I’d like to use some non-MT APs to work in a mesh config. Can RouterOS turn a collection of any discrete APs into a mesh system?
The APs I’d like to use are netgear wireless APs (WAX220) that don’t have mesh software built in so they operate as independent APs.
D.
Router doesn’t have anything to do with the way any wireless distribution system installed. If a particular mesh system requires a centeal controller (to keep it together), then that controller has to run somewhere. Indeed many vendors (mikrotik included) forsee running controller on a router, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Alas, any vendor’s controller highly likely only supports mesh members made by same vendor (mikrotik included). And it’s also highly likely that it’s not possible to mix vendors inside a single mesh.
But then I wonder what kind if functionality do you understand under “mesh” name? Vendor parlance even differs in this regard …
Thanks for your answer.
This might be highly naive but I assume mesh means something more than just a bunch of wired APs where the client decides which one to connect to. I guess what I mean by mesh is that the APs are not “dumb”: will switch seamlessly between APs as you move around the house, optimise the devices connected to APs to actively manage bandwidth and traffic, select the best wavelengths for overlapping spectrum, etc.
There appears to be a mesh standard - some combo of IEEE 802.11s and Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP). Mikrotik claims to support HWMP+, but it is proprietary to MT (so not a standard). It’s not clear whether they’re also compatible with mesh standards or what capabilities the controller + APs need to play nice together.
I am attracted to the Netgear APs because they are cheap, small, appear to be fast and, crucially, support 2.5Gbps PoE. Without, as you say, a controller to control them (and the ability to be controlled) I can see it might not work.
I wish MT would produce something similar to the WAX220s (their current devices are quite big) and a decent switch that supports 2.5Gbps PoE. The RB5009 series would be perfect if all of the ports were faster.
“Mesh” is usually just a marketing buzzword. It can stand for whatever a vendor decides to call by that name, there is no proper definition.
dazzaling69
To most wireless network people… MESH means connection between wireless NODES without wires.
Concur, and the answer is still no. MT cannot create a mesh network besides the fact that mesh APs do not handle vlan tags.
What business class APs, do, besides read vlan tags is they have some sort of controller which allows efficient roaming between the APs, be it TPLINK or other vendors.
With AX3 mostly and WIFIWAVE2, so equipped MT APs can now do the same. They always lacked in roaming but very nice to use the same RoS as the router. THe MT controller capsman paired with the new WIFIWAVE2, is mostly ready for prime time - an MT wifi solution for indoor home is realized.
Thank you for the explanation. It’s a shame about the controller requirement. Hopefully MT will release some good value WiFi 6+ APs soon.
I wouldn’t call that “a shame” … multiple devices can not cooperate smoothly without being coordinated by some central entity. And the same is true for any WiFi vendor. Because there isn’t a standard which would allow APs to signal necessary metadata between each other and it seems that wifi vendors (who are not shy of implementing vendor-specific extensions and solutions) still like central controller (easier to implement, easier to get customers into vendor lock-in situation, etc.)
What I would call “a shame” is the fact that WiFi people still didn’t standardize proper mobility (standardized things should interoperate between all vendors adhering to same standard) … 15 years after 3GPP managed to do so for LTE (so there is a positive precedence here). But I guess that’s what one gets when IT guys try to do communications (they fail miserably).
An even bigger shame is the fact that some vendors head into controller direction even if customer wants to use their APs in stand-alone operations.