Community discussions

MikroTik App
  4. RouterOS
  5. Wireless Networking

CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Post Reply
 
maol
just joined
Topic Author
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:44 am

CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Tue Jan 02, 2024 6:36 pm

Hello Guys,
now that 7.13 is out from the beta phase i decided to try again moving my infra into the new WiFi package.
My setup is made of 1 hEX as Router and CAPWAP and 3 wAP ac as acces point.
Capwap is working fine in the new wifi package and basic setup is ok... but i still have some question to be answered:

1. DATAPATH

on the old wifi package datapath can be set in manager forwarding mode, in that way (from my understanding) trafic is tunneled to the CAPsMAN and is not dependent on the L2 nework where the wAP is connected.

on the new wifi package there's no more such option
Image
as result the wifi client ends to be connected to the L2 nework where wAP is connected to and the bridge selected on the datapath is just ignored.
i think docs is still not yep updated about this: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/CAPsMAN

2. CANNELS

How shoud I select multiple modes?
Image
For example 2GHz G/N


3. STEERING

How shoud i check that RRM and WNM are working correctly?
on the log i saw some of those entry:
24:4C:AB:43:74:88@cap-wifi6 roamed to 24:4C:AB:43:74:88@cap-wifi3, signal strength -66
but that happeded only at the very beginning of the setup, before creating the neighor group and steering profile, now what i see in the logs is
94:45:60:5E:93:88@cap-wifi3 disconnected, SA Query timeout, signal strength -91
94:45:60:5E:93:88@cap-wifi2 connected, signal strength -81
is there any way i can check that 802.11k and 802.11v beacon are sent correctly?

here below my current CAPsMAN configuration, if someone's curious to look at that

Code: Select all
/interface wifi channel
add band=5ghz-ac disabled=no name=5_Ghz_AC
add band=2ghz-n disabled=no name=2_Ghz
/interface wifi datapath
add bridge=bridge-wifi-tunnel disabled=no name=datapath-wifi2-tunnel
/interface wifi interworking
add disabled=no internet=yes ipv4-availability=single-nated ipv6-availability=not-available name=interworking1 \
    network-type=private venue=residential-private wan-status=up
/interface wifi security
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk,wpa3-psk connect-priority=0 disabled=no name=sec1
/interface wifi steering
add disabled=no name=steering1 neighbor-group=dynamic-Mao-Fi-538252a9 rrm=yes wnm=yes
/interface wifi configuration
add channel=2_Ghz country=Italy datapath=datapath-wifi2-tunnel disabled=no interworking=interworking1 multicast-enhance=enabled name=\
    cfg-wifi2-2GHZ security=sec1 security.connect-priority=0 ssid=Mao-Fi steering=steering1
add channel=5_Ghz_AC country=Italy datapath=datapath-wifi2-tunnel disabled=no interworking=interworking1 multicast-enhance=enabled name=\
    cfg-wifi2-5GHZ security=sec1 security.connect-priority=0 ssid=Mao-Fi steering=steering1
/interface wifi capsman
set ca-certificate=auto enabled=yes interfaces=bridge-wifi-tunnel package-path="" require-peer-certificate=no upgrade-policy=\
    suggest-same-version
/interface wifi provisioning
add action=create-dynamic-enabled disabled=no master-configuration=cfg-wifi2-2GHZ supported-bands=2ghz-g,2ghz-n
add action=create-dynamic-enabled disabled=no master-configuration=cfg-wifi2-5GHZ supported-bands=5ghz-ac
Top
 
erlinden
Forum Guru
Forum Guru
Posts: 2742
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:59 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:06 pm

When using VLAN's, you can't use datapath (yet) on AC devices. Hopefully this will be resolved in newer versions of RouterOS, up till then you can use this "hack":
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ ... ionexample:

The "hack" is using VLAN filtering (manually) on the CAP.

In regards to steering (assuming you are not referring to roaming?), I prefer to set the 2.4GHz radio transmission power as low as possible (to have good signal). All clients are on the 5GHz radios.

On the above link you can find a lot of recommendations, also in regards to fast roaming.
Top
 
optixmar
just joined
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2022 8:51 am

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:23 pm

When using VLAN's, you can't use datapath (yet) on AC devices. Hopefully this will be resolved in newer versions of RouterOS, up till then you can use this "hack":
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ ... ionexample:

The "hack" is using VLAN filtering (manually) on the CAP.

