The radius and wireless features are the most valuable aspects of the solution.
Network Engineer at a maritime company with 201-500 employees
Good queuing functionality, good technical support and very good stability
Pros and Cons
- "The radius and wireless features are the most valuable aspects of the solution."
- "The queuing functionality needs improvement. The initial setup could be simplified."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
The queuing functionality needs improvement. The initial setup could be simplified.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for 10-15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is great.
Buyer's Guide
MikroTik Routers and Switches
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about MikroTik Routers and Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the solution is very good.
How are customer service and support?
We've used technical support a few times and have always found them to be quite good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have previously used Cisco and HP solutions.
How was the initial setup?
If you are not familiar with the solution, the initial setup can be a bit complex. It's quite different from other solutions. Deployment times vary, but it should only take a few hours.
What about the implementation team?
I handled the implementation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of the solution is okay. It's not too expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. If they made it a bit easier for new users to implement, I would rate it higher.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
ICT Manager/Systems Administrator at a university with 201-500 employees
Great performance, competitive pricing, and very stable
Pros and Cons
- "We've enjoyed the fact that it has very good performance."
- "The solution needs to offer better documentation."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the product for load balancing and as a gateway.
What is most valuable?
The stability of the solution is excellent.
We've enjoyed the fact that it has very good performance.
The scalability potential is very good.
The solution is very easy to install and the implementation doesn't take too long.
The pricing is very competitive.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs to offer better documentation. That is what is lacking right now.
The user interface could be a bit better. It could be a bit more user-friendly with a bit of a re-design.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for a couple of years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable and we've found the performance to be excellent. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't seem to crash or freeze. The reliability is excellent overall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability capabilities have been very good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with relative ease.
We have about 1,300 users on the solution right now.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've never been in touch with technical support just yet. I've never had a reason to reach out. Therefore, I cannot comment on how helpful or responsive they might be.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've also used Cisco, Aruba, and HPE, for example.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not difficult or complex. It's straightforward and very easy to implement. The deployment process is very fast as well. It only really takes a couple of minutes and you are ready to go.
We are a team of four, and we can handle any deployment or maintenance tasks quite easily.
What about the implementation team?
I handled the implementation myself, in-house. I did not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant when I deployed it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is excellent. It's very reasonable and much less than, for example, Cisco.
Typically, on the initial package, you do need a license.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution, on a scale from one to ten, at a seven. For the most part, we've been pleased with its capabilities.
I'd recommend the solution, especially from a pricing point of view. If Cisco is out of a company's budget, it's definitely an option.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
MikroTik Routers and Switches
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about MikroTik Routers and Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
NOC Manager/Network Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good load balancing capabilities and features for the cost point
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is controlling the bandwidth."
- "The user interface allows you to do a lot of things, but it is not user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for normal routing, as well as load balancing for internet traffic. I have a dual internet load balancing setup.
This is an on-premises solution.
How has it helped my organization?
The improvement is that we can have two different internet service providers offering 2Mbps each, and you can combine the bandwidth to make it 4Mbps. You can also achieve multiple failovers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is controlling the bandwidth. This is helpful because the users' bandwidth requirements keep changing, and we have three connections to handle the data.
The wireless switches are good.
What needs improvement?
Configuring load balancing requires a very ground-level configuration that is not easy for normal users.
The user interface allows you to do a lot of things, but it is not user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Right now, I am not using it for VPN.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not contacted technical support for this solution. If there is a problem then I try to find solutions for the problem online.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
When I first starting working with this solution I found the initial setup to be complex, but now I think that it's easy. It takes approximately ten minutes to deploy, although if you want to set up more advanced features like load balancing then it might take thirty minutes.
One person is suitable for both deployment and maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
I performed the deployment myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product is a one-time purchase.
What other advice do I have?
This is a great product that gives you a lot of good features at that price.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technology Manager at Klinic Community Health
A low cost solution that is easy to manage using both GUI and CLI
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is that you can do anything on all platforms."
