Connecting to the Router
There are two types of routers:
- With default configuration
- Without default configuration. When no specific configuration is found, IP address 192.168.88.1/24 is set on ether1 or combo1, or sfp1 .
More information about current default configuration can be found in the Quick Guide document that came with your device. The quick guide document will include information about which ports should be used to connect for the first time and how to plug in your devices.
This document describes how to set up the device from the ground up, so we will ask you to clear away all defaults.
When connecting first time to the router with the default username admin and no password, you will be asked to reset or keep default configuration (even if default config is only IP address). Since this article assumes that there is no configuration on the router you should remove it by pressing "r" on the keyboard when prompted or click on "Remove configuration" button in WinBox.
Router without Default Configuration
If there is no default configuration on the router you have several options, but here we will use one method that suits our needs.
Connect Routers ether1 port to the WAN cable and connect your PC to ether2. Now open WinBox and look for your router in neighbor discovery. See detailed example in Winbox article.
If you see the router in the list, click on MAC address and click Connect.
Simplest way to make sure you have absolutely clean router is to run
/system reset-configuration no-defaults=yes skip-backup=yes
Or from WinBox (Fig. 1-1):
Configuring IP Access
Since MAC connection is not very stable first thing we need to do is to set up router so that IP connectivity is available:
- add bridge interface and bridge ports;
- add IP address to LAN interface;
- set up DHCP server.
Set bridge and IP address is quite easy:
/interface bridge add name=local /interface bridge port add interface=ether2 bridge=local /ip address add address=192.168.88.1/24 interface=local
If you prefer WinBox/WeBfig as configuration tools:
- Open Bridge window, Bridge tab should be selected;
- Click on + button, new dialog will open, enter bridge name local and click on OK;
- Select Ports tab and click on + button, new dialog will open;
- select interface ether2 and bridge local form drop-down lists and click on OK button to apply settings;
- You may close the bridge dialog.
- Open Ip -> Addresses dialog;
- Click on + button, new dialog will open;
- Enter IP address 192.168.88.1/24 select interface local from drop-down list and click on OK button;
Next step is to set up DHCP server. We will run setup command for easy and fast configuration:
[admin@MikroTik] /ip dhcp-server setup [enter]
Select interface to run DHCP server on
dhcp server interface: local [enter]
Select network for DHCP addresses
dhcp address space: 192.168.88.0/24 [enter]
Select gateway for given network
gateway for dhcp network: 192.168.88.1 [enter]
Select pool of ip addresses given out by DHCP server
addresses to give out: 192.168.88.2-192.168.88.254 [enter]
Select DNS servers
dns servers: 192.168.88.1 [enter]
Select lease time
lease time: 10m [enter]Notice that most of the configuration options are automatically determined and you just simply need to hit enter key.
The same setup tool is also available in WinBox/WeBfig:
- Open Ip -> DHCP Server window, DHCP tab should be selected;
- Click on DHCP Setup button, new dialog will open, enter DHCP Server Interface local and click on Next button;
- Follow the wizard to complete the setup.
Now connected PC should be able to get dynamic IP address. Close the Winbox and reconnect to the router using IP address (192.168.88.1)
Configuring Internet Connection
Next step is to get internet access to the router. There can be several types of internet connections, but most common ones are:
- dynamic public IP address;
- static public IP address;
- PPPoE connection.
Dynamic Public IP
Dynamic address configuration is the simplest one. You just need to set up DHCP client on public interface. DHCP client will receive information from internet service provider (ISP) and set up IP address, DNS, NTP servers and default route for you.
/ip dhcp-client add disabled=no interface=ether1
After adding the client you should see assigned address and status should be bound
[admin@MikroTik] /ip dhcp-client> print Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid # INTERFACE USE ADD-DEFAULT-ROUTE STATUS ADDRESS 0 ether1 yes yes bound 1.2.3.100/24
Static Public IP
In case of static address configuration, your ISP gives you parameters, for example:
- IP: 1.2.3.100/24
- Gateway: 1.2.3.1
- DNS: 8.8.8.8
These are three basic parameters that you need to get internet connection working
To set this in RouterOS we will manually add IP address, add default route with provided gateway and set up DNS server
/ip address add address=1.2.3.100/24 interface=ether1 /ip route add gateway=1.2.3.1 /ip dns set servers=8.8.8.8
PPPoE Connection
PPPoE connection also gives you dynamic IP address and can configure dynamically DNS and default gateway. Typically service provider (ISP) gives you a username and password for connection
/interface pppoe-client
add disabled=no interface=ether1 user=me password=123 \
add-default-route=yes use-peer-dns=yes
Winbox/Webfig actions:
- Open PPP window, Interfaces tab should be selected;
- Click on + button, and choose PPPoE Client from the dropdown list, new dialog will open;
- Select interface ether1 form dropdown list and click on OK button to apply settings.
