Hi, I have indoor cAP ac/RBcAPGi-5acD2nD (integrated antennas), upgraded to latest v6.47.3.
I configure this unit in Webfig, as I'm not RouterOS guru and Linbox isn't available ;).
I want to use ETSI channels 12 and 13 on 2.4 GHz (allowed in my country), so I guess I have to set proper Country (czech republic).

Then I probably have to set Frequency mode to "regulatory-domain" (otherwise I'm blocked with an error
"Couldn't change Interface <wlan1> - only regulatory-domain mode allowed for this country (6)").
But then it ends with error "Couldn't change Interface <wlan1> - minimal antenna-gain for this country is 2 (6)"

What now?

As internal integrated antenna has fixed gain and cannot be changed (thus misconfiguration message about gain is meaningless),
IMO only option is to reduce the transmission power. But how?

I didn't find anything about this on the "Simple mode" page, and on "Advanced mode" page I tried to set "Tx Power Mode" to "all rates fixed" and "Tx power" to "-3" or "-6"
dBm, but I'm still ending with an crazy error
"Couldn't change Interface <wlan1> - minimal antenna-gain for this country is 2 (6)".

IMO it is some Mikrotik people's bug, but can it be somehow bypassed?

Set proper antenna gain in terminal:

Hm, I just found that this wireless parameters setting can be saved:

Country: "etsi 2.4 5.5-5.7"
Frequency mode: no matter when "regulatory-domain" or "manual-txpower"
Installation: indoor

Can I keep this setting?
And - is it possible to set TX power for cAP ac unit?

Set proper antenna gain in terminal:

Code: Select all

/interface wireless set 0 antenna-gain=2

Hi, xvo, thanks. It means I must go to CLI. I will try.
But still - I'm disappointed with the process of changing the fixed gain of the antenna by some command - if I understand correctly, the gain of the antenna has not changed and the radiating power has not changed also - only ROS thinks that the antenna has less gain.
It is so?
In our country, this situation describe the proverb: "The wolf ate, but the goat remained whole"
How do I know that I meet the standard for TX power?

radiating power has not changed also - only ROS thinks that the antenna has less gain.
It is so?

Yes and no.
It thinks that antenna has different gain and adjusts the radiating power to fall into the allowed range.
Antenna gain minimal value together with regulatory-domain setting is exactly what prevents you to radiate more, than it is allowed in your region.
Also antenna-gain setting was removed from GUI for devices with fixed antenna few versions ago - so that people don't mess with it at all (although setting your gain higher than it really is, would actually result in lower output, so I don't see a real point here).

Thanks again. And ah, it's still hard for me to understand. IMO, the fixed built-in antenna in the device has a fixed gain, which does not change and the manufacturer knows it. Removing the antenna gain setting from the GUI is therefore, in my opinion, the right and logical step. But then parameter settings checking routine cannot write the error "minimal antenna-gain for this country is .." - instead it should print something like "maximum TX power for this country is ..." and possibly set the maximum TX power itself automatically.
And in GUI this parameter for TX power level is ("Wireless" -> "WiFi Interfaces" -> "wlan1" -> "Advanced Mode" -> "Tx Power Mode = all rates fixed" and Tx Power = X).

The current solution seems to simply not allow to set the country in the GUI - and that's a mistake. Is it the right procedure to report the problem to the manufacturer (and if so)?

Anyway, my problem was the possibility to use channels 12 and 13 in the 2.4 GHz band and I have solved it now - although slowly, complexly and non-intuitively ...

Historically, setting antenna gain higher (and tricking the device so it will lower the TX power automatically) was (and still is) the easiest way to lower the TX power on devices that don't support tx-power-mode=card-rates (tx-power-mode=all-rates-fixed is not exactly that, and setting tx-power for all rates manually is too much a hassle).
Yes, that is a misuse of the feature, yes that it is just a workaround. But having it in the GUI altogether with inability to set it lower, then it is actually is, was a convenient thing.
Confusing and counterintuitive for people unfamiliar with how it works, but convenient.
Now it is hidden from the GUI, not to confuse anyone.

"Confusing and counterintuitive for people unfamiliar with how it works, but convenient.
Now it is hidden from the GUI, not to confuse anyone."
..... unless the gain was changed while in a previous release or by a restored or imported configuration (or set to zero due to the update) , and people unfamiliar with RouterOS are facing a rather puzzling fix (CLI only) with a non-trivial error message .....

Unless "reset configuration" on the WLAN interface sets the gain to the correct value.

EDIT: just checked. Yes it does remove the non-default antenna-gain setting, among all the rest.

..... unless the gain was changed while in a previous release or by a restored or imported configuration (or set to zero due to the update) , and people unfamiliar with RouterOS are facing a rather puzzling fix (CLI only) with a non-trivial error message .....

Well, that's what this forum is for :)))

Concur xvo, where we should be screaming for MT to hire bpwl to fix the documentation and more importantly get into bed with the coders to produce software that is easier to configure and fine tune the APs in a logical manner. It doesnt have to be the fastest but it should be smooth to get to 90% and be STABLE.