please help configuring a hap ac2

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Some 2-3 months ago I bought my first Mikrotik device - the hap ac2, previously owning an Asus RT-AC87u.
Networking wise, despite of browsing this forum and watching Youtube videos, I’d still rate myself as a noob but willing to learn so.. have mercy :slight_smile:
From my ISP i have a 500Mbps/25Mbps connection, with their router now functioning only as cable modem.

Config wise, this is how it looks at this moment:
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] amsdu-limit=2048 band=2ghz-onlyn
channel-width=20/40mhz-Ce country=romania disabled=no distance=1
frequency=2437 installation=indoor keepalive-frames=disabled mode=
ap-bridge multicast-buffering=disabled multicast-helper=disabled ssid=
Beta tx-power=23 tx-power-mode=all-rates-fixed wireless-protocol=802.11
wmm-support=enabled
set [ find default-name=wlan2 ] amsdu-limit=2048 band=5ghz-onlyac
channel-width=20/40/80mhz-Ceee country=romania disabled=no distance=1
installation=indoor keepalive-frames=disabled mode=ap-bridge
multicast-buffering=disabled multicast-helper=disabled ssid=Beta_5G
tx-power=19 tx-power-mode=all-rates-fixed wireless-protocol=802.11
wmm-support=enabled

If with ethernet I have no issues so far, with wifi i seem to miss the optimal config because:

  • even in the living room (where hap is located), on 5GHz average speed is around 210-230Mbps, rarely 300+, 1-in-100 cases 400Mbs (while on Asus, same devices stay @ 400+ Mbps)
  • in the farthest room (~11m in straight line), signal for both wlans is horrible; even the 2.4 GHz is ~ in the range of (-75,-70)dbm and 5Ghz even lower, which i can understand. But 2.4?

What am i doing wrong? :slight_smile:

I’ve attached the floor plan of the apartment where i live; needless to say, the entire apartment building is full of networks from each provider.
I’d really appreciate it if someone would offer some advice on how to configure my hap ac2, for better WiFi results.

Thanks a lot,
Alex
floor plan.png

2

AMSDU 3839 for both, 802.11b/g/n for 2.4GHz and 802.11a/n/ac for 5GHz, basic rates 12mbps and 24mbps, supported rates from 12mbps to 54mbps

3

Thanks, heidarren!

I’ve entered those values with some improvement, but small. However now the Philips AndroidTV (located in that far-away room) cannot connect anymore to the 5GHz network although analiti app running on it reports that the 5GHz network has a signal level similar to 2.4 wlan. Log reports diassoc due to massive data loss. Could it be because of the data rates selection?

Also, should i input some values for TX Power? I assumed that the worse dbm value I found in hap ac2’s official page are to be entered as all rates fixed. Or should i leave this as default?

4

Well, i’ve reverted to default for TX Power, as this value provides the best speed - 330-340 Mbps compared to 200 Mbps with input values..

5

try setting your installation to any vs indoor. Also on my AC2 i run the routerOS longterm package channel as I found it to be the most stable.
I have multicast helper as FULL on mine, seems to run great, I can almost get 35MB/s with a signal of around -73 from my intel 9260 wifi laptop.
Although I am in a housing area that is quite spread out. In an apartment you have so many signal issues that 20-30MB/s might be all you can get with that much interference.

6

I’m on 6.46.4 and I can’t say I really had a problem with this build - but I’ll try to downgrade to longterm build.
I’ve modified the setup as you said but no improvements.
In room marked as 3, signal is very ok, even for 5GHz wlan (can reach 200-230 Mbps) however in room 2, the TV that is installed on the wall linked to the other apartment is talking to the router as seen in the attached picture (that’s the 2.4 wlan and CCQ drops frequently into 40s and gets rarely into 70s)
1.png

7

I’ve borrowed an Audience from a friend - the signal is clearly better. TV reports full signal on 2.4GHz (while on hap ac2 was showing @~50%) and a better signal for the supported 5GHz wlan.
I’ve entered the same values as you advised with hap ac2 and the TV doesn’t go above 33mbps DL (same value as with hap ac2, and i thought it was because of poor signal) and i cannot connect to the 5GHz wifi (same was happening with hap ac2 - again i was assuming because of poor signal) . Could it be because of the basic/supported rates?

