Community discussions

MikroTik App
 
User avatar
plan
just joined
Topic Author
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 12:29 pm
Location: Travelling
Contact:

Suggestions for configuring GrooveA 52 ac

Tue Jun 12, 2018 2:08 am

Please can those of you who are brighter and better informed than myself suggest how to configure this router on board a boat?

My Laptop is connected via Ethernet and WiFi to a Huawei B593 Wifi 4G Router. The GrooveA 52 ac is also connected to the Huawei via an Ethernet cable.
The Huawei has limited configuration options - basically it wants to route all traffic over 3G/4G and not via the GrooveA.
The GrooveA is sited some way off the back of the boat, so it is only practical to connect to the GrooveA via its Ethernet cable and use the Huawei as the WiFi router.

When in a marina I want to be able to connect the GrooveA to the marina WiFi, and share this connection with my laptop, phone and iPad through the Huawei (connected via both Ethernet and WiFi).
When at sea, with no WiFi signal, I want to be able to still connect through the Huawei via 4G.

After two months of trying to configure the system (on and off), I've worked out I should use CPE in Quickset, but I'm confused about whether to use Router or Bridge mode (am I bridging the Marina WiFi and the GrooveA or the Huawei and the GrooveA?) Despite reading countless posts I have not had any success with connecting my laptop to the Marina WiFi via the GrooveA.

Should the Address Acquisition be Static or Automatic, and if the latter, how do I prevent the GrooveA defaulting to the Gateway of the Huawei and routing traffic through the Huawei over 4G rather than through the Marina WiFi?

Any detailed help or links to How-to guides I can follow would be gratefully received.
 
User avatar
pukkita
Trainer
Trainer
Posts: 3051
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 11:09 am
Location: Spain

Re: Suggestions for configuring GrooveA 52 ac

Tue Jun 12, 2018 8:10 pm

I'd do this:

1.- Reset the groove to no defaults
2.- Connect to it using winbox Neighbors tab, as it will reboot without any ip
3.- Create a bridge on the Groove. Add wlan1 and ether1 to it.
4.- Configure wireless per your liking using a different channel than the one used by the Huawei, e.g. Huawei uses 1, use 6 or 11 on the groove. If you setup same SSID, security, and password on your Groove as the Huawei, your devices will roam transparently between the Huawei and the Groove without requiring to setup a new wireless network on them.

Done.

Wire the groove to the Huawei.

Groove is now a mere transparent wired/wireless switch, everything will be managed by the Huawei, DHCP, internet, etc.

To manage the Groove, connect via winbox Neighbors tab.

If you want it to have an IP anyway (not required but for ip > cloud, upgrades, etc):

- Add IP > DHCP Client to the bridge. The Huawei will assign it an IP and configure the Groove itself to reach Internet (only required to use System > Packages > upgrade etc).
 
User avatar
w32pamela
Member Candidate
Member Candidate
Posts: 212
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:22 pm

Re: Suggestions for configuring GrooveA 52 ac

Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:23 pm

Your Huawei is fine for a cell modem/router but it is not going to work the way you want it to with the GrooveA. Your Groove needs to be plugged into the the WAN port of a wireless router or into a LAN port of a wireless AP that will bridge the DHCP provided by the Groove to your onboard clients. I took a quick look at the B593 manual and did not see any information about these functions.

Most boaters use the Groove set as a CPE/router. wlan1 is set as a WAN port and ether1 is set as a LAN port. wlan1 should be a DHCP client and ether1 should be a DHCP server. These are the factory default settings for a Groove 52ac with a level 3 license. Your GrooveA 52ac has a level 4 license and comes with factory default settings that make it an access point router.

I've attached the default configuration for the Groove set as a CPE/router.
defconf.rsc
This configuration is from a US Groove running rOS v6.42.3 . If you want to try using this configuration you should upgrade your rOS to v6.42.3.
Use Winbox. Do not use the Quick Set page for anything but selecting the AP you want to connect to and putting in the Wifi Password.

To install the configuration reset your Groove to defaults drag the configuration file into the flash folder in Files.
Go to system/reset configuration. Set "No Default Configuration" and choose the configuration file in the "Run After Reset" window then click "Reset Configuration'.
The Winbox window will collapse after a few seconds to a minimal window with a counter showing seconds. When the counter reaches about 45 seconds click the "Cancel" button and you should see your Groove with a MAC address and an IP of 192.168.88.1. Click the MAC address and then the connect button to access the Groove.

It will be set a CPE that is scanning for a Network Name of "Mikrotik..." . Click disconnect and the Groove will show you any available AP's in the 5Ghz band. If you want to scan 2.4Ghz go to Wireless and make your changes.

For use on a boat I would disable "Station Roaming.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
 
User avatar
plan
just joined
Topic Author
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 12:29 pm
Location: Travelling
Contact:

Re: Suggestions for configuring GrooveA 52 ac

Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:09 am

Hi pukkita and w32pamela,

First of all, a HUGE thank you to both of you for taking the time to answer my query in such detail. I'm sorry it's taken so long to respond, but I have been at sea with limited internet.

w32pamela I successfully followed your instructions and I now have the Groove working at last, thank you!

The only thing I couldn't work out was how to disable "Station Roaming".

As a reminder to myself and others, I set up the Huawei with the IP address 192.168.88.1 and DHCP enabled, as the majority of the time I have to connect to the internet using 4G through the Huawei.

Next I set up the Groove with rOS v6.42.3 and an IP of 192.168.88.2 and disabled DHCP.

On my laptop I connected to the Huawei using both the wired and wireless network, and configured the ethernet port with a static IP address of 192.168.88.3 with the Default Gateway 192.168.88.2 (the Groove). I set the Preferred DNS to 192.168.88.2 as well, and the Alternative DNS server to 8.8.8.8

Now the PC can connect to the internet using either the Marina WiFi through the Ethernet connection which is connected to the Huawei and then the Groove, or it can use the 3G/4G connection via the Huawei through WiFi.

However, pukkita's suggestion got me thinking - when we have guests on board they are not allowed to connect to the Huawei as the cost of data is too high, but if I set up a separate wireless SSID on the Groove, guests could connect to the Groove to use the Marina WiFi when we're in port.

Please would you remind me how to set this up? Do I need to create a bridge and add wlan1 and ether1 to it as per your suggestion below, and if so, where can I find guidance on this?

Obviously I'll use a different SSID and security to the Huawei.

Thanks again!
Jason

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: hatred, mtkvvv and 46 guests