MikroTik - hAP ax³

I was disappointed to find that the UDR7 only supports 2x2 MIMO. After considering this, I’ve decided to stick with my MikroTik hAP ax3, which allows me to achieve speeds of 850-900mbps when nearby and around 400-500mbps at a distance. PD: from what I’ve seen the UDR7 has a Mediatek chipset instead of Qualcomm.

Wait for WiFi 7, if you need containers you need a USB stick so go for the ax3 in that case (the new ax s wouldn’t work as it’s 32 bits and most images are now built only for 64 bits). PD: I have the ax3 and works great running Adguard Home as a container.

MikroTik HAP ac3 or ax3. Either one is good. It just depends on your budget. These are reliable routers.

[MikroTik hAP ax³](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1872028-REG/mikrotik_c53uig_5hpaxd2hpaxd_us_hap_ax3_2_4_5ghz_wifi.html) It’s what I recommend to everyone. It’s a solid device that has great reliability.

Nope! It’s running full RouterOS.

To answer your questions and to add more ideas to the topic: \- AX-Line cant run WDS (easiest repeater setup) \- AX-Line can run as a "stupid" repeater as in: Connect to Wifi X Bridge to own WiFi in AP Mode. No capsman. See: [https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater](https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater) As you already want to go the "buy another" device route it seems like i could recommend an AX3. Might be a lot more expensive depending on where you live, but it can offer quite a bit more Wi-Fi range. For a "real world" comparison of the ax2 or ax3: In one setup i did the ax3 has around 4x the range of an ax2 (always depends on A LOT of factors, but the big antennas do help a lot) But if you just want to add an AP id personally would just go with a hap ax S (cause cheap) and then ignore capsman. And yes keep in mind the usual of "location scouting" and "frequency optimizations".

To answer your questions and to add more ideas to the topic: \- AX-Line cant run WDS (easiest repeater setup) \- AX-Line can run as a "stupid" repeater as in: Connect to Wifi X Bridge to own WiFi in AP Mode. No capsman. See: [https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater](https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater) As you already want to go the "buy another" device route it seems like i could recommend an AX3. Might be a lot more expensive depending on where you live, but it can offer quite a bit more Wi-Fi range. For a "real world" comparison of the ax2 or ax3: In one setup i did the ax3 has around 4x the range of an ax2 (always depends on A LOT of factors, but the big antennas do help a lot) But if you just want to add an AP id personally would just go with a hap ax S (cause cheap) and then ignore capsman. And yes keep in mind the usual of "location scouting" and "frequency optimizations".

Mikrotik has good components, build quality and very long software support, but configuration is a little complicated. hAP ax\^3 should suit your needs. I've been using the hAP ac\^3 (previous generation) for 5 years. IMO software support is really important if you plan to use your router for a long time. New security vulnerabilities are found all the time, not having them patched put your data at risk, and not many consumer router brands push out security updates for 5 year old products. Performance and reliability aren't the only things to consider.

Mikrotik hAP AX3. I'll die on this hill, Mikrotik is amazing, especially on a budget.

A wireless router with that kind of functionality under 100$... Difficult. TP-Link Archer AX21, ASUS RT-AX57... Maybe... Personally I would spend just a little more and get a Mikrotik hAP AX3 they have an extensive GUI and full CLi support and very good wifi performance. It's been a set and forget for me... And always able to tweak anything when needed. Solid choice.

The hap ax3 wifi is pretty solid, but you better be able to figure out how to set up a mikrotik. I had a lot of fun learning networking on them.

hap ax works for me as a station, not a repeater

Mikrotik has good components, build quality and very long software support, but configuration is a little complicated. hAP ax\^3 should suit your needs. I've been using the hAP ac\^3 (previous generation) for 5 years. IMO software support is really important if you plan to use your router for a long time. New security vulnerabilities are found all the time, not having them patched put your data at risk, and not many consumer router brands push out security updates for 5 year old products. Performance and reliability aren't the only things to consider.

