mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US
1 edit | Migrating from StarOS to Mikrotik might make me sad.
I have replaced a lightly loaded StarOS AP with Mikrotik to see how well/not well it performs in comparison.
It was pretty simple to setup after an hours worth of playing with settings that didn't need fiddling with. 
The one thing I found that I missed very quickly is StarOS's association list.
Every few hours or so I take a look at my StarOS AP's association lists to see how everyone is doing. I can almost predict the calls for the next day this way.
I do find Mikrotik's winbox association list to be quite informative, but it's not displayed very well via SSH on my Treo 650.
The thing I am missing most is the Name field in the StarOS association list. That is such a handy feature that if Mikrotik doesn't have it, I might cry (I'd more likely just not use it as an access point since I built a whole backend around the StarOS feature.) Please tell me there is a notes field or something in the Mikrotik association list that I am missing.
Gracias,
Senior Good. |
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Rhaas
Premium
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO
| said by mrbueno  :The thing I am missing most is the Name field in the StarOS association list. That is such a handy feature that if Mikrotik doesn't have it, I might cry (I'd more likely just not use it as an access point since I built a whole backend around the StarOS feature.) Please tell me there is a notes field or something in the Mikrotik association list that I am missing. Gracias, Senior Good. Only way I know to do this is through winbox. Go to the registration tables. Click the mac address and the 'copy to access list' buttom. Click the access list tab, click the mac address again and the comment button. |
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Believer
join:2002-07-04
Baltimore, MD
| reply to mrbueno
If you use Mikrotik for your clients, you can add a radio name under the wireless interface list. Then when you look at the registration table, it shows you the name of everyone connected:
# INTERFACE RADIO-NAME MAC-ADDRESS AP SIGNAL... TX-RATE
0 wlan1 Commercial cust 00:0B:6B:4D:24:B4 no -69dBm... 54Mbps
1 wlan1 Restaurant 00:0B:6B:36:C7:73 no -74dBm... 48Mbps
2 wlan1 Nick Residential 00:15:6D:10:40:9E no -68dBm... 54Mbps
3 VirtualAP Collin Resident 00:0B:6B:4D:90:BA no -70dBm... 48Mbps
4 wlan1 Industrial Man 00:0B:6B:36:C8:A2 no -83dBm... 36Mbps
5 wlan1 Jenny Resident 00:0B:6B:4D:91:FC no -65dBm... 54Mbps
6 wlan1 Kana Residenti 00:15:6D:10:40:95 no -79dBm... 48Mbps
7 wlan1 Dot Residentia 00:0B:6B:36:CA:3B no -81dBm... 36Mbps
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Comtrain Certified Tower Climber |
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mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US | reply to mrbueno
That's much better. Thanks. |
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mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US
2 edits | reply to mrbueno
I don't have any mikrotik clients so I have to add a note. Thanks for the help. |
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Rhaas
Premium
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO | One nice thing about using the access list, if you want to disconnect them just double click the mac address in the access list tab, then un-check 'Authenticated'. |
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superdog
I Need A Drink
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-13
Lebanon, PA
| reply to mrbueno
You had briefly mentioned why You went to Mikrotik, but I was wondering if You could elaborate?. I always thought Star OS was a great platform, on par with MT?
--
»www.wavecrazy.net Join WISPA today! »www.wispa.org/ |
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Chele
join:2003-07-23
| reply to mrbueno
Please, do elaborate. We are running StarOs in 6 out of 7 11.b AP's, the 7th is a Smartbridges(still running after 3 years). We already bought the modules for Mikrotik, and just haven't installed them yet. I'm sure that Mikrotik can do much more than StarOs, but StarOs is so straight forward and reliable. |
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polk5
join:2001-12-29
New Orleans, LA | reply to Rhaas
Rhaas, If you do this then the clients will no longer be in the registered list right? In the access list I have all the clients that I knocked off. |
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mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US
2 edits | reply to superdog
Since I was asked directly I will elaborate. The reason for trying to migrate is really one part attitude from the developers and and one part three year development cycle for StarOS v3.
Here's the deal. Yes v3 is out, but for some platform that until recently none of us heard about. They so could have said something about not even working on the x86 version way earlier than November of last year.
Yes it has been said that v3 for x86 will be out soon. So soon in fact, that if you agree to buy $500 worth of licenses right now he is giving away a WAR board.
I purchased their software when the only site they had StarOS mentioned on was Web World Warehouse.
