hAP AX2 with 2.5GBASE-T or 5GBASE-T

Hardware MikroTik hardware general
1

As an FttH ISP we use Mikrotik hAP series routers for our endusers.
We started years ago with the hAP ac, we changed to ac2 and now we ship ax2 routers.

We like the ac2 and ax2 because of the small form-factor and internal antenna’s (ofcourse external antenna’s might work better, work are a lot more fragile).

The hAP ax3 has the same chipset as the ax2 but has a 2.5G WAN port, we are wondering if there will be a future version of the ax2 with a 2.5G port aswel. Or even better a device with multiple 2.5G ports?

And what about 5GBASE-T?

We see more and more of our competing ISP’s offering speeds above 1Gbit, for example the big cable company now offers 1200Mbit via DOCSIS and some competing FttH operators are offering 2Gbit or even 8Gbit via XGSPON.

2

sometimes power and costs define what features are included on each device, especially on ax2, such compact but powerful device have very limited dissipated power constraints

3

We see other manufacturers offering routers with multiple 2.5G ports.
For example:

  • Ubiquiti UXG max
  • TP-Link ER707-M2
  • Asus AX6000

So I assume chipsets are available…

Wondering if we can expect an ‘affordable’ WiFi 6 (or WiFi 7) router with multiple (at least two) 2.5G ports running RouterOS..

Preferably in the AC2/AX2 form factor aswel in the AC3/AX3 form factor.

hAP AX^2.5 / hAP AX^3.5
or
hAP BE^2 / hAP BE^3

4

The first two has no wireless, so no power draw and heat there. The Asus just looks horrible and draw power as a medium-sized laptop.

Yes, chipsets exists, but may not be suitable for RouterOS.

When talking 1Gbps+ performance, I always recommend separate router and access-points.

5

AX6000 is 30cm x 17cm x 22cm

hAP ax2 is 12cm x 10cm x 4cm

The difference in volume is around 20-times. Even if the last AX6000 measurement is with extended antennae and is height of the case more like 5cm, it still makes 5-times the difference. I’d say it’s not only due to cosmetical reasons.

6

On of our competitors (Internet Service provider: KPN, royal dutch telecom) just introduced ‘their’ ‘multi-Gig’ router.


The router is manufactured by Arcadyan (custom for KPN, with branding etc) and equipped with:

2x 10G RJ45 (1x WAN + 1x LAN purpose)
1x 2.5G RJ45 (LAN purpose)
2x 1G RJ45 (LAN purpose)

aswel WiFi 6, a similar hardware configuration would be our ideal configuration for a ‘multi-gig’ FttH customer router aswel, but with RouterOS 7 :slight_smile:

7

Our original tread started in aug 2023, but after two years, the question is still so valid..

When can we expect a hAP ax2 successor with multiple 2.5G ports?

We are almost at a point that might to switch to another vendor/manufacturer for our end-user equipment (since almost every other vendor now has a model with these specs).

8

I mean Qualcomm has several nice chipsets in the IPQ95XX series that could work for this use case, for example:

IPQ9534: 1x 10G, 4x 2.5G + WiFi 7

9

Your fiber is next to my door since 1.5 years ago, almost begged you to install it in, but never happened. When are you guys then come removing it from our area since it serves no use? Were you waiting on Mikrotik to release better equipment? I’m already on Wifi7 internal house and 10G network.

10

Hi liviu2004,

Please send a message to support@openfiber.nl with your address etc and I (Kasper) will get in touch to check what happend with the fiber close to your door :slight_smile:

11

Now I realize you’re not Open Dutch Fiber … my apologies then.