How to set up MicroTic? Step-by-step instructions, features, tips and tricks

MikroTik hardware comes with software called RouterOS, just like a new computer usually comes with Microsoft Windows or Mac OSX installed. The manual assumes that the user is familiar with Linux and can work with the command line. The installation process takes about an hour or less. RouterOS software provides, along with many configuration options, specific solutions that will tell you how to configure MicroTic correctly.

Equipment and supplies

To install MikroTik, you will need the following devices:

1. A computer with an Ethernet port.
2. MikroTik Router and its power supply (or 24V PoE power supply).
3. Access to the outlet.
4. One Ethernet switch with two open ports.
5. Two Ethernet cables.
6. PC with serial port or USB-to-serial adapter.
7. Serial cable for connecting to the DB-9 serial console.
8. Internet connection.

Before setting up MicroTic, they check the availability of a serial USB adapter on a PC. Boot the router from the DHCP server on the local network. Boot the router from the DHCP server on the local network. The TFTP server then provides the firmware file, which is downloaded to the router’s memory. The web server provides a separate firmware file on the local network for permanent installation. These server packages can be installed on any computer.

Hardware Setup

Before setting up MicroTic, unpack the router and install external antennas, if it has such a unit. Then do the following:

1. Turn off Wi-Fi on the computer.
2. Connect one end of the LAN cable to the switch, and the other to the Ethernet port on the PC.
3. Connect a second wire between the switch and the port on the MikroTik router.
4. Connect the USB-to-Serial adapter to the computer and the DB-9 connector to the Serial Console port on the router before setting up MicroTic.
5. Set up a serial console.
6. If the user does not have a terminal program that helps access the installed consoles of the serial port, he can use a mini-computer or something like that.
7. Open the terminal and install the package by entering the first command.
8. Next, before setting up the MicroTic router, you must configure minicom to the appropriate port and data transfer rate for the router.
9. Execute the second command in the terminal line.

After which the setup menu will be presented:

1. Using the arrow keys, go to “Port Settings”. Next, do "Enter." Here you can change the serial port to an address that uses a USB-to-Serial adapter.
2. Enter “a” and change / dev / xxx to / dev / ttyUSB0 for most USB-Serial adapters.
3. Press Enter and then “e” to change the baud rate.
4. Enter “e” again to select a speed of 115,200 bps, and leave the flow control up to 8 bits without parity.
5. Click “Enter” to return to the previous menu.
6. Press Enter.
7. At this point, you can save the settings by selecting "Save setting as dfl" and press Enter. This will save the changes for the program as the default settings.
8. Scroll down and press Enter.
9. Before setting up the MicroTic router, go to the minicom program, which will wait for a signal from the serial port.
10. Leave the terminal window open if you need to proceed to the next set of steps.

Software download

Pre-launch the Netboot and Web server packages on the computer, and also make sure that the Ethernet interface has a static IP address: 192.168.xx.xxx. If you used the provided configuration file and the steps shown in the MikroTik Installation Server Setup, you can start the download.

After the servers are installed and started, connect the power adapter to an easily accessible outlet, then connect the DC power connector (or Ethernet PoE cable) to the router. If there is a power button, press it to turn on the router. The text appears on the terminal window on which minicom is executed, showing the process in order to configure MicroTic as an access point.

Next, you need to quickly press any key on the keyboard to enter the router boot menu. There are only a few seconds for this. If the user missed the deadline, the device will turn off, you will have to start the process of connecting the power to the router again. If the key is pressed in time, the user will see a menu.

This is a special menu, accessible only through the serial console, which is why an additional cable is needed.

Sequencing:

1. Select “o” - a boot device, and then select “1” to download from the network for a computer configured using DHCP, TFTP and a web server.
2. Press “x” to exit the setting.
3. The router will reboot. This time they don’t press a key, let the bootloader menu turn off.
4. The computer must provide the device a DHCP lease, find out its MAC address. It will be loaded from a file located in the library.

This will happen very quickly, then the router software will start loading.

A large number of messages will be displayed on boot. When the program stops updating, the user will see the message "Please press Enter to activate this console." And in order to finally configure wifi "Mikrotik" press Enter.

