In our recent colocation work at Hetzner’s Helsinki-area data centre, all the networking hardware was MikroTik. Routers, switches, management interfaces — the whole layer. This is not unusual for us; MikroTik has become a standard choice in our infrastructure projects. It is worth explaining why.
What MikroTik Is
MikroTik is a Latvian company, founded in 1996, that manufactures networking hardware and develops RouterOS — the operating system that runs on their devices. They sell everything from small home routers to rack-mounted core routers and managed switches capable of handling serious traffic.
Their hardware is manufactured at their own factory in Riga. For those who pay attention to supply chain questions — and in the current environment, more people do — a European vendor with European production is worth noting.
RouterOS: What Makes It Different
The software side is what sets MikroTik apart for technically minded users. RouterOS is a full-featured network operating system with capabilities that rival equipment costing many times more. Routing protocols (OSPF, BGP, MPLS), firewall, VPN (WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPsec), traffic shaping, and detailed monitoring are all available — not as expensive add-ons, but as part of the base system.
The learning curve is real. MikroTik devices are not plug-and-play for users expecting a simplified interface. RouterOS rewards people who want to understand what is actually happening on their network. Winbox, the native management GUI, is functional rather than beautiful. The CLI is powerful and well-documented.
For network engineers and infrastructure professionals who are comfortable with that kind of tool, MikroTik provides a level of control that consumer and lower-end SMB hardware simply cannot match.
The Licensing Model
This is where MikroTik genuinely stands out compared to the enterprise networking market.
RouterOS is licensed at the hardware level. When you buy a MikroTik device, it comes with a RouterOS license included — perpetual, no annual renewal, no subscription required to keep using the features you paid for. The license tiers differ in capability (connection limits, tunnel counts, and similar parameters), but the basic model is: you buy the hardware, you own the software.
Compare this to Cisco, where software subscriptions, SmartNet support contracts, and feature license add-ons can easily cost more than the hardware itself — and where letting a subscription lapse can disable features that were previously working. Or Juniper’s Junos advantage program, or Fortinet’s various subscription layers.
MikroTik also offers CHR (Cloud Hosted Router) — a RouterOS version that runs as a virtual machine. CHR licensing is usage-based rather than perpetual, but the free tier is genuinely functional and the paid tiers are priced reasonably.
None of this means MikroTik is perfect. Their enterprise support is not in the same league as Cisco TAC. Their documentation, while extensive, is not always consistent. Some features that exist in RouterOS have behaviour that requires testing rather than just reading the manual. These are real considerations for environments where professional vendor support is a requirement.
But for organisations that have capable IT staff (or a partner like TechWise handling the networking layer), MikroTik delivers professional-grade results at a price point that makes the decision straightforward.
Where We Use MikroTik
In our infrastructure work, MikroTik shows up most often in:
- Colocation and data centre networking — core routing, inter-VLAN routing, BGP peering where needed
- Client office networking — firewall, routing, VPN endpoints, managed switching
- Remote access infrastructure — WireGuard-based VPN servers, often on CHR
- Monitoring and visibility — SNMP support, NetFlow/IPFIX export for traffic analysis
The Hetzner Helsinki project involved MikroTik at every layer: edge routing, internal switching, and out-of-band management access. The hardware performed as expected, the configuration was transparent and auditable, and the cost was a fraction of equivalent Cisco or Juniper hardware.
If you are planning a network infrastructure project — whether for a new colocation setup, an office, or a hybrid environment — and want to understand what MikroTik could offer in your specific situation, it is worth a conversation.