MikroTik Routers and Switches Reviews

We use the solution to provide the same speed internet to 3,000 users, including students and teachers who are using this in school and college.

The valuable features are the hotspot, network address, registration, and firewall.

MikroTik Routers and Switches lack a user-friendly interface for applications or specific settings. For example, compared to a router from VGG Network, MikroTik's DNS and UI apps might require more technical knowledge to configure easily. While MikroTik offers certified support and clear website guides, some features, like Webex configuration, lack an intuitive interface for automatic setup.

Additionally, MikroTik often requires manual tasks like uploading hotspot tickets and setting up certificates. This can be burdensome, unlike easier solutions like UniFi, especially for monthly updates.

I have been using MikroTik Routers and Switches since 2010.

The product is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

MikroTik doesn't have a simple solution. We have to bring a new one to upgrade the CPU's capacity. It's hard to scale.

Around 2,000 users are using the solution.

I rate the solution's scalability a three out of ten.

We use Unifi Switches to deploy and manage access points on-site.

The initial setup is complex.

I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We use them for running services, especially big PoE services and VLAN routing. We also use them at remote premises to provide quick Wi-Fi. For switching, we use them for regular switching and in places where we need a lot of fiber interfaces.

MikroTik Routers and Switches are very competitively priced, which is important. Also, they perform well and get the job done.

Additionally, I appreciate that they offer both a CLI and a user-friendly GUI for management.

A central management platform would be great.

I have been using this solution for a couple of years. For routers, we use the 1036s and 1016s. For small businesses, we use the 1100s. For very small businesses, we use the Mikrotik 5-port switch, which is the 951. We use the whole range, basically.

MikroTik routers and switches are quite stable. The older OS versions are very stable, but the newer ones like RouterOS 7 are still a work in progress and have had some challenges.

MikroTik routers and switches are quite scalable, but with a centralized management solution, they could potentially be even more scalable.

We have around 5,000 switches in use. We deploy them in small offices with 10 to 20 people and even in enterprise offices with over a hundred people.

We have plans to increase the usage. We use MikroTik a lot due to its price and performance, and it's usually the top choice for our clients for routing and switching.

We usually find answers in online forums, so we haven't dealt directly with their support.

The initial setup is very straightforward. You can typically set them up in about 30 minutes, and we do it in-house.

We do it in-house. We set out a plan, and our technicians take care of setting up the units and putting them online. We often have a senior technician do the final tuning. We have three senior technicians and a couple of junior technicians who help out.

It's definitely worth the investment.

There are no licenses required; you simply purchase the units.

I would definitely recommend using this solution. I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We use MikroTik routers for routing, mainly for the connection between our branches and the head office factory.

The process is for microservices, and we use it to differentiate between the Internet lines, like one for LAN, from our LAN to branches LAN, and factory LAN. Actually, we use the MAM (Metropolitan Area Networks) by MikroTik reseller.  We use the GRE and IPSEC protocols with our MikroTik routers.

We like the solution because it is cost-effective. We just have to buy the hardware. We don't have to buy any software, and we don't have to renew that product. Just the hardware, and we can use it for routing purposes for a lifetime. It also provides some basic security, but we don't use future security.

MikroTik routers are very user-friendly and easy to manage. They support a wide variety of routing protocols, including BGP, OSPF, and RIP. We use MikroTik routers for both routing and switching.

There is an area of improvement. The firewall features are self-contained, but features like email scanning and voice control should be improved. This is the best routing product.

It has the firewall feature, but we have to configure it manually, and it is more of a graphic feature, not an advanced one like Layer 7. 

MikroTik Routers and Switches are very fast, and it is easy to operate. If it is combined with the firewall features, which we use from the Sophos firewall, then it will be great because we won't have to use more devices in the same place.

And also, for the second layer, we use Sophos for the firewall control. If that is built into the MikroTik router, then that would be very fair. Then we don't have to log in to another device. Only one device can be used for support purposes.

We have been using MikroTik routers for almost 15 years for different purposes.

I've been using the solution for the past few months, and I haven't had any issues with stability. They're very user-friendly and easy to configure.

If a router fails, has low bandwidth, or hangs, we can just buy another router and include the configuration. It's very cost-effective.  In our country, you can get a good MikroTik router with 10 gigabit ports for only $300.

According to my use, I would give it a nine or ten out of ten because, actually, I have not used one hundred percent of MikroTik's facilities. At my usage level, it serves me very well.

If we need to scale, MikroTik routers allow us to do so effectively.

