Mikrotik hEX S Ethernet Black Router, 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s, 10/100/1000BASE-T (X), Black, 256 MB, 11 W, CC

With proper fibre to the premises finally arriving, my trusty Draytek 2860 became a chokepoint in the network - it just wasn't capable of handling 300Mbit/s. The Hex S definitely is - my connection (nominally 300M) is around 320 symmetric. I work from a home office and have numerous servers and other network gear hosted behind this router, spread over 4 VLANs as well as the usual myriad devices of a modern family home. The biggest asset of this device in my opinion is the sheer flexibility on offer; in terms of power it can be run off anything from 12V to 57V, supplied either through a standard barrel plug or through a PoE injector on port 1, or both simultaneously - this lets you connect it to multiple PSUs to provide redundancy and I can confirm that it will seamlessly continue to work if one PSU drops out. I have mine powered by a 802.11AF injector which means I can also use the router to power a UniFi access point from port 5 on the router - extremely convenient. If you use a suitable PSU on the barrel jack input it can also provide 24V "passive" PoE on port 5, another potentially useful option. In terms of software, I am not a fan of Mikrotik's RouterOS; it is certainly flexible and powerful but configuring things like VLANs is frankly a nightmare no matter which of the many configuration interfaces you use. I do use RouterOS on some devices but with this one I fairly quickly decided it wasn't worth the hassle and flashed the Hex S with OpenWRT. This works perfectly and I would strongly recommend it for most use cases of this router. In summary, I'm delighted with the performance of this router as well as the flexibility of the design and at this price it is excellent value for money.

This is a very powerful router with enterprise-class features, but you will probably need some knowledge of network protocols and terminology to get it working. Using the built-in RouterOS, all the features that the hardware supports are enabled without any further licences (hello netgear?) and the breadth of configurability is very impressive. There are some very welcome quality-of-life enhancements, such as WinBox, the configuration utility for Windows (and now Mac), that connects to the router using its MAC address, so even if you screw up the IP addressing you can still connect and fix it. Brilliant! It also has a point-and-click web interface and an SSH terminal if you prefer those options. In fact the device can be configured entirely from the command line and supports scripts just like linux (on which it is based) - the possibilites are endless. You can bridge the ports together or split them into separate networks, with a DHCP server on each - VLANs, bridges, MPLS, queuing, QoS, Dot1x - it's all here. I'm using it to terminate my 500Mbps FTTH service which is supplied on a VLAN, and the firewall and logging are worth it alone. I have one vLAN for my wireless mesh access points and another just for devices that need uPnP, thus limiting the risk of rogue devices opening up ports to the outside. This is an example of the fine-grained control you can get into, and is impossible on the typical router your ISP provides. Also regarding the Hex-S, it is perfectly capable of handling my 500Mbps connection and I suspect it could also handle a 1Gbps uplink if it is not over-utilised. I read somewhere that the real-world throughput tops out at about 750Mbps. The one caveat I would highlight is that this device is not suitable for the average user, you really need to be IT savvy to get the best from it (or to just get it working!), but if you know your stuff the sky is the limit. Also, because the OS is common across all the routers, if I need to upgrade in the future, I will already know the interface/commands.

This router is excellent both for those who are new(ish) to networks and those who are experienced. Using the setup wizard, you can set up a basic, secure, network with little to no networking knowledge. But for those who have more advanced requirements, this is probably the single most configurable router you will be able to find at this price point. After trying out an EdgeRouter X and not getting the sort of throughput I was expecting, I gave this a try. With very little configuration, I was getting my full 500 Mbps+ Internet speed with no slowdowns. PoE was also a breeze to set up - just plug in the power brick, connect my wifi AP to port 5 and it worked straight away. I was then able to fairly easily configure the router to work with my existing IoT vlan. I've also tried out some of the graphing and traffic monitoring features and not noticed any slowdown. So in summary, if you're running less than 1 Gbps down stop thinking about it and just buy this router, you won't be let down. It's an absolute steal for the price.

What you get for your money is absolutely amazing, and could cost you 10 times this price for other makes of router. For anybody with a little network knowledge this would be fine. Mikrotik now have a home setup app that will help many people. One of the beauties of this router is that if you outgrow it you can just take your config to another Mikrotik router, and carry on. PS: I have this working on BT FTTP, with BT TV (which requires the router to support multicast routing)

I wanted a new Router to replace my Ubiquity USG - VPN set up on ubiquity is C$!*p. Got this up and running in about 10 minutes with the basic out of the box set up. Then the fun started - hours of youtube later I have this set up with VLAN's for WIFI, LAN and IoT. Maxing out my Virgin 350Mb Internet with no problem. Only issue I have is that the SFP port only works when it is part of the LAN and I wanted to use it as my Internet connection ( for when I Possibly have Fibre to the house) - still working this out! Great router Enterprise grade software - cant fault it really for the price. Update - had to return the router as i could not get the SFP port to work as the WAN port - someone else might be able to ...

