Hi Guys,

Can you please help me understand how to "build" with Mikrotik boards an AP similar with cAP 2n in size but better in specs?

I would like to have:
- Gb port,
- more dBi on 2.4GHz,
- POE in
- support CAPsMAN

Can you also point me where to find nice enclosures for inside use?

Thanks in advance,

You need some enclosure like this:
http://www.rfelements.com/en/products/e ... ox-inspot/
and the rest depends on you. You can put there RB951G-2HnD, for example. Or some 105x105mm board, e.g. RB922UAGS-5HPacD with additional card including big antennas.

You need some enclosure like this:
http://www.rfelements.com/en/products/e ... ox-inspot/
and the rest depends on you. You can put there RB951G-2HnD, for example. Or some 105x105mm board, e.g. RB922UAGS-5HPacD with additional card including big antennas.

Thank you jarda.

will RouterBoard 911G-2HPnD fit in stationbox-inspot encloser?

what antennas should i buy for RouterBoard 911G-2HPnD that will fit in stationbox-inspot?

Thanks in advance,

Compare the product documents to be sure or ask rfelements directly. They also make antennas...

Yes, it fit inside. See this: http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php ... 84#p458733

Thanks for your suggestions guys.

Does these antenas http://routerboard.com/ACSWIM
works with RB911G-2HPnD ?

Probably they will fit in stationbox-inspot .

Thanks,

Seems antennas will fit as both sides are mmcx connectors. Unfortunatelly you cannot use this board as AP because it has only L3 license and you need at least L4 for AP mode.

Why you insist on bigger antennas? What area (dimensions, obstacles, materials) do you need to cover and what type and how many clients do you expect to serve?

In normal wireless aplications, gigabit ethernet port is almost useless.
An RB951Ui-2HnD is a very capable router. For gigabit use RB951G-2HnD.

Sure, I have the same oppinion. Gigabit port would make sense when there would be two cards (2HnD and some 5ac together).

Hi,

There will be individual rooms with concrete walls that have iron bars in it.

The rooms are about 5x5 meters.

And the clients will be as usual: phones, laptops, tvs, media players which will play hd content over wifi.

Just want to build a capable AP from "parts" at an fair price. I am very happy with mikrotik devices so far, and using CAPsMAN.

I would need around 6-7 of them. The design is also important. Puting a RB951G-2HnD in a stationbox-inspot i consider it waste as the other 4 ports will never be used and the case as well. I want to compensate those money (for other ports and case) with an powerful AP.

Thanks in advance,

Yes, it fit inside. See this: http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php ... 84#p458733

1+
This setup works great!

If i need L4 license:

This could be an interesting combination:

- RB912UAG-2HPnD
- 2 x ACSWIM antennas

and an extra for 5GHz:
- R11e-5HnD
- 2 x ACSWIM antennas

+ stationbox inspot

What do you think about this config?

Thanks in advance,

For such small rooms you would need to take the transmitting power down.
Instead the R11e-5HnD go for R11e-5HacD. Otherwise it looks good.

Try as much clients as possible to utilize 5GHz band instead of 2GHz band and it will be fine.

Use different non-overlapping channels in neighbouring rooms to prevent interference.

Maybe using low gain antennas will help you to fight against interference also and also will help to suppress overscreaming from the clients. But it will be necessary to test first.

For such small rooms you would need to take the transmitting power down..
..cut..
Maybe using low gain antennas will help you to fight against interference..

in such scenario why not go simply for cAP ( http://routerboard.com/RBcAP2n ) if 5ghz support is not a strict requirement ?

cAP and mAP are more than enough for such small room and requirements. please clarify what you think is lacking in those products so we can suggest something appropriate. judging from the requirements alone, I would say that you don't need the specs you outlined

cAP and mAP are more than enough for such small room and requirements. please clarify what you think is lacking in those products so we can suggest something appropriate. judging from the requirements alone, I would say that you don't need the specs you outlined

Hi,

Assuming that:
- one TV/media player will play 1080p HD content from a NAS
- another computer will work on files stored online on a local server
- other devices browsing the internet

will cAP 2n handle this?

The wired network is FTP CAT6.

Just want to avoid upgrade it in 9 months and to be sure that the local servers will be accessed a full speed.

Thanks in advance,

- one TV/media player will play 1080p HD content from a NAS
- another computer will work on files stored online on a local server
- other devices browsing the internet

1080p stream from NAS should be 10-20Mbit maximum. Not sure about the others.
If you want future proof, I suggest one of our 802.11ac devices, like this one:
http://routerboard.com/RB911G-5HPacD-NB

but then the clients have to support 5GHz.

If they only support 2GHz, then the wireless standard itself will be the limiting factor, real speed will be under 100Mbit because of 2GHz data rates, not because of router performance

- one TV/media player will play 1080p HD content from a NAS
- another computer will work on files stored online on a local server
- other devices browsing the internet

1080p stream from NAS should be 10-20Mbit maximum. Not sure about the others.
If you want future proof, I suggest one of our 802.11ac devices, like this one:
http://routerboard.com/RB911G-5HPacD-NB

but then the clients have to support 5GHz.

If they only support 2GHz, then the wireless standard itself will be the limiting factor, real speed will be under 100Mbit because of 2GHz data rates, not because of router performance

With your suggestion i need to improvise with antennas, as i said before, the design is also important and i cannot hide them. More than that, i cannot go only for 5GHz.

In this case, i can go with :
- RB912UAG-2HPnD
- 2 x ACSWIM antennas

and an extra for 5GHz:
- R11e-5HnD
- 2 x ACSWIM antennas

which is not so cheap.

BTW, why don't you sell wall mount empty enclosures as well? Would be nice for the website to have a "router build configurator" for novice like me

Thanks in advance,

there are many Made For Mikrotik partners that do this. One was mentioned above, here are others: http://www.mikrotik.com/mfm

It has to be mentioned that 2n devices have only one chain. Therefore they are not so good for heavy data transfers. Maybe they are good for hotels and occasional connectivity, but not for bigger dayly use on such exposed places.

From this point of view comination of 2HnD and 5HacD radios is the best way how to achieve the best throughput thru the air. Maybe having 2x 2HnD together with 5HacD is better, because the whole 2,4GHz spectrum is ready just for 2 non overlapping frequency bands when 20/40 wide channels are used.

On the other hand, trying to make one big microwave owen from each of the concrete/metal rooms is not smart also. Things like computers, video players and similar that are used mostly on static places should be connected by wires preferably. Sure, the notebooks are moved time to time, but when lying on the desk they can be connected by their wired network cards. Even they can simultaneously keep also the connection via wifi to the AP, they will route the traffic thru wires.

Even there was not prooved that non-ionic rf emission with these frequencies and powers have direct negative impact on your health, it is for sure that it does not have any positive impact. Generally it is better to avoid the exposions rather than make them worse.

Take into account that Mbit/s is not the only measure of the speed. The question is also about latency which is uncomparable between wifi and ethernet technology.

So, running wires everywhere and using small weak radios just as backup connections when wires ar unplugged seems to be much wise for me than making microwave owens.

And I am real fan into these devices, having many of them running everywhere around...

It has to be mentioned that 2n devices have only one chain. Therefore they are not so good for heavy data transfers. Maybe they are good for hotels and occasional connectivity, but not for bigger dayly use on such exposed places.

From this point of view comination of 2HnD and 5HacD radios is the best way how to achieve the best throughput thru the air. Maybe having 2x 2HnD together with 5HacD is better, because the whole 2,4GHz spectrum is ready just for 2 non overlapping frequency bands when 20/40 wide channels are used.

On the other hand, trying to make one big microwave owen from each of the concrete/metal rooms is not smart also. Things like computers, video players and similar that are used mostly on static places should be connected by wires preferably. Sure, the notebooks are moved time to time, but when lying on the desk they can be connected by their wired network cards. Even they can simultaneously keep also the connection via wifi to the AP, they will route the traffic thru wires.

Even there was not prooved that non-ionic rf emission with these frequencies and powers have direct negative impact on your health, it is for sure that it does not have any positive impact. Generally it is better to avoid the exposions rather than make them worse.

Take into account that Mbit/s is not the only measure of the speed. The question is also about latency which is uncomparable between wifi and ethernet technology.

So, running wires everywhere and using small weak radios just as backup connections when wires ar unplugged seems to be much wise for me than making microwave owens.

And I am real fan into these devices, having many of them running everywhere around...

no worries, i found a website that sells protective pendants , and i will protect myself. (just joking)

you said that you are a real fan of these devices, my question is: how will you do it? design, speed, 2.4 (&5), price, safety

Thanks,

..my question is: how will you do it? design, speed, 2.4 (&5), price, safety

you forgot the most important factor ..your budget

as said before, I would go for cAP

my question is: how will you do it? design, speed, 2.4 (&5), price, safety

Thanks,

I already wrote it here. Wires everywhere is the rule nr. 1. (ended in the switch, e.g. some version of CRS125). Then RB951G-2HnD for the rest with accordingly reduced transmitt power. Maybe you would need one per 2-3 rooms.

If you have a lot of money, I would go by ac (RB922UAGS-5HPacD with additional 2HnD card and antennas in the ceiling enclosure). As it has fibre, I would use the fibre for uplink to the switch. Unfortunatelly Mikrotik does not offer any full optical switch with many ports, so you would need to buy some other brand (just for inspiration, something like this: http://www.celan.com.tw/products1/Switc ... 6i-EV.html or similar with the as many ports as you need).
Of course you can run without fiber, using gigabit ethernet everywhere.

Great thread,

I face a similar situation, renovating apartment, need good & reliable wifi coverage.

I was thinking about having just one 2.4ghz AP and many 5ghz ac ap, one for each important room.

and RB922UAGS-5HPacD + 2ghz card and required antennas for the living, and i think best case scenario this will do it for the whole apartment.

If the other rooms have poor wifi reception i need to add another ap, most likely 5ghz ac.
Which model whould that be? an 2ghz with a 5ghz ac card?

and one more thing. is it possible to skip the enclosure (the stationbox) and leave the board+antennas hidden in the ceiling (with no case)?

and one more thing. is it possible to skip the enclosure (the stationbox) and leave the board+antennas hidden in the ceiling (with no case)?

if there is no moisture or lots of dust, there should be no problems. I have actually seen working routerboards with a thick layer of dust on them, but I can't suggest that

depends on the environment, in a typical apartment, there shouldn't be anything dangerous in that space

and one more thing. is it possible to skip the enclosure (the stationbox) and leave the board+antennas hidden in the ceiling (with no case)?

if there is no moisture or lots of dust, there should be no problems. I have actually seen working routerboards with a thick layer of dust on them, but I can't suggest that

depends on the environment, in a typical apartment, there shouldn't be anything dangerous in that space

good to know.
i was actually afraid of RF interference on pigtails of the board.
i thought the metal case shileded the unit from, at least some, rf noise.

Case is just for protection of the board and peripherals. If you think it cannot be damaged where you put it, there is no other reason to use the case. Think where and how to mount the device to be able to access it physically if you need.

Any recommendation on what cable to use for some sort of future proof?

cat6/cat7 ?
up to which frequency 500-1200mhz?

UPDATE: seems that cat6 sftp or any cat7 would do for now even though i will bent it at 90 degrees and use cat6 wall sockets.

the last piece of the puzzle, or wish, is a cheap 5ghz AC mikrotik device with l4 license to use where the signal is not ok.

Use the best cable you can afford...

Should i worry about shielded cable (sftp)?
the cat cables will be next (parallel) to 220v cables.

It is not recommended to lie data cables along the AC power cables. But if it is shielded well, it will not make any problems. You will not have it hundreds of meters along, just few, so do not worry...