RB751G-2HnD, Wi-Fi client, or Wi-Fi adapter in USB port?

Hardware MikroTik hardware general
1

I am thinking of buying a RB751G-2HnD (or similar) to use for the following:

At my home, I have a 100Mb/10Mb fibre Internet connection. It’s usually great. And sometimes it sucks (technical failures in the infrastructure outside the house).
I have wireless access to a fallback connection (Wi-Fi, not 3G).

I want to set up the RB751G-2HnD (or some similar device) to:

  • offer a guest Wi-Fi network, either using built-in wireless networking, or plugging a normal Wi-Fi access point on one Ethernet port of the RB
  • offer a primary Wi-Fi network, either using built-in wireless networking, or plugging a(nother) normal Wi-Fi access point on another Ethernet port of the RB
  • offer a primary wired network, through another of the Ethernet ports of the RB
  • perform failover routing, primary route through my own Internet connection (Ethernet attached), falling back (over Wi-Fi) to my alternate connection.
  • isolate and de-prioritise traffic on the guest Wi-Fi network, so that my own traffic always has higher priority, and so that guests are completely isolated from the rest of the (wired and wireless) networks
  • do some traffic shaping (even within my own primary wired and Wi-Fi network traffic)

I’m sure that RouterOS can do the prioritisation and isolation and traffic shaping.

What I don’t know is,

  • How many different Wi-Fi networks can the RB751G-2HnD (or similar) offer at one time using its built-in wireless networking? (Ideally, it would offer two wireless LANs - one guest and another production, PLUS a Wi-Fi client for the fallback Wi-Fi connection to the Internet)
  • Can one of the wireless networks of the RB751G-2HnD be in client mode at all, to provide the fallback default route through my alternate Internet connection, or must I do (something, what?) else?
  • Does the USB port on the RB751G-2HnD (or similar) support plugging in USB Wi-Fi adapters (e.g. I happen to have a D-Link DWA-123 here)? (What can be plugged into the USB port?)
  • Is the CPU and memory of this model sufficient to handle a saturated 100Mb/10Mb connection while doing all of the routing, Wi-Fi, isolation/ firewall, etc described here? Or do I need a bigger RB product?

Thanks!
-Jay

2

Deleted because not related.

3

A wireless interface can only be an AP or client. So you can’t have one interface acting as both but if you used a 493G you could put multiple interfaces on the board. You can also setup virtual APs for your different networks without having to attach multiple APs.

4

Hi Dobby,
I don’t understand. Are you saying that I am expecting too much from the RB751 series?

Thanks,

5

Hi cbrown,
Thanks for the clarification. I can deal with the (one - there is just one, then, right?) wireless interface on the RB751 being just a client for the alternate upstream Internet connection, and using one or two other (simple) Wi-Fi access points for the production and guest networks (and then separate and prioritise using RouterOS).

Or, does the RB751 series support plugging in a USB Wi-Fi interface like my D-Link DWA-123 (how do I know which ones would work?) which I could use as the uplink to the alternate Internet connection, and then create two virtual APs on the one built-in wireless interface on the RB751 as my production and guest wireless networks?

Thanks!

6

No usb wireless modules do not work well. Honestly if you are wanting to do QoS on a 100mb link the 751G is not going to be enough. I would recommend a 1200 or 1100AH. You could also use a RB800 with multiple wireless cards.

7

Thanks very much. Okay, back to the drawing board a bit…