Wireless Bridge - simplified, part 2. The "receiving" side of a Bridge.

Wireless Bridging continued, part 2. Receiving.

I'm using a MikroTik SXT 2nD r2 for the receiving side of my wireless bridge. This device is super cheap due to the licencing being at "level 3". Level 3 licensing basically means one connection only, that is perfect for a device that is dedicated to bridging.  I paid about $40 for mine, sometimes they are even less.  Note that level 3 licensing is often billed as a "CPE" device, (Customer Premises Equipment). The idea is you are an ISP and you want to setup a simple cheap device at your Customers Premises to sell them Internet service, this device fits nicely for that scenario. Note that your local Internet provider may have a problem with you "reselling" your Internet, check your ISP agreement for details.

#1.  Use the injector and boot the device up, connect with WinBox. You will be asked to install a default configuration, Click "Remove Configuration".

#2. Click "Quickset" in the left side menu.
Choose Bridge under Mode, put in a static IP, Gateway and DNS server that work on the network you are extending.
VERY IMPORTANT: click the "Bridge All LAN Ports" checkbox. I'm not sure where this option is in the menu, but you will NOT have a good bridge without it.
Under the Wireless Section choose the Wireless network you want to extend (see second picture below)
Click "Apply"

Notes: depending on the RouterOS version sometimes the DNS Servers field doesn't work, you can find it under IP, DNS. For added security (recommended) put in a password in the Password/Confirm Password boxes, this is the admin logon for this device.

 choosing a country, Channel Width, (20ghz for this model) and a network. The password field will display once you choose a network to join.

#3.  After you hit Apply you will likely be kicked off the SXT 2nD r2. I always have to set a static IP on my laptop network interface to match the network on the device to get WinBox to work again. Not sure why the MAC address connection doesn't continue to work.

UPDATE. fixing the join/drop problem...
Sorry I didn't get this in the write up sooner, I'm understanding RouterOS and these devices better and figured something very important out, a missing step!:

Step #4. Lastly you need to go to Wireless > Security Profiles > open default. Select the EXACT Authentication Types and Ciphers you setup on the Sending side.  See an explanation below.

This is a good time to test some pings to the other side of your wireless bridge (10.10.6.3 in my case) and see if you can get to the gateway (10.10.6.253 in this example).  Also a good time to upgrade the device to the latest RouterOS (click Quickset, Check for updates, download and upgrade).

At this point you should have a working wireless bridge. Next we will configure an Access point at the remote location.


(update note)  Mikrotik has designed their devices for point-to-point bridges to be on two dedicated devices (for example a CPE to a CPE). This is an ideal way to setup a wireless bridge and would maximize throughput because your just routing traffic over the devices from point to point not competing with wireless clients.  However in my installation I have a very slow Internet connection (sub 10mbps) and maximizing throughput with dedicated equipment doesn't really make sense since everything bottle-necks at my modem (the slowest part of my network).  I decided to save the dollars and use an outdoor Access Point for the "sending" side of my bridge configured essentially as a WISP AP instead of a PTP Bridge.  In PTP Bridge mode you chose a "Server side" (send side) and a "Client side" (receive side) and the Quick set menu asks you all the appropriate encryption questions and helps you make them match.  When you configure as I have (one side AP mode, (send side) and one side CPE mode (receive side)) you must manually configure the encryption on the receive side to match because the default for a CPE device selects both WPA & WPA2 and all the cipher types. During Authentication between the two devices the CPE device cannot upgrade from WPA to WPA2 and gets stuck in a "loop" connecting and disconnecting. Very frustrating! If you want to simplify this configuration just use a dedicated CPE device on both ends and use the PTP Bridge mode from the Quick Set menu.