Hi,
I am trying to setup a smaller WiFI network (house with garden) with 3 WAP ax.
AP01 is connected with a network cable and the other 2 WAP ax should connect though WiFi (AP03 ↔ AP02 ↔ AP01 → Firewall), because cabling is not possible there.
MK posted a new howto today → https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater
According to the howto, can i add the third WAP ax to the setup?
Is it also possible to to this with a CAPSMAn setup and does it make sense?
Regards
Cannot say about capsman, very likely it is possible, but since it is anyway an overlay, I would in first instance do the tests with each device configured as self-standing.
Having two cascading wireless connections poses two problems, as I see it:
- speed
- frequency usage
and a third one, due to the devices you chose (the Wap Ax):
- the Wap Ax is a pretty much directional device.
-
let’s say you get from ISP 300 something.
Through the wired connection you will get the same 300 at AP01.
When you connect to AP02 what you will get will be more like 1/2 of that, 150 or so.
When you connect to AP03 you will get 1/2 of that, 75 or 1/4 of the original.
-
there is a big difference (besides speed) in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz connection, the former has much better penetration (please read as “it can go through walls” and/or get signal at a greater distance) than the latter, so, depending on the exact situation choosing the “right” frequencies might be vital.
If you have a wall between AP01 and AP02, it makes sense to use the 2.4 GHz radio to connect the AP02 to the AP01, but then the link between the AP03 and the AP02 needs to be on the 5 GHz radio.
Viceversa if there is a wall between AP02 and AP03 you should use 2.4 GHz on that link and then the one between AP02 and AP01 would be 5 GHz.
If there are walls on both sides of the AP02 you won’t like the result.
-
unlike most other Mikrotik devices, the Wap Ax (W stands for wall, as the device is intended to be primarily mounted on a wall) is directional, with an angle that can be considered between 90° and 120° (more like 90° as I see it).
This means that - again it greatly depends on the geometry of your house/setup) the AP02 must “see” in that rather narrow angle both AP01 and AP03 to work properly.
In a nutshell, the whole setup needs to be studied accurately, most likely at least the AP02 needs to be an omnidirectional device, and possibly the cabling option might be reconsidered.
That last remark is an important one.
You need power for those access points.
How will you get that ?
Doesn’t that make powerline an option to use as backhaul ?
Better then hopping over cascaded wireless interfaces …
Each WAP is on a floor (ground, 1st, on the roof outside for the garden), but near one above the other.
I bought one WAP ax and tested the WiFi coverage with a smartphone on each floor.
The 2,4Ghz signal is quite good from roof → 1st floor and then 1st floor → ground floor.
The WAP ax has a power supply included, which i will use indstead of PoE.
I would really like to cable each WAP, but this is not an option there.
With Powerline i only have negative experiences, why i don’t use them anymore.
I appreciate your feedback and acknowledge your objections, but i really want to give it a try.
Would you please adopt the MK howto for the AP03?
In other words you didn’t test it. 
The issue - if any - won’t likely be with the first AP and with the 2.4 GHz.
It will be with the middle AP and last AP (limited angle) and with the 5 GHz.
Powerline greatly depends on the specific devices involved and - to some extents - to the way the house electrical plant is cabled, overall (in my limited experience) it has worked just fine and certainly better than some wireless only repeater setup (but we tend to have thick stone or brick walls and decks).
There is nothing to adapt in the mentioned tutorial that I can see.
Consider the last AP (AP03):
It will have (say) the 2.4 GHz radio as station (please read as client) and 5 GHz as AP, and optionally a virtual interface on the 2.4 GHz as AP.
Exactly as the mentioned article.
Then the AP02:
It will be the opposite, i.e. have the 2.4 GHz radio as AP and the 5 Ghz one as station, and optionally a virtual interface on the 5 GHz as AP.
Then the AP01:
It will have BOTH the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz set as AP (the standard setup of any AP).