I have a hap ax3 running as the gateway/Wi-Fi. Is this thing compatible with a repeater to extend the Wi-Fi coverage? It runs RouterOS 7.15. I am NOT looking to run the router in repeater mode, I would like to install a repeater that bridges to the WiFi coming from the hap ax3. I’ve seen a lot on having the ax3 being the repeater but that isn’t what I am looking for. Can it be any brand or is there a known compatible one from MikroTik that would work?
Thanks.
If you want to use a “wifi extender” as part of your wireless network, then it’s up to extender device which has to be compatible with AP … so nothing to configure on your hAP ax3.
As to MT wireless devices being extenders: any device, capable of running wifi-qcom or wifi-qcom-ac drivers, will do. E.g. another hAP ax3 or hAP ax2 or cAP ax or older hAP ac3 or hAP ac2 or Audience. Or even hAP ax lite.
However I strongly suggest you to use dual-band device as extender and use one of bands as “upstream” and the other to serve further clients … it’s possible to use single band for both functions, but in this case it causes significant performance drop due to how airtime is used multiple times for single frame. And this consideration applies to all wifi extenders, regardless the vendor.
Thanks for the info. I didn’t get a notification so I am responding now.
I am new to MT and learning the ropes with their implementation of things.
I like the idea of the cAP ax as the extender. However, I am not familiar with utilizing the bands for different purposes. Is there an article for this, or is it pretty simple to setup?
MT’s dual band devices have two radios, which in principle are completely independent of each other and can thus be used for distinct functions. So if you go for such setup, you configure one of radios (e.g. 5GHz) as mode=station-bridge and configure it to connect to the main AP (SSID and PSK have to be configured). The other radio is then configured as normal AP, preferably with same SSID and PSK as on the main AP to allow other wirelrss clients to freely roam between both APs. Then you make both wireless interfaces member of same bridge, which means that network “control” (e.g. DHCP server) will transparently pass between them (so no need for e.g. DHCP server on “wifi extender”)
If I went with a cAP ax, I’m assuming this can be independently AC-powered and sitting in the back of a warehouse to act as a repeater? Are there any articles on configuring this device as a repeater (gui, cli, etc.? I’m only finding many have run into issues setting up this kind of environment with ax gear like it’s not officially supported. Essentially, the cAP ax bridges to the hAP ax3 where the gateway is. I’ve done some more MikroTik installations but not this advanced. Thanks for any input.
Check this first thing:
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/how-to-set-up-wi-fi-repeater-after-mikrotik-hap-ac-router/164765/1
I went through the suggested thread but I am not certain what exactly I should be gleaning from it based on the context of what I am trying to do.
I have one MikroTik router and looking for one AP to act as a wireless repeater, so no switches in between; AP wirelessly bridged to router Wi-Fi. The previous vendor gear was simple where it simply only needed power, so no extra switches or physical lines etc. The router Wi-Fi (office) isn’t quite reaching the back warehouse (same building), hence the repeater requirement.
Unless there is something else I missed?
I am looking for some technical instruction/examples of making this work with the hAP ax3 and the cAP ax3…to keep things consistent.
Thanks
The post by bpwl in that thread:
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/how-to-set-up-wi-fi-repeater-after-mikrotik-hap-ac-router/164765/1
explains what advantages or disadvantages there can be when using another Mikrotik as repeater/extender or an “easier” device (such as a TP-Link).
Anecdotally, I had once the need to quickly extend the wi-fi to reach a computer in an otherwise never used room, read here how it went:
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/discussion-mikrotik-configuration-abstraction-complexity/173293/1
The good thing with Mikrotik devices is that (almost) anything is possible with them, but to get them to work even in an extremely simple setup is complex.
Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve been using tp-link a lot more, and all unplanned. Seems to work good except for one switch may be bad. Anyway, have you had success with doing this with an ax tp-link device? And what would be required on the router to do in this case? Am I looking at a bunch of configs or is it straightforward? I’m open to articles, videos, etc., just need the right resource.
Thanks again!