Basic MikroTik configuration

After the user has completed a few simple steps, Hotspot will be perfectly tuned. The full Hotspot configuration is divided into 4 stages:

1. The basic configuration of the MikroTik router.
2. Hotspot MikroTik server configuration.
3. Hotspot user profile configuration.
4. Creating Hotspot Users.

Before proceeding with the server configuration, the basic configuration is first performed, which includes the assignment of WAN, LAN, NAT, IP, DNS. This information is set in accordance with the provider and network. Next, the operations are performed sequentially:

1. Select your LAN IP gateway in the MikroTik router.
2. Open Winbox and log in with their credentials.
3. If the user performs this operation for the first time, then he must enter the user password.
4. Go to the IP menu, then "Addresses" from Winbox.
5. Click "Add button" to open the address window, where they enter the network address, select their WAN MikroTik interface and confirm the action.
6. Click PLUS SIGN again and enter the IP of the LAN gateway, select it from the interface, then confirm the action.
7. Enter the IP window, then the Routes Route List section.
8. Click Plus Sign, enter the address in the New Route window and confirm the data.
9. Go to the IP menu, select the DNS section, put an additional DNS address, click the add button and enter the IP DNS server.
10. Set the flag, after which the MikroTik router will act for remote queries, like a DNS server for the user. This parameter is necessary because the router will become the primary DNS server for Hotspot.

Server Tuning

After completing the basic configuration of the router, before setting up Mikrotik WiFi, configure the server on the router. To do this:

1. Go to the IP menu, then Hotspot from Winbox software.
2. In the window, click "Configure Hotspot."
3. A small window appears called Setup.
4. Select a LAN interface from the interface drop-down menu.
5. If the user has a bridge interface created before, then you need to configure the server on it, select it and click "Next".
6. The network IP gateway is automatically selected as the Hotspot address or network address.
7. Click “Next” and you can select the address pool for the server from which the IP address will be assigned to clients, as a rule, it will show the IP network without a gateway.
8. You can change the range as you wish or save it by default, then click the "Next" button.
9. If the user has an SSL certificate, you can choose to import other certificates and confirm the action with the "Next" button.
10. If there is an SMTP server, put its address in the IP S input field or leave it blank by clicking Next.
11. Configure DNS.
12. The data that is provided in the basic configuration will be selected automatically.
13. Specify the DNS name to get the Hotspot login page and click the "Next" button. The default is admin.
14. Hotspot MikroTik server configuration is complete.

Create User Profile

After configuration is completed, Hotspot servers create and configure a user profile, providing various features:

1. Assign an IP address, including a fixed one, to a user profile.
2. Fix bandwidth for users.
3. Run ads for different profiles.

The procedure for creating user profiles:

1. Go to the IP section, then Hotspot.
2. Go to the "User Profiles" window.
3. Click Plus sign to create a new user profile. The Hotspot user profile window will appear.
4. In the New Hotspot User Profile window, enter the profile name in the Name field and select IP Pool, from where the IP address will be assigned by the user in the Address Pool drop-down menu.
5. Assign bandwidth to users of this profile. To assign bandwidth, set the target download speed in the input field of the speed limit. For example, if you want to assign a speed of 1 Mbps, they write: 100000/100000, which is important when you need to configure MicroTic as a repeater in repeater mode in order to amplify the Wi-Fi signal.
6. Click “Apply” and “OK”.

Connection Characteristics

After creating the profiles, you must complete the assignments to users so that they can receive the object as consumers. Procedure:

1. Go to the "Users" tab, create a new client, click Plus sign.
2. A new user window will appear.
3. In the "New Hotspot Users" window, select "Hotspot Server" from the "Server" drop-down menu.
4. Enter the customer name and password in the appropriate fields.
5. Select a profile from the "Profile" menu that opens.
6. You can assign a fixed IP address to any user.
7. If you need to assign a fixed IP, put it in the address input field.
8. It also indicates the MAC address of the client.
9. Click “Apply” and “OK”.
10. Hotspot was created successfully. You can create as many users as you need in accordance with the steps above and assign them to different profiles to provide them with various options.