I wanted to try some 400mw Senao Atheros radios. Last I read StarOS v2 doesn't support them. v3 does. My system is x86 based. So here I sit. Do I wait for x86 StarOS? Do I go on Ebay to buy a WAR board? When will hotspot support show up in v3 for the WAR?
I noticed many times that the creators of StarOS stated quite bluntly to people that if StarOS doesn't have the features you need, don't ask for release dates, buy something else. That caused me to look at a product I really had not been interested in in the past.
For $95 each I bought a four RB112s. I've been really impressed with the performance. They work just as well as StarOS x86 systems so far. This site is an 802.11b site so huge throughput past 11Mbps is not an issue.
It was really easy math. $500 for licenses of a product that isn't out yet, will cost ? dollars each, and comes with one piece of hardware or $475 for 4 pieces of hardware that come with the license and do what I want today.
If I would have tested the SR9 card in a WAR board and posted the results, I would have had to break the warranty seal thereby invalidating the warranty. My routerboards don't have little stickers covering up the mini-PCI slots.
Do I prefer the look and ease of StarOS? Yes. Can I afford to continue to trust StarOS's development cycle to power my business? No.
In the time it took StarOS to develop to v3 several other companies have already released similar software from the ground up and developed past the current state of v3. Yes, StarOS claims to have the most super duper optimized whizbang driver in the world. Actual 60Mbps throughput with compression. That's awesome, but without the features I need or an easy way to create IP tunnels to a hotspot machine I can live with a mere 40Mbps throughput. |
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lutful
Premium
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
| I have heard similar sentiments from other Star-OS users.
Mikrotik had already taken large market-share from Star-OS, but since Nonni has moved to VxWorks, he could fall behind newcomers like Ikarus and WILI that can leverage many Linux open-source projects. |
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gmcintire
Graham
Premium
join:2005-08-09
Blue Ridge, TX
| reply to mrbueno
Excellent elaboration... my sentiments are almost the same. I got very tired of waiting around for things the developers said were "coming soon..." After many, many months, they announced the WAR board and they were dropping "legacy" support for anything other than their own hardware.
It was also cheaper for me to go with RouterBoards rather than spending $120 on a WRAP board + $40 for a StarOS license when I could just buy a RouterBoard for less than the combined cost.
In addition, there are a few things that really bothered me as a "power user" (I'm a command-line bsd guy.) For instance, you can't copy/paste from any of the configuration files. I also grew very tired of the "gui" after having to dial into the site quite a few times and click on a menu item and wait for it to show on the screen, click the next option, etc. It took me several minutes to do something that takes a matter of seconds on MikroTik.
I'm not saying StarOS isn't a viable option; in fact I'm still running a few links using WRAP boards and StarOS. However, it still feels like a half-finished product that will never be entirely completed. My entire infrastructure will be based on RouterBoards for access points and backhauls. |
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Believer
join:2002-07-04
Baltimore, MD | reply to mrbueno
If you check the StarOS forums, you will find they dumped the VxWorks and moved back to Linux.
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Comtrain Certified Tower Climber |
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Rhaas
Premium
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO
1 edit | reply to polk5
said by polk5 :Rhaas, If you do this then the clients will no longer be in the registered list right? In the access list I have all the clients that I knocked off. No, they will still show in the registered list as long as they are 'authenticated' under the access list. Any comment you associate with the mac address in the access list will carry over to the registered list. If that makes any sense. When you uncheck the authenticated box in the access list I believe that they no longer show up in the registered list.
Also I've found that if you want to monitor a particular users signal strength at the AP (via snmp), they must be in the access list.
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slipstream1
Premium
join:2005-11-15
Jacksonville, TX
| reply to mrbueno
This is a bit off subject, but what would you seasoned professionals recommend that I read to get more familiar with the RouterOS? I have started going to the forum and searching and reading. Jut wondering if there are anymore resources available? The quest for knowledge is neverending. |
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lutful
Premium
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| A Mikrotik fan(atic) I know is putting together a Mikrotik book with many screenshots from the GUI. 
However, Mikrotik provides extensive documentation - literally a thousand pages.
»www.mikrotik.com/docs/ros/2.9/
Mikrotik provides free on-line training for TCP/IP and RouterOS basics and some consultant sites such as Butch Evans' has good help for beginners.
»training.mikrotik.com/course/cat···php?id=2
»www.butchevans.com/
Here is some info on hotspot setup using beta 2.8 though:
»www.gpsinformation.org/hotspot/m···cle.html
Mikrotik provides many advanced scripting examples and the forum has hundreds more.
»www.mikrotik.com/docs/ros/2.8/ap···.content
Finally Google is our friend but best help sites are in Eastern European languages. |
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