Manual:Interface/Wireless

Basic settings

master-interface

Syntax: interface name
Description: Name of wireless interface that has virtual-ap capability.
Virtual AP interface will only work if master interface is in ap-bridge, bridge or wds-slave mode.
This property is only for virtual AP interfaces.

mode

Syntax: One of station, station-wds, ap-bridge, bridge, alignment-only, nstreme-dual-slave, wds-slave, station-pseudobridge or station-pseudobridge-clone
Default value: station
Description:

Station modes:

• station - Basic station mode. Find and connect to acceptable AP.
• station-wds - Same as station, but create WDS link with AP, using proprietary extension. AP configuration has to allow WDS links with this device. Note that this mode does not use entries in wds.
• station-pseudobridge - Same as station, but additionally perform MAC address translation of all traffic. Allows interface to be bridged.
• station-pseudobridge-clone - Same as station-pseudobridge, but use station-bridge-clone-mac address to connect to AP.

AP modes:

• ap-bridge - Basic access point mode.
• bridge - Same as ap-bridge, but limited to one associated client.
• wds-slave - Same as ap-bridge, but scan for AP with the same ssid and establishes WDS link. If this link is lost or cannot be established, then continue scanning. If dfs-mode is radar-detect, then APs with enabled hide-ssid will not be found during scanning.

Special modes:

• alignment-only - Put interface in a continuous transmit mode that is used for aiming remote antenna.
• nstreme-dual-slave - allow this interface to be used in nstreme-dual setup.

MAC address translation in pseudobridge modes works by inspecting packets and building table of corresponding IP and MAC addresses. All packets are sent to AP with the MAC address used by pseudobridge, and MAC addresses of received packets are restored from the address translation table. There is single entry in address translation table for all non-IP packets, hence more than one host in the bridged network cannot reliably use non-IP protocols.
Virtual AP interfaces do not have this property, they follow the mode of their master interface.

ssid

Syntax: text, up to 32 characters long
Default value: value of system/identity
Description: SSID (service set identifier) is a name that identifies wireless network.

frequency

Syntax: Frequency value in MHz.
Description: Channel frequency on which AP will operate.
Allowed values depend on selected band, and are restricted by country setting and wireless card capabilities. This setting has no effect if interface is in any of station modes, or in 'wds-slave' mode, or if DFS is active.

band

Syntax: one of 2.4ghz-b, 5ghz, 5ghz-turbo, 2.4ghz-b/g, 2.4ghz-g-turbo, 5ghz-10mhz, 5ghz-5mhz, 2ghz-10mhz, 2ghz-5mhz, 5ghz-11n, 2ghz-11n, 2.4ghz-onlyg

scan-list

Syntax: comma separated list of frequencies and frequency ranges, or default
Description: The default value is all channels from selected band that are supported by card and allowed by the country and frequency-mode settings (this list can be seen in info). For default scan list in 5ghz band channels are taken with 20MHz step, in 5ghz-turbo band - with 40MHz step, for all other bands - with 5MHz step. If scan-list is specified manually, then all matching channels are taken.
Example: scan-list=default,5200-5245,2412-2427 This will use the default value of scan list for current band, and add to it supported frequencies from 5200-5245 or 2412-2427 range.

antenna-mode

Syntax:

one of these values:

• ant-a - use only 'a' antenna
• ant-b - use only 'b' antenna
• txa-rxb - use antenna 'a' for transmitting, antenna 'b' for receiving
• rxa-txb - use antenna 'b' for transmitting, antenna 'a' for receiving

wds-mode

Syntax: one of disabled, static, dynamic, static-mesh or dynamic-mesh
Description:

Controls how WDS links with other devices (APs and clients in station-wds mode) are established.

• disabled does not allow WDS links.
• static only allows WDS links that are manually configured in wds
• dynamic also allows WDS links with devices that are not configured in wds, by creating required entries dynamically. Such dynamic WDS entries are removed automatically after the connection with the other AP is lost.

"-mesh" modes use different (better) method for establishing link between AP, that is not compatible with APs in non-mesh mode. This method avoids one-sided WDS links that are created only by one of the two APs. Such links cannot pass any data.
When AP or station is establishing WDS connection with another AP, it uses connect-list to check whether this connection is allowed. If station in station-wds mode is establishing connection with AP, AP uses access-list to check whether this connection is allowed.
If mode is station-wds, then this property has no effect.

wds-default-bridge

Syntax: none, or name of bridge interface
Description: When WDS link is established and status of the wds interface becomes 'running', it will be added as a bridge port to the bridge interface specified by this property. When WDS link is lost, wds interface is removed from the bridge.
If wds interface is already included in a bridge setup when WDS link becomes active, it will not be added to bridge specified by , and will

wds-ignore-ssid

Syntax: yes or no
Default value: no
Description: By default, WDS link between two APs can be created only when they work on the same frequency and have the same SSID value. If this property is set to yes, then SSID of the remote AP will not be checked. This property has no effect on connections from clients in station-wds mode. It also does not work if wds-mode is static-mesh or dynamic-mesh.

