Attempting to setup an HAP AC3. Desired to have it act as an access point and join the existing network - hence Bridge mode to keep it simple.
After updating the firmware I tried…
The WISP AP quick set choice, in Bridge Mode, and it did join but it only connected the 5.0 GHz radio/interface and could not seem to add the 2.4 radio/interface to the configuration.
The WISP AP quick set choice, in Router Mode, and it did add both radios but had the following issue. Outbound and inbound on 5.0 radio worked fine, only outbound worked on 2.4 radio. Anything on The wired or 5.0 GHz wireless entity could not see anything on the 2.4 GHz radio. 2.4 HGz radio could see and talk to anything.
Tried the Home Dual AP quick set choice, but did not see a bridge mode
.
I am sure this is just a configuration item. This is my first experience with Mikrotik RouterOS so please be gentle. Thanks for any constructive feedback in advance.
Quickset has only a very very limited set of configurations.
See https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/Quick+Set , HomeAP, HomeAPDual and WISP AP are configurations for a classic home access point, where the ISP connection (internet) is on ethernet port1, and the other ethernet ports and wifi (if configured) are for the client devices. Router/bridge option is about the WAN/LAN connection in quickset. All LAN connections are normally bridged.
You need to go to the regular config! Using the config generated by quickset as a starting point only. And after touching something there in the config, the Quickset will not react as expected anymore, as this Quickset only works starting from the factory default config.
Then build and adjust what you need. Building blocks for what you want are just “bridge”, and “interfaces (ethernet and wifi)”,
Need 2nd wifi radio? … do set it up, similar to the 1st wifi … and add this new wifi to the bridge as port
Bridge should have every ethernet interface and every wifi interface connected as port in your simple case.
And the DHCP server on the bridge should be disabled or removed.
(There is no quickset for your case, but WISP AP ‘bridged’ comes close, but with what you describe it looks as if the 5 GHz wifi is not connected to the bridge. Just add that wifi as bridge port)
(In recent RouterOS versions, 5GHz will be used, and 2.4GHz not … see release notes)
(in HomeAP Dual, both wifi are started, but here ether1 is not on the bridge as port, and the DHCP client is on ether1 instead of the bridge, which again has a DHCP server that must be disabled)
(Actually it can be more work to adapt a Quickset , than to build the config from scratch or default config)
Guess I am going to have to build it manually. Does anyone recommend some good forum posts on How To steps (of example configurations)? Tried messing around and was not getting the results I needed.
I can help - certainly set you off in the right direction. Am I correct in saying you want the AC3 to act as an access point with switch but instead of a hard-wired connection to the main network, you want to use wireless? This is a link to my Word document of handy RouterOS configuration notes:
You want “Wireless Repeater/Switch”. The overall steps are:
Reset router with no configuration
Create wireless profile of the uplink wireless network
Create a bridge and add all wired interfaces
Configure the uplink and add to bridge
Create physical and/or virtual wireless interfaces for the access point
I’ve never done this on AC3 but setup should still work. Whether I use the 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless interfaces depends on the placement of the device. I usually try both to see what throughput I get through the mesh. 2.4GHz has longer range but is often contested and of course maxes out at 80Mbps on a good day. 5GHz goes faster but speed degrades faster with distance.
You can add a virtual wireless interface to the same used for the uplink but never sure if you’ll end up sharing bandwidth. The uplink is limited to the channel width of the uplink. If the upstream device is 20MHz then the local access point is limited to that too.
Fill in the wireless interface WLANx in Wireless,
TAB “Wireless”. Mode is “AP bridge”
fill in (same or different SSID but same security profile as the WLAN that is already operational)
Frequency mode and Country the same as the other wireless interface
Add that WLANx interface (x is 1 or 2) to the bridge ports.
Menu … Bridge … tab “ports” … use “+” to add port … select the missing WLAN interface as interface and the existing bridge as bridge
Thanks guys for the detailed responses. I will try your advice.
Just to clarify, ideally I want the AC3 to be wired to my existing LAN and act as an access point in both 2.4G/5.0G radios. Have it relay DHCP to any wireless machines. Should be a pretty standard configuration. I just couldn’t get it to work so I was forced to do the router configuration.
Ahh I though you wanted a mesh kind of solution. Even easier - the first section in my document shows how to set it up as a switch with access point, i.e. no router/firewall.
