what routerboard is suitable for me?

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hello

I am a newbie, I started learning routerOS .. my goal is to setup a wifi network in my neighborhood to provide users with internet with prepaid cards (user/password). I expect concurrent users to be 150-200 users. I will use nanostation M2/M5 access points to repeat the signal.

What routerboard model is best for me?
Is it better to get a pc based routerOS?

Many thanks for your help.

2

I could suggest you some nice MikroTik devices, but you mention you will use another brand. Why?

3

RB1100ahx4 should be plenty of power for that amount of clients.

If you already have the nano stations then there is no point to spend money if you are starting.

You can always upgrade AP’s and back haul links in the future.

If you have no equipment at the moment then it will be in your best interest to stick to one vendor

4

What internet “pipe” do you have? Is there a “minimum” speed you want to give to users, or is it “best effort”?

How are you going to control abuse? Different type, like sending bulk mail, flooding with IGMP packets the network etc…

Before you buy / think about equipment, first think about these things. In certain countries the users are “always” nasty, and trying to break the network or something. In other countries, there are brave internet users, which do not do anything more than browsing (official) websites, and do Facebook stuff…

That means you need to control this.

Also, in certain countries you will be considered an ISP, which means, that you need to log almost EVERYTHING the user does, for 1,5 years! Do you have enough storage and software to do this?

5

nanostation AP’s are very common and cheap in my area, that’s why!

6

Thanks for the recommendation!
Actually, I would prefer sticking to one vendor, but nanostation AP’s are common and cheap in my area.

7

Currently I have a 4 mbps internet connection, I am planning to add another similar line and merge both of them. And I am also planning to limit users connection at 512 kbps.

For controlling abuse, I will try to set the best security configuration, at this stage of my knowledge I believe it’s all about good configuration. Do you mean that certain vendor hardware is better in security than others? please clarify!

Thank you

8

Thank you all for your answers!

So far I only have one recommendation (RB1100ahx4) what about comparing pc based vs routerboard?

9

Every vendor has it’s own vulnerabilities and errors in implementation. Even Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus, Aerohive etc…
The question is, how are you going to mitigate these errors, how to log them, what actions are you going to undertake? How much time (per week) will you spend on maintaining the network? Who is going to maintain it? Does that person have enough experience in large WiFi networks?
Is there a phone number where users can all and “complain” about WiFi not working? Who will pick up the phone, and SOLVE the problem?

I know I am telling you non technical stuff, but that is the case here. Do not think: I install a Mikrotik, some nanostations, limit the speed, and voila: The network is ready. Well… it might work for now, but after a while it wil not work.

Did you think about how the clients will connect? PPPoE, open network, Hotspot, Radius etc… Each technology / access method has it’s own good and bad things.

10

I have the networking basics and I am a fast learner, I am not going to establish something until I have the enough know-how to deal with it, but I want to build my knowledge around the routerboard I am going to work on and I just want to buy the right one based on the maximum concurrent users.

11

First do a test. Buy simple Mikrotik equipment, create some users do some tests. See what kind of problems you encounter. It is better to do it in a controller (test) environment, than with real life (paying) users.

See how firewall rules or routing tables have effect on performance, load, errors generated etc…


if you do your homework FIRST, then the implementation will be very easy an smooth. Also make a “plan B”, if something goes wrong. Or a roll back scenario.

Also for key routers, it might be an idea to have a second as a spare. That way you can “copy” the real network, and if there is a new firmware or OS version, you can test it on the second device in the test lab. Also, if the primary one fails, you can easy switch to the secondary. But it is up to you how to implement it, how reliable you want the network, how much downtime can you afford.