We have two MikroTik routers in our headquarters, and our branches are connected with different models of MikroTik routers based on their internet or data link requirements. Almost 17 branches are connected to the headquarters, and it is working fine. 

Additionally, we have two physical servers located in different locations. We use separate data links for the servers to ensure redundancy. In total, we are using almost seventeen to eighteen MikroTik hardware devices.

We haven't had to use it yet. We've been able to solve all of our problems on our own.

The setup process is simple because MikroTik routers have two setup facilities: console mode and graphical mode. It can be set up very easily using graphical mode. It also provides real-time data on how much data is passing through each port, and it offers redundancy if we have multiple internet connections.

I set up some protocols by myself, and for some others, we took vendor or IT help. I manage the router for internet, bandwidth, data link, and also for the IT platform.

Sometimes it becomes complex, and in such cases, I take help from IT. But it seems to be easier because we always have the interface to run Winbox and monitor how much data is flowing through each port.

Also, if any port needs maintenance, we can easily check if it is disconnected or not. Even if it's physically connected but not functioning properly, it can be easily identified using MikroTik Toolbox.

It is deployed on-premises. And it is only hardware. It uses the Winbox software for the router. It is not cloud-based and is not used for security or other purposes. Its sole purpose is to maintain the data link and internet connection.

The pricing is actually very cheap because with that stuff too, buy the product. We just have to buy the router. We don't have to buy any routing software, MC. Let me see for the only hardware, we have to pay.

If I have any opportunity, I would go for Cisco as a CCNA holder, but it's very complicated to configure and maintain. In the case of MikroTik, the complexity is low, and maintenance is also easier. Additionally, it's cost-effective; we can easily change the hardware and import the configuration.

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. The solution fulfills all my use cases. 

The solution is used for site-to-site VPN, and it can also be used as a router as a CPE. So, we normally give them the solution so that their NetLog and everything can be captured in the server because, ultimately, it is a requirement of the Department of Telecommunication in our country. For all the leased line users, we are supposed to keep the NetLog. MikroTik is mainly used by some SMEs, and more specifically, it is for SME clients only.

Users of the solution are able to save a lot of things on bandwidth, like, earlier, if they don't have anything to granularize the bandwidth for their end customer. In that case, it was difficult to manage. But, after putting MikroTik in place, they were able to control the use of their internal cost internal users. Also, they are able to manage multiple bandwidth sources using MikroTik.

Load balancing is one of the valuable features of the solution. The best thing, from an end-user perspective, is the GUI, which MikroTik provides vis-a-vis any other routing options. In short, MikroTik provides a very user-friendly GUI option.

The solution needs to be more robust. In case of power fluctuations, MikroTik routers are more vulnerable to malfunctioning. Also, there is an IPDR requirement to which MikroTik does not provide any information when it is used as a NAS, and it has to pass the parameter to the radius, so for a delegated IPv6 Prefix, MikroTik doesn't give any information to the radius. So there, they need to work on something, and they also need to work on IPDR logs using NetFlow.

In the future, I would like to see some more entry-level products with at least two SFP ports. What we normally face is we put the fiber on the ring, but there are no entry-level MikroTik products with two SFP ports inside. Normally, it has four or five copper ports and one SFP only. We need two SFPs to have the proper fiber ring sort of redundancy, which is the need of the hour for MSMEs.

I have been using MikroTik Routers and Switches for more than fifteen years. My company is an ISP. We also have a company offering the solution to government agencies and intermediaries. Also, I am working with MikroTik Routers and Switches Version 7 x.

Personally, we have Huawei as our core router. Compared to Cisco or Huawei, MikroTik is not that reliable, and I would say that without any hesitation.

In India, if you need technical support for MikroTik, there is no official channel partner or anybody who can help you out. Suppose there is anything that is, like, a support, where somebody can open a support ticket and get help. That will probably improve the performance of MikroTik, especially with SMEs where there is no talent available at every office.

In comparison with Huawei or Cisco products, MikroTik offers excellent prices and performance, along with probably the easiest GUI. So, these are the two best USPs of MikroTik, and I will give two thumbs up to them. Now, let MikroTik come out with a more robust mechanism. Also, they need to put in some better power equipment. Apart from that, MikroTik's availability is always a questionable issue because many times, certain models are not available in our country, maybe because of that disturbance of the supply chain, in that pandemic situation, or maybe something other than that. I would also like to highlight that from the 1st of July, all the products deployed in any of the license services deployed have to be MTCTE-certified and trusted telecom-certified products. So I request MikroTik's Indian channel to approach the appropriate authority. In case MikroTik needs any help, we can get them connected to the right people, but get it certified so that MikroTik's business prospects don't get hampered in the future.

