HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
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HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
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Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#2From some time, I had a though about getting my home-lab. Prior to that, I've decided to prepare my networking for it and ditch the router given by my ISP for MikroTik to optimise the network. It turned out it's not easy - why? Check it out on my latest blog post!
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#3For me, the era of MikroTik is sort of... now.
Don't get me wrong, they make powerful and feature-complete stuff, but their UI sort of assumes you really know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing.
But my LLM does. I've been able to set up site-to-site VPNs with Mikrotik in fifteen minutes now, rather than the day-long exercise of googling and praying.
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#4Mikrotik is really a sweet spot for routers. It's feature-rich and it has a nice Web UI (or WinBox that is now cross-platform). And Mikrotik as a company is just amazing; they still support hardware that is almost 15 years old.
Other routers:
1. OpenWRT is a bit too basic, and updates are hit-and-miss.
2. Ubiquity is a bit too Apple-like, with its reliance on apps and integration.
3. Cisco is WAY too expensive, and too complicated to set up without having Cisco experience.
I'm now eagerly waiting for them to release the next generation of their routers. hEX Pro looks perfect to replace my aging CCR2004.
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#5For me, the era of MikroTik is sort of... now. Don't get me wrong, they make powerful and feature-complete stuff, but their UI sort of assumes you really know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing. But my LLM does. I've been able to set up site-to-site VPNs with Mikrotik in fifteen minutes now, rather than the day-long exercise of googling and praying.
LLMs certainly help out - in my case, agent helped with searching through various web forums about how my ISP authenticates and sets up Internet connection.
Nevertheless let's give MikroTik, where it's due:
* new documentation page is much cleaner to browse
* tutorials on their YouTube channel are quite informative
* WinBox v4 has in my opinion much more pleasent UX/UI than v3
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#6Mikrotik is really a sweet spot for routers. It's feature-rich and it has a nice Web UI (or WinBox that is now cross-platform). And Mikrotik as a company is just amazing; they still support hardware that is almost 15 years old. Other routers: 1. OpenWRT is a bit too basic, and updates are hit-and-miss. 2. Ubiquity is a bit too Apple-like, with its reliance on apps and integration. 3. Cisco is WAY too expensive, and t…
on the other hand i got a mikrotik a while back and while setting it up it was silently phoning home.
I installed openwrt and then installed it on many mikrotik routers over the years. to be honest, not so much traditional routers (wifi+4-5 ports) but on ~10 port mikrotik switches for my infra.
i've since been switching to zyxel gs1900-* switches (up to 48 ports with openwrt)
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#7Switched to Ubiquiti, I'm quite happy except for their lack of a sane MCP.
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#8Mikrotik is really a sweet spot for routers. It's feature-rich and it has a nice Web UI (or WinBox that is now cross-platform). And Mikrotik as a company is just amazing; they still support hardware that is almost 15 years old. Other routers: 1. OpenWRT is a bit too basic, and updates are hit-and-miss. 2. Ubiquity is a bit too Apple-like, with its reliance on apps and integration. 3. Cisco is WAY too expensive, and t…
on the other hand i got a mikrotik a while back and while setting it up it was silently phoning home. I installed openwrt and then installed it on many mikrotik routers over the years. to be honest, not so much traditional routers (wifi+4-5 ports) but on ~10 port mikrotik switches for my infra. i've since been switching to zyxel gs1900-* switches (up to 48 ports with openwrt)
> i've since been switching to zyxel gs1900-* switches (up to 48 ports with openwrt)
I’m sorry what? You can run openwrt on that line of switches?
I just have a 24-port one at home running stock firmware…
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#9I’ve been very happy with Mikrotik.
Chose them partly to reduce dependence on US tech too.
Re: HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router
#10Switched to Ubiquiti, I'm quite happy except for their lack of a sane MCP.
Ubiquiti unifi has struggled to integrate routing as reliably and as well as the wireless and switching piece. Mikrotik router and unifi everything else has kind of been my go-to for at least 10 or 12y now.