There's virtually nothing that this device can't do in terms of networking. However, the bridging/switching/routing architecture takes some getting used to, and since the configuration is very much tied to the architecture, if you're new to RouterOS it can be a long process (days or weeks) from when it arrives to having it doing it what you want in your network. Having said that, it's well worth the effort. One of these and two or three managed switches (like the Netgear GS108PE) and the options are limitless. I have a couple of Ubiquiti Wireless APs, and so have 5 SSIDs and 6 VLANs at home, some IPv4 only, some dual-stack, one IPv6 only and one isolated IPv4 VLAN for the CCTV cams. It's a whole lot of fun for the money.

There is nothing I dislike about this product, it is great for learning more about networking, security and custom configuration. Many years of study to be had

The Mikrotik hEX S Ethernet Router is no consumer grade detritus. This is fully-functional enterprise device with all the associated trappings. If you don't know your IP from your elbow, this is not the product for you. It is highly configurable on a per-port basis. Unfortunately, the default "out of the box" configuration was moronic. Why is the only port accepting PoE (to power the device) designated as WAN port? A WAN port from which is prohibited by the default firewall from accessing the webgui! Wasted time with a merry dance finding a power socket and a PC with two NICs... Why is life never easy?

Where do I start with this.... The hex s is an absolute power house, don't let its small form factor fool you...... The features of this router is well beyond every consumer router out there. Tho it is not for the faint of heart, I mean, you can plug and play and be on your way...... But going beyond that....steeeeep learning curve, but if that's your thing, like myself, I came into this thinking I knew a lot about networking.....nope..... Been an amazing learning tool, and the community is super helpful. Routeros on this is so customizable its insane, 1000% recommend!

Best device ever. If you know how to configure this, its a very powerful device! Much Satisfied!

Adoro Mikrotik , non è il primo che compro, secondo me sono prodotti eccellenti, versatili e molto stabili. Alcuni Router sono accesi da anni e non mi hanno mai dato problemi. Cosa mi piace. -Se siete in grado di farlo e ne avete la necessità , potete usare anche configurazioni complesse. -Se siete neofiti , la configurazione di base consente di avere la Wan sulla ethernet 1 e la Lan su tutte le altre porte. Successivamente nulla di vieta di usare configurazioni più complesse una volta capito come funziona. Attenzione, in configurazione base, questo tipo di router non deve essere esposto su internet se non è stato opportunamente messo in sicurezza. Nulla di complicato, con un pò di pratica e sfruttando le numerose guide on line potete renderlo sicuro e stabile. -Se volete migliorare la vostra comprensione sul networking , con due o tre di questi router vi potete divertire parecchio. -Mikrotik ha dei server ddns. Abilitando la funzione cloud , potete raggiungere facilmente il router da remoto, anche con IP dinamico. Non potete decidere il nome host o i dominio , il nome host corrisponderà al numero di serie del router , ma per determinati scopi va benissimo anche così, anzi, si possono implementare configurazioni fantasiose ed utili per gestire le address List , per raggiungere un router remoto senza ricordare il suo ip o il nome host , o per configurare l'' Hairpin Nat , tanto per citarne alcune. -Mi piace molto il firewall, posso avere tutto sotto controllo. Credo di aver letto su internet che il suo funzionamento ricorda vagamente le iptables di Linux, che conosco molto poco, anzi per niente, ad ogni modo i comandi mikrotik, secondo me, sono ben strutturati e molto comprensibili. Usando winbox, il software di gestione del router, si può essere spiazzati inizialmente, ma con il tempo esso fornirà una panoramica chiara , strutturata e comprensibile della configurazione del firewall e di tutte le altre funzioni. Cosa non mi piace -Per ottenere certi risultati ci sono strade diverse per una stessa funzionalità, questo perché il router supporta diversi protocolli e metodi e qui la situazione si complica, e non poco. Ad esempio, per le per le vlan occorre comprendere che alcuni tipi di configurazione hanno un impatto più elevato sulla cpu ma sono semplici da implementare. Altri metodi, invece, sfruttano le capacità hardware del chip che gestisce lo switch e quindi non pasano sulla cpu, ma la configurazione è diversa, più complicata, ed i chip installati in questi router non sono tutti uguali , a seconda dei casi essi possono avere diverse capacità di gestire un certo numero di host table , vlan table e rule table. Per questo motivo , prima di acquistare un router sarebbe meglio andare sul sito Mikrotik , cercare "Manual:Switch Chip Features" , stabilire quali sono le vostre esigenze e le vostre aspettative e soltanto dopo decidere quale tipo di router comprare. Sul sito ci sono informazioni dettagliate su quale tipo di Chip Switch è installato sui vari modelli. Trovo questo metodo e questa trasparentza eccellenti, perché prima di acquistare posso decidere cosa comprare in funzione di ciò che mi occorre , ma questo richiede tempo, pazienza e pò di studio se siete neofiti. Lo stesso discorso vale per altre funzionalità , ad esempio le vpn. Ci sono diversi modi per configurarla, mi vengono in mente wireguard ed openvpn. Ho fatto diversi tentativi con entrambe ma non ci sono riuscito , sicuramente a causa di un mio limite o a causa di errori concettuali. Ho configurato 2 router mikrotik diversi su lan diverse , che si affacciano ad internet con 2 IP pubblici diversi ottenuti via client pppOe (attestati alla stessa linea). Non ci sono riuscito , ma ripeto , sicuramente sbaglio io. Ho successivamente creato un altra vpn, con wireguard ed usando 2 peer, il router stesso ed un cellulare, e qui funziona perfettamente e con ottime prestazioni. In questo modo, raggiungo il NAS senza esporlo direttamente ad internet. - Su Mikrotik , si possono installare funzionalità aggiuntive ma alcuni modelli non hanno memoria sufficiente per installare tutti i pacchetti che vi vengono in mente , ad esempio su questo modello che ha solo 16 MB su scheda madre (hEXs - RB760iGS) ho installato il pacchetto "The Dude" , si tratta di un network monitor con il quale ho sotto controllo tutta la rete. È stato necessario comprare una micro SD per salvare i database (se non ricordo male si può usare anche una pen drive o un hard disk USB) e comunque sia ho esaurito la memoria interna del router e non posso installare altro. Non è consentito installare pacchetti aggiuntivi su micro sd esterna, quest'ultima consente solo di mappare unità da usare come storage di dati. Ad ogni modo , per esigenze particolari si può optare per router più performanti e costosi oppure si possono usare più router ed assegnare a ciascuno un compito diverso, se possibile. In conclusione , se conoscete Mikrotik , sapete di cosa parlo , se non la conoscete , potete tirare su un laboratorio per studiare e mettere in pratica tutto quello che vi viene in mente e comunque sia , avrete un router valido ed affidabile per gestire la vostra rete personale usando il router del vostro ISP solo per ottenere la connettività internet.

