I have been messing with a WDM mesh setup for a while now. My issue is that even when the radios connect to each other, a day later, a week later, who knows, data will stop flowing. The radios will continue to connect to each other but no traffic will cross the network. To get data to flow again, I have to physically reboot the radios. Also, I could connect to the mesh network with a laptop if I hardset the IP but I wouldn’t be able to get traffic to pass from a mesh AP up to the main AP at the house and out to the router/internet.
Topology:
I have three OmniTIK radios all in a row. One is mounted on a pretty tall pole at the house. The other is on a barn (solar/battery powered but power is not an issue) and another remote in a field. The furthest apart they are is maybe 250 yards. The one at the house is connected to my home router, the one at the barn is basically a mid-point relay, and the one in the field has a computer plugged into it. They should all have roughly the same config other than IPs. I am using a single /24 network so no routing.
Troubleshooting:
First I physically rebooted the radios to make them communicate again. When I got tired to having to do that twice a week I set up the watchdog timer and pointed it back to my home router. After a while it got to where these things would restart constantly. I had to reset the config and start over. Currently I do not have the watchdog set so I am at a point where the radios are all connected but no traffic is passing. I notice this in the logs.
10:18:01 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:18:01 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
10:18:06 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:18:06 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
10:18:11 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:18:26 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
10:18:31 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:18:46 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
10:18:51 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:19:21 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
10:19:26 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: disconnected, unicast key exchange timeout
10:19:56 wireless,info 4C:5E:0C:AP:03:MAC@wlan1: connected, is AP, wants WDS
One other note:
I want to set up a Groove to connect to the mesh network to put an end device on. When the mesh was up and running I tried to set up either a station or a wds-station and it would not connect. My iPhone, Laptop, etc. would connect to the mesh just fine, just not the Groove.
Configs:
Here is export compact from the AP on the pole at the house, the first mesh network AP in the line. I can still access it, just not the rest.
[admin@AP2] > export compact
# oct/21/2014 18:48:28 by RouterOS 6.20
# software id = RBU9-S6KI
#
/interface bridge
add admin-mac=4C:5E:0C:MAC auto-mac=no name=bridge-local
/interface mesh
add hwmp-rann-propagation-delay=5 name=MeshInterface
/interface ethernet
set [ find default-name=ether1 ] name=ether1-gateway
set [ find default-name=ether2 ] name=ether2-master-local
set [ find default-name=ether3 ] master-port=ether2-master-local name=ether3-slave-local
set [ find default-name=ether4 ] master-port=ether2-master-local name=ether4-slave-local
set [ find default-name=ether5 ] master-port=ether2-master-local name=ether5-slave-local
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=5ghz-a/n channel-width=20/40mhz-ht-above country="united states" disabled=no ht-supported-mcs=\
mcs-0,mcs-1,mcs-2,mcs-3,mcs-4,mcs-5,mcs-6,mcs-7,mcs-8,mcs-9,mcs-10,mcs-11,mcs-12,mcs-13,mcs-14,mcs-15 l2mtu=2290 mode=ap-bridge radio-name=AP2 ssid=MYSSID wds-default-bridge=\
MeshInterface wds-mode=dynamic
/ip neighbor discovery
set ether1-gateway discover=no
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] authentication-types=wpa2-psk mode=dynamic-keys supplicant-identity=MikroTik wpa2-pre-shared-key=MYPASS
/ip pool
add name=default-dhcp ranges=192.168.88.10-192.168.88.254
/system logging action
set 2 remember=yes
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridge-local interface=ether2-master-local
/interface mesh port
add interface=ether1-gateway mesh=MeshInterface
add interface=wlan1 mesh=MeshInterface
/ip address
add address=192.168.88.1/24 interface=bridge-local network=192.168.88.0
add address=10.10.1.2/24 interface=MeshInterface network=10.10.1.0
/ip dns
set allow-remote-requests=yes
/ip dns static
add address=192.168.88.1 name=router
/ip firewall filter
add chain=input comment="default configuration" protocol=icmp
add chain=input comment="default configuration" connection-state=established
add chain=input comment="default configuration" connection-state=related
# in/out-interface matcher not possible when interface (ether1-gateway) is slave - use master instead (MeshInterface)
add action=drop chain=input comment="default configuration" in-interface=ether1-gateway
add chain=forward comment="default configuration" connection-state=established
add chain=forward comment="default configuration" connection-state=related
add action=drop chain=forward comment="default configuration" connection-state=invalid
/ip firewall nat
# in/out-interface matcher not possible when interface (ether1-gateway) is slave - use master instead (MeshInterface)
add action=masquerade chain=srcnat comment="default configuration" out-interface=ether1-gateway
/ip upnp
set allow-disable-external-interface=no
/snmp
set trap-community=public
/system clock
set time-zone-name=America/Chicago
/system identity
set name=AP2
/system lcd
set contrast=0 enabled=no port=parallel type=24x4
/system lcd page
set time disabled=yes display-time=5s
set resources disabled=yes display-time=5s
set uptime disabled=yes display-time=5s
set packets disabled=yes display-time=5s
set bits disabled=yes display-time=5s
set version disabled=yes display-time=5s
set identity disabled=yes display-time=5s
set bridge-local disabled=yes display-time=5s
set wlan1 disabled=yes display-time=5s
set ether1-gateway disabled=yes display-time=5s
set ether2-master-local disabled=yes display-time=5s
set ether3-slave-local disabled=yes display-time=5s
set ether4-slave-local disabled=yes display-time=5s
set ether5-slave-local disabled=yes display-time=5s
set MeshInterface disabled=yes display-time=5s
set wds185 disabled=yes display-time=5s
set wds184 disabled=yes display-time=5s
/system ntp client
set enabled=yes primary-ntp=10.10.1.1
/tool mac-server
set [ find default=yes ] disabled=yes
add interface=ether2-master-local
add interface=ether3-slave-local
add interface=ether4-slave-local
add interface=ether5-slave-local
add interface=wlan1
add interface=bridge-local
/tool mac-server mac-winbox
set [ find default=yes ] disabled=yes
add interface=ether2-master-local
add interface=ether3-slave-local
add interface=ether4-slave-local
add interface=ether5-slave-local
add interface=wlan1
add interface=bridge-local
/tool user-manager database
set db-path=user-manager
Any help would be appreciated.