default-authentication

Syntax: yes or no
Default value: yes
Description: For AP mode, this is the value of authentication for clients that do not match any entry in the access-list. For station mode, this is the value of connect for APs that do not match any entry in the connect-list.

default-forwarding

Syntax: yes or no
Default value: yes
Description: This is the value of forwarding for clients that do not match any entry in the access-list.

default-ap-tx-limit

Description: This is the value of ap-tx-limit for clients that do not match any entry in the access-list.

default-client-tx-limit

Description: This is the value of client-tx-limit for clients that do not match any entry in the access-list.

hide-ssid

Syntax: yes or no
Default value: no

Description:

• yes - AP does not include SSID the beacon frames, and does not reply to probe requests that have broadcast SSID.
• no - AP includes SSID in the beacon frames, and replies to probe requests that have broadcast SSID.

This property has effect only in AP mode. Setting it to yes can remove this network from the list of wireless networks that are shown by some client software. Changing this setting does not improve security of the wireless network, because SSID is included in other frames sent by the AP.

security-profile

Syntax: name of profile from security-profiles

compression

Syntax: yes or no
Default value: no
Description: Setting this property to yes will allow use of the hardware compression. Wireless interface must have support for hardware compression. Connections with devices that do not use compression will still work.

interface-type

Syntax: virtual-AP, Prism, or Atheros model_name
Read-only property
Description: This specifies type of wireless interface. Some properties have meaning only for certain types of interfaces.

Advanced settings

frequency-mode

Syntax:

one of these values:

• regulatory-domain - Limit available channels and maximum transmit power for each channel according to the value of country
• manual-txpower - Same as above, but do not limit maximum transmit power.
• superchannel - Allow all channels supported by the card.

Description: List of available channels for each band can be seen in info.

country

Syntax: either no_country_set, or name of regulatory domain
Description: Limits available bands, frequencies and maximum transmit power for each frequency. Also specifies default value of scan-list. Value no_country_set is an FCC compliant set of channels.

antenna-gain

Default value: 0
Description:
Antenna gain in dBi, used to calculate maximum transmit power according to country limitations.

Default basic and supported rates, depending on selected band

band	basic rates	supported rates
2.4ghz-b	1	1 .. 11
5ghz	6	6 .. 54
2.4ghz-onlyg	6	1 .. 11 and 6 .. 54
2.4ghz-b/g	1 .. 11	1 .. 11 and 6 .. 54
2.4ghz-g-turbo	6	6 .. 54

rate-set

Syntax: default or configured

Description:

• default - default basic and supported rate sets are used. Values from basic-rates and supported-rates parameters have no effect.
• configured - use values from basic-rates and supported-rates parameters. Note that g mode bands use rates from both "rates-b" and "rates-a/g" properties.

supported-rates-b

Description:
List of supported rates, used for 2.4ghz-b, 2.4ghz-b/g and 2.4ghz-onlyg bands. Two devices will communicate only using rates that are supported by both devices. This property has effect only when value of rate-set is configured.

supported-rates-a/g

Description:
Similar to the above property, but used for 5ghz, 5ghz-10mhz, 5ghz-5mhz, 5ghz-turbo, 2.4ghz-b/g, 2.4ghz-onlyg, 2ghz-10mhz, 2ghz-5mhz and 2.4ghz-g-turbo bands.

basic-rates-b

Description:
List of basic rates, used for 2.4ghz-b, 2.4ghz-b/g and 2.4ghz-onlyg bands.
Client will connect to AP only if it supports all basic rates announced by the AP. AP will establish WDS link only if it supports all basic rates of the other AP. This property has effect only in AP modes, and when value of rate-set is 'configured'.

basic-rates-a/g

Description:
Similar to the above property, but used for 5ghz, 5ghz-10mhz, 5ghz-5mhz, 5ghz-turbo, 2.4ghz-b/g, 2.4ghz-onlyg, 2ghz-10mhz, 2ghz-5mhz and 2.4ghz-g-turbo bands.

max-station-count

Syntax: 1..2007
Default value: 2007
Description: Maximum number of associated clients. WDS links also count toward this limit.

ack-timeout

Syntax: 'indoors', 'dynamic', or value in microseconds
Description:
How long to wait for confirmation of unicast frames before considering transmission unsuccessful. Value 'dynamic' causes AP to detect and use smallest timeout that works with all connected clients. Acknowledgements are not used in Nstreme protocol.

tx-power

Syntax:

value in the -30..30 range

tx-power-mode

Syntax:

one of these values:

• default -
• all-rates-fixed -
• card-rates -
• manual-table -

dfs-mode

Syntax: one of 'none', 'no-radar-detect' and 'radar-detect'
Default value: none
Description:

Controls DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection).

• none - disables DFS.
• no-radar-detect - Select channel from scan-list with the lowest number of detected networks. In 'wds-slave' mode this setting has no effect.
• radar-detect - Select channel with the lowest number of detected networks and use it if no radar is detected on it for 60 seconds. Otherwise, select different channel. This setting may be required by the country regulations.

This property has effect only in AP mode.

wds-default-cost

Syntax: Number
Default value: 100
Description: Initial bridge port cost of the WDS links.

wds-cost-range

Syntax: Numeric range
Default value: 50-150
Description:
Bridge port cost of WDS links are automatically adjusted, depending on measured link throughput. Port cost is recalculated and adjusted every 5 seconds if it has changed by more than 10%, or if more than 20 seconds have passed since the last adjustment. Setting this property to '0' disables automatic cost adjustment. Automatic adjustment does not work for WDS links that are manually configured as a bridge port.

wmm-support

Syntax: 'disabled', 'enabled' or 'required'

disconnect-timeout

Syntax: time interval in the 0..15s range, in units of 10ms
Default value: 3s
Description:
This interval is measured from third sending failure on the lowest data rate. At this point 3 * (hw-retries + 1) frame transmits on the lowest data rate had failed. During disconnect-timeout packet transmission will be retried with on-fail-retry-time interval. If no frame can be transmitted successfully during diconnect-timeout, connection is closed, and this event is logged as "extensive data loss". Successful frame transmission resets this timer.

on-fail-retry-time

Syntax: time interval in the 10ms..1s range, in 10ms units
Default value: 100ms
Description: After third sending failure on the lowest data rate, wait for this long before retrying.

frame-lifetime

Syntax: time in hundredths of a second
Default value: 0
Description:
Discard frames that have been queued for sending longer than frame-lifetime. By default, when value of this property is 0, frames are discarded only after connection is closed.

preamble-mode

Syntax: one of 'long', 'short' or 'both'
Default value: both
Description: Short preamble mode is an option of 802.11b standard that reduces per-frame overhead.

On AP:

• long - Do not use short preamble.
• short - Announce short preamble capability. Do not accept connections from clients that do not have this capability.
• both - Announce short preamble capability.

On station:

• long - do not use short preamble.
• short - do not connect to AP if it does not support short preamble.
• both - Use short preamble if AP supports it.

allow-sharedkey

Syntax: 'yes' or 'no'
Default value: no
Description: Allow WEP Shared Key cilents to connect. Note that no authentication is done for these clients (WEP Shared keys are not compared to anything) - they are just accepted at once (if access list allows that).

station-bridge-clone-mac

Syntax: MAC address
Description: This property has effect only in the 'station-pseudobridge-clone' mode.
Use this MAC address when connection to AP. If this value is 00:00:00:00:00:00, station will initially use MAC address of the wireless interface. As soon as packet with MAC address of another device needs to be transmitted, station will reconnect to AP using that address.

hw-retries

Syntax: number 0..15
Default value: 15
Description:
Number of times sending frame is retried without considering it a transmission failure. Data rate is decreased upon failure and frame is sent again. Three sequential failures on lowest supported rate suspend transmission to this destination for the duration of on-fail-retry-time. After that, frame is sent again. The frame is being retransmitted until transmission success, or until client is disconnected after disconnect-timeout. Frame can be discarded during this time if frame-lifetime is exceeded.

Proprietary extensions

radio-name

Syntax: Text
Description: Descriptive name of the device, that is shown in registration table entries on the remote devices.
This is a proprietary extension.

area

Syntax: Text
Default value: empty
Description: Identifies group of wireless networks. This value is announced by AP, and can be matched in connect-list by area-prefix. This is a proprietary extension.

update-stats-interval

Syntax: 'disabled' or time interval in the 10s..5h range
Default value: disabled
Description: How often to request update of signals strength and ccq values from clients. Access to registration-table also triggers update of these values. This is proprietary extension.

proprietary-extensions

Syntax: 'pre-2.9.25' or 'post-2.9.25'
Default value: post-2.9.25
Description:

RouterOS includes proprietary information in an information element of management frames. This parameter controls how this information is included.

• pre-2.9.25 - This is older method. It can interoperate with newer versions of RouterOS. This method is incompatible with some clients, for example, Centrino based ones.
• post-2.9.25 - This uses standardized way of including vendor specific information, that is compatible with newer wireless clients.

Atheros specific

noise-floor-threshold

Syntax: 'default' or value in the -128..127 range
Description: This property is only effective for cards based on AR5211 chipset.

adaptive-noise-immunity

Syntax: 'yes' or 'no'
Default value: yes
Description: This property is only effective for cards based on Atheros chipset.

periodic-calibration

Syntax: one of 'default', 'enabled' or 'disabled'
Description: Setting 'default' enables periodic calibration if info default-periodic-calibration property is 'enabled'. Value of that property depends on the type of wireless card. This property is only effective for cards based on Atheros chipset.

periodic-calibration-interval

Syntax: value in range 1..10000
Default value: 60
Description: This property is only effective for cards based on Atheros chipset.

Prism specific

prism-cardtype

Syntax: '30mW', '100mW', '200mW'
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