I have recently purchased a Unifi AP AC LR and it worked great. But i decided to return it and buy a cAP AC.
The reason. Unifi Controller. I hate installing it on my pc or even on my Raspberry Pi and i also hate that i have to install it anywhere! Period.
Also, i refuse to pay 80-90euros for Cloud Key just to be able to make changes and have an eye-candy GUI no matter how good it looks
Anyway, long story short, i hooked up the cAP AC and it was up and running in seconds. It is paired with a hEX RB750Gr3 which i also love for what it does for the price.
During the day and with satisfaction written on my face now that i have left the UBNT for good i noticed that my Fosbaby (Wifi only) IP Camera was lagging, stuttering and had drops.
I tried troubleshooting it but i got nowhere. Tried resetting it and starting clean without default config. Tried CAPsMAN. Tried changing frequencies.
The solution came when i set Band to B/G only! As strange as it sounds it did the trick.
So now i’m stuck with mixed feelings regarding whether i should keep the cAP AC or look for something else.
Why? Because 5Ghz is not vital to me. Most of the times i see that my smartphone is on 2.4Ghz band.
So we have 2.4Ghz left. And now in order to play well with my IP Camera i must cripple it and my whole network as well.
By the way, I have many Sonoffs and many Shellies on my network (about 30 in total) in case that matters. But personally i don’t see how they could affect my IP Camera performance especially in 802.11N since B/G is working fine.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? Is there a way to isolate the MAC address of the IP Camera to connect only to 802.11G so i can have band settings to B/G/N?
I see your dilemma, I use my capac 2.4 wifi for all IOT devices in the house and it works for all of them, doorbells, cameras, doorlocks etc…
I use the 5ghz wifi for HOME WIFI and virtual 5ghz for guest WIFI.
It only allows one configurable 2.4 and one configurable 5 ghz networks.
You can make as many virtual networks of either type as you wish but they all work off the wifi of the primary wifi network.
(its confusing because it says 2 chains for 5 and 2 chains for 2ghz and one may thinks this means two independent wifi networks for both 2ghz for example, when that is not the case).
(its more to do with MIMO signal processing and antennas as opposed to the number of independent wifi networks available).
The only thing I could state is too purchase the caplite version - cheap, to address specific needs?
I am not aware of a MIKROTIK indoor home product that provides two separate/independent 2.4ghz networks…
This should turn out to be a fun thread. Let’s help you create the perfect configuration for your needs. You do not need to return the cAP AC. That is a benefit of MikroTik, it will let you tweak and tweak and tweak! So, start over and tell us a little more.
You only want to use 2.4Ghz? How do you feel about using two SSIDs, one for your personal equipment (on 5Ghz) and the other SSID (2.4Ghz) for IoT. Do a scan of the area. Tell us what 2.4Ghz networks (your neighbors) are around you and in use, their channels they are on, etc.
MikroTik, by default will auto pick the channel and frequency. In my experience, it will be the worst one too!
The problem pcunite is that he really needs two independent 2.4gh networks not SSIDs. You can only have one wifi setup, the other SSIDs will run on virtual 2.4ghz networks with the same parent wifi settings. He needs one 2.4ghz on B/G only and the other 2.4ghz on B/G/N.
My recomendation would be to use 2.4GHz for camera (and possibly other IoT devices) and use 5GHz for phones and other interactive devices. Of course both would use different SSIDs so that phones won0t roam to 2.4GHz radio.
My recommendation is to ignore the previous posters off the mark suggestions. The OP is not stewpid! He/she knows there is a 5ghz network available if he SO CHOOSES to use it.
Arg… now I do agree he should use vLANS for his networks!! ;-PPPPP
The problem mentioned by OP is that if he configures both bands with same SSID, then his devices mostly use 2.4GHz band. Which is mostly expected. OP doesn’t mention whether 5GHz coverage is adequate for his needs (even though signal strength might be lower than of 2.4GHz) … hence my recomendation.
The OP has come to the right place. Indeed, when we are done with him, he’ll be sleeping with 'Tiks under his pillow.
@jlout,
Here’s is a recommendation. The cAP AC has two signaling frequency options: 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. This will allow you to have several combinations, all to your benefit.
