MikroTik - hAP ac²

I use an AC2 at home as my primary router with a “bigger” network than yours and it does the job just fine. No issues. I’d probably feel the same way if a Hex S were in charge. Never had a storage or upgrade issue, running 7.18.2 fully reliably, but I don’t dump logs (or any other data) to Flash. Both the HexS and AC2 have the same flash storage size. Hex S has the sd slot, passive PoE out, and SFP cage, which are not on the AC2. So be aware if you use those features. The Hex Refresh feature set is closer to the Hex, and not Hex S.

I use an AC2 at home as my primary router with a “bigger” network than yours and it does the job just fine. No issues. I’d probably feel the same way if a Hex S were in charge. Never had a storage or upgrade issue, running 7.18.2 fully reliably, but I don’t dump logs (or any other data) to Flash. Both the HexS and AC2 have the same flash storage size. Hex S has the sd slot, passive PoE out, and SFP cage, which are not on the AC2. So be aware if you use those features. The Hex Refresh feature set is closer to the Hex, and not Hex S.

I would go with hap ac2. I have one, running it as my main router on ros v7. One software difference comparing to hex s is that hap ac2 is arm device and it supports mikrotik "back to home" vpn which is really great thing to have so you don't need to worry about CGNAT, you can always connect to home network. Truth to be told, you can have similar setup on hex s too (but this includes more work to do to have it). Btw, hap ac2 can do around 600+mbps with simple queues (fq_codel) which is good.

I would go with hap ac2. I have one, running it as my main router on ros v7. One software difference comparing to hex s is that hap ac2 is arm device and it supports mikrotik "back to home" vpn which is really great thing to have so you don't need to worry about CGNAT, you can always connect to home network. Truth to be told, you can have similar setup on hex s too (but this includes more work to do to have it). Btw, hap ac2 can do around 600+mbps with simple queues (fq_codel) which is good.

I have done this in the past with a Mikrotik hAP ac2. Their RouterOS software is very customisable but a steep learning curve if new to it. I did it the other way around where I used my phone hotspot as backup. So the wired LAN was the primary but with a lower priority default route cost as it was always plugged in and active. When I turned on the personal hotspot on my phone within WiFi range of the router, its WiFi would connect to my phone as a client, auto populate its default route with a higher priority cost and take over as the active WAN connection. Turning off the phone hotspot would revert back to the primary wired fibre WAN. The switchover process would take around 3-5 seconds from memory.

I have my daughter the ac2 with version 7.18.2 and two wireguard vpn and it works great with the new wireless package, but if I had to buy again I would avoid it, better an ax2, the 4011 is too much for a home network, the same as the 5009, plus they are more expensive

I have my daughter the ac2 with version 7.18.2 and two wireguard vpn and it works great with the new wireless package, but if I had to buy again I would avoid it, better an ax2, the 4011 is too much for a home network, the same as the 5009, plus they are more expensive

Ac2. But this router slowly die because of lack of memory. Actually i dont think its good deal in 2025. Maybe you can buy ax2 instead? It has 1GB RAM instead 128MB and 128MB flash instead of 16MB. Latest version of routeros is problematic on ac2.

Ac2. But this router slowly die because of lack of memory. Actually i dont think its good deal in 2025. Maybe you can buy ax2 instead? It has 1GB RAM instead 128MB and 128MB flash instead of 16MB. Latest version of routeros is problematic on ac2.

Get ac2 or ax2, hex has old cpu, new hex is okayish because it has arm but arm5 which is obsolete. Arm is a key factor here because you get free relay for your vpn (back to home cloud) and option for containers (apart from new hex which has arm5 with less containers options)

Get ac2 or ax2, hex has old cpu, new hex is okayish because it has arm but arm5 which is obsolete. Arm is a key factor here because you get free relay for your vpn (back to home cloud) and option for containers (apart from new hex which has arm5 with less containers options)

ac2 is short on flash memory, hard to use with ros7.

tl;dr; just buy a few things and grow/adapt as you learn I have a 60's split level and have settled into the following setup over the last 8+ years: 1. HEX RB750Gr3 running Wireguard and Capsman (v3 and v2) 2. Feeding an 8-port POE Texas passive POE injector 3. Provisioning a mix of hAP AX2, 2xcAP AC, hAP AC Lite, hAP AC2 over wired CAT5e 1. Garage: HEX + AC2 2. Upstairs Hall: cAP AC 3. Living Room: AX2 4. Backyard: cAP AC 5. Downstairs media cabinet: AC Lite for 100mb ethernet Fire TV stick It's a completely ghetto rigged setup, and one cAP AC has been removed from its case and shoved in a weatherproof box mounted to the outside of the house to replace a wAP AC that died. The CAT5e is from a spool I bought 25 years ago! But, I put it together piecemeal as I learned and it works well enough for my 300mbit AT&T service that is shared between 60+ devices. I have one central UPS powering the whole bit from the garage so it even works for a few hours during power outages. The hAP AC Lite is the thorn in my side as it is 100mbit only and is the last remaining capsman v2 device out there. If money were infinite, and I were starting over, I'd likely just get a RB5009 or L009 and run cat6e to a mix of cAP AX or hAP AX2s and be done with it. That would let you easily run 1Gbit service and share it out via 600-700mbit wifi to everything. My next goal is figuring out how to move equipment to get rid of that AC lite, but spending $100-200 on more networking isn't quite in the budget yet.

Avoid ac2, it’s dated and have issues with dwarf 16MB storage. Super cheapskate and shortsighted move by MikroTik on this and several other models. Pick ax2 at least.

Yes you can, as I do. The issue is that after installing wifi qcom-ac package. Using netinstall method because there is not enough storage to do it traditional way. There remains literally only 1% of free storage left , around 300KB. Uncomfortable, very on the edge. When/if this drops to 0KB, the router will brick itself and require netinstall, that’s guaranteed. Yeah 16MB should be enough for everyone. 2018’s facepalm edition.

Avoid ac2, it’s dated and have issues with dwarf 16MB storage. Super cheapskate and shortsighted move by MikroTik on this and several other models. Pick ax2 at least.

Yes you can, as I do. The issue is that after installing wifi qcom-ac package. Using netinstall method because there is not enough storage to do it traditional way. There remains literally only 1% of free storage left , around 300KB. Uncomfortable, very on the edge. When/if this drops to 0KB, the router will brick itself and require netinstall, that’s guaranteed. Yeah 16MB should be enough for everyone. 2018’s facepalm edition.

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

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