Our team is quite familiar with MikroTik with this many years of experience, so there is no such issue in terms of setup. But I would strongly recommend that MikroTik improves the quality of your power sources because there are a lot of cases which I have seen malfunctioning MikroTik in case of power fluctuations. Also, I think MikroTik needs to focus on some local support partners.

We are an ISP. So when we provide the connectivity to any MSME client, maybe a 20 MBPS or whatever. So we select an appropriate model to be deployed, which is pretty fine. Based on the availability, we put that model on their premises, and we connect it to our network. We also configure everything for them, and if they have another service provider, we also help them to configure that as well. There are cases where we have even had a customer configure their BGP as well. For those who have their own AS number, we have helped them to configure their BGP. Also, we have to integrate it all together.

Regarding the staff members to do the deployment and configuration, we have a kind of centralized thing. So if any help is required, we have some experts sitting at our place, and they can help since we already have around more than ten centers spread across the country. We are operating in four different states of this country. So anybody can call a NOC engineer and get it configured.

Regarding the time taken for deployment, it is almost a PnP technology, so it takes hardly ten minutes to configure. The best part, as I said, is the GUI of MikroTik.

Regarding the maintenance part, sometimes it gives some erratic behavior. That's the very key function. So we are unable to deploy it as our core router. I can give you an example where we have an augmentation point in Equinix in Mumbai. All our thirteen centers are connecting to Mumbai first. And from there, we have a couple of upstreams. So, we have three IX connectivities and a few PNIs. We have direct PNI with Google, Facebook, and a few others. However, in the aforementioned areas, we are still skeptical. Our entire team is skeptical about deploying the MikroTik as our core router because we need something more robust and more predictable. MikroTik has not been able to give that kind of confidence to our team even though we have been using it for the last fifteen years.

We can always give a recommendation of the product to others, or if there is any help required, as community members, we can also help any small ISPs who are facing any issue. So we can always be there to help them out. We strongly recommend the solution to any small or medium-sized teams who want to start using it.

I haven't explored the switch much, but considering the routers, I rate the overall solution a seven and a half to eight out of ten, and to be more specific, I would go with an eight out of ten.

We use the solution mostly for wireless communications and as our core connection to the Internet. For our local networks, we use Aruba. When we need to connect to the Internet, we use MikroTik Routers and Switches because of their firewalls. Although we have a few implementations of FortiGate, we've decided to stay with MikroTik Routers and Switches for our startup solutions. It also handles our VPN access to remote switches. It has a really good firewall and supports many leading protocols.

I think the tool's most valuable is its firewall. Cisco assisted them in developing it, making it easy to use. They expose a lot of background features, so you can go deep into integration, similar to Cisco switches. You can choose to use the command line interface or user interface.

MikroTik Routers and Switches are very customizable. We can add our scripts to perform specific tasks. For example, we log data to a database whenever clients connect to specific areas. This allows us to keep track of connections by integrating our scripts into the routing sessions.

I think the documentation of specific features could probably be improved. Especially if you want to try a new feature, sometimes you must test it thoroughly before implementing it with the client because the documentation doesn't give you the full background.

Also, we only use MikroTik Routers and Switches for Internet breakout. I wouldn't use them as switches inside the network or as part of the backbone of our networks. For those purposes, I would use something more reliable, like Aruba. So, they are not reliable enough for those features.

I have been using the product for ten years. 

The product is stable. I had it installed about ten years ago and have never replaced it. We've had some problems like access points being exposed to the sun for too long or enclosures not being installed correctly. Some were broken due to vandalism. When exposed to the elements, they stop routing and have issues.

The solution is highly scalable. It includes a router, DNS server, and VPN server and can create IPC connections. You can set up VLANs on it, and it has a built-in firewall system. Additionally, you can create Wi-Fi access points for general Internet setup. So, it caters to a wide range of usage, making it highly scalable.

I have issues with support's language and time barriers. Also, we do not have access to local support. 

Neutral

The timeframe for deployment depends on the size of the solution we provide for our clients. If it's something simple, then it's less than a day. If it's larger and includes other industrial automation equipment requiring network connectivity, our projects can go from one to six months. Deployment on just the solution side usually takes a few days to get everything set up and commissioned.

The tool's pricing is competitive. 

The solution is recommended mostly for medium businesses. I rate it a nine out of ten. 

Depending on the specific requirements, I utilize MikroTik Routers and Switches to configure IPSec connections between two sites, where one serves as a backup and the other as the production site. Additionally, I employ them as an internal VPN server for external users. These devices are also used for routing and firewall purposes, and I take advantage of various other features, such as redirection, blocking, and more.

MikroTik offers full enterprise capabilities at a very reasonable price. If we already have it and need to improve our networking skills, it becomes essential to configure it in detail. Perhaps some might see this as a disadvantage, but in my case, I find it highly beneficial as it keeps my networking knowledge up-to-date. I utilize it extensively for computing and completing tasks. Moreover, new features are constantly being introduced, making it even more valuable. For instance, features like DOH and containers are available, allowing us to install services like Pi-hole within McAfee. I believe it's a highly useful tool from my perspective. Some other brands are quite expensive, whereas MikroTik offers reliability at a decent price, providing us with the capabilities we need.

The scalability has room for improvement.

MikroTik's firewall is acceptable, but it is not as advanced as some of the other vendors. I would like to have some additional filtering options added in the future.

I have been using MikroTik Routers and Switches for five years.

The scalability is acceptable, but I am not entirely satisfied since we lack the budget to scale any further.

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment process depends on multiple factors. For example, if I need to choose a backup location outside or inside the town, or a different location altogether, and I want to have a protected link such as IPSec or any of these solutions, then we can configure the MikroTik Router according to that specific goal.

When we purchase MikroTik devices, a certain level of the license is included in the price. Additionally, we may receive different devices for various achievements, and this is also part of the price. The idea is that the basic license is covered in the initial cost, and if we require more features, we can buy additional credits. Although it is possible to purchase another license, it is uncommon as I have never heard of anyone having to do this.

I give MikroTik Routers and Switches a nine out of ten.

For graphical improvements, I prefer the Firewall brand. For example, Check Point, Fortinet, or other similar options, including PSMs, with which I also have experience. In small businesses like ours, MikroTik Routers and Switches are highly beneficial as they offer some of the edge capabilities that we require for a smaller environment. If we don't need an enterprise solution due to the small number of users, these firewalls serve our needs effectively.

Once we become familiar with the hidden features, we can truly appreciate the power of MikroTik Routers and Switches. This understanding can enable us to unlock even more capabilities in the way we configure the routers. While MikroTik may not be the absolute best, it is indeed very good and highly useful. I wholeheartedly recommend MikroTik Routers and Switches.

We have a dedicated crew for maintenance.

So the company I work for sells a guest Wi-Fi platform for restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, etc. 

Predominantly, we configure MikroTik Routers and Switches with our platform and then integrate them into the existing network of the businesses.

The stability of the market and the ability to remotely control them are the most valuable features for me.

It would be nice if the interface was easier to use. It's probably one of the most complicated user interfaces to use, but then again, MikroTik routers are also the most flexible routers to use. So I guess it's a price you pay for using a product that's capable of doing pretty much anything.

I have been using this solution for three years.

I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.

I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten, it's very scalable.

We're continually adding new locations to our client base all the time. We manage more than 4500 locations globally.

The initial setup is easy now. But when I first started out, it was difficult. The initial deployment of the platform that we use and set up the network was done before I started with the company.

In comparison, especially once you start getting into commercial applications, MikroTik is very affordable. So on the cheaper side of the scale, definitely.

Probably do one of the MikroTik authorized training courses before you start. Overall, I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

Our clients use it to implement network solutions.

Our clients like the product because it's an open-source solution. The features of the equipment fit all the needs of the customers.

The solution should improve the features of Wi-Fi 6 a little bit.

I have been working with the solution as a distributor for more than ten years.

It's a good product, and I am satisfied with its stability. I rate the product’s stability an eight out of ten.

I rate the scalability an eight to nine out of ten. We can scale it to a large number of endpoints. We have more than 100 users in Portugal. Our clients are medium and enterprise-level businesses.

The support is not very clear. The way they deal with issues is not very good.

Neutral

The solution is easy to install. I rate the ease of setup a nine out of ten.

We took only a few minutes to install the product. We install and configure the solution for our customers. We also provide support and maintenance to customers.

The solution is not expensive. The pricing is good. There are no additional charges associated with the product. The product’s license is for life. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten.

I am working with all the versions of the product. We have buyers on the market for the solution. People who want to use the product must be confident because the product is good and has a competitive price compared to other vendors. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.