Apple compatible 802.11N 2.4 Ghz / 5.8 Ghz Dualband AP

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hi Guys,

I want to build a fast home Access Point that will run on 2.4 Ghz and 5.8 Ghz 802.11 B/G/N. I use a mixture of devices including a few Apple Macbook Pro’s. Apple is very full of crap when it comes to 802.11N and the Macbooks normally refuse to run at 300 mbps in the 2.4 Ghz band.

Does anyone have any experience with Router OS and Apple 802.11N?

My other question is how would one approuch running two frequencies with the same SSID? Obviously the computer needs to decide which of the two bands it prefers. Is it as simple as keeping the SSID the same on the two different hardware 802.11 cards?

Thanks.

2

We use RouterOS with MacBooks and have not seen a problem connecting and using the router. The fastest I have noticed it at is 130 but I also don’t pay that much attention to it.

To do the two different bands you will need to use two different cards. I would use 2 R52Hn cards, they will do what you need.

3

Thank you cbrown. I also have not experienced any connection issues. I am strictly talking about getting it to connect faster than 150 mbps. I also know you need two antenna’s and I have had a configuration where a HP Laptop worked quite happily on the 300 mbps configuration where the Macbook would refuse to connect at 300 mbps and drop down to 150 mbps at full signal strength.

4

I am not sure how many antennas the MBP has. I would assume only one considering it will only connect at 150.

5

It has two and will work at 300 mbps with the Apple Airport Express which is MIMO.

6

The 2011 models are actually 3x3, previous versions were 2x2.

7

what router do you have? have you enabled the second chain and set to 40mhz? only then will it work at 300

also see what frequency you have set in the router.

8

I have done this a few years ago when 802.11 N just became available to Mikrotik. Then even with the second chain and 40 mhz I was able to get it to work. I guess the best way is just to borrow a RB433 and test it out again.

9

anyway, there shouldn’t be any problems to achieve these rates with macbook+routerboard

10

Macbook pros cant and dont operate at 300 in 2.4ghz,.

5ghz is the only way.

11

Hello all,

I am very new here. I work with mikrotik for a while now.
I was reading this topic and have some questions because i want als to run a MT on 2.4 and 5 ghz. so dualband.

Question:

  • What type of card should i use? (i was reading that 2x a R52Hn will do. I got here two R52nM cards)
  • How does the configuration look like for dual band? ( i work most of the time with winbox and not command line)
  • What type of antenna do i need? ( I need the solution for indoor AP’s in combination with a RB433GL board)
12

Yes, two of such cards will work. Configuration is simple - default config is enough, except each card will be configured for a different band. Having same, or different SSIDs is up to you. And of course, WPA AES encryption is highly suggested.

There is nothing special about dual band APs. They are simply two APs that work at different bands.

13

Hello,

I have a RB493G with R52Hn. Now I have got a second wireless card (R52Hn also) to be able to use both - 2.4 and 5 GHz networks. With very default settings I am getting really bad wireless performance:
Computer: MBP 2011
Distance from router: 2m of direct sight
ISP speed: 100Mbps
Remote FTP server speed: 100Mbps
When I am downloading a few GB file, I constantly see ~3.5MBps with my router.

When I am using the same computer at work (same ISP, same remote FTP, same file being downloaded) with latest Apple AirPort Extreme as a router, I am getting 7-8MBps all the time.

What should I do with my router configuration to improve wireless speed? I am sure, that RB493G+R52Hn is capable to achieve higher speed than 3.5MBps.

normis,
could you explain please, what do you mean by saying:

By the way, on PC, connected to the router via cable I am getting full ISP provided speed - up to 11,7MBps (~83,6Mbps).

Regards

P.S. I am using the latest (5.19) RouterOS version.