Mikrotik will always have a phone via wifi. Mikrotik & Apple – interaction problems. Two routers on the same network: connection options
You buy Mikrotik routers when you need to achieve something more from the network infrastructure, for example, configure two dozen Firewall rules, enable DPI, divide several Internet providers between clients, and the like. I used the Mirkotik RB2011UIAS-2HND-IN model for more than 4 years, and at one point I was so fed up with it that I hid it, as they say, “out of sight, out of mind!”
In this article, I will give you 5 points that I have personally encountered that you should know before purchasing Mikrotik.
1. RouterOS updates may be incompatible with each other
The first thing I encountered was the impossibility of updating RouterOS from version 6.34.6 to version 6.42. The problem manifested itself in the fact that after the update NAT did not work, in any form, under any conditions. Dancing with a tambourine, updates and rollbacks led to the fact that the router had to be completely reset to factory settings and version 6.42 was rolled out from scratch, then NAT started working. What to do with 40+ filtering rules that are still a thing of the past? It is impossible to restore the configuration from a backup without rolling back the firmware, so I had to remember where everything was written and enter it into the configuration manually.
For an SmB-class model, I consider such antics unacceptable.
2. Instability of the built-in switch
I decided to update RouterOS not because I was afraid of hackers who hacked Mirkotik all over the world, but because periodically the copying speed from the NAS dropped from 1 Gbit/s to 200 Mbit/s. An attempt to increase the size of the Jumbo Frame resulted in the switch freezing and rebooting the device. By the way, on version 6.42 the freezes disappeared, but the speed dips remained, even despite the fact that they installed completely hardware switching.
3. Not fully compatible with the 1GBase-T standard
We are used to the fact that if two network devices support a 1 Gigabit network connection, then they will work at a speed of 1 Gbps, but the Mikrotik router broke this paradigm. One autumn evening I had to connect a computer with a 10-gigabit Intel X540-T2 network card to the RB2011UIAS - and the router did not see it, as if the network cable was dangling in the air. This situation interested me, and I connected another 10-gigabit computer with an Intel X557-T2 network card - the situation repeated itself.
Driven by the idea of getting to the bottom of the truth, I connected a third 10-gigabit network card Intel X550-T2 - it worked as expected. Then I connected the 4th 10-Gigabit network card Aquantia AQC107 (read) - and it worked at a speed of 100 Mbit/s.
All four 10Gbps network cards support 1Gbps speeds, but only one of them worked. Continuing my experiments, I connected these network cards to the following switches and routers:
- NetGear GS-105
In all cases, even when the switches were connected to Mikrotik, all 10-Gigabit network cards operated at a speed of 1 Gbit/s. Here, without unnecessary movements, it became clear that the problem was in Mikrotik.
It so happened that I really needed to connect the 2-port X557-T2 network card with one port to Mikrotik, and the second to the host, and I really didn’t want to install a third-party switch in front of Mikrotik, so I contacted technical support. In general, if 4 devices from different companies do not work on the 1GBase-T standard, this is a problem of the “all hands on deck” level, and I was counting on a quick bug fix. Yeah, I ran away.
4. No technical support
I described the situation in as much detail as possible and created a request to Mikrotik technical support (request number 2018112022003151). The site promised us an answer within 3 days, but no one responded either after 4 or 5. I started reminding, and after about a week, they asked me to send logs and a technical report (support.rif) from the router.
Having collected all the data, I sent it and... the waiting hours turned into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months. In general, there is no answer to this day.
5. Slow DNS cache
While I was dealing with plugging network ports, resetting and restoring Mikrotik, I assigned Keenetic Giga to be responsible for the Internet, and the first thing I noticed was the speed of working with DNS queries. Keenetic opened sites faster than Mikrotik, and it seemed that the “business model” was being slowed down by the DNS cache. Of course, Keenetic is newer and more powerful, but to confirm my fears, I connected the ancient NetGear WNDR4000 - the same story: I had already forgotten that sites can open so quickly, I didn’t even know that DNS can slow down. I returned Mikrotik and rechecked my feelings: Internet surfing was slower on it than on the old Netgear and the new Keenetic.
What's next?
I read a lot of reviews on forums where ordinary people bought Mikrotik based on the recommendations of specialists, despaired of setting them up and returned them. My Mikrotik worked at least for more than 4 years, and ended its journey on a minor note. Honestly, I didn’t expect such wild glitches or such a reaction from technical support.
Today's world is primarily software, free software that develops independently of hardware. I chose PFsense as a replacement for Mikrotik.
Mikhail Degtyarev (aka LIKE OFF)
In this article, we will consider two options that can be used to connect routers to each other on the same network. The first option is to connect two routers via Wi-Fi, and the second option is to connect the routers via a network cable. In any case, the routers will work on the same network, and each will distribute the Internet both via cable and Wi-Fi.
Why set up such a scheme at all and why connect one router to another? There are different situations. Most often, this is an expansion of the Wi-Fi network coverage area, although for such tasks I recommend using. Everything is very simple here. We have already installed and configured a router or modem that distributes the Internet. We connect a second one to this router, either wirelessly or using a network cable. By installing a second router in another room, or on another floor, it will distribute Wi-Fi further.
Or in this way you can connect the Internet from a neighbor. Pay for one connection and divide it between two routers. In fact, there are a lot of options. And if you have already visited this page, then most likely you already know why you need to connect one router to the second. So let's get down to business.