European (Latvia) router manufacturer with its own OS (RouterOS). Once used - I never looked back. Get a Router with the hardware you need - software is the same on every model. Most people say it has a steeper learning curve - if you are a network guy, you will have no problem and there are a lot of good tutorials out there to set things up if you are not a "natural born networker" ??

Yep, a Mikrotik would be on line since a long time... Last one I installed. I opened the quick set page, selected Home AP in roll down list. Filled all the fields, clicked OK, the router rebooted. And everything was configured at once DHCP, DNS, subnet, WIFI, basic Firewall rules, even DDNS is configured with a UID you can use with any other providers. 2 more pages to fill and 3 clicks and got VPN up and running. I configured a TP-Link AXE7800 lately and it was a lot more hard and there's 0 analytics nor any advanced functions, leaving me pretty deceived for a router of this price range. Basically a router with advanced analytics and control under 100$ doesn't exist. Oh wait.... Mikrotik has it all.

Yeah, it is but bang for buck Mikrotik can't be beat. From home gear to their cloud core gear, unbelievable value for money.

To answer your questions and to add more ideas to the topic: \- AX-Line cant run WDS (easiest repeater setup) \- AX-Line can run as a "stupid" repeater as in: Connect to Wifi X Bridge to own WiFi in AP Mode. No capsman. See: [https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater](https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/313262189/Configuring+repeater) As you already want to go the "buy another" device route it seems like i could recommend an AX3. Might be a lot more expensive depending on where you live, but it can offer quite a bit more Wi-Fi range. For a "real world" comparison of the ax2 or ax3: In one setup i did the ax3 has around 4x the range of an ax2 (always depends on A LOT of factors, but the big antennas do help a lot) But if you just want to add an AP id personally would just go with a hap ax S (cause cheap) and then ignore capsman. And yes keep in mind the usual of "location scouting" and "frequency optimizations".

Separate the router and the access point. Gives you a lot more options. I have a Mikrotik Rb3011 router and 2 Mikrotik cAP ac. But if you want a good all in one. Look at the hAP line. Ax is WiFi6.

Yes + to mikrotik. Been running hap ax3 for and the longest uptime i got is 2 years and 5 months. Only downtime is the freaking auto update of my service provider AT&T which happens once in a blue moon. For reference I’m my AT&T ONT is on bypass by using the bypass script on the mikrotik. So tricking ATT that I’m still using their gateway but its not connected after successfully bootup.

flint 3 or hap-ax3 will suit your needs, for gaming purpose, just plug in CAT6 RJ45, you will see the differences.

Mikrotik is your friend for routing :?-?)

NGL I think it’s smarter to buy older gen wifi or used with one of the managed solutions, rather than bleeding edge unmanaged wifi 7 Potentially OP if interested in one node might dig in and research Mikrotik hAP very closely to see if it can do the needful WiFi VLAN. They’re not known though for strong wifi. My hAP is only used as a firewall as a Temu UDM , with the WiFi as an emergency fallback during a power outage, when I don’t power my APs

Microtik AX3 is a decent meshed AP. Ubiquiti isn’t bad either. “Mesh” with Ethernet back hauls is decent. It’s essentially just multiple APs with the same SSID. The devices measure signal power and pick when to switch. Most have some kind of “affinity” to avoid needless switching though so if signal strength is good even if signal to noise ratio is terrible, they tend to stick to bad signals. Adjusting signal power can somewhat control this. And again if your backhaul is also wireless you can somewhat alleviate bandwidth and latency by using multiband APs and designating a band for backhauls but it still sucks.

I have an ax3 as main router and CAPsMAN and ax2 as a CAP/switch on another floor. Really happy with my setup

Do you have any references comparing firewalla to UniFi, Mikrotik, and PFsense/other x86 software firewall? I got some “upgrade to 1/10Gb fiber ads and am tempted”. Currently at 0.6/0.6, which my hAP can do no problem