Wireless Project Using CAPsMAN

CAPsMANv2
Aidan Venn MSc
Experiences and performance results

uk.linkedin.com/in/aidanvenn
About me
 Consult, Configure and Mange small to medium size projects
 20 plus years networking experience
 First Class Masters Degree in Mobile & Distributed Networks
 Run a Nano WISP
 Mikrotik 3 years + MTCNA,MTCRE, MTCTCE
What I am looking for:
 Opportunity's to work on medium to large projects – preferably with
Mikrotik equipment

CAPsMAN – What is it?
Controlled Access Point system MANager (CAPsMAN)
“Allows centralization of wireless network management
and if necessary, data processing. “
http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:CAPsMAN

Why I Use Mikrotik
 No expensive licence/upgrade payments
 Price to features and performance ratio – nothing better?
 Proven reliability
 Highly flexible and granular configurability
 Constant development

Initial Project
Medium sized High School investigating new Wi-Fi:
 Current Netgear Access Points problematic
 Significant budget pressures – austerity
Can we actually afford Ruckus, Meru etc.. Even if we wanted
 Pressure from external bodies grading and parents
 Students tablets/laptops unusable

Initial Project
 Taking pressures into account I Proposed Mikrotik
Unknown brand = Uncertainty on top of "normal" tech
uncertainty
 To reduce uncertainty offered FREE Kit:
RB912 + R11e x 3
RB2011 - CAPsMANv2

CAPsMANv2
ROS 6.29.1
RB2011
Management
Forwarding
CAP1
CAP2
CAP3
Initial Project - Setup 2.4/5Ghz
802.11n/ac
2 SSID’s per radio

Initial Project - Result
 60+ concurrent devices on one AP streaming video
 18 months – no down time
 100% satisfaction
“To date no fault has occurred, with feedback from users very positive
including one maths teacher judging the system as faultless.”

Project Tender including:
 Complete School 802.11ac 2/5GHz Wi-Fi
 BYOD and Domain VLAN
 Support 66 Concurrent devices per AP
 Integration of Light-speed captive portal for BYOD access
 Traffic management options

Project – Uncertainties
 Do we need to replace RB2011 - likely - What with?
 RB922 fine but superior spec wAP ac just released - suitable?
 Triple chain
 PoE 802.3at
 Cheaper
 Cleaner aesthetics
 Temp issue forums - True?

Project - Testing
 Reduce uncertainty through secondary and primary research
Concurrent connections test:
 1 Access Point – wAP ac
 RB2011 CAPsMAN - Manager forwarding
 33 x iPad Airs Wi-Fi
 Stream video to all from YouTube for approx. 30 mins

 33 x IPad Airs Streaming You tube Video

Project – wAP ac Results
Lowest: 57
Average Temp: 72.66
Max Temp: 78
Lowest: 4%
Average:27%
Max CPU: 47%
OID: .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2.1
MIKROTIK-MIB
CPU - LoadTEMP - Degrees
OID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.14988.1.1.3.10
MIKROTIK-MIB
Multiply by 0.1

Project – CAPsMAN RB2011 Results
Lowest: 0%
Average:29.73%
Max CPU: 100%
OID: .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2.1
MIKROTIK-MIB
CPU - LoadRx
64 to 70 Mbps

Project – wAP ac Speed Test Setup
ROS 6.37.1
RB2011
TPLINK AC1200

Myself and Scott Normanton did speed test using a 2 chain TPLINK AC1200 USB3 Adapter
Not the improvements anticipated – Feedback welcome – my setup
ac/20/40/80 Ceee
278 Mbps

SSDPCtoRB922to
RB922toSSDPC
2Chain
ac/20/40/80 Ceee
545 Mbps

Solution
Secondary and primary research led to the following choices:
 Cloud Core Router 1036 – Over Spec? but future proof
 38 x wAP ac
 CAPsMANv2 – ROS 3.67.1
 Manager forwarding – all data/admin through the CCR
 2 SSIDs on 2.4Ghz
 2 SSIDs on 5Ghz

Psychological Band Steering
We want more devices on 5GHz for performance reasons
We can only encourage through various techniques including higher 5Ghz power
settings
However I took a different approach - let the client pick
2.4Ghz SSID called Fast
5 Ghz SSID called SuperFast
On the network I experimented on 80% swing – Everyone Picks SUPERFAST!!!

Channel
Bridge
WLAN_Domain
Security:
Domain
Technical Visual
Security:
BYOD
An attempt on visually representing how its all stitched together!
Ether 1
Bridge
WLAN_BYOD
Ether 2
DNS & DHCP
Datapath
BYOD
Datapath
WLAN_Domain
5GHz
BYOD
DOMAIN SSID:
Domain_Superfast
SSID:
BYOD_Superfast
Slave Config:
BYOD_SuperFast
Master Config:
Domain_SuperFast
DATA
DATA

finire
Questions?

Wireless Project Using CAPsMAN

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