This post started as a request for help but ended up solving it myself so adding her in case it helps someone else. First time using CAPSMAN and now its working I really like it.
This maybe a bug? Found one post with the same issue and no answer:
Configured CAPSMAN and it was all working successfully. Rebooted the master router (RouterBOARD 962UiGS-5HacT2HnT, 6.47.9 firmware) and once it came up, nothing could connect out of 32 devices across 2.4 GHz and 3 routers. 5 GHz devices were not affected. After much checking, I found the CAP interface list under “capsman > cap interfaces” were numbered “cap1, cap2 … cap 6” instead of the original naming convention of the AP’s, this had changed post reboot. Ended up deleting the “cap1, cap2 … cap 6” interfaces via the menu and they were automatically regenerated correctly and the issue was solved. Further reboots did not cause the same issue.
Other things learnt.
- CAPSMAN may not manage wifi on the local router unless you add the “local - local” filter rule from the bottom of the page here - https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Simple_CAPsMAN_setup
- Virtual AP’s are added by using the “slave configuration” config under the provisioning tab
- Use multiple configs and “HW. supported modes” under the same provisioning menu to ensure 2.4 and 5Ghz configs are applied to the correct radio
- Alot of tutorials on the web do not mention to “forbid all” under CAPSMAN manager interfaces leaving a possible security issue (also mentioned in the above link)
Mikrotik routers are great!