MikroTik Reviews 3

Useless company

Went full mikrotik in my house (homelab + wifi + access switch).
Configuration takes time but is rewarding.
Now I have 10Gb backbone everywhere in my house!
Great product and great price for SOHO use. Have no experience for business.

Mikrotik make reliable hardware. For the price and features you can get, this company is an absolute gem in the rough.

WinBox is perhaps the best piece of software I've ever had the fortune of stumbling across. While it feels clunky to begin with, once you follow a few tutorials on how to use it, WinBox becomes a playground where you can see the possible config options for anything right in front of you.

I have used their Cloud Core Routers (CCR) since their first generation, the 36 core was a beast. Their newest hardware is crazy in comparison and some include hardware encryption offloading for tunnels. Some of the 10 GbE routers they offer now have even more impressive stats.

Their Cloud Core Switches (CCS) are reliable and super cheap. The interface is very simplified and yet very flexible for VLAN and advanced port configurations like LACP and mirroring.

My experience with their WISP gear is very limited, as I have had the unfortunate experience of being brainwashed into the shiny sales pitch of Ubiquiti gear and am currently locked into their crap.

I have tried a pair of LHGG-60ad on short range 500m link. While the software was a little clunky to display what is going on at first, when the connection is established it's an astonishing piece of kit for the price. Link capacity 2.3 Gbps, which leaves a lot of overhead to get a bi-directional bandwidth of 1 Gbps in rainy conditions. Does exactly what it claims, unlike their competitor Ubiquiti who would claim 5x the performance that is actually obtainable in the real world.

Their 4G antennas are OK and aren't reliable - but it's no fault of Mikrotik, the mobile networks in my country are garbage.

Mikrotik have been my go-to for router hardware for the past 10 years. They have never let me down.

EDIT: I reduced my review from 5 stars to 3 stars because they actively sell wireless radios with an "L3" license which means they can't be used as an access point. The next tier of radio is typically 10 euros more expensive and includes a "L4" license. So, if like many, you got tricked into buying a radio with an "L3" license and intended to use it as an AP, you have no upgrade path. You are forced to buy a new L4 license at a retail price of $45, almost twice the cost of the actual radio. This limitation is hidden and is not clearly expressed on their technical details on their website. Support shrugs this off and doesn't care. It's a disgrace to the Mikrotik brand and a total letdown to new customers who will buy the cheapest gear to test the water first.