The hAP ac2 Mesh Quest - Has Anyone Actually Done This?

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hey everyone,

I swear this is getting hilarious. I'm on a 50-hour quest, and I'm starting to think I'm chasing a unicorn. I'm hoping a mesh guru here can help a network buddy out before I start questioning my own sanity.

My goal seems so simple: A basic, two-node mesh using two hAP ac2 routers on RouterOS v7.19.1.

Here’s the dream setup:

  • Node 1 (Portal): Has the internet connection on ether1. It runs the DHCP server and pool for the whole network. The other four LAN ports are bridged into the mesh.
  • Node 2 (Remote): Just a mesh point extending the network.
  • Radios: One radio (5GHz) is dedicated to the wireless backhaul between the two nodes. The other radio (2.4GHz) serves as the client AP on both.

The absolute, number-one, most important goal is seamless session transfer for clients roaming between the two APs.

I've tried dozens of different variations based on bridging, mesh ports, and prayers. I've read the entire official WDS and HWMP+ documentation cover to cover. I've scoured every related forum thread I could find. I even dug up some ancient MikroTik v3 docs and found an interesting example, but before I dive into another marathon session, I thought I'd ask here.

My current workaround is a simple WDS station-bridge AP setup. It's rock-solid stable, I'll give it that. But the complete lack of session transfer is so annoying, and it defeats the whole purpose of what I'm trying to build.

So, my question to you all is... has anyone ever made this exact setup work? A simple two-node hAP ac2 mesh portal + AP bridge where client roaming actually functions as it should?

I'm not assuming anything at this point. If you have a confirmed, working configuration, I would be eternally grateful. I'm even willing to downgrade both units to RouterOS v6 if someone can point me to a config that is proven to work.

Thanks for listening to my tale of woe.

Hoping for a hero

2

In (very) short:
CAPsMAN (or call it router 1):
Configure as usual, configure CAPsMAN

CAPS (or router 2):
Start from scratch (no config)
Add all interfaces except radio 2.4GHz to a (newly added) bridge
Configure radio 5GHz (wifi2) as "station bridge" (this is your wireless backhaul)
Configure radio 2.4GHz (wifi1) in CAPS Mode
/interface/wifi/cap set enabled=yes
/interface/wifi/set wifi1 configuration.manager=capsman

So, most of this is according to the documentation:

Only difference is the radio that is not managed by CAPsMAN (but station bridge instead).

I configured this setup during my holidays, using two hAP AX2's.

3

Roaming would work just fine on RouterOS v7(new wifi drivers that support 802.11 r/k/v).
The problem is running CAPsMAN, on RouterOS v7, on ac2 - that device has very little space and it gets risky running it as anything but an AP.

4

Thanks for your replies! I don't get the relation to CAPsMAN. This basically has nothing to do with my question. For just two nodes, I really don't need CAPsMAN, which isn't even compatible with wireless mesh using HWMP+. Still, I appreciate your insight anyway.

5

Glad you know better...good luck! And always feel free to get some hints and tips.

6

Since there is this need

and both RouterOS 6 and the old "wireless" drivers don't have it

and since it seems like the world will collapse if you don't mesh just two nodes, which is ridiculous,
and since you absolutely have to use HWMP+, which is supported ONLY by the old "wireless" drivers,
and since you don't know where to put in relation CAPsMAN (someone else might suggest it),

the solution is simple:

It doesn't get done the way you want it.

7

Because CAPsMAN is needed to manage the handoff (you want FT/roaming, correct?) in RouterOS 7.

1 Like
8

That's the question, mate. I would agree, but I still hope for somebody who will shed light with a confirmed working solution.

9

I never hit any resource cap so far and have a more advanced setup including VRRP. Should have enough capacity for CAPsMAN.

10

Thanks for this. I didn't know that CAPsMAN is necessary for FT. Now, I understand the missing relation for why CAPsMAN makes sense in my situation.

11

I tried this yesterday, but this doesn't work stable with AC. I can't even connect the station-bridge to ap like on the legacy driver, because the connect window closes immediately.