Hi all, I apologize if this is not a very appropriate question, but in the vast amount of information on the internet, I'm a little confused. Can you please tell me which router is suitable for use at home? I would appreciate your help!

What are your requirements? Are you talking about WIFi routers? Do you need more than 1 LAN cable ports too?

What is your skill level with IT in general and what experience do you have with routers thus far.
What does your budget look like?
What are your needs (ISPs one or more), throughput. Wired and WIFi ?
Many devices ??? Any special requirements

All of MikroTik's routers are potentially useful at home. What varies is what goes on in that home, which sets the answers for which of those routers are appropriate.

If you want something little better than your ISP would provide, MikroTik gear is overkill.

If you want something with a pointy-clicky GUI that keeps you from doing stupid stuff, RouterOS is likely to frustrate you with its complexity. RouterOS has GUIs, but if the list of available MikroTik routers confuses you, WinBox, WebFig, and the mobile apps are likely to positively blow your mind.

Software that prevents you from doing stupid things tends to also prevent you from doing really clever things. This is where RouterOS comes into its own: for users who know what they're doing and are willing to put the time into a custom configuration that does precisely what they want.

RouterOS is for those who've often opened up the GUI on their ISP-provided router and said, "But why can't I just…!" RouterOS lets you identify that "just" condition and solve it.

Analogy:

Can I drive to Rome with that car ?
Yes, you can.

Can I also take the complete dining room with me ?
Errm ...nope. That would require a truck.

Requirements.
What is needed ? What do you want to do ? How savvy are you ?

It depends, but Id say for 99% of all home user is ROS way to complex and will frustrate the end-user.

For the classy home-setup without VLANs, DMZ, multi-WAN, multi-SSID, a cheapo 50 to 100 Euro router with a colourful and nice GUI is much better. Most of these devices provide much more than MT, like a (little) PBX, Media-Streaming, POTN-VoiP converter, VPN and so on... but they are way more limited on the routing aspect.

On the other hand, if you are willing to learn network(ing) in-depth, go for a MT.

If you want a ROUTER, go for MT.
If you want an IAD (Integrated Access Devices) with a sexy GUI, MT is not your device.

Need Wifi, the house is not very big - 3 bedrooms. 3 gadgets (tablets and laptop). Internet is needed for everyday use, Watching movies, sometimes working from home. To be honest I'm not very good at this, thought it would be easier to choose.

Need Wifi, the house is not very big - 3 bedrooms. 3 gadgets (tablets and laptop). Internet is needed for everyday use, Watching movies, sometimes working from home.

@Marvinjul, you need to provide much more info:
1 ... Where are you located [USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East etc.]
2 ... What speed -- down/Up -- has your ISP providing you with and the make and model of Gateway your ISP has installed]
3 ... What size is your Home and in which rooms do you want Wifi Coverage

IMO MikroTik is EXCELLENT for Home use ...

Need Wifi, the house is not very big - 3 bedrooms. 3 gadgets (tablets and laptop). Internet is needed for everyday use, Watching movies, sometimes working from home. To be honest I'm not very good at this, thought it would be easier to choose.

Mikrotik is like a Swiss army knife, capable of doing almost anything you can think of when it comes to advanced settings but also requires some special skills to manage it.

Thus, If you're not familiar with networking stuff in general I'd recommend you to have a look at other brands specifically made for the consumer market like asus, netgear tp-link etc.

IMO MikroTik is EXCELLENT for Home use ...

Absolutely, if you're good to face some pretty hard challenges when things doesn't work as expected (for a regular SOHO user that is).

Absolutely, if you're good to face some pretty hard challenges when things doesn't work as expected (for a regular SOHO user that is).

The very same can be said for any so called consumer brand device like Netgear, TP-Link, Asus, D-Link. etc. regardless of the fact that all these brands are PHD.

PHD = Push Here Dummy

What separates MikroTik from the rest of the field is its functional capability to empower it's users when the desire [will] is there at a very affordable price. When the desire is there that POWER is addictive

Well, I get your point but the user interface in these consumer market models are tailor made for that particular purpose thus you really can't compare them to Winbox. MT doesn't have a corresponding solution that is adapted solely to be used by the end consumer (and please don't play the "Quick Set" card )

I think it's great choice when you need more than just simple "plug it in and browse the internet" router. Things like VLANs, multiple VPNs, ability to configure everything in detail, only your imagination is the limit. Ok, it's slightly worse, there are of course some limits, but compared to usual home routers, where there's support for few things that people usually need, but you need to fit in standard template, it's huge difference. You can get even more from something Linux-based with access to all internals (which RouterOS doesn't provide), but those don't have WinBox. And WinBox is fantastic, whoever came up with that idea should get a statue!

There are some downsides, sort of. You can do more, but in order to do so, you need to know more, or be willing to learn a bit. And also be careful, because if you decide to shoot your own foot, system will be happy to help, meaning that it won't say "no". But there's no need to be too scared of that, because there's simple default config that works, so you can start with that and everything will be ok. And when you need more, you can start looking around, at your own pace. Or let someone else configure it for you, main point is that it's possible.

There are some downsides, sort of. You can do more, but in order to do so, you need to know more, or be willing to learn a bit. And also be careful, because if you decide to shoot your own foot, system will be happy to help, meaning that it won't say "no".

But there's no need to be too scared of that, because there's simple default config that works, so you can start with that and everything will be ok. And when you need more, you can start looking around, at your own pace. Or let someone else configure it for you, main point is that it's possible.

because there's simple default config that works and is good enough for 98% of the population regardless

@sob .... you hit the NAIL squarely on its head

Some friendly advice regarding disadvantages and to prevent a possible divorce, I do recommend buying two machines!

One with standard configuration for a rock solid internet with the sole purpose to achieve domestic peace and long term stability and the other one for playing around with when learning how to configure RouterOS. Believe me, you don't want a nagging wife and screaming children around as soon as the internet stops working!

Just my two cents..

Ps..
If you're willing to learn RouterOS there are a lot of useful guides in this forum: "Useful user articles"

Need Wifi, the house is not very big - 3 bedrooms. 3 gadgets (tablets and laptop). Internet is needed for everyday use, Watching movies, sometimes working from home. To be honest I'm not very good at this, thought it would be easier to choose.

Just curious how you discovered MikroTik routers?

What was the reason for considering a MikroTik router?

• A friend recommended it

• You saw it recommended on Amazon

• You saw it recommended on Youtube

• You found with a Google search

While what Mozerd says "there is a default that works for 98%" may be true, I would not recommend a MikroTik, pfsense or Edgerouter (or even OpenWRT) edit: (and definitely not Cisco IOS) to someone that isn't technically inclinded and just wants a network appliance they can plug in and answer a few simple questions.

While the MikroTik will allow that with "quickset", once you find you want to modify something, you will be lost quickly, and as Sob said, RouterOS has no blade guards so it is easy to make mistakes that it will not prevent.

Does your ISP not provide a home router solution, or is there something missing in it that you need?

The MikroTik is very much like the picture labeled woman in this article, compared to a "consumer" based router (more like the one labeled man).

If you enjoy tweaking, you will love the MikroTik, but that doesn't sound like the case from what you posted.

If you want to learn networking, do as Larsa recommended and get two, one to use, one to learn on (while is it using the first as its "internet" connection in a "lab"). And only play on the lab router.

The MikroTik is very much like the picture labeled woman in this article, compared to a "consumer" based router (more like the one labeled man).

LOL, Good comparison, mate

Thank you so much for your help! From your answers, I realized that it's not that easy, but apparently it's worth it. I will try to read the information and figure it out.

Analogy:

Can I drive to Rome with that car ?
Yes, you can.

Can I also take the complete dining room with me ?
Errm ...nope. That would require a truck.

Requirements.
What is needed ? What do you want to do ? How savvy are you ?

I like that a lot!
Just had MikroTik Sxt LTE6 and Hapac Lite installed to access internet via 4G.
After decades in IT support (and the usual involvement in comms troubles - even though I am not a specialist) led me to delve into the excellent docs on RouterOS and fair play to the developers and maintainers! That took some engineering! I was absolutely amazed to see the same format for modem commands I used to use to program the old routers in the 80's!

The system worked for a few hours but is dead currently. However, that may be due to ongoing EE issues in this area (South Wales).

Modem command haven't changed that much since '80s.

<1200 baud sound tsjirping in memory...>

Ah - I wonder if my issue is similar to some others where the solution was to update the firmware.

Resetting the modem and disabling and re-enabling the LTE1 interface always results in the same: The suppliers initially saw some errors with the SIM but am I correct in thinking that if the SIM card was dead we would not see an imei?
(Sorry if there is another forum for this type of question!)

... am I correct in thinking that if the SIM card was dead we would not see an imei?

Actually IMSI is property of SIM ... IMEI is property of terminal device (i.e. modem R11e-LTE6).
3 of most significant digits of IMSI defines country (234 is United Kingdom) and next two digits defines operator within that country (30 in UK means T-Mobile; so does 31 and 32). The rest is SIM's serial number.
6 of most significant digits of IMEI defines TAC (Type Alocation Code) which defines combination of producer / device model. 356662 is for Mikrotik R11E-LTE6 device. Next two digits is kind of revision / SW version and can change with software upgrades. The rest of IMEI is serial number.

Since modem sees IMSI, this means it somehow cummunicates with SIM. But that doesn't mean that SIM is flawless or that SIM is correctly provisioned in MNOs data bases. So it really depends on what exactly "suppliers saw some errors with the SIM" actually means ...

... am I correct in thinking that if the SIM card was dead we would not see an imei?

Since modem sees IMSI, this means it somehow cummunicates with SIM. But that doesn't mean that SIM is flawless or that SIM is correctly provisioned in MNOs data bases. So it really depends on what exactly "suppliers saw some errors with the SIM" actually means ...

Thank you for that excellent overview of a technology I never thought I would need to learn about!

Having set logging for LTE, the modem kindly produced this message (among many others) this morning:
lte1: rcvd +CME ERROR: SIM not inserted

I think it is time to try the replacement SIM.

I note that the interface has been set up to select only Band 3 whereas local towers have bands 3 and 20. Is it useful to select 20 too?

I am very grateful for the help. When I saw the volume and depth of contributions on this forum I knew that MikroTik products were a few steps above what I have dealt with at home in the past. I still have a collection of routers from Sky, PlusNet, BT etc.

For the SIM card not inserted error you could try to put a layer or two of scotch tape on the back of the SIM card in order to make it a little thicker. If you make the tape longer than the SIM it’ll make a nice tag for you to pull on in order to take the SIM out next time. That error seems to come up frequently. I had it with an LTaP LTE6 device and the tape fixed it.


Assuming your LTE modem will do carrier aggregation you will want to select 20 as well. I use the same bands in my area and have 3,20 checked. If you select only one band it will only use that band. Selecting none at all is the same as “auto” if I recall right.

Assuming your LTE modem will do carrier aggregation you will want to select 20 as well. I use the same bands in my area and have 3,20 checked. If you select only one band it will only use that band. Selecting none at all is the same as “auto” if I recall right.

But shouldn't it use CA automatically (Carrier Aggregation) ?
LTE device located in France is supposed to be using 7 and 3. But whenever I try to force it, it breaks the connection.
Only when leaving stuff at auto, I see under load B3 being added as CA next to primary B7 (which still results in a measly 10/4, sometime 20/12 when I'm lucky but more then good enough for what I need there).

I assumed that each band carried multiple channels and they were aggregated by some technical magic.

I had a really annoying problem last night which I eventually worked out was due to my flitting back and forth using ethernet cable to talk with EE broadband router (which I think is an old version of the BT homehub) and WiFi to talk with the MikroTik router. When I switched back to Ethernet the DNS just failed dismally. I had hard-coded the ip details in Win10 and just used the router address as a DNS server.

Here is a clue to the problem:
The primary DNS is an IPv6 address and the secondary is that of the new router - even though I had specific automatic in the Win10 GUI.

As the EE router does not support IPv6 it could not perform the look ups. Bouncing the PC did not help.

I got around it by inserting an invalid IPv6 address for the DNS server so it switched back to a standard global server:
I put the details here in the unlikely event that someone else falls foul of it!

I would like to change the 88 subnet to zero so I can merge the new devices with the current ones. As some are static for Raspberry Pi's, cameras and the like I do not want to attempt to alter the lot to change subnet masks. From what I can see it should be a matter of tweaking the addresses from the app or web interface and changing the DHCP details.

But shouldn't it use CA automatically (Carrier Aggregation) ?
LTE device located in France is supposed to be using 7 and 3. But whenever I try to force it, it breaks the connection.
Only when leaving stuff at auto, I see under load B3 being added as CA next to primary B7 (which still results in a measly 10/4, sometime 20/12 when I'm lucky but more then good enough for what I need there).

It does if you don’t select any bands manually, just as you have observed. The modem should lock on to wherever bands it sees based on strength/quality of signal. The problem I’ve had is that it doesn’t always mean I get the best service. Seems you have the same issue. There may be multiple emitters around you that are using band 3 and 7 it’s possible that the modem isn’t locking on to the right one. There’s a way you can force a lock. SiB has a very comprehensive LTE write up. In my case, if I leave the setting at auto my modem will frequently lock on B1 and B20. This is a fast connection but is of mediocre quality. B3 and B20 gives me a very good quality connection with a bit less throughput. But even then I still get >100mbps/20 or 25mbps. Can’t complain.

Sorry if I have missed an obvious topic or forum but is there any advice around for changing the modem's and router's addresses so I can merge the devices in my existing network?

I have created quite a detailed plan to do so but I would like someone to check out if I have missed something.

For the SIM card not inserted error you could try to put a layer or two of scotch tape on the back of the SIM card in order to make it a little thicker. If you make the tape longer than the SIM it’ll make a nice tag for you to pull on in order to take the SIM out next time. That error seems to come up frequently. I had it with an LTaP LTE6 device and the tape fixed it.


Assuming your LTE modem will do carrier aggregation you will want to select 20 as well. I use the same bands in my area and have 3,20 checked. If you select only one band it will only use that band. Selecting none at all is the same as “auto” if I recall right.

Thank you for the advice! The replacement card is working a treat but what a git of a job up a tall ladder and ham-fisted fingers! I shall keep the lte logging going and if the sim disappears I shall try that excellent scotch tape engineering mod! I selected band 20 too. I will attempt to work out which one it is actually using.

I came down this morning to a dead internet due to not running LTE.

Log has many of these errors: and Any ideas on those?

Ah - it seems that EE "are aware of a technical problem with this site". I will try again when they fix whatever it is on their side.