There are two types of routers:
More information about current default configuration is on the back of the box. All default configurations are also listed in configuration management article.
When connecting first time to the router, you will be asked to reset or keep default configuration (even if default config is only IP address). Since we are making configuration from scratch press r on the keyboard or click on "Remove configuration" button in Winbox.
If you have a router with default configuration, the best way to connect wires is described on the box:
Connect Ethernet wire from your internet service provider (ISP) to port ether1, rest of the ports on the router are for local area network (LAN). At this moment, your router is protected by default firewall configuration so you should not worry about that. Next connect your PC to the LAN port.
Now you should be ready to connect to the Routers IP address with any of the configuration tools.
Since MAC connection is not very stable first thing we need to do is to set up router so that IP connectivity is available:
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:
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:
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)
Next step is to get internet access to the router. There can be several types of internet connections, but most common ones are:
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 |
In case of static address configuration, your ISP gives you parameters, for example:
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 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:
Further in configuration WAN interface is now pppoe-out interface not ether1. |
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
Now anyone over the world can access our router so it is best time to protect it from intruders and basic attacks
[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. |
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:
Do the same in Winbox Interface tab to block Mac Winbox connections from the internet
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:
To add other rules click on + for each new rule and fill the same parameters as provided in console example.
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.
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. |
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 or in Winbox/Webfig click on Wireless to open wireless windows and choose Security Profile tab.
/interface wireless security-profiles add name=myProfile authentication-types=wpa2-psk mode=dynamic-keys \ wpa2-pre-shared-key=1234567890 |
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:
Last step is to add wireless interface to local bridge, otherwise connected clients will not get an IP address:
?
1 |
|
Now wireless should be able to connect to your access point, get an IP address and access internet.
Now it is time to add some protection for clients on our LAN. We will start with basic set of rules.
?
1 |
|
We start with similar rules to input chain (accept established/related and drop invalid). Notice the first rule with action=fasttrack-connection
. This rule allows established and related connections to bypass firewall and significantly reduce CPU usage.
The last rule 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 ease of rule management we will add several new chains and jump rules:
?
1 |
|
Chain "bogons" drops all connection attempts from/to bogon addresses:
?
1 |
|
Create "tcp" chain and deny some TCP ports in it:
?
1 |
|
Deny UDP ports in "udp" chain:
?
1 |
|
Allow only needed icmp codes in "icmp" chain:
?
1 |
|
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.
?
1 |
|
Enable web proxy and drop some websites:
?
1 |
|
Using Winbox
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.
Problem with ping tool is that it says only that destination is unreachable. Lets say you cannot ping google.com from your PC behind the router.
Start troubleshooting. Can you ping google.com from the router?