General Notes
All the AP24's are configured as a bridge, so all IP addresses are on the 192.168.0 network.
WDS (wireless distribution system) is also enabled which enables the whole setup to appear as if it is one ethernet switch. I've set wds-ignore-ssid=yes, which as I understand it, allows WDS across different SSIDs. In order for that to work, all access points must be on the same frequency, and dfs-mode (dynamic frequency selection) turned off.
I've chosen frequency=2452 Mhz for testing at FLAB. In the field we can use "interface wireless frequency-monitor" at setup to find a quiet frequency.
Common settings:
- frequency=2452
- tx-power-mode=default
- dfs-mode=none
- wds-mode=dynamic
- wds-ignore_ssid=yes
TX power
Here's a useful FAQ for routers, such as the AP24's, using the mikrotik software, http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Wireless_FAQ
.
What TX-power-mode is the best?
TX-power-mode tells the wireless card which tx-power values should be used. By default this setting is set to default.
default means that the card will use the tx-power values from the cards eeprom and will ignore the setting what is specified by the user in the tx-power field.
card-rates means that for different data rates the tx-power is calculated according the cards transmit power algorithm from the cards eeprom and as an argument it takes tx-power value specified by the user.
all-rates-fixed means that that the card will use one tx-power value for all data rates which is specified by the user in tx-power field.
Note that it is not recommended to use 'all-rates-fixed' mode as the wireless card tx-power for the higher data rates is lower and by forcing to use the fixed tx-power rates also for the higher data rates might results the same problems like in the previous question about tx-power setting. For most of the cases if you want to change the tx-power settings it is recommended to use the tx-power-mode=card-rates and it is recommended to lower and not to raise tx-power.
tx-power-mode=default seems to work well in the staging area. If it doesn't work in the field, we'll go with
- tx-power-mode=card-rates
- tx-power=(lowest setting that works well, in the range 13-26)
Access point at base with a single omni antenna
site |
WIFI |
antenna |
role |
ssid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
floor |
etherant |
internal, to rim |
station adaptor |
ISFS |
rim |
AP24-2 |
internal, to floor |
access point |
ISFS |
rim |
AP24-2 |
external, yagi to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSext |
base |
AP24-2 |
external, omni |
access point |
ISFSext |
near |
AP24-3 |
internal, to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSext |
far |
etherant |
internal, to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSext |
Dual antenna access point at base
If an omni antenna at the base cannot receive adequately from rim, near and far, then we could enable the internal antenna, as follows:
site |
WIFI |
antenna |
role |
ssid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
floor |
etherant |
internal, to rim |
station adaptor |
ISFS |
rim |
AP24-2 |
internal, to floor |
access point |
ISFS |
rim |
AP24-2 |
external, yagi to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSrim |
base |
AP24-2 |
internal, to rim |
access point |
ISFSrim |
base |
AP24-2 |
external, 180 |
access point |
ISFSext |
near |
AP24-3 |
internal, to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSext |
far |
etherant |
internal, to base |
station adaptor |
ISFSext |
AP24 at base
Here are the wireless settings if only using the external antenna:
Note:
- wlan1-Int-Ant is disabled
- ssid=ISFS
- wds-default-bridge=bridge1
[admin@ap24] > interface wireless print
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
0 X name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:29:B2 arp=enabled disable-running-check=no
interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-IntAnt" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFSext" area=""
frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default
rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps
max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default
periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b
wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes
update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0
default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep
disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes
1 R name="wlan2-Ext-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:3C:BC arp=enabled disable-running-check=no
interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-ExtAnt" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFSext" area=""
frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default
rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps
max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default
periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a
wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes
update-stats-interval=disabled default-authentication=no default-forwarding=yes default-ap-tx-limit=0
default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep
disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes
AP24-2 at rim
[admin@ap24-2] > interface wireless print
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
0 R name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:20:01:9A arp=enabled disable-running-check=no
interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="ap24-2-internal" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFS" area=""
frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default
rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps
max-station-count=2007 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default
periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b
wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes
update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0
default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep
disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms hw-retries=15 preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes
1 R name="wlan2-Ext-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:1C:0D arp=enabled disable-running-check=no
interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="ap24-2-external" mode=station-wds ssid="ISFSext" area=""
frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default
rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps
max-station-count=2007 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default
periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a
wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes
update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0
default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep
disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms hw-retries=15 preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes
AP24-3 at near
The AP24 supports a maximum bandwidth of 54 Mbps, whereas the highest I've seen on an Etherant is 11 Mbps. So the plan is to use the single antenna AP24 at the near tower instead of an Etherant.
[admin@ap24-3] > interface wireless print
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
0 R name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:20:01:90 arp=enabled disable-running-check=no
interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-3" mode=station-wds ssid="ISFSext" area=""
frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2442 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default
rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps
supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps
max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default
periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b
wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=none wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=no
update-stats-interval=disabled default-authentication=no default-forwarding=yes default-ap-tx-limit=0
default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=pre-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep
disconnect-timeout=3s on-fail-retry-time=100ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes