First impressions of the MikroTik hAP be3 from ax3 to be3, MLD, WiFi defaults, storage, and thermals
I recently replaced my hAP ax3 with a hAP be3, and these are my first impressions after setting it up and moving my network over.
I'm still learning some of the changes introduced with Wi-Fi 7 and MLO/MLD, so some of the points below are observations and questions rather than definitive conclusions. I'd be interested in hearing how others are configuring theirs.
MLD / Wi-Fi 7
The first major change for me is MLD (Multi-Link Device).
It appears to work as I expected with my Wi-Fi 7 clients, but I need to adapt to a very different way of thinking about Wi-Fi compared with how I managed my hAP ax3.
Previously, I had separate SSIDs for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. For example, I could explicitly identify a device as being on 2.4 GHz and apply different QoS rules or expectations based on that. Devices on 5 GHz generally had significantly higher expected throughput.
With MLD, my understanding is that, for the intended multi-link operation, the participating bands need to be configured consistently, particularly using the same SSID and WPA3 configuration across the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz radios. And its a must that needs to be WPA3
That changes things quite a bit from the way I previously managed my network.
For example, I used to have explicit QoS policies for certain devices depending on whether they were connected to 2.4 or 5 GHz. With MLD, I'm not yet sure what the best approach is when a client can potentially use multiple links/bands.
I also have a question about band steering.
If MLD allows a Wi-Fi 7 client to use multiple bands simultaneously, does traditional band steering become largely irrelevant for those clients? Or does MikroTik still use steering mechanisms to determine which links/bands should be used?
My understanding may be incomplete here, so I'd appreciate clarification from people who have been working with MLO/MLD more extensively.
The default Wi-Fi configuration surprised me
Something else that caught my attention is how the hAP be3 presents the wireless interfaces by default.
In the WiFi configuration I see four entries:
MLD1wifi1wifi2wifi3
I initially expected the three radios to be configured with something close to the best capabilities available for their respective bands.
However, the defaults are interesting.
For example:
MLD1
- WPA3-PSK only
2.4 GHz (wifi1)
- 20 MHz channel width
802.11Gband- WPA3-PSK
- WPA2-PSK
5 GHz (wifi2)
- BE
- 20/40/80 MHz
- WPA3-PSK
- WPA2-PSK
6 GHz (wifi3)
- BE
- 20/40/80/160/320 MHz
- WPA3-PSK only
The 2.4 GHz configuration in particular surprised me. Why is it explicitly configured as 802.11G rather than N, AX, or BE?
What's even more interesting is that when I look at the registration table, I can see older devices connected to wifi1. Some show G, while others show N, despite the interface apparently being configured for G.
So I'm trying to understand exactly what MikroTik is doing here.
Is the band=2ghz-g default intentional for compatibility reasons? Would it be recommended to change this to AX/BE, or is there a good reason to leave the default configuration alone?
I'd be interested to hear what others are doing with the 2.4 GHz radio.
Check the country setting!
Another thing I noticed, which I think is particularly important for people who are new to MikroTik:
The default country/regulatory setting appears to be Latvia, even though it is not particularly obvious in the configuration that a specific country has been explicitly selected.
This is important because the country setting has a significant impact on the maximum permitted TX power and available channels for each wireless band.
If you set up the hAP be3 and leave the default configuration as it is, you may notice significantly lower transmit power and wireless range compared with what you were getting from your previous router. It can easily give the impression that the hAP be3 has weaker radios.
So one of the first things I would recommend doing is checking the country setting and selecting the actual country where you are operating the device.
Once the correct country is selected, MikroTik will apply the corresponding regulatory limits for each band, which can make a very noticeable difference in the maximum allowed TX power and channel availability, depending on your country.
This is especially worth mentioning for less experienced MikroTik users, because someone could easily leave the default Latvia setting in place and assume that the wireless power they are seeing is simply what the hAP be3 is capable of.
Containers / USB storage
On my hAP ax3 I had AdGuard Home running in a container using the router's internal storage, so I had not really paid much attention to the newer MikroTik App functionality.
With the hAP be3, I understand that the App functionality requires external storage, meaning that I would need a USB device connected to the router 24/7.
This raises a question for me:
What type of USB storage would you recommend for permanent 24/7 use on a MikroTik router?
I'm asking because I remember using USB storage with MikroTik/MetaROUTER and other applications more than 10 years ago, and heavy read/write activity could eventually destroy cheap USB flash drives.
So I'm reluctant to just plug in a random inexpensive USB stick and leave it running permanently.
Would a high-endurance USB flash drive be appropriate? An external SSD? Something else?
It's also a little disappointing that there isn't an NVMe/M.2 connector for storage. I think that would have been a much more interesting solution for this kind of workload.
If anyone is running containers or MikroTik Apps from USB storage 24/7, I'd really appreciate recommendations on what type of device to use.
Thermals
Finally, something that immediately caught my attention physically:
The hAP be3 gets noticeably hotter than my hAP ax3.
The heatsink appears to be integrated around the MikroTik logo area, and that entire section of the router gets quite warm to the touch compared with the ax3.
At first I thought perhaps the hAP be3 was simply consuming significantly more power.
However, after configuring it similarly to how I had my hAP ax3 configured, I'm seeing roughly 7–8 W of power consumption, which is actually very similar to what I was getting from the ax3.
So the higher surface temperature doesn't appear to be explained simply by significantly higher power consumption.
I'm curious whether this is just a consequence of how the hAP be3 transfers heat from its SoC/radios to the enclosure, or whether there is something else going on thermally.
Overall
So far, I'm happy with the hAP be3. The move to Wi-Fi 7/MLD is probably the biggest change for me, not necessarily because it is difficult to configure, but because it changes some of the assumptions I previously made when managing my wireless network.
I'm still experimenting with the best way to handle QoS, band selection, MLD, and the different radio capabilities.
I'd especially like to hear from other hAP be3 owners about:
- How are you configuring MLD?
- Are you using the same SSID/WPA3 configuration across all three bands?
- Does band steering still have a meaningful role with MLD clients?
- What are you using for the 2.4 GHz
wifi1configuration? - Are you running containers/MikroTik Apps from USB storage? If so, what type of USB storage?
- How are your hAP be3 temperatures compared with the hAP ax3?
These are just my first impressions after moving from an ax3, so I'm very interested in hearing what I'm misunderstanding or what others have discovered.