I am trying to use the routerboard 230 and it would really be great if I can get it to use as many radios as possible. 230 has the PCI slot in which we can plugin the Routerboard 14 (mini PCI adapter that supports 4 more minipci radios) but it is not feasible when the routerboard is supposed to be in an enclosure of arnd 9x9x3. Besides using a bigger box...do you think there is another way around

You can try to locate other PCI->Mini PCI adapters with smaller form factor and raisers, but I really don't think you'll succeed without a bigger box.

But why do you want so many radios on one RB? The RouterBOARD 230 is a decent piece of hardware, but it's not loaded with CPU power. I think you would get problems regarding throughput if you load the RB with radios.

and if they are on near-adjacent channels they will self-interfere also...

Thanks for the replies guys. I have been scratching my head regarding the performance of the RB230 with 6 cards on it and also, I read another thread somewhere in this board that talks about power issues along with performance aspects of such a config. I guess I wont be going with it afterall. I will have to work with multiple 2 radio setups instead.

Anyway, I appreciate your input. This board has been SO helpful.

Thanks.

i had a setup like this...
a routerboard, with original indoor box, a pci riser, a MiniPCI adapter and 4 mini-pci cards.

but performance was not what i expected...

Yep, performance seems to take a good beating when used with routerboards. I wonder if a 2.8 GHz processor helps (in a mini atx tower)

I'm 100% sure You'll see improved performance with a faster CPU.

I have good experience with an Intel Pentium M solution with 1.8GHz.

Do a search on this site and you'll end up with a lot of information regarding this issue.

Good luck!

See this:

[admin@lomas] interface wireless> pr
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
0 R name="arrepentidos" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:02:6F:20:F4:42 arp=enabled
disable-running-check=no interface-type=Atheros AR5212 mode=ap-bridge
ssid="acon-lomas" frequency=2532 band=2.4GHz-B scan-list=default-ism
supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps
basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps max-station-count=2007 ack-timeout=dynamic
tx-power=23 noise-floor-threshold=default burst-time=disabled
fast-frames=no dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a wds-mode=disabled
wds-default-bridge=none wds-ignore-ssid=no default-authentication=yes
default-forwarding=yes hide-ssid=no 802.1x-mode=none

1 R name="pinafrut" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:02:6F:03:17:28 arp=enabled
disable-running-check=no interface-type=Prism mode=ap-bridge
ssid="lomas-pinafrut" frequency=2432 band=2.4GHz-B
scan-list=default-ism,2512 supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g="" basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=""
max-station-count=2007 fast-frames=no dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a
wds-mode=disabled wds-default-bridge=none wds-ignore-ssid=no
default-authentication=yes default-forwarding=yes hide-ssid=no
802.1x-mode=none

2 R name="carrandi-c" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:0B:6B:31:B3:0F arp=enabled
disable-running-check=no interface-type=Atheros AR5212 mode=bridge
ssid="lomas-limo" frequency=2572 band=2.4GHz-B scan-list=default-ism
supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,
54Mbps
basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps max-station-count=2007
ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power=default noise-floor-threshold=default
burst-time=disabled fast-frames=no dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a
wds-mode=disabled wds-default-bridge=none wds-ignore-ssid=no
default-authentication=yes default-forwarding=yes hide-ssid=no
802.1x-mode=none

3 R name="pontinia" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:0B:6B:30:2E:07 arp=enabled
disable-running-check=no interface-type=Atheros AR5212 mode=bridge
ssid="lomas-pontinia" frequency=2467 band=2.4GHz-B
scan-list=default-ism supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,
54Mbps
basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps max-station-count=2007
ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power=23 noise-floor-threshold=default
burst-time=disabled fast-frames=no dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a
wds-mode=disabled wds-default-bridge=none wds-ignore-ssid=no
default-authentication=yes default-forwarding=yes hide-ssid=no
802.1x-mode=none

4 R name="ap-lomas" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:02:6F:01:78:C5 arp=enabled
disable-running-check=no interface-type=Prism mode=ap-bridge
ssid="ap-lomas" frequency=2412 band=2.4GHz-B scan-list=default-ism
supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps supported-rates-a/g=""
basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g="" max-station-count=2007
fast-frames=no dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a wds-mode=disabled
wds-default-bridge=none wds-ignore-ssid=no default-authentication=yes
default-forwarding=yes hide-ssid=no 802.1x-mode=none


[admin@lomas] interface wireless> /sys reso pr
uptime: 18d21h12m59s
free-memory: 39072 kB
total-memory: 62696 kB
model: RouterBOARD 230
cpu: Geode
cpu-frequency: 266 MHz
cpu-load: 9
free-hdd-space: 27557 kB
total-hdd-space: 60604 kB
write-sect-since-reboot: 660
write-sect-total: 328898

[admin@lomas] interface wireless> reg pr
# INTERFACE MAC-ADDRESS AP SIGNAL-S... TX-RATE UPTIME
0 ap-lomas 00:02:6F:03:17:29 no -82 11Mbps 8d01:31:07
1 pontinia 00:02:6F:03:80:6D no -80 11Mbps 4d00:37:19
2 carrandi-c 00:0B:6B:31:B3:CA no -82 5.5Mbps 16:42:34
3 ap-lomas 00:02:6F:01:D2:0A no -73 11Mbps 16:35:57
4 pinafrut 00:0C:42:05:06:95 no -82 11Mbps 08:03:14
5 ap-lomas 00:40:96:36:44:F4 no -83 11Mbps 04:20:58
6 arrepentidos 00:02:6F:20:F4:43 no -77 11Mbps 03:42:14
7 pinafrut 00:02:6F:03:80:69 no -65 11Mbps 00:38:21
8 arrepentidos 00:02:6F:20:F4:34 no -85 11Mbps 00:22:28
9 ap-lomas 00:40:96:41:BB:1D no -71 11Mbps 00:02:51




RESOURSE

The RB532 with the RB564 give six radio ports and nine Ethernet!!! List price is $250 plus L5 license.

The size is less than 9x9inches and less than 3 inches high.

John

For this product, Mikrotik does not have competition.

Excellent work John.