PS: Regarding solving the slow WIFI & Poor Performance, check Chapter 2 & Regarding my configuration for WiFi check out @ WiFi Setup on MikroTik hAP AX3
Introduction
The hAP AX3 [C53UiG5HPaxD2HPaxD] is an affordable Home Router Access Point, hence the name hAP.
Their Marketing it towards power user, and they marketed the hAP AX3 to have a “[strong] external antennas [that] allow reaching gain up to 5.5 dBi”
A quick google search of the hAP AX[^3] WiFi Performance shows a bunch of results of people having constant issue, low throughput, unreliable speed, drop outs, and a bunch of other stuff you can check out yourself here:
Wed Jan 18, 2023 6:24 pm: MikroTik hAP ax3 poor WiFi performance posted by skocdopolej
Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:12 am: HAP AX3 - low throughput posted by asblitz
Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:51 pm: hAP ax3 terrible WiFi performance posted by deleted redditor
Thu Apr, 27 2023 2:52 pm: Fed up with a HAP ax3 posted by deleted redditor
Fri May 17, 2023 12:52 pm: Has hAP ax3 poor wifi range? posted by redditor pureguyred
Thu Oct 19, 2023 4:20 pm: HAP AX3 WIFI slow posted by igoork
edited 12/31/2023 Another user also had the same issue, but quickly solved on reddit check out hAP ax3 wifi speed fix?
Are these concerns true? well I bought the hAP AX myself to test it!
If you want to know what’s inside the box, check out this great video UNBOXING MikroTik C53iG-5HaxD2HaxD-TC (hAP ax3) by NeXTGENiT
Overall pretty great unboxing experience, as always with MikroTik device.
Chapter 1
I had no problem setting up MikroTik device, as I have experience previously on RouterOS 6 on an RB3011UIAS-RM & CCR.
The hAP AX3 came with RouterOS 7, I was a bit thrown off by this at first but turns out it wasn’t so bad. I was able to get it up and running in under an hour.
Just a basic configuration, wired performance is 10/10….
Chapter 2
Wireless was nightmare. The speeds I’m getting compared to my Ubiquiti AP AC PRO was abysmal. I was not able to get more than 50 MB/s, even though I’m next to the hAP. With the Ubiquiti AP I was able to get 700-800 even no problem. It slices and it dices as always.
So what did I do? well contact MikroTik Support Of course!
And that leads to no-where. Back and forward communication for 2 days leads to nothing. I was not able to fix it, tried TX / Gain still slow as snail speed.
So I joined MikroTik Discord Server, and ask in #wifi channel on December 8th, and in about an hour drmessano replied"
4:55 AM drmessano6: tx-power=26 <– why
Great question why tf is my tx-power at 26, unchecked that box, anyhow I’m gonna save you some reading time: TLDR; my device is capable of 866/866 speed (WiFi 5 not 6)
And I’ve made a mistake of not setting the channel Width to 20/40/80 MHz, which affects the wireless speed doi
And after some more mistake correction I’ve made on the wireless, we came to the conclusions that something else is borked.
I wanted to thank ivicask so much for being a lifesaver and asking the question that should’ve been asked a long time ago:
8:11 AM ivicask: maybe check if routerboard needs update, but doubt it would affect wifi so much
So I checked, and boy oh boy did I ever forget to upgrade RouterBoard.
Basically MikroTik has two firmware that you need to keep in mind, RouterOS and RouterBoard, those two are different. One handles the OS and one is the “BIOS”.
Upon updating it, my wireless performance just fly through the roof. Literally.
My guess is that some thing has changed in RouterBoard that affects the antenna somehow, I’m glad that the speeds are there now.
Chapter 3
With that out of the way, The MikroTik hAP AX3 are a great choice for routing, I still hold a grudge against the WiFi Capability, I rather use Ubiquiti AP. But if you live in a small house or an apartment the hAP AX3 slices and dices.
But if you live in a large house just buy the hAP AX3 & multiple Ubiquiti AP and eat your cake.
Epilogue
So, is the hAP AX3 good? absolutely for the price point it’s great. Nathan’s pretty happy with it since I’m using company’s money to buy it
“I’m So Happy, this is woirst [best] investment darren put a gun to my head [is the best guy ever for recommending this.].” - Nathan F Friday December 29, 2023 Emphasis added
If you have never purchased a MikroTik device before, should you buy this? No. I wouldn’t recommend you buying this unless you want gray hair. But if you are familiar with the MikroTik ecosystem and/have use RouterOS before then yes buy it.
Overall pretty good device, although I still don’t know why there is only one 2.5 Gbe Ethernet on this device.
Best of luck to your future endeavor, comments down below what you think about this blog post or MikroTik in general. Thanks for reading this long blog post, I am so happy to write this blog psot at 9 pm at night with covid added wow. I love it
Thanks for reading; connect with me @ connect.darrennathanael.com
Copyright © 2023 Darren Nathanael, All rights reserved.
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