8

https://mum.mikrotik.com/2018/UK/agenda/EN#429_5900
https://mum.mikrotik.com/presentations/UK18/presentation_5900_1539209343.pdf

9

hey anav! thanks for the advice!
TBH, i had previously watched that presentation on YouTube and bookmarked it as it had some pretty interesting information, at least for the novice of me.

ATM both wlan are on US, indoor, 3dbi antenna gain and coverage is pretty ok. I’ve done some iperf3 test with a laptop that has an Intel 8265. In the living room (room1), where router sits, i get 150 Mbps on 2.4 and ~350 Mbps on 5 GHz, while in room 3 I get ~80 Mbps on 2.4 and ~180 Mbps on 5. In room 2, the trouble room, TV reports ~50 Mbps on 2.4 (it doesn’t connect any higher than 144 Mbps) and still refuses to connect on 5 GHz network, with all the modifications that were indicated in the previous posts.

I found out that this TV has 2x2 802.11n, dual band connectivity - could it be that the selection of data rates prevents it from joining the 5GHz network? Router log doesn’t have anything logged on the attempts to join wlan2, only diassoc when leaving wlan1.

10

I would say so, try using Canadian Settings, always better, J/K...........
Definitely trying to match your specific devices or at least the weakest one to improve performance seems like a damn fine idea.
Ensure that you choose frequencies that no one else is using (farthest channel from any saturated channel).
Since your devices are probably amurican no advantage to using European settings (access freqs, not normally used and probably illegal anyway).

I will post my capac settings here just in case they may help.!!
To keep it clear in your mind I have one chain for my 2.4ghz network (devices wifi), the other chain for my 5ghz network (house wifi) and one virtual WIFI hanging off the 5ghz Chain (guests).

