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pomah
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Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:20 pm

Hi

Just some thoughts that I have in regards to future upgrades.

Today I'm running a HAP ac2 as CAPSMAN controller with two CAP AC access points spread out in my house, I have all 6 radios active since the HAP ac2 is placed in the cellar and helps with the wifi coverage in that area.

Moving forward I'm waiting for the CAP AX, but I dont really see any reason to upgrade the HAP ac2 since it is at low loads and just works, I have an uptime of over 1 year on all three devices sine I'm running the long term firmware.

So to my question, will it be possible to use the HAP ac2 (running RoS v7) as CAPSMAN manager for future CAP AX devices and at the same time have wifi enabled and managed by the CAPSMAN on the HAP ac2, as I have today? Since I guess in that use case I will have to mix different wifi packages for the mikrotik, or will I be forced to upgrade all three devices?
 
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mkx
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 2:44 pm

So to my question, will it be possible to use the HAP ac2 (running RoS v7) as CAPSMAN manager for future CAP AX devices

No. AX devices require wifiwave2 driver, wifiwave2 only works with capsman2 which in turn requires wifiwave2 installed on CAPsMAN device. And you can't install wifiwave2 driver on hAP ac2 due to insufficient resources (flash disk is too small, officially RAM is too small as well - 256MB is required; early hAP ac2 devices came with 256MB but official spec was always 128MB).
Additionally, legacy wireless drivers require legacy capsman (capsman2 can not provision legacy devices). And it's not possible (nor it's envisioned) to run both capsman generations on same device.

So when you end up with more than one AX device, you'll have to use one of those as CAPsMAN for AX devices and keep hAP ac2 as legacy CAPsMAN as long as you'll need it.
 
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anav
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:45 pm

So capsman2 exists??
If so my hap ax3 will be my first foray into wifiwave and capsman LOL......... what an adventure!!
Hey MKX is bpwl close to you?? Thinking he is in switzerland for some reason....... I can imagine him yodellling........... could be austria LOL.
I think we should share some costs and send him a hap ax3 because he does so much wifi work to help the community.
I am open to a go fund me page to get him some product as MT is too friggen cheap to send him one in respect of all the work he does.
 
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mkx
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:24 pm

So capsman2 exists??
It's on v7.7 release change log. I've upgraded two devices (audience and a RB951G) to 7.7 and if I'll have too much time (not likely if I spend it replying to you), I'll have a look. Not really fun to run capsman on very device it's provisioning though.

Hey MKX is bpwl close to you?? Thinking he is in switzerland for some reason......
For some reason I can't remember any more I've a feeling that @bpwl is Dutch ... or Belgian. So he's as close to me as you're close to ... Whitehorse? (I'm in the God forsaken hole not bpwl ... if we take the parallel to extreme).
 
holvoetn
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:10 pm

Bpwl is Belgian (Dutch speaking) but travels a lot, AFAIK.
 
pomah
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Fri Jan 13, 2023 11:18 pm

So to my question, will it be possible to use the HAP ac2 (running RoS v7) as CAPSMAN manager for future CAP AX devices

No. AX devices require wifiwave2 driver, wifiwave2 only works with capsman2 which in turn requires wifiwave2 installed on CAPsMAN device. And you can't install wifiwave2 driver on hAP ac2 due to insufficient resources (flash disk is too small, officially RAM is too small as well - 256MB is required; early hAP ac2 devices came with 256MB but official spec was always 128MB).
Additionally, legacy wireless drivers require legacy capsman (capsman2 can not provision legacy devices). And it's not possible (nor it's envisioned) to run both capsman generations on same device.

So when you end up with more than one AX device, you'll have to use one of those as CAPsMAN for AX devices and keep hAP ac2 as legacy CAPsMAN as long as you'll need it.
Ok, thank you
 
gotsprings
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Re: Upgrade path to AX

Sun Jan 15, 2023 3:23 pm

BPWL and I are kind the opposite sides of the spectrum.

I am the harshest critic of the things I work with. While he has a serious fan girl blind spot when it comes to Mikrotik.

If he actually looked at another wifi vendor and provided them the feed back he is capable of... There would be a real wifi vendor out there.

I have spent a year... A whole f--king year brow beating another vendor. They have actually listened and made the changes as I show them to them.

2 weeks ago they sent me a Wifi 6e access point with all the bugs I had presented over the past year SHOOK OUT, except needing additional code for wireless client isolation.

For the first time in a year of complaining at them every single week...
They shipped me a product that actually worked correctly out of the box.

It has 3 wifi radios:
2.4 2x2
5.0 2x2
And a software defined radio that can be 5.0/6.0 4x4

The management is slower than s--t if you use their controller. But if I log straight into the WAP I can see updated info every 5 seconds.

A lot of the stuff I built for caps-man that I had to abandon (due to lousy radio performance), actually works with them.

Same SSID with multiple passwords, that send you to the right VLAN.
SSIDs that can shut off automagically when primary ISP goes down... And I need the point of sales to keep working on slow metered connections... But not the guest network.
Etc.
Etc.

But I ramble as usual.

I admit I am waiting to see what happens with a WAP AXs...
But when I look at all the stuff that broke with the Wave 2 driver... It like they just dropped all the stuff I came to caps-man for.

I mean I absolutely lament the loss of the screen where I can see clients updated connecting info every few seconds...

But I sure don't miss "seeing a client as connected" under clients... And no traffic passing until the radio rebooted.

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