Multiple CAP radios causing problems for legacy devices?

RouterOS General
1

I have a Cap AX, managed by CapsMan (different Mikrotik router).

Both 2.4 and 5GHz is used, with Wifi6.

There is a smart clock, which connects to 2.4GHz successfully.

There are some blind spots in the house, so I decided to extend the coverage by adding a new AP (this case, Hap AX2).

I enabled CAP functionality on Hap AX2, and CapsMan recognised it, so now I have two APs (Hap AX2 and CAP AX).

Every single device now able to connect and roam between these APs, but the smart clock is now unable to join the network.

It supposed to join the 2.4GHz, but this time not to CAP AX, but to HAP AX2, which is way closer to the clock physically.

In the logs, I only see this clock connects to cap-wifi6 interface, then after 2minutes and 10seconds, it disconnects. I see this pattern constantly.

I have both WPA2 PSK and WPA3 PSK enabled. What can be the problem here?

Again: with only one AP, it can connect perfectly.

2

All have the same ROS version?

3

Yes, sure. All 3 devices have the latest stable 7 software.

4

Why? I ran into problems (with Apple) and decided to stick to WPA2-PSK only.

I you enable wireless debug logging, you might get some additional information.
Meanwhile, can you please share your config (/interface/wifi export)?

5

I will enable wireless debug logging and post the configuration later today.

More interesting facts:

The smart clock’s data rate is fixed for 1000kb/s for both up and down in capsman’s registration table.

It can’t get IP at all, and after 2:10 (m:s) it disconnects.

If I disable hap ax2’s radio (or just simply do a frequency scan with it), the smart clock joins to the network perfectly (onto cap ax, and it also gets IP).

6

Are the radios using the same frequency?

7

At first, after booting the whole system, both cap ax and hap ax2 were broadcasting 2.4GHz on 2412MHz center frequency for some reason. 5GHz signals were separated.

Then after I realized this, I did a provision for the hap ax2, and then it selected a different channel for 2.4 too.

Then I restarted the smart clock, but all results are the same since Hap AX2 became my second CAP.

8

Maybe RSTP issue.

https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/WiFi

If the CAP is hAP ax2 or hAP ax3, it is strongly recommended to enable RSTP in the bridge configuration, on the CAP

configuration.manager should only be set on the CAP device itself, don’t pass it to the CAP or configuration profile that you provision.

It should be enabled by default, but double check please. Also on CAP AX. I don’t know why the MT docs only refer to ax2 and ax3, as CAP AX has the same chipset (IPQ-6010) thus the warning/info should also apply to the CAP AX.

9

I’m so sorry folks for wasting your time with this.

This was my mistake: as HAP AX2 is for a basic home usage, it has a standard configuration onboard. I cleared all the settings, and reconfigured everything from scratch:

  • add every single wlan and eth interface to the bridge
  • enable CAP
  • clear everything else

Now after CapsMan gets this new radio, it propagated my configuration, which uses a slave configuration on 2.4GHz. This has created a new wlan interface on HAP AX2, which was not part of the bridge, so it has no chance to receive any IP address, or access anything.

After I added this new wlan interface created by CapsMan, everything got back to normal, smart clock now works perfectly.

One thing I don’t understand:
CAP AX has two wifi interfaces:

  • wlan1
  • wlan2
    Slave interface got wlan3.

HAP AX2 has also two wifi interfaces:

  • wlan1
  • wlan2
    Same slave interface got wlan7. Why?

In main router’s CapsMan, I see 6 wifi interfaces:

  • wlan1 (CAP AX 5)
  • wlan2 (CAP AX 2.4)
  • wlan3 (CAP AX 2.4 slave)
  • wlan4 (HAP AX2 5)
  • wlan5 (HAP AX2 2.4)
  • wlan6 (HAP AX2 2.4 slave)

First 3 item correlates with CAP AX’s interfaces, but the rest is not with HAP AX2. Is this intended? Or should I take some more care with this?

Thank you!

10

I can’t answer on the WLAN interface numbering. But on the reconfiguration part: easiest is to use

/system reset-configuration caps-mode=yes

it gets provisioned by your capsman server on first boot.

11

Thank you! On which device shall I execute this command? On the new AP (Hap AX2)?

One more thing:
When I add new slave configurations in CapsMan router (L009), it creates new wlanX interfaces on both CAP AX and on HAP AX2. BUT, on CAP AX, this new wlanX interface becomes part of the default bridge, while on HAP AX2, this wlanX stays alone without becoming part of the bridge. Which configuration controls this behavior?

12

datapath config, bridge property … under /interface/wifi/datapath/ … if you somehow renamed bridge on your cAP ax and made CAPsMAN configuration accordingly, then you will run into the same problem with all CAP clients with default config.

13

Thank you folks!

All issues are solved. :slight_smile: