MikroTik

Hi all,

I'm renting a house and am quite limited in alterations. So sadly running cables through the house are out of question.

My internet is LTE based and I have an external LTE modem router (ZTE WF830) provisioned by my provider.

Here are my two questions:
1. What would you recommend to build a reliable (mesh?) network at home without running cables? In the first stage it should preferably work with my ZTE modem (the house is big and spans 3 levels. ZTE itself doors not cover most of it)

2. What product from Mikrotik's portfolio should I replace my ZTE in the second stage with?

Additional info: in my previous house I've build a network with RB3011 configured as main router/DHCP server with hAP (952s) configured as wireless access points (bridge mode) for each floor level. I'm looking for a similar experience (and YES – I know I'll not reach the level of satisfaction I had with a network with a CAT6 backbone).

Thanks so much for your suggestions.
Krzysztof

Hoi

Mikrotik has hinted at a mesh product, but it hasn't been released/offered yet.
You could do it on your own (with some multi radio devices), but I wouldn't recommend it.

Hoi

Mikrotik has hinted at a mesh product, but it hasn't been released/offered yet.
You could do it on your own (with some multi radio devices), but I wouldn't recommend it.

So what WOULD you recommend then? [emoji16]

Wysłane z mojego Pixel 2 przy użyciu Tapatalka

I wouldn't recommend it from economy point of view, but also being completely on your own / unsupported config.
Get some off-the-shelf mesh wifi, which already had some prime time, and received some firmware updates.

I don't have experience with any, so google is your friend: https://www.google.be/search?q=mesh+wifi+review

Question - can Mikrotik LTE products ( in the US ) be configured as an AP with clients (similar to 2.4 & 5 GHz Mikrotik products) - My use has nothing to do with Cell phone use , just Internet brodband delivery to a few of my customers.

Yes, all can. But if you specifically need wireless, have a look at wap lte kit.

Yes, all can. But if you specifically need wireless, have a look at wap lte kit.

sebastia - big thank you for your reply

Looking around our Mikrotik inventory room , I found a wap lte kit and just about everything Mikrotik made 6 months ago that contained an "LTE" in their product names.
I forgot I told somebody to order 1 of everything Mikrotik LTE and Mikrotik 4G.
Have not powered anything LTE up yet.

Question - for Mikrotik LTE something to Mikrotik LTE something (AP & client) do I need a SIM card ?
Question - Is the SIM card to allow the Mikrotik LTE to be able to connect to a cell phone network ?
Question - with the "wAP LTE kit US" , what kind of distance line-of-site (and non-line-of-site through trees) might be expected (1.7 & 1.8 GHz bands -and- 824MHz & 699MHz) ?

I'm looking forward to powering this equipment next Monday

North Idaho Tom Jones

1. if you want to setup / test LTE AP, then yes you'll need a sim to get active LTE uplink
2. indeed
3. in short: it depends. strength of cell tower signal, interference (other users / towers) and quality of clients antenna, for transmissions in both directions. Wrt to wap lte, it's antenna doesn't have high gain, so it won't be suited for long distances.

Hi. I'm afraid you guys may have a small confusion here.

The wAP LTE is a wifi access point for local devices (laptops etc) which uses LTE modem with sim card as "source of the internet".
That's a bit (although not fully) within the area of what the OP Krzysztof is looking for.

But I believe Tom here hijacked this thread because he is still urgently looking for point to point wireless link hardware to replace the discontinued MT 900MHz gear.
2.4/5/60 are no bueno because there's no direct line of sight (trees), and 900MHz worked through the obstruction.

@Krzysztof, btw - if you can't run new cables in the building, maybe consider the PWR-LINE products?
https://mikrotik.com/products/group/dat ... powerlines
It's not a true "mesh system" but if you want MT, this could be a way to go, I think.
There are three variants. Two slower ones, one with an AP inside the plug and one allowing you to hang one of the small MT accesspoints on the USB cable.
The PRO is higher speed (but probably requres a little better quality power cabling) and does MT-style passive PoE injection on the ethernet port, so you can connect a big modern MT AP like the hAP AC2 or cAP AC and it'll have both power and high speed uplink.

Alternative would be to decide to dedicate one of the two frequencies (2.4 or 5.0) as "backhaul", have a central access point listening on it, and have all other APs connect to the central as clients (while broadcasting the other frequency as AP for your devices to use).
In either case, put a beefier Routerboard or such as the core of your network, configure CAPsMAN and manage all the access points via it.

Yes, PWR-Line products are meant for the situations where cabling is not an option. As the description says: Simply plug this device directly into one of the LAN ports of your ISP router, and add another one somewhere further in your premises. They will link together through the power lines. You can install up to eight PWR-LINE devices to further build your network. Also it has 100Mbps speed limitation. As these run RouterOS, don't forget to upgrade, set admin password and Wifi password

The PWR-LINE-PRO variant promises "up to 600 Mbps".
Of course, we all know "up to" speeds require ideal circumstances but fair chance it'd go quite a bit above 100Mbps.

Tom,
WAP LTE is 10/100 on the Ethernet port and 2.4 on the radio.

Compounding the problems in the US, is the Cellular radio doesn't work with Band 13. This is the most common band used by Verizon.

The configuration of the cellular is not "straight up".

I wasted too much time on this... Just pay for the cradlepoint and get a better solution.

The mofi also beats the crap out of the Mikrotik wAP LTE.

Lets put it plainly... It's performance doesn't merit the time wasted to try and use Mikrotik cellular in the US.