Further in configuration WAN interface is now pppoe-out interface not ether1.
Verify Connectivity
After successful configuration you should be able to access internet from the router.
Verify IP connectivity by pinging known IP address (google DNS server for example)
[admin@MikroTik] > /ping 8.8.8.8 HOST SIZE TTL TIME STATUS 8.8.8.8 56 47 21ms 8.8.8.8 56 47 21ms
Verify DNS request
[admin@MikroTik] > /ping www.google.com HOST SIZE TTL TIME STATUS 173.194.32.49 56 55 13ms 173.194.32.49 56 55 12ms
If everything is set up correctly, ping in both cases should not fail.
In case of failure refer to troubleshooting section
Protecting the Router
Now anyone over the world can access our router so it is best time to protect it from intruders and basic attacks
User Password Access
[admin@MikroTik] > / password old password: new password: ****** retype new password: ******
This command will change your current admin's password to what you have entered twice. Make sure you remember the password! If you forget it, there is no recovery. You will need to reinstall the router!
You can also add more users with full or limited router access in /user menu
Best practice is to add new user with strong password and disable default admin user.
MAC Connectivity Access
By default mac server runs on all interfaces, so we will disable default all entry and add only local interface to disallow MAC connectivity from WAN port.
[admin@MikroTik] /tool mac-server> print Flags: X - disabled, * - default # INTERFACE 0 * all
/tool mac-server disable 0; add interface=local;
Do the same for Winbox MAC access
/tool mac-server mac-winbox disable 0; add interface=local;
Winbox/Webfig actions:
- Open Tools -> Mac Server window, Telnet Interfaces tab should be selected;
- Click on + button, new dialog will open;
- Select interface local form dropdown list and click on OK button to apply settings;
- From the list of entries in Telnet Interface tab select all and click on x to disable selected entry.
Do the same in Winbox Interface tab to block Mac Winbox connections from the internet
IP Connectivity Access
IP connectivity on public interface also must be limited. We will accept only ICMP(ping/traceroute), IP winbox and ssh access.
/ip firewall filter add chain=input connection-state=established,related action=accept comment="accept established,related"; add chain=input connection-state=invalid action=drop; add chain=input in-interface=ether1 protocol=icmp action=accept comment="allow ICMP"; add chain=input in-interface=ether1 protocol=tcp port=8291 action=accept comment="allow Winbox"; add chain=input in-interface=ether1 protocol=tcp port=22 action=accept comment="allow SSH"; add chain=input in-interface=ether1 action=drop comment="block everything else";
In case if public interface is pppoe, then in-interface should be set to "pppoe-out".
First two rules accepts packets from already established connections, so we assume those are OK to not overload the CPU. The third rule drops any packet which connection tracking thinks is invalid. After that we set up typical accept rules for specific protocols.
If you are using Winbox/webfig for configuration, here is an example on how to add established/related rule:
- Open Ip -> Firewall window, click on Filter rules tab;
- Click on + button, new dialog will open;
- Select chain input, click on Connection state and select checkboxes for established and related;
- Click on Action tab and make sure action accept is selected;
- click on Ok button to apply settings.
To add other rules click on + for each new rule and fill the same parameters as provided in console example.
NAT Configuration
At this point PC is not yet able to access the Internet, because locally used addresses are not rout-able over the Internet. Remote hosts simply does not know how to correctly reply to your local address.
Solution for this problem is change the source address for outgoing packets to routers public IP. This can be done with NAT rule:
/ip firewall nat add chain=srcnat out-interface=ether1 action=masquerade
In case if public interface is pppoe, then in-interface should be set to "pppoe-out".
Another benefit of such setup is that NATed clients behind the router are not directly connected to the Internet, that way additional protection against attacks from outside mostly is not required.
Port Forwarding
Some client devices may need direct access to the internet over specific ports. For example, client with IP address 192.168.88.254 must be accessible by Remote desktop protocol (RDP).
After quick search on Google we find out that RDP runs on TCP port 3389. Now we can add destination NAT rule to redirect RDP to the clients PC.
/ip firewall nat
add chain=dstnat protocol=tcp port=3389 in-interface=ether1 \
action=dst-nat to-address=192.168.88.254
If you have set up strict firewall rules then RDP protocol must be allowed in firewall filter forward chain.
