I have 2 SXT SA5AC set up between 2 site, they are only 150-200 meters apart, there is good line of sight. Initially both sxts are using ROS 6.39. There have been 4 instances where when i had drop outs, it kept dropping out, and then it fixed itself after maybe an hour, but the time it took to fix itself is different each time.
Today it happened again, i keep getting drop outs, so I decided to upgrad to v 6.40.1, the problem still persist, the ccq stuck at 2% or 6% and the wireless keep disconnecting. I use nv2 protocol. when it works, it just works but when it’s causing problem like this, this confuse me. anyone can please help me? ask me if you need further information. Thank you
Maybe you have a bad neighbor that blasts in the 5Ghz band. Depending on your resource$, you could use a spectral analyzer to detect non 802.11 devices.
Otherwise, intermittent problems are the worst to diagnose.
You could try activating wifi logs and see if you have wifi related messages.
forgot to mention, I set up those 2 sxt as AP bridge and the other one as station bridge, my signal strength from station bridge is, Tx/rx signal strength: -40/-37 dBm. I am not sure if those are good number or not. When the bridge works, ccq only sit at best at ~85%, i was hoping i can get close to 97%.
I attached the log file.
and the wifi status below
note the bad CCQ, only 2%…
strangely i tried to use snooper, it wouldn’t work. do i need to disable the wifi first?
Ya, I haven’t read up, maybe the scan and snooper don’t work on AC and certain chipsets. Certain tools, like spectral scan, won’t.
Indeed, CCQ is very bad. But that’s normal if you can’t get a good connection. I think the RSSIs are a bit high also.
What worries me most are:
In your log file is the fact that no networks match connect list entries.
One device is “AP bridge” (good) and the other is “Station bridge” (??)
Is “station bridge” what you want? This is a proprietary mode used to extend layer 2 connectivity between MT devices. If this is what you want, make sure that the “bridge mode” field is set to enabled on the AP. If you want a regular AP to STA setup (provided the AP has a level 4 license), use “AP bridge” (on AP) and “Station” (on STA) modes respectively.
Also, it’s clear that the “Connect list” entries are giving you problems and are probably the biggest culprits; disable them. In the wifi parameters of both routers, enter your SSID and security profile, and enable “Default Authenticate” and then see if you can connect. If you’re connected, then decide what you want to do with the connect list. If you want to use connect lists then on the STA, go to the “Registration” tab, doucble-click the entry for your AP and click “Copy to connect list”. Move that entry to the 1st position. Connect lists are read sequencialy (1st to last). On the STA again, uncheck “Default Authenticate” WHEN AND ONLY WHEN your connection works. It will drop the connection for a few seconds.
Regarding your question about the station bridge mode. I use the mikrotik to extend internet from my parents home to my home. The internet modem is located at my parents home, then there’s a router to manage home wifi etc, i feed the lan cable to sxt ap, and then i set up ptp station bridge for my home, from there i set up router for my own home network. I’m not sure what “station” mode do, instead of station bridge. I’d be happy if you could explain.
For now, the connection strangely back online again. I didn’t do anything, so i still want to know why this happened, just in case it happens again in the future. What do you suggest i do? Maybe you want to review my config?
I strongly suggest you disable all “Connect list” entries. In your particular setup (PTP), I don’t see the use. That should solve many issues, I think. Also make sure that “Default Authentication” is checked on both sides.
To avoid having to do dynamic routing, leave your STA to “station bridge” mode. Don’t insert YOUR WLAN1 and ETHER1 in any bridge, but your parent’s SXT must be pluged in the same LAN bridge as their PCs. Also, make sure the SXT at your parents’ has a bridge that includes ether1 and wlan1. On your router, put a dhcp-client on WLAN1 with “Add default route” set to “yes”. That way, you wont have to do dynamic routing between both houses. Don’t forget to add a Masquerade NAT rule on your router (using wlan1 as out-interface). Make sure YOUR SXT is pluged in the same bridge (on your 2nd home router) as your PCs at your home. Add an ip address from your home LAN to ether1, just make sure it NEVER gets assigned to another device.
