge
    “IP Address” = 192.168.0.1/24
    “Country” = South Africa

“System” → “SNTP Client” →

  • “Enabled” = true
    “Mode” = unicast
    “Primary NTP Server” = 41.73.38.11
    “Secondary NTP Server” = 41.134.20.28

“System” → “Clock” →

  • “Time Zone Name” = Africa/Johannesburg

“System” → “Users” → “admin” = {Change admin password}


Bridge Setup:

“Bridge” → “bridge1” →

  • “Name” = Bridge
    “Protocol Mode” = rstp

“Bridge” → “Ports” → “Add New” →

  • “Interface” = ether1

“Bridge” → “Ports” → “Add New” →

  • “Interface” = wlan1

“Bridge” → “Ports” → “Add New” →

  • “Interface” = wlan2

DHCP Setup:

“IP” → “Pool” → “Add New” →

  • “Name” = DHCP Pool
    “Addresses” = 192.168.0.25-192.168.0.254

“IP” → “DHCP Server” → “Add New” →

  • “Name” = DHCP Server
    “Interface” = Bridge
    “Address Pool” = DHCP Pool

“IP” → “DHCP Server” → “Networks” tab → “Add New” →

  • “Address” = 192.168.0.0/24
    “Gateway” = 192.168.0.1

“IP” → “DHCP Client” – “Add New” →

  • “Interface” = lte1

NAT Setup:

“IP” → “Firewall” → “NAT” tab → “Add New” →

  • “Chain” = srcnat
    “Out. Interface” = lte1
    “Action” = masquerade

Interface Setup:

“Interfaces” → “wlan1” Wireless (Atheros AR5212) →

  • “Enabled” = true
    “Name” = WiFi Onboard
    “Mode” = ap bridge
    “Band” = 2GHz-only-G
    “Frequency” = 2462
    “SSID” = Mikrotik 2.4GHz
    “Wireless Protocol” = unspecified

“Interfaces” → “wlan2” Wireless (Atheros 11N) →

  • “Enabled” = true
    “Name” = WiFi Card
    “Mode” = ap bridge
    “Band” = 5GHz-only-N
    “Channel Width” = 20/40MHz HT Above
    “Frequency” = 5180
    “SSID” = Mikrotik 5.1GHz
    “HT Tx Chains” = chain0 + chain1
    “HT Rx Chains” = chain0 + chain1

“Interfaces” → “ppp-out1” →

  • “Enabled” = true
    “Name” = PPP
    “Dial On Demand” = false

“Interfaces” → “LTE” →

  • “Enabled” = true
    “Name” = LTE

Wireless Security Setup:

“Wireless” → “Security Profiles” → “default” →

  • “Mode” = dynamic keys
    “Authentication Types” = WPA PSK + WPA2 PSK
    “Unicast Ciphers” = tkip
    “Group Ciphers” = tkip
    “WPA Pre-Shared Key” = {Enter encryption key}
    “WPA2 Pre-Shared Key” = {Enter encryption key}

“Wireless” → “Connect List” → “Add New”

  • “Interface” = WiFi Onboard

“Wireless” → “Connect List” → “Add New”

  • “Interface” = WiFi Card

Final Setup:

“System” → “Shutdown”

{Disconnect Power}
{Reconnect Power}

Please post /export compact

sep/29/2012 21:48:37 by RouterOS 5.20

software id = N6V5-FHHS

/interface bridge
add l2mtu=1526 name=Bridge protocol-mode=rstp
/interface wireless
set 0 band=2ghz-onlyg country="south africa" disabled=no frequency=2462 l2mtu=
2290 mode=ap-bridge name="WiFi Onboard" ssid="Mikrotik 2.4GHz"
wireless-protocol=802.11
set 1 band=5ghz-a/n channel-width=20/40mhz-ht-above country="south africa"
disabled=no ht-rxchains=0,1 ht-supported-mcs="mcs-0,mcs-1,mcs-2,mcs-3,mcs-4,mc
s-5,mcs-6,mcs-7,mcs-8,mcs-9,mcs-10,mcs-11,mcs-12,mcs-13,mcs-14,mcs-15"
ht-txchains=0,1 l2mtu=2290 mode=ap-bridge name="WiFi Card" ssid=
"Mikrotik 5.1GHz" wireless-protocol=802.11
/interface ethernet
set 0 name=Ethernet
/interface lte
set 0 apn="" mac-address=A6:8F:D4:5A:01:07 modem-init="" name=LTE network-mode=
auto password="" pin="" user=""
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] authentication-types=wpa-psk,wpa2-psk group-ciphers=tkip
mode=dynamic-keys unicast-ciphers=tkip wpa-pre-shared-key=*****
wpa2-pre-shared-key=*****
/ip hotspot user profile
set [ find default=yes ] idle-timeout=none keepalive-timeout=2m
/ip pool
add name="DHCP Pool" ranges=192.168.0.25-192.168.0.254
/ip dhcp-server
add address-pool="DHCP Pool" disabled=no interface=Bridge name="DHCP Server"
/port
set 1 name=usb2
/interface ppp-client
add apn=internet dial-on-demand=no disabled=no keepalive-timeout=0 name=PPP port=
usb2
/interface bridge port
add bridge=Bridge interface="WiFi Onboard"
add bridge=Bridge interface=Ethernet
add bridge=Bridge interface="WiFi Card"
/interface wireless connect-list
add interface="WiFi Onboard" security-profile=default
add interface="WiFi Card" security-profile=default
/ip address
add address=192.168.0.1/24 comment="default configuration" interface=Ethernet
/ip dhcp-client
add default-route-distance=0 disabled=no interface=LTE
/ip dhcp-server network
add address=192.168.0.0/24 gateway=192.168.0.1
/ip dns
set allow-remote-requests=yes
/ip dns static
add address=192.168.0.1 name=router
/ip firewall nat
add action=masquerade chain=srcnat out-interface=LTE
/ip neighbor discovery
set "WiFi Onboard" disabled=yes
set "WiFi Card" disabled=yes
set LTE disabled=yes
/system clock
set time-zone-name=Africa/Johannesburg
/system ntp client
set enabled=yes mode=unicast primary-ntp=41.73.38.11 secondary-ntp=41.134.20.28

You need to put your ip on the bridge interface not the ethernet interface. How did you setup your dhcp server, did you enter everything manually? It is good to specify the wireless protocol instead of leaving it unspecified (in your case 802.11). You should also use aes instead of tkip.

Why would 5ghz 802.11n be any faster than 2ghz 802.11n? It is the same protocol just a different band.

Thanks cbrown.

I changed the ip to the bridge interface and also set the wireless protocol for both wifi radios to 802.11, but still have the same problem. DHCP Server was setup manually.

I meant that 802.11n would be faster than 802.11g, but the reason I want to use 5GHz for 802.11n is because neighboring networks already use channel 1 and 6 on the 2.4 band and my 2.4 GHz radio is on 11. So to avoid too much interference I would like to use 5GHz.

When I manually set the IP address on the computers connecting to the 5GHz network they are able to communicate with the devices on the 2.4GHz network, so the wifi cards are working. Its just DHCP and internet not working for the 5GHz network for some reason.

cbrown, I overlooked your suggestion about AES encryption yesterday, so changed the TKIP to AES now and after restarting the router everything is working great.

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!

No problem. I’m glad you got it working.