Hi,
I know there are a few oldish posts about this subject but now the sr2 and sr5 have been around for a while and they have been in use over a decent time period I wonder what Router Board model is the best for running these cards two at once reliably and effectivly?
Thanks in advance for any feedback 
The RB532 is the best choice for an AP running two SR2 cards, but the RB112 will also work ok. I just think the CPU power of the RB112s isn’t enough to do much more then a CPE with NAT on the ether side for the customer. I’m running my Covington tower on RB532A and I have two SR cards in each AP. One is a SR5 and the other is a SR2.
I have started running Nstreme with Polling on one of the APs. We route and use ospf too.
I also use the RB532 for clients so that I can run the hotspot service. Every new customer is installed with a SR5 in station mode and a SR2 in ap-bridge mode. The AP on the client is for hotspot service.
Some may disagree with me on the RB112, but I’m sticking with the RB532s.
One last thing, always use 48v power supplies.
From specs, RB153 can handle two SR card, but an RB112 cant’t handle, becouse of power lack.
From specs, RB153 can handle two SR card, but an RB112 cant’t handle, becouse of power lack.
Two SR cards should work on the RB112.
Maximum power consumption for RB112: 3-4W (let’s assume the maximum)
Maximum power allowed for RB112: 10W
Maximum power allowed for RB153: 13W
Maximum power consumption for SR2: 1400mA * 3,3V = 4,62W
Maximum power consumption for two SR2: 9,24W
Total power consumption (board + two SR2): 13,24W
All I can say about a 112 is, only use at client with 1 card! My experience over the 2 years with 112 is: ban it from all towers, not suitable for nstream!! 
I have 2 SR cards in a few 112s and I havent had any problems so far. But like I said, I only use 532s for CPEs and some APs. No more 112s will be installed. I think for nstreme APs the 532 is still not good. I sure hope MT gets a faster board out soon.
Hi Jobber!
Agree with you, just don’t ever install 112 on high site!!! I hope that MT will soon launch a desent RB that can handle every thing that RouterOS can throw at it, Nstream-dual with tracking etc. Currently I feel that RouterOS is totaly under utillized on current RB 532’s! SO! PLEASE MT bring out a decent RB!!
Something around a 1.2Ghz CPU would be nice for Dual Nstreme or APs with two radios and a lot of clients. But even a 600Mhz CPU would be good for a AP with Nstreme with polling.
I’ve been using 2 SR5 on a RB532 for more than 6 months now, and it works…
This last time I’ve been having drops and cuts in connection, but I’m pretty sure that it has no connection with the fact I’m using 2 SR5.
I also use RB112 with R52 or CM9 or SR5. It works (I’m using WDS, NStreme is disabled)
When I said “No more 112s will be installed.” I was wrong. I will keep using them for APs in hotels. They are setup as dumb AP bridges so the CPU power isn’t a problem. And it doesn’t make any since to use rb532s if you don’t need them. Hmmm, Maybe I need to look at things that may come into play in the hotels before I say the 532s don’t make since. Who knows what we may try next!!! Could be something that needs the extra CPU power. One never knows.
I have on RouterBOARD 532A with RB564 4 cards :
1 SR5 and 3 ECB 3220 400 mw , and this is maximum … if I put only one more routerboard is come unstable : droping packet over ethernet , rebooting etc … I using 48v power suply.
Does anybody have more SR2 card instaled on RouterBOARD 532A?
My limit is two. I havent tried any more then that. And I can’t see me needing to try that many radios on a board that I don’t think will handle more the two even if DC power was not a problem.
Running a tower without Nstream on backbone if distance is more than 2km is like buying a Porche and drive 30km/h! 
If you are running a proper WISP all backbone links must be running Nstream. It is much faster over a distance and web browsing for your customers is much better! For small dumb AP I guess 112 is ok, but rather buy Linksys or Senao AP instead! If you are buying a RB with L4 license (250 user PPPoe and Hotspot) you expect that it should at least handle 50 concurrent connections! Can any body give me true reliable stats on how many concurrent users can run stable on RB112 in a wireless invironment! Employees of MT is excluded!!(MT can answer only after 3 x comments, no harm intended)
Please state your config, memory utilization(big problem) and cpu usage!
Regards
MR G
112s make great small, dumb APs for 15-20 customers using 5MHz channels only. Think in terms of 3Mbit maximum burstable service delivery plan to end users.
We have a bunch in service including using Nstreme with very few problems. Completely stable and capable of 10-12Mbits total throughput.
Do NOT put a bunch of rules in the firewall, in fact disable connection tracking as it will eat too much CPU.
We use MT for everything these days including clients. Not every task needs a 3GHz CPU, but I’m getting really fed up with not having a better RB for heavy lifting in big AP or backbone back-haul use.
George
You can discuss other x86 hardware that works with Mikrotik in the wisp section of dsl reports.com. I have posted hardware links here but thats a no no. They deleted the links.
I really love ROS but it’s really aggravating when you can’t discuss and share information on hardware for the ROS. I know about the whole competing products thing but the links I posted were for boards that had 600mhz to 1.6Ghz CPUs. And I don’t see how thats in the same ball park as a 175mhz or 330mhz board.
54321 Delete
LOL!!
According to the specifications the RB112’s power supply output is not enough to supply full power to two SRx cards. The RB532 has enough power for 2 SRx and one or two R52 cards. I personally would not use two SRx in an RB112 simply because even if it does work, I don’t want to push the power supply to the edge of its’ specification envolope - that’s a great way to get hardware to fail.
You can discuss other x86 hardware that works with Mikrotik in the wisp section of dsl reports.com. I have posted hardware links here but thats a no no. They deleted the links.
I really love ROS but it’s really aggravating when you can’t discuss and share information on hardware for the ROS. I know about the whole competing products thing but the links I posted were for boards that had 600mhz to 1.6Ghz CPUs. And I don’t see how thats in the same ball park as a 175mhz or 330mhz board.
I agree. It’s really rather short sighted of the MT staff to remove links to hardware that will run their OS, because it is a “competing” product - when their own product can’t compete with what is being linked.
The fact of the matter is everyone is clamoring for a more powerful routerboard, and we’re not going to get it. MT staff has said several times “it’s coming, it’s coming”, but my gut feeling is that we are going to see another underpowered board with another aneimic power supply.
Please, MT, please - prove me wrong. Give us a RB with a 600-1200Mhz MIPS CPU with the capability of running four SRx cards at full power!
Yes, you may be right about the hardware problems. I don’t think it’s a good idea but then again I don’t have that many. I really only use the 532s now.
I posted some pictures on dslreports. They show one of the VIA 533 APs I built. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17539845
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hey, it is vocation time
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