For your question about station bridge and station. “Station” mode is the regular mode we use for regular MikroTik Wi-Fi clients. It’ll create a layer 3 link between your parent’s home and yours. You would use that mode to connect to an AP from another manufacturer, for example. I don’t know your level of confort with MT, IP and dynamic routing, but I would use that if you wanted to prevent broadcasts at your parents’ home being sent through wi-fi all the way to your SXT. That’s a “cleaner” approach.
Either way will work for you. It’s always a matter of what’s you scenario and what needs to be done.
Hello, how do i lower my tx power? right now, from tx power tab, i see Tx Power Mode set as “default”. Do you want me to change this?
Antenna gain is currently set to 0 dBi.
SXT SA5 AC have MAX 31 dBm of transmit power and at that distance, the 2 radios are “screaming” at one another instead of “politely talking” They most likely disconnect because of this, but I can’t say that 100% certainty . Nothing good happens when 2 scream at one another
Go to you Tx Power tab (advanced mode), change from “default” to “all rates fixed”. From your AP side, just try first and see what one side of the link does, I would recommend starting with 20 dBm then working up or down the power till you find the spot with -50 to -55. Tx. Once you find that spot make sure to change the station side to the same Tx power settings.
You should see massive improvements after this, granted that you’ve checked to make sure the channel you are using is free of interference.
I would also recommend reading about Nv2 tdma period size and Cell radius, that could help you improve the link even further if you need it https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Nv2
I think you had problems with the export as it’s not complet. But from what I’m seeing, you need to change many parameters.
I’d suggest you revert to 802.11. No big gain in doing nv2 in your case.
I indicated that you should NOT have wlan1 and ether1 bridge in your client. This will let you have a different subnet from your parents
As you can see, your NAT rule is in error because ether1 is in a bridge
No need for the access list in your client
No need for a dhcp-client
If the export keeps failling, maybe you should try a factory reset and start from scratch. Maybe you should just start over period. Might be simpler.
Also, as I said in my last post, lower TX power by increasing antenna gain. It’s an easy way I found to fool the radio into reducing output power, and it’s safer than playing with the power tab. If you don’t know what your doing, you could burn your radio. It well documented in the forum and the wireless wiki.
tx-power-mode (default, card-rates, all-rated-fixed, manual-table; Default: default)
sets up tx-power mode for wireless card
default - use values stored in the card
card-rates - use transmit power as defined by tx-power setting
all-rated-fixed - use same transmit power for all data rates. Can damage the card if transmit power is set above rated value of the card for used rate
manual-table - define transmit power for each rate separately. Can damage the card if transmit power is set above rated value of the card for used rate.
Hi, thanks for the help, so i tried fiddling with the tx power but i got bad signal strength around -60 ~ -65dBm, i started from 8 to 15 dBm and it only improved the signal very little.
and yes i want my subnet be different from my parent house, because there’s a router in my house. Also this way my devices can get ip independently from parent’s router if the mikrotik ptp link is down.
as you sugested, i disabled access list, and about dhcp client, should i really disable it? then i should put static address?
Right now my antenna gain is 0, so i should start working the number up one by one on both sxt?
-60 isn’t that bad. Aim for around -55 and you’re good to go.
Yes, that would be it. You’re going to manage the SXT. You don’t want to have to guess it’s IP address every so often. Remember to remove the bridge and bridge ports on the STATION side.
YESSSS, on both sides! Great question!!
Both sides should see the other with the same signal strength (RSSI), or close to it. Image this; if “A” can hear “B” but not the other way around. You’re getting one-way conversation. In Wi-Fi, you’re getting a dead link. Remember to config the TX Power back to the “default” configuration, as it was before.
Also remember that every time you’ll change the antenna gain value, the link will go down, then up again. When debugging, it can be scary, but it’s normal.