I purchased this after upgrading my 75Mbps Comcast service to 1Gbps. My Sonicwall NSA220 could not handle the 1Gbps throughput. Was getting around 250Mbps max with the Sonicwall. So I went on a venture to find a cheap solution. The Comcast cable modem rental box that was given, was very basic. I could not change DNS, etc. So I returned the Comcast monthly rental. Purchased my own Arris SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, and this Mircotik Gigabit router. Worked like a charm! I now have gigabit speeds, and no longer paying Comcast monthly rental fees to service my Comcast modem. I suspect I will recoup all my cost in 1.5 years. (PROS) - Cheaper then a Sonicwall TZ500 (MSRP $1,200) - Did I mention how inexpensive! LOL - Getting Gigabit speeds with basic setup, a few NATs and DDNS setup! - Small footprint size. - Fast boot times. - Has a quick setup for very basic setup, for non IT people. - Built in DDNS like service, for dynamic public IPs, that have a need to check security cameras, NAS boxes, servers, VPN, etc. Eliminating the need for dyndns.org, no-ip.org etc.. Reminds me of Synology quickid service, etc. - 5 port gigabit switch. I used port 1 as Comcast WAN Input, and the remaining 4 as LAN. - I did all my config and management via web browser at 192.168.88.1. i.e. I did not download and use the winbox config software. (CONS) - Interface OS is not as polished as Sonic OS, but works. But I am biased. - Not as many interfaces as a Sonicwall TZ500. - Interface / OS requires IT knowledge. Basic End user, like my mom, wife, kids, grandparents, etc.. would NEVER be able to figure it out. - I, as an enterprise certified Sonicwall Systems Engineer, had to watch youtube videos on how to create hairpin destination NATs, etc. Its just not as obvious. Or you have to get to know where to find things, and how their OS works, but its manageable, once you get to know their layout and methods. - The power adapter is a basic barrel plug into the Microtik Router. Power cable has fallen out a few times, while moving the router around. It is fine if left untouched. Just wish they would have added some type of quick release power connection, as the majority of these devices do.

O equipamento funciona muitíssimo bem! Aqui está cumprindo o papel de fazer o balanceamento dos links de internet, além de fazer a separação das redes da casa e do homelab. Mas a curva de aprendizagem é íngreme, não é muito intuitivo e mesmo algumas coisas que deveriam ser lógicas, não são muito.