- "Wireless throughput has not kept up with the competition."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is to provide wireless internet service.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution provides our service at a low cost with excellent quality.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is that you can do anything on all platforms.
The GUI is also good, and the CLI is excellent.
What needs improvement?
Wireless throughput has not kept up with the competition.
For how long have I used the solution?
Eight years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Andrew S. Baker (ASB)Cybersecurity & IT Operations Professional (VirtualCxO) at BrainWave Consulting Company, LLC
Consultant
I used them for wireless for a while, but there were some initial hardware bumps at that time, and I eventually moved in a different direction.
IT Manager at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Suitable for small businesses, but not for large enterprises
Pros and Cons
- "The MikroTik Hotspot is great."
- "The CPU load is too high. This causes the Internet to lag."
What is our primary use case?
We use MikroTik Routers and Switches as a router and firewall. We also use it to manage our Hotspot users.
What is most valuable?
The MikroTik Hotspot is great. My company uses the Captive Portal as a staff login to access the internet and the company portal. Via the Hotspot, my company connects to the API.
What needs improvement?
The overall performance could be improved. The CPU load is too high. This causes the Internet to lag.
MikroTik should be open source.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MikroTik Routers and Switches for roughly four to five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The MikroTik operating system is not open source. The API is limited.
How are customer service and technical support?
Sometimes we consult with the online community, but it's quite limited in Indonesia — there are not many MikroTik users here.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex, but not too difficult in the end.
What other advice do I have?
Compared to Cisco, I don't think MikroTik is very good. MikroTik is good for start-ups and small businesses with small budgets. If you have a big budget, I would recommend using
UniFi, or Cisco.
Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give MikroTic a rating of seven.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
B2B Product Management at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Scalable with good pricing and excellent reliability
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable."
- "Better security is always better. If they can continue to improve in this area, that would be ideal."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for the internet.
What is most valuable?
We are a mid-sized provider and we are acquiring smaller providers. MikroTik is a brand that is used across these ISPs and we have the experience with the product within our company. There's a familiarity with the solution we appreciate. The reason that we decided to keep this brand is that it's reliable. It offers good IT Station reports.
The solution is stable.
The product has proven to be scalable.
The pricing is good. There's a good ratio of pricing to performance, which is why we use that product.
What needs improvement?
Better security is always better. If they can continue to improve in this area, that would be ideal.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution for a couple of years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has proven to be very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance is consistently very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability has been excellent. If a company needs to expand it out, it's not a problem. They can do so.
A lot of our work is B2B with mid-sized clients that might have dozens of users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've never directly dealt with technical support. I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are. I don't have the direct experience to be able to comment.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also have experience using Cisco (for more demanding installations) and Huawei. Our company tends to use Huawei in B2C situations.
How was the initial setup?
It's my understanding that the installation process is quite straightforward. It's not too complex or difficult.
We have administrators and technicians that can handle deployments. We are doing remote installations. We have one technician usually on-premise. They physically connect the device and another technician remotely configures the device. We have some configuration templates. It's quite easy and quick for our team to deploy everything.
What about the implementation team?
We can handle the deployment for customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is very reasonable. It's not too expensive.
I don't handle licensing costs. I'm not sure how payments are set up and whether a company would have to pay monthly or yearly.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not an IT guy. I'm a business product manager. I'm more of a product or marketing guy. Therefore, I'm not overly technical.
We're service providers for a variety of organizations.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We're pretty happy with the product.
I would recommend the solution to other organizations.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
They're cost effective and provide you with an extensive feature set
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect of this solution is the combination of value for money. They're extremely cost effective, yet they provide you with an extensive feature set of things you can do across the board. Also, they're pretty reliable, as far as equipment goes."
- "As far as improvements, there are basically only two things I would suggest. First, I think they should provide extensive training for the new releases of products, especially in the LTE space. Second, they could spend more time ensuring that their OS releases are more stable, rather than waiting for things to fall apart on the customer's premises before they make the necessary changes."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use MikroTik routers and switches for LTE solutions. It's 3G, 4G, and gravitating to 5G solutions and we do a lot of data center type of solutions with the heavy-duty cloud core routers. We also do premises type of solutions with a lot of their switches.
