Mikrotik RB 1200 Setup

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badboyswimmer

n00b
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May 25, 2012
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Hello Y'all,

I have been looking for a new router that can handle intensive bandwidth for my office which can handle vlans, QoS, bandwidth management, VPN/VPN Passthrough, and perhaps multi-WAN/Load Balance. A friend has recommended the Mikrotik RB 1200 for my application, having looked at the product the feature set seems to be quite extensive and the price point is very attractive. The router is also rack mountable (a big plus!!!), my question is wether the router is relatively easy to configure/manage. I have managed/installed other routers such as the Cisco SMB series but I have no experience with Mikrotik. I am very tech savvy and have a moderate knowledge of network infrastructure. I have heard so may different responses to the simplicity and I would like y'all to weigh in before I purchase the router. (OR WHATEVER RACKMOUNTABLE ROUTERS YOU RECOMMEND FOR SMB)

Thanks!
 
The mikrotek units are not simple/

Considering your level of tech knowledge, I would say go for it, but expect a steep learning curve especially if you intend to use the advanced feature set.

They are very capable and reliable devices, but I wouldn t call the interface easy nor would I ever recommend one to a newbie.
 
No router with the flexibility of Mikrotik's RouterOS is simple - but the Winbox table-based setup really is pretty straightforward. You have to understand the routing concepts you are working with, but you don't have to learn some cryptic command line interface to do it.
 
Thanks everyone for replying! Is anyone familiar with the reliability for Mikrotik products? We are planning to use this router as primary means of connecting to our SIP based IPPBX service. Ideally we would enjoy maximum uptime... and how do Mikrotiks preform with hosted SIP services? Do Mikrotiks in general require little rebooting and is it considered "Carrier Grade/ 99.999% uptime"? Or does anyone have other routers around the $300-400 price range they would consider a better fit for my application?

Thanks!!!
 
You won't get a more reliable or more feature rich or powerful as a Mikrotik in that price range. Once you learn all the terms and whatnot, its not that bad. Their forums are helpful as is.
 
I've been using them for over two years and never had a failure. Small sample size is probably not valid, but I'm certainly satisfied with their reliability.
 
It's been very reliable for me, though I'm used to having a cisco cluster for maximum availability (use Mikrotik at home).

But I don't think you can count on 99.999% with any single device, you'd even need to have a spare wan connection to count on it. I'm not sure how portable the configs between different mikrotik devices are, but one option would be to have a cheaper less performing second cold unit that has the same configuration and can be used in case of hardware failure.
 
Zyxel USG stuff is coded on BSD and offers High availability which should get you to 99.999% uptime, If you are running two units with failover. But its not going to be as inexpensive or as capable (feature set) as the Mikrotek unit.

I am note certain about the high availability features that Mikrotek offers, but if they do offer HA, you'll probably be pushed out of your price range. But that is the price if you have to have that level of uptime.

I checked with my former employer and the Zyxel USG 100 I install there is still running and hasn 't been restarted since Feb 2011 when I installed it.
 
Mackintire said:
Zyxel USG stuff is coded on BSD and offers High availability which should get you to 99.999% uptime, If you are running two units with failover. But its not going to be as inexpensive or as capable (feature set) as the Mikrotek unit.

I am note certain about the high availability features that Mikrotek offers, but if they do offer HA, you'll probably be pushed out of your price range. But that is the price if you have to have that level of uptime.

I checked with my former employer and the Zyxel USG 100 I install there is still running and hasn 't been restarted since Feb 2011 when I installed it.
Click to expand...

PS - I keep seeing you say it, it's MikrotIk not MikrotEk. ;)
 
Oh Cool! Thanks Everyone for the recommendations.

I will be looking into the ZyXel product lines as well as the Mikrotik 1100 AH lines. Im leaning toward the Mikrotik line :) I wanna experiment with that product... try something new!

As for the firewalls... I haven't really set up (manually) firewall services and I was wondering how complicated is it on the Mikrotiks and is it relatively secure?

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my NUMEROUS questions !!!
 
Mikrotik has pretty comprehensive set up instructions on their wiki, though there's not really any "all you need to do step by step guide", but for the firewall I recall seeing something in that direction.
 
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