Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:50 pm
You want the simple setup. OK But don't be surprised ....
The RB4011 is set as your router with all the functions needed as if it was stand-alone. Both WLAN interfaces are set as "AP bridge", with frequency (channel) set for optimal working.
The hAP ac2 will be set up as a very simple switch (network terminology, layer 2 domain switching, no higher layer functionality.) extending the LAN side of the RB4011, and as such extending the range.
Forget WDS, forget mesh ... we don't need it here with RouterOS. The basic functionality we need is one WLAN on the hAP ac2 as "station bridge" to connect to the RB4011. To do that the interface must have the same SSID and the same security profile as the AP-bridge it connects to. Which WLAN you use for that connection depends on the speed and distance you have to cover. 2.4GHz traverses walls a bit better but is slower than 5 GHz. That "station bridge" is just another client to the AP-bridge. Other clients can connect to the RB4011 as before.
The hAp ac2 setup has the following components.
- one bridge , bridge all interfaces of the hAP ac2 to that bridge. (IF the default Home AP firewall is still there, the bridge must be part of the LAN "interface list". All ports on the hAP ac2 are LAN, never WAN. Or you can just delete all firewall rules and NAT rules.)
- the bridge can have a DHCP-client defined to get an IP address, route and DNS from the RB4011. That IP config is only used for managing the hAP ac2.
- No other services should be on the bridge or interfaces. Remove any DHCP-server on the hAP ac2. (It would conflict with the DHCP-server of the RB4011)
- Connect one WLAN to the RB4011 with setting as "station bridge". Entering the same SSID and the same security profile (eg.: WPA2/AES). The SSID will be scanned and the channel will be taken from the AP bridge. You can also do the scanning with the SCAN button, and select the SSID you want. Security profile must always be entered manually.
- Define the other WLAN of the hAP ac2 as AP-bridge for the clients. Normally you use the same or different SSID, but a different freq/channel here, than the one on the RB4011 to avoid interference.
That's it. The WLAN and ethernet ports of the hAP ac2 are a transparant extension of the RB4011.
- Optional EXTENSION: extra WLAN on hAP ac2: (If you have clients that need to use the first WLAN band for their connection, you could add a virtual WLAN on top of the station-bridge WLAN. Don't forget to also add that WLAN to the bridge. That extra WLAN will share the capacity with the first WLAN, on the same frequency. So this halves the throughput when used !)