mar/03/2020 15:38:24 by RouterOS 6.46.2

lRouterBOARD cAP Gi-5acD2nD

/interface ethernet
set [ find default-name=ether1 ] speed=100Mbps
set [ find default-name=ether2 ] disabled=yes speed=100Mbps
/interface bridge
add admin-mac auto-mac=no comment=defconf name=\
    bridgeHallway vlan-filtering=yes
/interface vlan
add interface=bridgeHallway name=Guests_WIFI-v200 vlan-id=200
add interface=bridgeHallway name=Wifi_SDevices_cap2 vlan-id=45
add interface=bridgeHallway name=homevlan vlan-id=11
/interface list
add name=WAN
add name=LAN
add name=capwin
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] supplicant-identity=MikroTik
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=Hallway_wifi supplicant-identity=""
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=devices_only supplicant-identity=""
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=HouseGuestsSecurity supplicant-identity=""
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-g/n basic-rates-b="" country=canada \
    disabled=no distance=indoors installation=indoor mac-address=\
   1 mode=ap-bridge name=DevicesHallway rate-set=configured \
    scan-list=2412,2437,2462 security-profile=devices_only ssid=YYY \
    supported-rates-b="" wireless-protocol=802.11 wmm-support=enabled \
    wps-mode=disabled
set [ find default-name=wlan2 ] antenna-gain=2 band=5ghz-a/n/ac \
    channel-width=20/40mhz-Ce country=canada disabled=no mode=ap-bridge name=\
    Hallway5G rate-set=configured scan-list=5175-5185,5195-5205,5215-5225 \
    security-profile=Hallway_wifi ssid=ZZZZ wireless-protocol=\
    802.11 wmm-support=enabled wps-mode=disabled
add disabled=no mac-address=master-interface=Hallway5G \
    name=VisitorWIFI security-profile=HouseGuestsSecurity ssid=PPPP \
    wds-cost-range=0 wds-default-cost=0 wmm-support=enabled wps-mode=disabled
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=admit-only-vlan-tagged \
    ingress-filtering=yes interface=ether1
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=\
    admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged interface=DevicesHallway pvid=45
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=\
    admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged interface=Hallway5G pvid=11
add bridge=bridgeHallway frame-types=admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged \
    interface=VisitorWIFI pvid=200 trusted=yes
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf hw=no interface=ether2
/ip neighbor discovery-settings
set discover-interface-list=capwin
/ip settings
set rp-filter=loose
# mar/03/2020 15:38:24 by RouterOS 6.46.2
# software id = QE0U-8K2S
#
# model = RouterBOARD cAP Gi-5acD2nD
# serial number = 81CF0829D482
/interface ethernet
set [ find default-name=ether1 ] speed=100Mbps
set [ find default-name=ether2 ] disabled=yes speed=100Mbps
/interface bridge
add admin-mac=CC:2D:E0:AF:73:8F auto-mac=no comment=defconf name=\
    bridgeHallway vlan-filtering=yes
/interface vlan
add interface=bridgeHallway name=Guests_WIFI-v200 vlan-id=200
add interface=bridgeHallway name=Wifi_SDevices_cap2 vlan-id=45
add interface=bridgeHallway name=homevlan vlan-id=11
/interface list
add name=WAN
add name=LAN
add name=capwin
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] supplicant-identity=MikroTik
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=Hallway_wifi supplicant-identity=""
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=devices_only supplicant-identity=""
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk disable-pmkid=yes eap-methods="" mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=HouseGuestsSecurity supplicant-identity=""
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-g/n basic-rates-b="" country=canada \
    disabled=no distance=indoors installation=indoor mac-address=\
    CC:2D:E1:AF:73:91 mode=ap-bridge name=DevicesHallway rate-set=configured \
    scan-list=2412,2437,2462 security-profile=devices_only ssid=RD2 \
    supported-rates-b="" wireless-protocol=802.11 wmm-support=enabled \
    wps-mode=disabled
set [ find default-name=wlan2 ] antenna-gain=2 band=5ghz-a/n/ac \
    channel-width=20/40mhz-Ce country=canada disabled=no mode=ap-bridge name=\
    Hallway5G rate-set=configured scan-list=5175-5185,5195-5205,5215-5225 \
    security-profile=Hallway_wifi ssid=Hallway_CellPhones wireless-protocol=\
    802.11 wmm-support=enabled wps-mode=disabled
add disabled=no mac-address=CE:2D:E2:AF:73:92 master-interface=Hallway5G \
    name=VisitorWIFI security-profile=HouseGuestsSecurity ssid=Guest_Wifi \
    wds-cost-range=0 wds-default-cost=0 wmm-support=enabled wps-mode=disabled
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=admit-only-vlan-tagged \
    ingress-filtering=yes interface=ether1
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=\
    admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged interface=DevicesHallway pvid=45
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf frame-types=\
    admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged interface=Hallway5G pvid=11
add bridge=bridgeHallway frame-types=admit-only-untagged-and-priority-tagged \
    interface=VisitorWIFI pvid=200 trusted=yes
add bridge=bridgeHallway comment=defconf hw=no interface=ether2
/ip neighbor discovery-settings
set discover-interface-list=capwin
/interface bridge vlan
add bridge=bridgeHallway tagged=ether1 untagged=DevicesHallway vlan-ids=45
add bridge=bridgeHallway tagged=ether1 untagged=VisitorWIFI vlan-ids=200
add bridge=bridgeHallway tagged=ether1,bridgeHallway untagged=Hallway5G \
    vlan-ids=11
/interface list member
add interface=ether1 list=WAN
add interface=DevicesHallway list=LAN
add interface=VisitorWIFI list=LAN
add interface=Hallway5G list=LAN
add interface=homevlan list=LAN
add interface=homevlan list=capwin
add interface=ether2 list=LAN
11

Found the below in the thread in wifi about hapac and ubiquiti wifi connection that stated this (the chap is reputable so its good info) …
Readers Digest, get your wax on and go Brazilian!

“A few days ago I was playing with similar setup (PtP link on 5GHz) and I had a similar problem. I was using two hAP ac lites (so Mikrotik on both sides).

One thing: according to wikipedia list of channels, frequency 5800 doesn’t seem to be a valid channel, it seems like one should choose either 5785 or 5805 MHz for 20MHz channel. It also seems to me (or I understand the table wrongly) that if you want to use 40MHz channel in eC arrangement, you really should use 5805 because this frequency marks the centre of upper half of allowed 40MHz channel (with its centre at 5795MHz).

But then things got weirder: if I selected country=Brazil on both ends, link worked really nice. If I selected US or Australia (according to wikipedia table and country-info from ROS it should be fine as well) it did not work. So that link is officially in Brazil now :wink:”

12

heidarren, with your recommended setup, throughput on 5GHz wlan is quite good, around 330-350 Mbps.
However, the TV cannot connect, although reported signal is ~75%. I’ve discovered that it can connect when data rates are set to default and i’ve attached what data rates is reports when connected.
Should I add 6 and 18 or does it require something else as well?
TV.png