I recently experienced an issue with my Hikvision doorvilla DS-KV8113-WME1(B), which was connected to my network via WiFi. On occasion, especially following a power outage, the device would lose its WiFi settings. This required me to disassemble the unit, connect it via a UTP cable, and reconfigure the settings—a frustrating and time-consuming process. Due to this, I wouldn’t recommend this particular Hikvision model.

To resolve this, I decided to implement a workaround by using the smallest WiFi access point (AP) I could find, placing it in the wall cavity behind the Hikvision unit, and connecting the device to this AP via a UTP cable. Essentially, I created a WiFi-to-Ethernet bridge. The AP I chose for this task was the Mikrotik RBcAPL-2nD.

However, connecting a Mikrotik device to a non-Mikrotik device in a pseudobridge setup has certain limitations, as detailed in their official documentation: Mikrotik Wireless Station Modes.

Despite these limitations, I managed to get it functioning with my PfSense system, but with a few caveats:

The client device (in this case, the Hikvision unit) must be assigned a static IP, as DHCP does not function over a pseudobridge.

The client’s IP address must belong to the same subnet that the WiFi AP is connected to.

It’s necessary to disable the spanning-tree protocol in the Mikrotik settings. Be sure to apply all your configurations beforehand, as you will lose access to the Mikrotik management interface after this change.

Here’s a brief guide on what you need to do:

Set up a WiFi profile on your Mikrotik device to connect to your existing WiFi network.

Change the station mode to pseudobridge.

Disable the DHCP server.

Turn off the spanning-tree protocol.

Below is the complete configuration. Replace “YOUR-WIFI-SSID” and “YOUR-WIFI-PASS” with your network’s details.

# oct/19/2023 17:21:59 by RouterOS 6.48.7
# software id = M2DK-HSWA
#
# model = RBcAPL-2nD
# serial number = HET091AHV58
/interface bridge
add comment=defconf name=bridge
/interface list
add comment=defconf name=WAN
add comment=defconf name=LAN
/interface wireless security-profiles
set [ find default=yes ] supplicant-identity=MikroTik
add authentication-types=wpa-psk,wpa2-psk mode=dynamic-keys name=YOUR-WIFI-SSID \
    supplicant-identity=MikroTik wpa-pre-shared-key=YOUR-WIFI-PASS \
    wpa2-pre-shared-key=YOUR-WIFI-PASS
/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-g/n channel-width=20/40mhz-XX \
    country=slovenia disabled=no distance=indoors frequency=auto \
    installation=indoor mode=station-pseudobridge security-profile=YOUR-WIFI-SSID \
    ssid=YOUR-WIFI-SSID wireless-protocol=802.11
/ip hotspot profile
set [ find default=yes ] html-directory=hotspot
/ip pool
add name=default-dhcp ranges=192.168.88.10-192.168.88.254
/ip dhcp-server
add address-pool=default-dhcp interface=bridge name=defconf
/interface bridge port
add bridge=bridge comment=defconf interface=wlan1 multicast-router=disabled \
    trusted=yes
add bridge=bridge interface=ether1 multicast-router=disabled trusted=yes
add bridge=bridge disabled=yes interface=all
/ip neighbor discovery-settings
set discover-interface-list=LAN
/interface list member
add comment=defconf interface=bridge list=LAN
add comment=defconf interface=ether1 list=WAN
/ip address
add address=192.168.88.1/24 comment=defconf disabled=yes interface=bridge \
    network=192.168.88.0
/ip dhcp-client
# DHCP client can not run on slave interface!
add comment=defconf disabled=no interface=ether1
add disabled=no interface=bridge
/ip dhcp-server network
add address=192.168.88.0/24 comment=defconf gateway=192.168.88.1
/ip dns
set allow-remote-requests=yes
/ip dns static
add address=192.168.88.1 comment=defconf name=router.lan
/ip firewall filter
add action=accept chain=input comment=\
    "defconf: accept established,related,untracked" connection-state=\
    established,related,untracked
add action=drop chain=input comment="defconf: drop invalid" connection-state=\
    invalid
add action=accept chain=input comment="defconf: accept ICMP" protocol=icmp
add action=accept chain=input comment=\
    "defconf: accept to local loopback (for CAPsMAN)" dst-address=127.0.0.1
add action=drop chain=input comment="defconf: drop all not coming from LAN" \
    in-interface-list=!LAN
add action=accept chain=forward comment="defconf: accept in ipsec policy" \
    ipsec-policy=in,ipsec
add action=accept chain=forward comment="defconf: accept out ipsec policy" \
    ipsec-policy=out,ipsec
add action=fasttrack-connection chain=forward comment="defconf: fasttrack" \
    connection-state=established,related
add action=accept chain=forward comment=\
    "defconf: accept established,related, untracked" connection-state=\
    established,related,untracked
add action=drop chain=forward comment="defconf: drop invalid" \
    connection-state=invalid
add action=drop chain=forward comment=\
    "defconf: drop all from WAN not DSTNATed" connection-nat-state=!dstnat \
    connection-state=new in-interface-list=WAN
/ip firewall nat
add action=masquerade chain=srcnat comment="defconf: masquerade" \
    ipsec-policy=out,none out-interface-list=WAN
/ip service
set telnet disabled=yes
set ftp disabled=yes
set www-ssl disabled=no
set api disabled=yes
set api-ssl disabled=yes
/system clock
set time-zone-name=Europe/Ljubljana
/system identity
set name=RouterOS
/tool mac-server
set allowed-interface-list=LAN
/tool mac-server mac-winbox
set allowed-interface-list=LAN