Setting up Wireless
For ease of use bridged wireless setup will be made, so that your wired hosts are in the same Ethernet broadcast domain as wireless clients.
Important part is to make sure that our wireless is protected, so the first step is security profile.
Security profiles are configured from /interface wireless security-profiles menu in terminal.
/interface wireless security-profiles
add name=myProfile authentication-types=wpa2-psk mode=dynamic-keys \
wpa2-pre-shared-key=1234567890
in Winbox/Webfig click on Wireless to open wireless windows and choose Security Profile tab.
If there are legacy devices which do not support WPA2 (like Windows XP), you may also want to allow WPA protocol.
WPA and WPA2 pre-shared keys should not be the same.
Now when security profile is ready we can enable wireless interface and set desired parameters
/interface wireless
enable wlan1;
set wlan1 band=2ghz-b/g/n channel-width=20/40mhz-Ce distance=indoors \
mode=ap-bridge ssid=MikroTik-006360 wireless-protocol=802.11 \
security-profile=myProfile frequency-mode=regulatory-domain \
set country=latvia antenna-gain=3
To do the same from Winbox/Webfig:
- Open Wireless window, select wlan1 interface and click on enable button;
- Double click on wireless interface to open configuration dialog;
- In configuration dialog click on Wireless tab and click Advanced mode button on the right side. When you click on the button additional configuration parameters will appear and description of the button will change to Simple mode;
- Choose parameters as shown in the screenshot, except for the country settings and SSID. You may want to also choose different frequency and antenna gain;
- Next click on HT tab and make sure both chains are selected;
- click on OK button to apply settings.
Last step is to add wireless interface to local bridge, otherwise connected clients will not get an IP address:
/interface bridge port add interface=wlan1 bridge=local
Now wireless should be able to connect to your access point, get an IP address and access internet.
Protecting the Clients
Now it is time to add some protection for clients on our LAN. We will start with basic set of rules.
/ip firewall filter
add chain=forward action=fasttrack-connection connection-state=established,related \
comment="fast-track for established,related";
add chain=forward action=accept connection-state=established,related \
comment="accept established,related";
add chain=forward action=drop connection-state=invalid
add chain=forward action=drop connection-state=new connection-nat-state=!dstnat \
in-interface=ether1 comment="drop access to clients behind NAT form WAN"
Rule set is similar to input chain rules (accept established/related and drop invalid), except the first rule with action=fasttrack-connection. This rule allows established and related connections to bypass firewall and significantly reduce CPU usage.
Another difference is the last rule which drops all new connection attempts from WAN port to our LAN network (unless dstnat is used). Without this rule if attacker knows or guesses your local subnet, he/she can establish connections directly to local hosts and cause security threat.
For more detailed examples on how to build firewalls will be discussed in firewall section, or check directly Building Your First Firewall article.
Blocking Unwanted Websites
Sometimes you may want to block certain websites, for example, deny access to entertainment sites for employees, deny access to porn and so on. This can be achieved by redirecting HTTP traffic to proxy server and use access list to allow or deny certain websites.
First we need to add NAT rule to redirect http to our proxy. We will use RouterOS built in proxy server running on port 8080.
/ip firewall nat
add chain=dst-nat protocol=tcp dst-port=80 src-address=192.168.88.0/24 \
action=redirect to-ports=8080
Enable web proxy and drop some websites:
/ip proxy set enabled=yes /ip proxy access add dst-host=www.facebook.com action=deny /ip proxy access add dst-host=*.youtube.* action=deny /ip proxy access add dst-host=:vimeo action=deny
Using Winbox:
- On the left menu navigate to IP -> Web Proxy
- Web proxy settings dialog will appear.
- Check the "Enable" checkbox and click on "Apply" button
- Then click on "Access" button to open "Web Proxy Access" dialog
- In "Web Proxy Access" dialog click on "+" to add new Web-proxy rule
- Enter Dst.Host name that you wan to block, in this case "www.facebook.com", choose action "deny"
- Then click on "Ok" button to apply changes.
- Repeat the same to add other rules.
Troubleshooting
RouterOS has built in various troubleshooting tools, like ping, traceroute, torch, packet sniffer, bandwidth test etc.
We already used ping tool in this article to verify internet connectivity.
Troubleshoot if ping fails
Problem with ping tool is that it says only that destination is unreachable, but no more detailed information is available. Lets overview the basic mistakes.
You cannot reach www.google.com from your computer which is connected to MikroTik device:
If you are not sure how exactly configure your gateway device, please reach MikroTik official consultants for configuration support.