RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN (WiFi model) is dual band, four chain unit.
Seems clear enough right!!
But later…
Wireless
Details
Wireless 5 GHz number of chains 4
Wireless 2.4 GHz number of chains 2
Readign some more,
RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN (WiFi model) is dual band, four chain unit with a supported data rate of up to 1733 Mbps in 5GHz. For legacy devices, the unit also has a dual chain 2GHz wireless card installed in miniPCI-e slot.
So the question is, when I fire up the unit, what will I see.
On my cap AC, I get a wlan1 for 5ghz, and a wlan2 for 2ghz and everything else is Virtual and I have to create it.
Should I see
wlan1, wlan2, wlan3 and wlan4 (all 5ghz) ready to use??
How do the 2ghz chains show wlan5 and wlan 6??
Chains = MIMO antennas
They are all always connected to one radio and one wlan interface per band (4 for 5GHz radio, 2 for 2GHz radio). To use all the chains, you also need client that is capable of it (have same or higher number of MIMO antennas). And no, by creating virtual AP you can’t split the antennas. Entire radio will always use all of them. If you create virtual APs, they will all share same channels and channel time on all chains.
Very confusing statement and not really to the point, so there is one antenna for each wlan?? (six antennas)
Let me reword the question How many wlans (RS), will show up on the RB4011 Wireless Winbox Menu. The person only has TWO (he created a third virtual). Based on the above there should be 6 WLANS (RS) for the person to configure.
Im getting the feeling (an mkx itch if you will) that only one master wlan is permitted per radio regardless and that I should ignore the words MIMO or chains as they are really not helpful at all.
They only address how devices connect to the radio in some funky fashion depending upon client capabilities.
In high-level view (such as configuring SSID etc.), you have to forget all about chains, it doesn’t matter. So RB4011 has two WiFi radios with two associated wlan devices in ROS. And that’s it.
As @r00t wrote: number of chains defines maximum possible speed through that radio … the more chains the higher capacity.
Very confusing statement and not really to the point, so there is one antenna for each wlan?? (six antennas)
Not confusng at all, except maybe the question, or the initial assumption that chains are idependent SSID’s .
Each chain ends on one antenna. A 5 GHz radio with 4 chains has 4 antenna’s. The radio is selectable through the WLAN interface.l On that WLAN interface one can create virtual WLAN interfaces. (I tought it was a max of 128 WLAN interfaces, so it defines up to 128 SSID’s.) Even a very litle MKT device can do that (see from 30st minute in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZetH9uX_Y). There is no relation between the number of chains/antenna and the number of WLAN/SSID that can be created.
Some other AP brands sell AP’s that have 4 SSID’s as a feature in the specification. RouterOS has the limit of 128 SSID’s per radio.(if I have the number right)
GURU - teacher, imparts knowledge. Nowhere is the quality of that knowledge defined!!
I often state that I am self-certified (MTUNA) and read my byline…
Follow my configs at your own peril LOL.
MTUNA = honest broker layperson, tries to put difficult MT concepts into plain english for the masses, realizing that rote configs without some degree of explanation is more harmful than useful, but how much detail… I am the liaison between non-trained folks suddenly realizing they are way over their heads, and the snotty(or if you prefer as per your response - arrogant) nerd MT experts that all seem to fail to follow basic engineering principles of elucidating the requirements first… Oh yes, they are all willing to guess at what the client is asking or what their setup may be, in others words, mostly what I have seen is that fancy letters, MCTNE etc… = Expert ASSumer! There is a small select few that have extreme patience, far more than I, and for that I am often humbled and grateful!!