Advice! If you want to set up such a scheme solely to expand an existing Wi-Fi network, then it is best to configure the router in repeater mode if it supports such a function. Devices from Asus and Zyxel can do this, here are the instructions:
Two routers on the same network: connection options
There are two options:
- Connect routers via Wi-Fi network. In WDS mode, or bridge mode. It's the same thing. In this case, you can install them at a relatively large distance. Well, there is no need to lay cables. But there are also disadvantages: the Wi-Fi connection is not very stable, and the speed over the wireless network will also drop. If you can’t use a cable to connect, then a wireless connection option will suit you. Well, not every router supports WDS mode (especially from older devices).
- The second option is to connect two routers via network cable on the same network. The method is reliable, proven, but it is not always suitable due to the fact that you have to lay a cable, and the cable itself, as a rule, needs a long one and you either need to buy it or make it yourself. You can use the one that comes with the router, but it is short.
I think you have already chosen the connection method that suits you. Now let's look at them in more detail.
We connect two routers via Wi-Fi (in WDS mode)
We will look at the example of the most popular manufacturers: Asus, Tp-Link, Zyxel, and D-link.
This means that you must have a main router, which must distribute a Wi-Fi network to which we will connect the second one. He can be anyone. In the sense that it is not necessary that these would be, for example, two Tp-Link routers (desirable though).
Do I need to change the settings of the main router? Yes. In the settings of the main router you need to set a static wireless network channel. Otherwise, problems with the connection may occur. I wrote how to change the channel on different routers. Set for example static channel 6. And remember it, it will be useful to us later.
That’s it, you don’t need to change any more settings of the main device.
Setting up a WDS connection on a Tp-Link router
We have separate, detailed instructions for setting up such a scheme on Tp-Link:. If you have Tp-Link (TL-WR740ND, TL-WR841N, TL-WR941ND, TL-MR3220, TL-WR842ND, etc.), then you can safely follow the link.
Everything is very simple there: go to the settings, change the IP address of the router, and configure the WDS mode. I will not describe everything in detail here, since the link above has very detailed instructions. We've sorted out Tp-Link, let's move on to models from other manufacturers.
Setting up bridge mode on an Asus router
I just sat for over an hour, figuring out what and how it was with the bridge mode on Asus routers, and I can say that they made everything there very complicated and confusing. As far as I understand, you can configure WDS on an Asus router only if your main router is also Asus. There you need to register MAC addresses on both routers, etc. I may be wrong, correct me (in the comments). I tested it on Asus RT-N12 and RT-N18.
Here at Tp-Link everything works without all these problems. I provide a link to the setup instructions on the official Asus website: https://www.asus.com/ua/support/faq/109839. And I will definitely figure out these settings and prepare a separate article on setting up bridge mode on Asus routers.
We will need a simple network cable. For example, the one that came with the router. If you need a longer cable, then you can order it at some computer store, they should make the cable the length you need.
There is no need to configure anything on the main router (modem). The main thing is that the DHCP server is enabled on it. Automatic distribution of IP addresses. It is most likely enabled by default.
I will show you using the example of connecting a Tp-Link router to D-Link (he is our main and black). So we take the cable and connect it to the main router LAN connector (one out of four, if you have 4). And on the second router we connect the cable to WAN connector. See screenshot below. My routers are connected with a black cable. The white cable is the Internet, which is connected to the main router.
It turns out that Tp-Link will receive Internet from D-Link and distribute it via a wireless network or cable.
If after connecting, the Internet from the second router does not work, then first of all, and then check that in the settings of the router we are connecting, automatic acquisition of an IP address (Dynamic IP) is set. On Tp-Link, this is done like this:
On other routers, these settings are set in the control panel, on the WAN, Internet, etc. tab.
Here is an example of another diagram for connecting two routers via cable: Tp-Link to Zyxel. In this case, we have the main Tp-Link. The Internet is connected to it.
Exactly the same scheme is used to connect the router to the ADSL modem.
Afterword
Everything I wrote in this article, I checked myself, and everything works. I tried to prepare the most simple and understandable instructions. But, if something didn’t work out for you, then you can describe your case in the comments, and I’ll try to recommend something.
Well, you share your experience. If there is useful information, I will definitely update the article.
When using wireless networks from Mikrotik, including those built using technology CAPsMAN, you may encounter problems with the interaction of these networks with equipment from Apple. These problems consist of the fact that the device either refuses to connect to the network at all, or connects, but some services do not work, such as Skype or torrent clients.
The solution to the problem is quite simple, although not so obvious. I will describe the problem using the example of a network built using technology CAPsMAN, but for regular networks the solution is similar. Details about setting up a network using CAPsMAN technology have been written.
First, let's look at the regional connection settings. To do this, go to the menu section CAPsMAN, in the window that opens, select the tab Configurations, select the currently used configuration and double-click to open it.
Next on the tab Wireless find the drop-down list Country. By default it is no_country_set and most devices work fine in this mode. But not Apple! For correct operation of Apple equipment, we select the native one for them United States(there are several items in the list with US settings, and if it doesn’t work on the regular one, you can try choosing others).
Click OK, then reboot the system through the menu item System -> Reboot. After this, Apple devices should work normally. If not, then move on...
Open the CAPsMAN section again, go to the tab Channels, and make settings for the wireless network operating mode. As it turned out in practice, Apple equipment also wants to work on the first channel ( 2412 MHz). We set this value, reboot and try to use it. In my case, one laptop refused to work like that, I had to turn off the operating mode N, leaving only B And G.
Also not superfluous on the tab Security Cfg. check security settings. Authentication modes must be enabled WPA PSK And WPA2PSK, as well as encryption algorithms aes And tkip.
