Hi Mikrotik community

Im new to Mikrotik and have only some “home” experience with networking.

Due to a renovation in my home, I now have to expand and reroute our current network. The current network we have at the moment, is just an asus router with some mesh nodes.

The kids are getting older, their internet habits are getting more demanding and they have always guest visiting.

I am now finished routing a cabled network (cat 6a) through out our home, so now its time for some hardware upgrades and this is where I need your help - I want to hear your thoughts and suggestions, on which routers/switches/wifi-ap I need.

I have been looking on a RB5009UPR+S+IN as my primary router, because of the 2.5gbps network and the poe out - I really like to hear your advice and suggestions on which other hardware devices I need?

We have the following connectivity needs:
Room 1 - tv streaming, desktop computer, printer, playstation 5, nas.
Room 2 - tv streaming, desktop computer, PlayStation 5.
Room 3 - tv streaming, desktop computer, PlayStation 5.

Other than that, I need the following:
1) WiFi in all three rooms, because we live in a concrete building with very poor wifi signals.
2) Vlans for both of the kid’s rooms (cabled and wifi connections).
3) Vlan for our living room (cabled and wifi connection)

Im looking forward to hear all of your feedback and suggestions, for what hardware I should buy to achieve the desired results.

Kind regards

I will throw on the table the idea of using wall access points *like* the TP-Link EAP615-Wall:
https://www.tp-link.com/en/business-net ... p615-wall/

No idea if these specific devices are any good, but the concept seems perfect for a newly cabled building, a small PoE powered access point in each room with three ethernet ports for cabled devices.

Thanks for your reply @jaclaz

It sounds like a good idea, so I will look into the eap615-wall.

This is maybe a foolish beginner question, but will the rb5009upr function well with tp-link devices?

As said, my knowledge about Mikrotik and network in general a slim, but I’ve just started on a networking course and Im looking forward to learn a lot more about this topic.

I find it very important, when having kids googleing the internet - have a lot of parental controls, but they now have an age, where they need some more options so they can learn.

Kind regards

Yes, the tplink device 615 for example is vlan capable and thus it will be relatively simple to create different vlans/subnets and distribute them on wifi via wlans and ssids.
I got one of those to try and was not impressed by their range. Very much a one room trick pony and did well in the room. (Not really designed to cover an entire floor of rooms for example )
I suspect if you have a bigger area the EAP655 wall would perform better. Be mindful of the measurements of the devices and where they will be installed.
Will they need power through the ethernet cable or can be separately powered?

Keep in mind these are all wifi6 technology (not 6e) and not Wifi7, where the industry is going.
They dont have a wall plate yet for wifi7, but i have used the round APs on walls as well, not just ceiling.

There are two sides to your "underlying" issue.
If you think you can outsmart your kids, you are wrong , they will find a way out, before or later.
But on the other hand, knowing that - one way or the other - you will lose your battle, you (and them) can still have a lot of fun fighting it .

As said I don't know anything (besides the site/brochure) about that thingy, and probably there are other manufacturers doing something similar, but I can see nothing that should limit the functionalities of such devices with a "central" Mikrotik (or any other manufacturer) router/switch, unlike other TP-Link products there is seemingly not an online emulator for that, so it is difficult to say, but it is possible to enable ssh access to it and a related manual does exist:
https://static.tp-link.com/upload/manua ... 20EAPs.pdf
so it should be possible to troubleshoot issues (if any).
All in all it seems to me like you not really need any particular features from those devices, they should be simply a (wired to the central router/swich) Wifi access point+bridge, nothing fancy on them, the main settings/firewall/limitations/etc. should all go into this central device.

I cannot think of any product in the Mikrotik products range with similar features and a convenient size/form factor, there is only the (evidently more powerful) Ax2 that is (comparatively) huge in size, the Cap Ax is better left as a ceiling access point (WAF permitting) and has not enough wired ports, the hap Ax lite would be a good choice if it had 5 GHz and a flatter enclosure.
Maybe the soon to be released WaP Ax:
viewtopic.php?t=210117#p1098879
could be an alternative

@anav
Yes, I think that is exactly the intended usage, one low power AP each room.
With 5 GHz you need anyway more AP's than with older 2.4 GHz as the signal won't ever get past two walls (sometimes not even one if it is thick).

Why do you need a separate VLAN for each room?

Is that a serious question???
1. to ensure the OPs work subnet, or spouses work subnet are not associated with the general LAN subnet
2. to ensure kids subnets are separate from each other
3. to ensure guest wifi subnet only has access to internet and is not connected to the home wifi etc..
4. to ensure any IOT devices or media devices cannot access general LAN and only have internet access..

How many reasons do you need.............

I agree with you both @jaclaz and @anav.

About the kids, @jaclaz, I know they will outsmart me in the end “just like I outsmarted my parents in the late 90’s and by doing that, I earned the title as their support ever since”

wAP sounds very interesting and that’s definitely something I will be interested in, so I will try to keep me up to date - I could see that the “short-term confidentiality release date” is set till 03/04/2025, so there is still quite some waiting time until launch. In the meantime, I think your recommendation about the eap615-Wall sounds like the way to go, and price wise, it’s not that expensive and can eventually be replaced with the wAP.

About the reason for splitting the network up into several vlans, @anav was spot on

I have one more question that I would like your opinion on, it’s about the choice of router; what would “in your eyes” be the ideal choice to make?
1) rb5009upr+s+in
or
2) crs310-8g+2s+in

• I have an “oldish” desktop computer there’s not in use atm. - would it be worth the effort to use the dual 10gbps ports on the crs310, route them to the desktop computer and run pfsense or opensens as firewall (I have to invest in an dual 10gbps nic for the desktop, for it to work).

I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback

Kind regrads

I have one more question that I would like your opinion on, it’s about the choice of router; what would “in your eyes” be the ideal choice to make?
1) rb5009upr+s+in
or
2) crs310-8g+2s+in

The CRS is a switch, with a little puny CPU capable of routing VERY slowly. It can switch at wirespeed, but switching isn't routing. If You want a router, the RB5009 would be the answer.

And - IMHO - leave the desktop alone, unless it is a low power one (but then probably it won't have enough "juice" to run with 10 Gb interfaces) .

Until a few years ago (with much slower networks) it made a lot of sense to use re-purposed desktops passive cooled thin clients to do any kind of crazy experiments with Linux or BSD based firewalls/whatever, nowadays it is easier to find relatively cheap "dedicated" hardware ( for 1 Gb and 2.5 Gb connections) that will likely re-pay itself with the reduced power consumption they offer (when compared to *any* oldish desktop).

In my experience the issue with devices running 24/7, unless they are designed to do that, is generally speaking the cooling system, fans on a normal desktop (both the PSU and the processor one) tend to be unreliable.

Having a 10 Gb connection is likely overkill in a setup like yours, but - the above said - if you need it the "old desktop" may still be a valid option.

In terms of routing, what is the throughput of your ISP connection, now and five years down the road

Thanks a lot for all of your suggestions and advice

I think I will go with the rb5009upr and the eap615-wall to start with, and then further up the road, replace the eap-615 with the wAP ax so I can take a “deep dive” into all of the functionalities in the Mikrotik world - the reason I choose Mikrotik, was due to the insane amount of configuration available for the price. I love to tinkering, “deep dive” and learn, that’s also why I have started on a network course.

Again, thanks a lot for all of your help - see you around in here (Mikrotik forum)

Have a nice day.

Kind regards, JFW

@anav, my ISP connection is 1gbps but I think will upgrade within the next five years, due to work related things and having two almost teenage boys, draws a lot of bandwidth.

5009 is good up to a 2.5gig connection or two 1 gig connections, so good to go!

Thanks for clarifying @anav