use Mikrotik as wireless ethernet bridge

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hi guys,

Situation:
8 Cisco APs (autonomous) in a warehouse environment. Employees use a mobile trolley which contains 2 ethernet only devices.
I want to use a Mikrotik (e.g. hap with the ethernet ports) that connects to the Cisco AP and acts as a layer2 wireless ethernet bridge.
The LAN ports on the Mikrotik I want to utilize for the ethernet only devices on the mobile trolley.

Is this feasible with Mikrotik - Cisco setup? I’ve read stuff about Mikrotik with Mikrotik works well, but no so well with other vendors?
Thank you!

Best regards,

Fox

2

I do this with Cisco APs but they are lightweight, I.e. using a controller. Works great.

3

hi robert,

can you tell me which mikrotik device you are using for this ? it’s a customers site, they don’t have a Cisco WLC unfortunately.
i found a blog from mikrotik that states you have to put it in Station mode, bridge all interfaces and connect to the SSID and then it will work ?

4

I use both HAPac and GrooveA52ac. I suspect nearly any of the devices will work; it’s more about the chipset and the software/driver. I think most (all?) Mikrotiks use Atheros chipsets.

I use station pseudobridge clone or station pseudobridge as the radio mode, which isn’t the same as station mode. Just putting the wired and wireless interfaces into a software bridge won’t work - see https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Wireless_Station_Modes. So yes, put the wired and wireless interfaces into a bridge but use one of these particular modes.

Eight APs without a controller is getting to the excessive side. It’s a lot of configuration, and since they are autonomous, there is little to help with optimized roaming capabilities, multicast handling, traffic optimization, etc.

5

hi Robert,

Thank’s a lot I will discuss it with the customer.
I was referring to this page: https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Connect_to_an_Available_Wireless_Network

Maybe I misunderstood that but seems the same thing.

cheers

6

In that link they are using NAT which has specific limitations. It’s not a true bridge connection at layer 2, which I need for bidirectional multicast and unicast traffic. With NAT, this generally assumes the wireless clients on the router are clients only so only outbound traffic is important. Of course you can port forward and do other things, but I wanted a layer 2 connection.

7

ok :slight_smile:

Client ordered a HAP lite, will test your scenario anytime soon.
thanks.

8

I am trying to do the same.
Use a MT as a wifi/ethernet bridge. But I am not able to get it to work.
I do get DHCP IP when I connect the DHCP to the Bridge, but I am not able to use any of the switch port to communicate.
Using NAT between ethernet port and wan works, but I need Bridge mode.

Here is my test config (that does not work)

/interface bridge
add fast-forward=no name=bridge1
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-b/g/n disabled=no mode=station-pseudobridge ssid=TestWifi
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] supplicant-identity=MikroTik
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridge1 interface=wlan1
add bridge=bridge1 interface=ether1
add bridge=bridge1 interface=ether2
/ip dhcp-client
add dhcp-options=hostname,clientid disabled=no interface=bridge1
/system routerboard settings
set silent-boot=no

I have tried all Wifi mode, but no luck to get network trough to the ethernet.


This does work, but do use NAT (and WPA2):

/interface bridge
add fast-forward=no name=bridge-internal
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] supplicant-identity=MikroTik
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk eap-methods="" management-protection=allowed mode=dynamic-keys name=Test1234 supplicant-identity="" wpa2-pre-shared-key=Test1234
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] disabled=no mode=ap-bridge security-profile=Test1234 ssid=Inside
add disabled=no keepalive-frames=disabled mac-address=4E:5E:0C:90:87:D6 master-interface=wlan1 mode=station multicast-buffering=disabled name=wlan2-external ssid=TestWifi wds-cost-range=0 wds-default-cost=0 wps-mode=disabled
/ip pool
add name=dhcp_pool0 ranges=192.168.88.20-192.168.88.254
/ip dhcp-server
add address-pool=dhcp_pool0 disabled=no interface=bridge-internal name=dhcp1
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridge-internal interface=ether1
add bridge=bridge-internal interface=ether2
add bridge=bridge-internal interface=ether3
add bridge=bridge-internal interface=ether4
add bridge=bridge-internal interface=wlan1
/ip address
add address=192.168.88.1/24 interface=bridge-internal network=192.168.88.0
/ip dhcp-client
add dhcp-options=hostname,clientid disabled=no interface=wlan2-external
/ip dhcp-server network
add address=192.168.88.0/24 dns-server=192.168.88.1 gateway=192.168.88.1
/ip dns
set allow-remote-requests=yes
/ip firewall nat
add action=masquerade chain=srcnat out-interface=wlan2-external
9

This config works for me. I found that version of software matters; we have seen some that just don’t work, so upgrade/downgrade as appropriate.

# RouterOS 6.40.5

/interface bridge
add name=bridge1 protocol-mode=none

/interface wireless security-profiles
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk eap-methods="" group-key-update=1h mode=\
    dynamic-keys name=secprofile supplicant-identity=""

/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-b/g/n basic-rates-a/g=12Mbps \
    basic-rates-b="" bridge-mode=disabled country="united states" disabled=no \
    frequency=auto frequency-mode=regulatory-domain mode=station-pseudobridge \
    security-profile=secprofile ssid=BRIDGESSID supported-rates-b="" tx-power=4 \
    tx-power-mode=all-rates-fixed wireless-protocol=802.11 wmm-support=\
    enabled wps-mode=disabled

/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridge1 interface=ether1
add bridge=bridge1 interface=wlan1

Wireshark is your friend here - understand what the radio is/is not doing, what mac and wlan addresses are in use, etc. My requirement is to support a single wired device, and I make sure that my wired laptop doing the configuration connects with IPv6 to avoid mac address tainting of the bridge process with IPv4. I also do not run dhcp or put any IPv4 address on the bridge - I want transparency from the wireless side to my end device.

10

Did not make this to work on 6.42.9 nor 6.43.4.
I do see that it connects to my Wifi, but not able to get data trough bridge.

11

hey guys,

been busy with the setup but can’t get it to work with v 6.38 and v 6.43.7 (stable)
tried to downgrade but that doesn’t seem to work :frowning: it sticks to 6.43.7

any ideas?

12

An update on this.

You will not get this to work as an transparent bridge with other devices like Cisco.
Read about 802.11 limitations for L2 bridging here:
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Wireless_Station_Modes

Workaround is to use NAT on AP. Client will work, but then its not a true bridge.

13

It claims that station-pseudobridge should do the trick. Anyway, same here - it does not work for me in that mode either. Unifi APs if it matters.

14

This topic is probably worth reading.

http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/using-wifiwave2-to-bridge-two-audience-wirelessly-thoughts-4-address-mode/153357/1

If you have one, you can attach another Mikrotik (doesnt need wireless) to the wired side of the lan.
Then make an eoip or similar bridge from the Mikrotik wireless client through to that router.
(Eoip needs static/reserved ip addresses at each end)

Need to perhaps setup appropriate mss rules to allow for smaller underlying MTU (efficiency).