MikroTik Access Point: Handling Switched IP TV over VLAN WAN

MikroTik Access Point: Handling Switched IPTV VLAN on WAN

In today's modern networks, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is becoming increasingly popular due to its numerous advantages over traditional cable and satellite TV services. One of the essential aspects of IPTV deployment is handling VLANs on the WAN side, especially when the Internet Service Provider (ISP) delivers a dedicated VLAN for IPTV. In this article, we will discuss the simplest setup for handling Switched IPTV VLAN on a MikroTik Access Point using a provider-supplied router.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• A MikroTik Access Point and a MikroTik RouterOS license.
• A MikroTik RouterBOARD router with at least two LAN ports and one WAN port.
• An active IPTV subscription from your ISP.

Setup Provider-Supplied Router

First, we need to configure the provider-supplied router to bridge the VLAN interface and forward the IPTV traffic to the MikroTik Access Point. The following steps assume you have a basic understanding of MikroTik RouterOS.

1. Log in to the provider-supplied router using Winbox or any other MikroTik RouterOS terminal.
2. Create a new VLAN interface for the IPTV VLAN:
/interface vlan add name=iptv-vlan id=

Replace with the VLAN ID provided by your ISP.

3. Configure the VLAN interface:
/interface vlan set iptv-vlan tagged-vlan /interface vlan set iptv-vlan ip-address /

Replace and with the IP address and subnet mask of the IPTV VLAN.

4. Create a new bridge interface:
/interface bridge add name=iptv-bridge
5. Add the VLAN interface to the bridge:
/interface bridge port add iptv-bridge interface=iptv-vlan
6. Configure the WAN interface:
/interface ethernet set ip-address /

Replace with the name or number of the WAN interface, and and with the IP address and subnet mask of the WAN interface.

7. Configure the NAT rules:
/ip firewall nat add chain=prerouting protocol=ip protocol=udp src-address=/ dst-port= action=masquerade

Replace / with the IP address and subnet mask of the IPTV VLAN, and with the UDP port used by your IPTV service.

Setup MikroTik Access Point

Now, we need to configure the MikroTik Access Point to handle the Switched IPTV VLAN on the WAN side. The following steps assume you have a basic understanding of MikroTik RouterOS.

1. Log in to the MikroTik Access Point using Winbox or any other MikroTik RouterOS terminal.
2. Create a new VLAN interface for the IPTV VLAN:
/interface vlan add name=iptv-vlan id=

Replace with the VLAN ID provided by your ISP.

3. Configure the VLAN interface:
/interface vlan set iptv-vlan tagged-vlan /interface vlan set iptv-vlan ip-address /

Replace and with the IP address and subnet mask of the IPTV VLAN.

4. Create a new bridge interface:
/interface bridge add name=iptv-bridge
5. Add the VLAN interface to the bridge:
/interface bridge port add iptv-bridge interface=iptv-vlan
6. Configure the WAN interface:
/interface ethernet set ip-address /

Replace with the name or number of the WAN interface, and and with the IP address and subnet mask of the WAN interface.

7. Configure the bridge:
/interface bridge set iptv-bridge forward-mac-learning=yes /interface bridge set iptv-bridge forward-unknown-traffic=yes
8. Configure the NAT rules:
/ip firewall nat add chain=prerouting protocol=ip protocol=udp src-address=/ dst-port= action=masquerade

Replace / with the IP address and subnet mask of the IPTV VLAN, and with the UDP port used by your IPTV service.

In this article, we discussed the simplest setup for handling Switched IPTV VLAN on a MikroTik Access Point using a provider-supplied router. We covered the prerequisites, the steps to configure the provider-supplied router, and the steps to configure the MikroTik Access Point. By following these steps, you will be able to deliver IPTV services over a Switched VLAN on the WAN side using a MikroTik Access Point and a MikroTik RouterOS license.