In regards to steering (assuming you are not referring to roaming?), I prefer to set the 2.4GHz radio transmission power as low as possible (to have good signal). All clients are on the 5GHz radios.

On the above link you can find a lot of recommendations, also in regards to fast roaming.
What is this, a beta testing club or what :D ?

VLANS on datapath worked OK on ROS6, but now on ROS7.13 is this such a basic setting which does not exist... why they release such a beta release to users ? Who now have time to mess with "hack" as you call to configure manually VLAN filtering on every CAP device.

Horrible...
Top
 
whatever
Member
Member
Posts: 368
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:29 pm

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:51 pm

VLANS on datapath worked OK on ROS6, but now on ROS7.13 is this such a basic setting which does not exist.
It still exists and still works exactly the same, as long as you stay on the "wireless" driver package. If the wifi-qcom-ac driver does not meet your requirements you should not use it.
Top
 
erlinden
Forum Guru
Forum Guru
Posts: 2742
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:59 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Tue Jan 02, 2024 10:22 pm

VLANS on datapath worked OK on ROS6, but now on ROS7.13 is this such a basic setting which does not exist... why they release such a beta release to users ? Who now have time to mess with "hack" as you call to configure manually VLAN filtering on every CAP device.
Datapath works on any version of RouterOS. To bring compatability and WAVE2 support on AC devices, the wifi-qcom-ac was introduced. Yes, there still can be done optimizations, but it solves a greater problem: supporting AC/legacy devices in a WIFI6 world.

The word "every" is interesting: in big(ger) situations one is not using this new driver from the first RouterOS version introduced.

I love the way Mikrotik is currently introducing new functionality. It is a very Agile way of software development. Users should make the consideration of wether or not use new versions.
Top
 
enigma1939
just joined
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2023 6:19 pm

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:04 am

VLANS on datapath worked OK on ROS6, but now on ROS7.13 is this such a basic setting which does not exist... why they release such a beta release to users ? Who now have time to mess with "hack" as you call to configure manually VLAN filtering on every CAP device.
Datapath works on any version of RouterOS. To bring compatability and WAVE2 support on AC devices, the wifi-qcom-ac was introduced. Yes, there still can be done optimizations, but it solves a greater problem: supporting AC/legacy devices in a WIFI6 world.

The word "every" is interesting: in big(ger) situations one is not using this new driver from the first RouterOS version introduced.

I love the way Mikrotik is currently introducing new functionality. It is a very Agile way of software development. Users should make the consideration of wether or not use new versions.
I just was wondering why new CAPsMAN can't contain the mature and useful features of old version. It seemed to defy logic.
Top
 
erlinden
Forum Guru
Forum Guru
Posts: 2742
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:59 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:13 pm

I just was wondering why new CAPsMAN can't contain the mature and useful features of old version. It seemed to defy logic.
From a functional perspective I fully agree...but from a software development perspective totally not. It has to do with the newly introduced wifi-qcom-ac driver. Which is different from the wifi-qcom driver. Probably it will come in the (near) future.
Top
 
User avatar
Nullcaller
Member Candidate
Member Candidate
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2023 3:09 pm

Re: CAPsMAN on v7.13 configuration

Sun Jan 07, 2024 3:47 pm

From a functional perspective I fully agree...but from a software development perspective totally not. It has to do with the newly introduced wifi-qcom-ac driver.

It's still a little bit weird.

On the one hand, embedded development, as far as I know, is very frequently like that: you develop the whole system, and changing one little thing can force you to rewrite a lot of stuff if you want for it to work effectively.

On the other hand, however, RouterOS is, at least in its name, an operating system. With a lot of target architectures, that is. So its different components should theoretically be written in such a way that no component, except device drivers, is all-that dependent on the underlying hardware. The whole reason for drivers to exist in the first place is so that no other piece of software needs to be rewritten for everything to work with a new device.

My guess would be that WiFi 6 is just so radically different from WiFi 5 that it warranted new abstractions to be developed for efficient driver-software communication. And instead of doing a partial rewrite on the old CAPsMAN, someone at MikroTik decided "Screw it, let's do a full rewrite, it'll take the same amount of time".
Top
Post Reply
  4. RouterOS
  5. Wireless Networking