Nstreme Protocol

What this chapter covers

The Nstreme chapter is about a MikroTik wireless protocol that trades standard Wi-Fi rules for speed on links you control.

Nstreme packs frames, lets the access point decide who sends, and can remove the listen before talk rule. It also has a dual radio form for full duplex links.

The chapter follows the tenth part of the MTCWE syllabus. It has four topics, covered by three pages.

How the topics fit together

The four topics move from the idea, to the settings, to the advanced form, to fixing faults.

The pages follow that order:

• Nstreme features explain what the protocol changes and what it needs at both ends.
• Nstreme configuration options explain the settings for polling, CSMA and framing.
• Nstreme Dual and troubleshooting explain full duplex with two radios, and a method to fix problems.

Nstreme is for links where you own both ends. It does not serve ordinary clients such as phones, and it gives its best results on clean channels.

Each step depends on the one before it. A setting is easy to choose once you know what the feature does, and a fault is easy to find once you know what the settings should be.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

• What it is: the idea in plain words.
• How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and example commands.
• What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise.
• Common mistakes: the classic traps.
• Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.

Learn the three framer ideas and the three settings for access, which are polling, CSMA and framing. Exam questions often ask what a setting does, or which setting fits a given situation.

If you can, build a short test link and compare plain 802.11 with Nstreme using the bandwidth test. Seeing the difference makes the trade offs easy to remember.