CAPsMAN allows a router to control other Access Points. But the local radio on an L4 device cannot be provisioned by CAPsMAN to become an AP. The radio hardware is locked by the license. You would need an L5 device as the CAP (Access Point) managed by an L4 controller. It is a controller-agent relationship, not a software unlock.
Before dissecting the differences, one must understand that RouterOS licenses are tied to the system’s software ID and hard disk (or NAND). Unlike subscription-based models, a MikroTik license is a perpetual entitlement to use a specific version of the software (with updates available as long as the license level is active for that major version). The license level dictates maximum capabilities, not minimum performance. A device running L4 can physically handle 2 Gbps of traffic if its CPU is powerful enough, but the license will restrict certain features and logical constructs regardless of hardware muscle. The license is the gatekeeper of software-defined boundaries. routeros l4 vs l5
The most profound difference between L4 and L5 is not the number of tunnels, but the behavior of routing protocols. Both licenses support OSPF, BGP, and MPLS. However, the scale and stability differ. An L4 router running OSPF can theoretically exchange routes, but its memory management and process priority are optimized for smaller tables. In practice, an L4 router with 256 MB of RAM will begin to exhibit route flapping or slow convergence when faced with an OSPF database containing over 5,000 routes. CAPsMAN allows a router to control other Access Points