All the necessary steps to start the Hotspot service and authenticate the client on the network have been completed.

After that, the Hotspot server is tested. To do this, connect any IP to the network. After connecting, a dynamic IP will be assigned to the device from the DHCP server that was created during the server installation. Typically, it uses DHCP to assign a network address and other information needed to obtain a login page. Now open any browser web page. As a result, you can see the Hotspot server login page.

If the user, for any reason, has not received the login page, then you need to enter the DNS name that was provided when installing the server. After opening it, enter the username and password, and then click the "OK" button. Now you can visit any browser web page.

Two way access point

Before setting up MicroTic HAP lite, the user is recommended to familiarize himself with the main technical capabilities of the device:

1. HAP ac lite is a dual-competitive access point, 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz wireless network.
2. The device is equipped with 650 MHz, 64 MB memory, five 10/100 Mbps ports, PoE on the fifth port, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n 2.4 GHz, 802.11ac 5 GHz, USB, 3G / 4G with RouterOS / L4 license.
3. International classification RB952Ui / 5ac2nD.
4. Options: power supply - 1.2 A.
5. Passport frequency - 650.0 MHz.
6. The number of cores - 1 unit.
7. The size of RAM is 64 Mb.
8. The number of ports is 5, this is an important parameter that you need to know before setting up MicroTic HAP lite.
9. The type of chip is KKA.9887.
10. Primary / Secondary Wireless Data - 802.11 b.
11. Overall dimensions 113.0x89.0x28.0 mm.
12. The operating system is RouterOS.
13. Permissible ambient temperature -30 ... +70 C °.
14. The amplifier antenna is DBI2CPU / 9531.
15. Power consumption - 8.0 W.
16. The type of USB connector is A.
17. USB Power Reset - Yes.
18. The number of chains is 1.
19. Storage Size - 16 Mb.

How to configure "Mikrotik HAP ac lite", reviewed.

Protection against malfunctions

From time to time, the MikroTik router may not boot properly and may become unstable due to a configuration problem or damage to the NVRAM. This can be fixed by resetting and updating the RouterOS software using Netinstall. Before setting up the MicroTic rb952ui router, perform the following procedure:

1. Download the latest version of RouterOS from the manufacturer’s website to your computer.
2. Download the Netinstall utility and the Winbox configuration utility to your computer.
3. Run the Netinstall utility. When you first start the program, you will need to set the download settings and click the "Download Network" button.
4. Before setting up MicroTic rb952ui-5ac2nd, check the Boot Server enabled option and set the IP address that is on the same subnet as the user computer. The Netinstall server will issue an IP address to the routers that boot from it. For example, Netinstall will issue the address 192.168.11.101 for booting devices from it, while it is important that the PC has an IP address and 24 netmask in the same subnet as the address above.
5. Directly connect the computer using an Ethernet cable to the “boot interface” (usually ether1) on the router. Starting with a disconnected router, press and hold the reset button on the device.
6. After power-up, continue to hold the “Reset” button until 10-20 seconds have passed or the first “internal sound signal” has sounded. After about 1 minute, you can see the MAC address of the router in the Netinstall window.
7. In the utility, click the "Browse" button and select the RouterOS file that has been downloaded.
8. Then click the "Install" button. NetInstall will now reset the router, a progress bar will appear. When this process is completed, the “Reboot” button will appear, it should be pressed.
9. After rebooting, a new version of the router will be downloaded. Now he should also introduce a wireless interface and the user can turn on Wi-Fi by setting up a Winbox session on the router again, choosing “Interfaces”. Then right-click on the WLAN1 interface and select enable.

Alternate Model Numbers

Before setting up the MicroTic rb951g 2hnd, please note that this model is for use with UFB. Mikrotik RB951G-2HnD is a very good router with many features.

When the user takes the router out of the box and plugs it in for the first time, it most likely will not have the latest firmware version, so an update is required.

To do this, he needs to go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest mipsbe package. In Winbox, they go to the "Files" section and drag the file into the manager, you can simply restart your Mikrotik by going to the System, Reboot sections. Once everything is loaded, two beeps will sound. Then they enter the “System”, “Router” and click “Update”.