As far as which version we're using, the products are fairly standardized—what changes is the version of the operating system. We try and use the latest long-term versions of the operating system, but we use a wide variety of their products.
This solution is deployed on-prem. We use the whole rack of MikroTik switches and routers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of this solution is the combination of value for money. They're extremely cost effective, yet they provide you with an extensive feature set of things you can do across the board. Also, they're pretty reliable, as far as equipment goes.
What needs improvement?
As far as improvements, there are basically only two things I would suggest. First, I think they should provide extensive training for the new releases of products, especially in the LTE space. Second, they could spend more time ensuring that their OS releases are more stable, rather than waiting for things to fall apart on the customer's premises before they make the necessary changes.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using MikroTik switches and routers since 2014, so it's going to be the eighth year now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have been using these routers and switches for eight years and they have proved rather stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think the solutions scale to multiple millions of packets per second products and that they scale right into the data center core. I know that there's still significant apprehension from a lot of large companies concerning their products, but I think that MikroTik has proved to be an extremely good tool for what we are trying to do.
It runs our infrastructure and we provide services to clients, so we have several hundred nodes out in the field who are managed services providers. There are quite a few people that take advantage of the infrastructure that we provide.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't actually contacted technical support directly. We have a very knowledgeable partner that provides us Tier 4 consultancy in the UK. We've been working with him for many years, and so that's where we get all our technical support from.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We gave up on Cisco and Cisco's competitor seven years ago, and we've been using MikroTik ever since.
How was the initial setup?
The installation process is extremely simple. I did it all by myself, but I'm a telecoms engineer, so I have a skill set in that area.
We have a small technical team of five engineers. It's not a heavyweight job.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution through an in-house team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a lifetime subscription already embedded when you buy the product.
What other advice do I have?
I rate MikroTik routers and switches a nine out of ten, and I would recommend them to others.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Engineer in Computer Sciences at a government with 201-500 employees
Stable with good routing features and a large amount of online documentation
Pros and Cons
- "The pricing is very reasonable. It's not too expensive."
- "The initial setup can be a bit difficult. The configuration can take a lot of time."
What is most valuable?
The routing features are the solution's most valuable aspects.
What needs improvement?
Next year, we are planning to buy a hardware firewall from Sophos. The firewall and the VPN features in MikroTik are a little bit hard to set and are not user-friendly in terms of configuring those features.
The protection of the web servers, VPN, and spam mail management, will be better in the Sophos model which we want to buy. We'll still use MikroTik for routing between our objects, however, for the main firewall features and VPN features, we want to use something more specific for this job.
There's a new VPN protocol called WireGuard. It's very good to implement MikroTik in the router as firmware. It is more configurable, with WireGuard. It's very practical.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution maybe for five or six years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is extremely stable. We don't have issues with crashing. There aren't bugs or glitches. It's good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, they can do so easily.
Ultimately, the whole company is using it as it s is the main router for distributing internet services.
How are customer service and technical support?
We don't use technical support. If we need to troubleshoot, we tend to get our answers from the internet. We have access to forums and we have a lot of local technical support and knowledge. It's not official technical support. It's from the providers.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup can be a bit difficult. The configuration can take a lot of time. We only have one person in our company that can do this. It's somewhat impractical. If he's not at work, we can run into issues.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is very reasonable. It's not too expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We're currently looking to replace some aspects of MikroTik with Sophos and will use Sophos next year as the main firewall.
What other advice do I have?
We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with the company.
Originally, we had little MikroTik routers installed at first. Afterward, we bought a cloud core router and we've had that at this point for six or seven years.
We use the solution both at our company and for our clients.
I'd advise new users to take some time and learn about the configurations. They need to be prepared for a bit of a learning curve when it comes to implementation. However, after that, it's not a problem to use it.
Overall, I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: January 2025
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The big thing with using MikroTik is that their paradigm is very different from other solutions, so you really have to know what you want to do. Very flexible, but you have to look at things a bit differently.