First:
Put all IoT equipment on 2.4Ghz with a SSID of (for example) My24Network. This is a new SSID you’ll be creating. Name it something unique.
Second:
Put all equipment that is driven by a human on 5Ghz with an SSID of (for example) My5Network.
Third:
Let’s configure the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks manually, since auto will never be optimal. You can play around in the GUI, but here are some sensible settings to start with. Change the ssid name and password to suit. Report back. Then we’ll dial things in.
# Setup the profiles and passwords that will be used by SSIDs
/interface wireless security-profiles
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes group-key-update=1h mode=dynamic-keys name="IOTS_PROFILE2G" wpa2-pre-shared-key="PASSWORD"
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes group-key-update=1h mode=dynamic-keys name="HOME_PROFILE5G" wpa2-pre-shared-key="PASSWORD"
# Name and configure the SSIDs attaching the above profiles
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] antenna-gain=10 band=2ghz-g/n channel-width=20mhz disabled=no distance=indoors frequency=2437 installation=indoor mode=ap-bridge wireless-protocol=802.11 wps-mode=disabled security-profile=IOTS_PROFILE2G ssid="My24Network"
set [ find default-name=wlan2 ] antenna-gain=1 band=5ghz-onlyn channel-width=20/40mhz-eC disabled=no distance=indoors frequency=5200 installation=indoor mode=ap-bridge wireless-protocol=802.11 wps-mode=disabled security-profile=HOME_PROFILE5G ssid="My5Network"
Thank you for all your great answers.
It seems that i have fixed the problem, partially at least.
While watching the wireless registration i noticed that my ip camera was constantly changing channel width e.g. 20Mhz for Tx Rate and 40Mhz for Rx Rate.
I suspected that this might causing the problem. Then i noticed that the channel (the Scan List was set to default) was not optimal because sometimes the cam was streaming properly and eventually started to lagging. I even moved the cam next to the cAP AC just to be sure that this was not a coverage issue.
So i added 1,6,11,13 channels into the channel list with “Extension Channel” disabled, changed the Scan List to the one i have created and after that it was streaming flawlessly.
While on 40Mhz i only had 2 devices that supported it. My IP Camera and a lenovo tab i have just to watch my camera stream.
So that was the only sacrifice i have made.
And something weird. When i set the channel to “extension channel eC” and width to 20.000Mhz it actually connects to my ip cam and lenovo tab at 40.000Mhz and seems to play nicely except some stutters here and there.
But there is no way to set it to eC and 40.000Mhz since it says that it’s not supported.
So i left it at 20.000Mhz and extension channel to disabled since i don’t see any improvement. The tx/rx rate seems to be a bit higher but the consistency is rather poor.
I’m happy with the result and i can’t imagine my self turning away from Mikrotik regardless the tweaking needed to make things work.
p.s.I have read somewhere that it might be the new ARM cpu and the kernel that is being used by Mikrotik issue. It might be fixed in the future.
I’m open to a better solution or anything i should have done differently.
I’m open to a better solution or anything i should have done differently.
I’ll add…
Make sure WMM is on - this is the default case if you use CAPSMAN.
Turn on multicast helper to FULL. This makes sure all devices receive broadcasts.
Increase the minimum data rate, say only 12Mbit for basic and 12-54 for supported (maybe minimum of 18 or 24 if all you devices are close and get a good signal). This will help speed up the network. Devices very far away or with weak signals that can only negotiate the lower speeds might drop off.
Use G/N or N only if you can. Older devices like Sonos and some printers need G.
On 2GHz stick with 20MHz non overlapping channels (1,6,11,13 which you have done) - especially if you have more than one AP. Don’t bother with Ce or eC and 40HMz. Not even Apple devices use 40MHz.
Different SSIDs on the same radio can get set to independently use b/g/n or g/n but the throughput will suffer for every device because b rates and lower g rates will take up precious shared air time.
Add this mangle rule to ensure WMM priority is used properly - eg video or audio packets with DSCP set will get priority.
/ip firewall mangle add action=set-priority chain=postrouting comment=“Set DSCP to interface priority for WMM” new-priority=from-dscp-high-3-bits passthrough=yes
