Hi, I’ve read a lot of the forums and they’ve been of much help in our getting familiar with the RouterOS and the wifi cards. I have a question about MAC limitation and overcoming that using the RouterOS features.
The situation I have is as follows:
We have an Alvarion 3 MB 1D SU (Capable of bridging only one MAC address)
Just behind that, we have a PTP link (very short distance) using two RB112s and Rootennas.
The link would then feed into a Linksys WRT54G SOHO router.
The problem we have is that since the Alvarion subsriber unit is capable of bridging just the one MAC, the only device with which we can communicate from the Alvarion access unit and points beyond is the first Mikrotik device (Side A of the PTP bridge)
My question is, without placing a SOHO firewall directly behind the Alvarion SU, can the RouterOS features/services be used in a way that the MAC address seen by the Alvarion bridge is that of the WAN port on the Linksys router?
Not sure, but I would try an EoIP Tunnel between the two RB112’s. Bridge the tunnel to the interface’s connected to the Alvarion CPE and the WRT router.
Yes, I am referring to the VL 1D units. They can only bridge the one MAC. So normally we would place a SOHO router behind the SU. In this particular case, since the customer has an existing wireless router and would like to be able to not only rebroadcast wirelessly from the Linksys device but also be able to control their own port forwarding, I want to find a way to make the WAN interface of their SOHO router the only MAC address visible to the Alvarion SU
However, if possible, I would like to be able to access the Mikrotik bridge devices for management purposes.
Ummm…how exactly do they state 1024 MAC address then?
This concerns me as we were considering using the BreezeAccess VL system for NLOS PTMP backhaul to a Mikrotik wireless mesh system we were putting in on a project. 1024 MAC addresses would be enough for each backhaul node in the mesh, but 1 MAC address is certainly not enough to do anything like this.
Somehow, I think you are mistaken here…but I do not have any of the gear to test yet. It concerns me that they advertise clearly 1024 MAC addresses in bridging—but I have known Alvarion to be full of it before…
The device to which I am referring is a subscriber unit designed to work with the multipoint VL access units.
The 1D line can be upgraded to give you more throughput (I think they sell soft upgrades in 6, 9, 12, 18, etc.) but cannot be upgraded to handle more than one MAC device.
The BD line can also be upgraded to 54 Mbps throughput.
(1Ds cannot be upgraded to BDs)
“SU-A-ff-6-1D –supports 1 data user
SU-A-ff-6-BD - supports full data bridge”
But I’m certain you’re right on in your expectations of the “full-blown” bridges.
I would just try bridging EVERYTHING together on the MikroTiks (the ethernets to the PtP wireless interface – I am presuming WDS? – on both sides of the PtP links) and use the MAC-NAT feature of the RouterOS bridge interface on side A of the PtP link (the one connected to the Alvarion bridge).
/interface bridge nat
Unless you lay it out very carefully/cleverly, you will probably lose IP management to the MikroTiks (WinBox/telnet/ssh) when doing this, but with a single MAC limitation, you do what you can…
The other option would be for the MikroTik connected to the Alvarion to do routing, and act as the gateway for the Linksys router on side B of the PtP.