After the update, the following actions are performed sequentially:

1. Winbox is greeted on the quick launch screen. You need to use the initial configuration and fill it out.
2. Mark NAT and DHCP.
3. Change your default password and click "Apply."
4. To mark VLAN go to the interface, a blank screen will be presented on the left, press the “+” button and copy what will be on the image. For security, go to IP, then “Firewall” to assign them some interfaces.
5. Then connect the free dynamic DNS. To do this, click on IP, and then on Cloud in the left menu.
6. Press “Enabled” and “Update time”.
7. Set the time zone. To do this, go to the "System", "Clock" and change these settings.
8. Set DNS, go to the interfaces in the left pane and double-click PPPoE-Out to edit the rule that we need to change. It is located in Dial Out and is called Use Peer DNS.
9. Disabling this block ensures that MikroTik will not use the provider’s automatically assigned DNS servers.

Configure VLAN as a native interface

The first option to configure multiple virtual access points is to create a VLAN as your own interface. Bridges are then used to bind the interfaces together with the corresponding virtual AP / LAN interface. Thus, tagging is done through VLAN interfaces, not a virtual access point.

Configure a virtual access point

On the virtual side of the AP, there is a default access point or wlan1 by default. We configure one virtual access point for the public side, while leaving the VLAN mode unsigned. wlan1_Admin VLAN , VLAN.

2 VLAN. , . : lan bridge – , vlan 60 bridge – . , : ether 1 wlan 1 Admin lan bridge. vlan60 wlan vlan 60 vlan60 bridge. Mikrotik Winbox , .

« RB951Ui-2HnD» – , . «». , , , .

The AP wireless network is equipped with a completely new core processing unit, namely the Atheros AR9344. It has great power and speed, which allows the device to simultaneously serve multiple devices and users. In addition, the processor is paired with a whopping 128 MB DDR2 memory. It also includes a PoE injector, which allows you to supply electricity through an Eternet cable, which saves the user from the hassle of working with multiple wires.

He currently works with a RouterOS L4 license, which includes 15 days of initial configuration client support, unlimited EoIP tunnels and VLAN interfaces, 200 PPPoE and PPTP tunnels, 200 active access points and a RADIUS Client. It can be upgraded to L6. Unlimited tunnels, active hotspot and VLAN interfaces are available. And you can also take advantage of twenty-day customer support via email.

Tips & Tricks

Many users have successfully operated Mikrotik over the years. They have gained experience and are happy to share it with newcomers on the Internet. Here are some tips:

1. Users and passwords. By default, MikroTik Username is an administrator and it does not have a password. The first step in setting up a new router is to remove the admin user and replace him with something more secure. After logging into WinBox, the default client is admin. Before deleting it, add a new user and make sure that he can log in.
2. Access ports. Before setting up the Internet on MicroTik, you need to consider that launching services on your ports by default is an invitation to hacking. The first and safest option is to disable any services that will not be used. For example, if you do not use FTP to upload files to the router, it is better to turn it off. The same goes for telnet, ssh, and the winbox API.
3. Change ports. In the "IP Services List" window, double-click on the service you want to change. Click “OK” and fix the port number, otherwise the user will not be able to use this service. Anonymize the connection and configure VPN on MicroTika. Nowadays, it’s impossible to find out who is monitoring your internet connection. It is best to get a VPN provider. It is difficult to give any recommendations as to which service is right for you, since it depends on the specific requirements. However, experienced users recommend a provider that can supply a pptp or sstp connection.
4. Before setting up a VPN on MicroTick, click on PPP in the menu of the left panel of Winbox, then on the blue “+” and select PPTP Client. In the "General" section, you must specify the name of the connection. Go to the Dial Out tab and enter the data provided by the VPN service, for example, "add default route." This means that all traffic must be routed using this interface.
5. Manual backups must be performed before setting up the MicroTic hap lite router. The best way to back up is to export files that have terminal commands that are needed to duplicate an existing configuration. It also has additional flexibility, allowing you to export a specific part of the configuration, for example, Firewall.