MikroTik

Dear community,

I'm new in the RouterOS/Mikrotik world so I'm seeking for your help/advice.

I have two identical haP ac2.

1st ac2 (router/gateway to the internet/DHCP server) with AP bridge on wifi interfaces for both 5G/2G (802.11) both share the same SSID

2nd ac2 is the bridge (no NAT, no FW, no DHCP server) with station bridge on 5G connected to 1st AC2(802.11). It is bridged together with 2G AP bridge both share the same SSID.

All four SSID's are the same so the clients can pick the best radio of their choice. The problem is when I move around in the rooms in my house the iPhone immediately connects to the stronger radio (2G via 2nd ac2) I can confirm it from the registration list of the 2nd ac2 but there is no route to the internet. When I wait a while (more then 30 seconds I guess) or I manually reconnect all works fine but I'm wondering how come the iphone is connected to the 2nd Ac2 but doesn't have the correct route right-away it connects to 2nd AC2. What am I missing ?

Thanks a lot !
David

This looks like a correct setup. Very surprised the initial connection via 2nd ac2 does not work.
As this is just one network as one L2 broadcast domain.
The 1st hAP ac2 is the gateway to Internet, and is the DHCP server and probably the DNS server.
The 4 WLAN interfaces are just bridged together.

The 2nd hAP ac2 5GHz interface is station-bridge (not AP) connecting to the 1st hAP ac2 5GHz SSID .
That 5GHz radio could even be used via a virtual WLAN interface as AP, with the same SSID. But that for now is increasing the complexity.

The 2nd hAP ac2 is used via the 2.4 GHz WLAN interface only. So is it caused by this WLAN setting or the 5 GHz WLAN link setting, or something in the bridge?
I expect any client there just to use 1st ac2 as DHCP, DNS, FW, default gateway. No clue on what could go wrong.

Bridge mode is still "enabled" in advanced wireless setting of 1st ac2 5 GHz WLAN2 interface?
Status of this interface WLAN2 is "running", and not in the 1 or 10 minute radar detect modus?
The 5GHz wifi link is up and running? The "Hosts" table in the bridges show the other side MAC addresses?

Dear @bpwl,

Thanks for the reply, yes I'm trying to wrap my head around this too.

To your questions:

Bridge mode is still "enabled" in advanced wireless setting of 1st ac2 5 GHz WLAN2 interface?
yes it is.

Status of this interface WLAN2 is "running", and not in the 1 or 10 minute radar detect modus?
yes in "running" state.

The 5GHz wifi link is up and running?
yes

The "Hosts" table in the bridges show the other side MAC addresses?
yes

Perhaps I can post over here the anonymized config file ?

Yes, would have a look at it. Not sure if it is seen there.
Could be some running state thing (RSTP, DHCP lease, identical (copied) MAC addresses, bridge port status, learning not on auto, loop (false) detected ... .)

When I wait a while (more then 30 seconds I guess) or I manually reconnect all works fine

DFS : Radar detect wait state is the first minute after startup or after any WLAN2 modification, (or 10 minutes if the frequency is for weather radars (around 5600MHz))
Use some frequency without mandatory DFS in 5 GHz to avoid this. Or look in the log to see if it is activated at some time.

Freq with mandatory DFS ... check the region/country table

( here "etsi" =europe)Use the one set in WLAN2

In the case where the "1st ac2 - 2nd ac2" link is not always up and running (e.g. DFS wait time, false radar detect, unstable link) , then clients should not connect to the 2.4GHz of the 2nd ac2 for Internet access.

To manage this, one could use tool/netwatch in the 2nd ac2 , and alter the SSID of WLAN1 to the common name if the 1st ac2 is reachable, and to an informative local "2ndac2 SSID" when not.

I had to do this for a Powerline Pro link, where people forgot to power them on, when arriving there. Powerline Pro cannot be managed AFAIK, so the "netwatch" was used.

dear @bpwl,

I think I know where the problem was. I had routes and address set on the 2nd ac together with IP. I removed all the routes and address. Now everything is "connected" together on the 2nd ac only via a single bridge. And I can say it works flawlessly. The client (iphone) switching super quickly now picking up the "best" radio. I also added the Virtual LAN on 5G on the 2nd ac.

I have a question, the bridge protocol mode should be set to none on both ac's ? Or on the 2nd one only ?

Many thanks !
David

I have a question, the bridge protocol mode should be set to none on both ac's ? Or on the 2nd one only ?

Don't know if this is any good as advice, but in such very simple networks I tend to disable the STP protocol (set to "none"), as I don't see the need for loop protection, and STP protocol might introduce some extra delays.

If you want STP protection, then use RSTP over the old STP. I would choose 1st ac as root bridge (setting RSTP priority from 8000 to 6000). See if 2nd ac shows the port to this root bridge then, and look at how the bridge ports signal what they are "edge" , "discover edge", "point to point". Interesting as the WLAN with only clients should be "edge" , and the WLAN that links to the 1st ac I expect to be "not edge" but "point to point". There is no 'map' of the spanning tree.

Interesting to watch and learn. Things change when there are devices connected to the WLAN or not. But I don't understand why in my ethernet connected wAP ac with only clients, the status for "edge port discovery" is different for the default WLAN1 and WLAN2. "edge ports" up/down will not generate topology changes in the spanning tree.