Hello everyone, I’m 2 weeks away from launching my WISP network and I have not slept well because my limited knowledge in routing and switching is causing some serious insecurities about my topology choice. Spent the past 48 hours going through Ubiquiti and Mikrotik forums trying to validate my choice of hardware. I went with this setup to reduce latency as I read that routers at every tower increases latency.

Here’s the equipment that I bought and how I intended to use them.

At the basestation (Tower A)

Mikrotik CCR-1036-12G4S – Core Router

Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch 24 Port Switch (Layer 3 capable)

Backhaul – Ubiquiti AirFiber 5XHD

Intel i5 NUC – UNMS & UCRM

APC Sinewave UPS



I am starting out with 4 WANS

WAN #1 - 100/100 Fiber – Single Public Address

WAN #2 - 100/100 Fiber – Single Public Address

WAN #3 - 20/2 ADSL – Single Public Address (Failover)

WAN #4 - 20/2 ADSL – Single Public Address (Failover)



Tower B & C both have line of sight to Tower A. However, there is no available internet connection from a different ISP in the two areas so redundancy is unavailable.

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Towers B&C

Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch 10XP – Layer 2 (In cart – not ordered as yet)

6x AM-5AC21-60 + Rocket 5AC-Gen2

APC Sinewave UPS

CPE: LHG 5AC, Litebeam AC, Nanostation AC, Powerbeam AC

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All 3 towers are within 5KM of each other

I have 102 customers already signed up for internet

52 subs – 4MB Package

38 subs – 8MB Package

12 subs – 20MB Package

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I have hired someone to configure the router and switch but I am not sure exactly what policies I should tell them to implement to make the network stable and scalable. I expect them as professionals to implement good policies but I do not want to leave anything out and have to pay twice (tight budget).

I know VLANS to separate management traffic is a must and QOS is also crucial but that’s all I know for now.

I am humbly asking any WISP operators/networking professionals who have traveled this route to give some advice on the best practices / configurations to use to avoid having to redesign the network in the future.

Here are a few of my concerns:

1. Can the above hardware be configured for a routed network and not bridged?

2. What additional hardware should I consider investing in to make the network perform smoothly?

3. With switches at each tower site, how can I prevent broadcast traffic from slowing down the network? Considering I have a L3 switch at the basestation.

4. What protocols/polices should I configure the network with to keep it performing optimally?

5. Will the CCR1036 be able to do PPPOE authentication, Firewall, DHCP and Hotspot authentication without issues?

6. Should I use one VLAN per Tower or per AP?

7. What issues will I have if I continue with my current setup?



PS. I am taking a Udemy course on routing so in the next few weeks I should be able to laugh at myself when I look back at this post, until them… I am having a serious mental breakdown.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

For something like this, suggest contacting one closest to you:

https://mikrotik.com/consultants

I'd leave it for more than 2 weeks after the course and suggest a minimum of 5 years to get enough knowledge and understanding of the basics before you even contemplate returning for a laugh. It will take that long for most of the readers of this post to stop laughing.

For something like this, suggest contacting one closest to you:

https://mikrotik.com/consultants

My country isn't represented, thank you for the response, however.

I'd leave it for more than 2 weeks after the course and suggest a minimum of 5 years to get enough knowledge and understanding of the basics before you even contemplate returning for a laugh. It will take that long for most of the readers of this post to stop laughing.

I'm laughing at myself too man. Spent $800 on a router with a steep learning curve and wrote about it on the Vendor's forum hoping to get at least some decent support but hey, i'll figure it out. Thanks boss!