I use MikroTik in two separate locations, at home I have a 450G + RB951Ui-2HnD setup (since at the moment of purchase there was NO good solution for Wireless + Gigabit ports) and on the other location I use one RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN (acquired a few years later).
In both locations I currently use an 100 Mbps internet line (NAT).
I plan to upgrade my setup in both locations and use an internet connection with a bandwidth of 1 Gbps (NAT), and also replace Wireless N connections with Wireless AC (802.11ac).
I searched the current product line and I saw no simple solution for my desired setup. In a perfect world, I would like to find a product like RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN but using 802.11ac and also a faster processor, in order to allow me to use the 1 Gbps internet connection better.
I could pay more that 129 USD for it, but probably no more than 200 USD.
Has the MikroTik team any intention of producing some new devices using 802.11ac in the near future?
While it is currently mearly impossible to find just a good access point with dual band/AC support inside your budget, I’m afraid getting All-in-one device with all the specs you requested for less than 200 is unreal. Also, among current Mtk product line there are no SOHO devices capable of performing as gigabit home router.
So, I believe, your dream device is not going to arrive this year. Maybe 2016…
P.S. I’m using http://routerboard.com/RB2011UiAS-IN with dedicated UniFi AP AC at home and pretty happy with this tandem, but my Internet access is “only” 100 Mbit/s and those two devices sum up in over $500. So, smth between $300-$400 would be more realistic price for SOHO router with 8-10 gigabit ports, AC access point built-in and capable CPU. Apple AirPort Extreme cost $200, but it has only 3 lan ports and the same (if not smaller) number of settings.
Now they presented hAP AC. Coo. But not enough Ethernet ports for my home.
Now they presented RB3011. Cool - has 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. But no dual-band. No cool again.
So, I go eat my antisickness pills and continue to “suffer” from UniFi AP AC.
Something like this (R5SHPac) could be really great. A mini PCI 5 ghz single chain ( 1x1 ) which supports 800 mw transmit power. Something like this could possibly support a 300 meg rate connection using a single polarity antenna at a distance of 10 to 18 miles with plenty of CCQ to spare.
Something like a future Mikrotik R5SHPac mini PCI card could possible enable all Miktorik WISPs to be able to perform a simple PCI card upgrade/swap to make the leap from 54 meg (802.11a) or 108 meg (802.11a 40 wide) or 150 meg (802.11 n ) range connections to be able to achieve 300 meg rate connections - while still using their existing single polarity antenna and the same RB motherboards.
adn2337, pepper: It’s already possible, just pick an RB3011-In, and a R11e-5HacT.
It should do 200+ MBps NAT and dual concurrent bands. It would be slightly more than $200 (RB3011-2HnD is $199), but its performance will match the price.
Check the MUM pdf the R11e-5HacT and some pricings are there.
If I’m not mistaken 5H in its name means it has only 5GHz, not 2,5. So it is impossible to build dual-band AP with this card. You can either have one, or other, not both (which is still needed in many scenarious for backward compatibility). Unlike hAP AC, which is advertised to have dual-band built-in.
RB3011-2HnD already has built-in 2.4GHz 11b/g/n inside; adding the mini-PCIe R11e-5HacT to it you’re adding a second wireless interface that you can set up just for 5GHz AC, thus coexisting 2.4GHz B/G/N and 5GHz AC.
As jarda pointed out no “single” card in the market can operate in two different bands simultaneously; all dual band APs have two different wireless interfaces for concurrent dual band operation, hAP AC included.
