Initial configuration help

RouterOS Beginner Basics
1

Hello, I just got my hAP lite, and I must say I am a bit overwhelmed by the options :wink:

I must say I am a software dev and not a network specialist, so I can help myself around basic network stuff, but this seems a bit more complex than I can currently handle. So I need some help / advice.

I get my internet access through a cable modem provided by my ISP. It also handles DHCP for my network. I have some additional switches around in my house.
Primarily, the hAP lite should act like a switch on ether1 (uplink to my main router) to ether2 and ether3. However, it should still be manageable via one of these ports (preferably ether1).

I tried to change the default setting (bridge on ether2, ether3 and 4 linked to ether2 as master) to allow for that,
but when I hooked up ether1 as master for ether2 and 3, the hAP wasn’t manageable anymore via these ports, but only via ether4, which is exactly the one it shouldn’t be on.

So this is my first question: How can I configure this?

Then, I want the hAP lite to open up a OpenVPN connection as a client to a VPN.
I then want the device that will be connected to ether4 to:

  1. still be completely accessible from everywhere on the internal LAN (i.e. still get its ip from the DHCP on my ISPs router etc.), but
  2. all outgoing traffic from this device on ether4 that is targeted at the internet (and not the internal lan) should be routed through the VPN.

To be more precise: I want to connect to that device from my home PC and use all services it offers, just as if it would be connected through a normal switch. If that device wants to connect to my NAS, that is on a another switch connected to the ISPs router, it should be able to do that too. But when that device wants to connect to the internet, that should go through the VPN that the mikrotik connects to.

So my second question is: How can I configure that?

Please, if you use abbreviations for something else than TCP or UDP, please give me the full name on first usage that I can look it up somewhere, as I probably don’t know what you’re talking about in the first place. Also, if possible, try to explain concepts a bit or provide links to comprehensible explanations. I really want to learn the basics required to get that going, but I’m very unlikely to turn into a network guru in the next few days :wink: