Hi,
I am in the market for a Mikrotik switch, but have no experience with the different types / series of Mikrotk switches available, and would like know which series (CRS1xx, CRS2xx, CRS3xx, CSxxx, etc) you prefer and why, what are the problems / concerns out there regarding Mikrotik switches, etc.
Vlan’s will definitely be involved, future might require C & S Vlan’s
And go … 
im not an expert
y will share my findings and personal opinions
biggest problem with CRS line is:
mikrotik promoting CRS as a router causes confusion and bad buying and implementation design by the users, in fact mikrotik reaches the point of promoting crs switches as a layer 3 switch, that’s very bad
mikrotik must have the will to tell customers that the routing functionality in a CRS switch is very limited
the problems with CRS1xx and 2xx:
difficult to configure for those who are not familiar with the switching lingo
some 1xx do not support some things, while other 1xx have the same features as 2xx, very confusing
crs1xx and 2xx pros:
very powerful and versatile surpassing most of switches on their price range(the 1xx without advanced functionalities lack some features but still very capable)
having routeros on a switch its a powerful tool to manage and monitor the switch something unique in the industry (please do not use CRS switches as a router)
problems of CRS 3xx
lack of features in comparison with crs 1xx and 2xx (in switching)
still in development
crs3xx pros
cheaper and widely available
better promoted between resellers
widest range of models and options
problems CSS3xx
lack some features in switching in comparison with CRS 3xx
pros
unbeatable price
CSS106
problems:
much less features than CSS 3xx
pros
very useful for low port count scenarios
For all CSS line i think a very missed feature is the possibility to discard unknown unicast and unknown multicast (like routeros CRS)
its very useful specially for wisp to save airtime on radios
I would also say I am not an expert, but I have several and they are in daily production use.
First one I got was a RB260GS. Depend on time of year, it has somewhere between three and all six ports in use (the sfp is an electrical gigabit interface). It is out in a brick column in my front yard so it gets hot and cold. It has been there for about 4 years and just runs.
Next up is a CRS-326-24G-2S that was accidentally shipped instead of a CSS-326 that I had ordered. The vendor figured a swap was not worth their effort and told me to keep the CRS. I am running it in SwitchOS as I intended it to be used strictly as a switch. It is located in an air conditioned radio room up on mountaintop radio site that is connected to my house via a 5.5 GHz microwave path. It has about 2/3 of the ports in use - almost all of them at 100 Mbps. Neither sfp is in use. It’s been in service about two years now and it also just runs.
Last year I replaced one of my HP 10/100 switches here in my family room with a CSS-326-24G-2S. It has about 3/4 of the ports in service with a mixture of 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 1 Gbps. One sfp is a 1 Gbps electrical interface and the other is Multi-mode fiber (not yet in service, but tested). I had some issues where the switch would lock up as a result of my DSL modem going nuts, but after replacing the DSL modem, that problem has disappeared. I have no idea what the DSL modem was doing to it, but it would not pass traffic connected traffic through the switch. A power cycle would fix it.
Last year i also replaced a dumb switch in my attic with a CSS106-5G-1S (current version of the RB260GS). Like the other RB260, it has had anywhere from three to all six ports in use. The electrical sfp back to the family room switch being the only one operating at gigabit. Being in my attic, this switch is exposed to severe temperature extremes. As I’m typing this, it is a measured 139.6 degrees F up there and my high a few weeks ago was just under 150 degrees F. The lowest temperature I have seen up there is about 30 degrees F. Like the other one, it just runs.
A couple months ago I purchased another CSS-326-24G-2S to replace my last 10/100 switch. Because of other projects, I have configured it, but not yet put it into service. I will go into my air conditioned data cabinet. It will have almost all 26 ports in use. One sfp will be an electrical gigabit (to the first mentioned RB260GS), and the other will be a multimode fiber link to the family room CSS-326.
All of these make extensive use of virtual LANs - I currently have 15 VLANs in service at my house (yea, I know not normal, but there is a reason for it). Except for the original RB260GS which is running SwitchOS version1.16, all of the newer switches are running SwitchOS version 2.7. I have been very happy with the Mikrotic switches.
Thank you for your input, much appreciated, my thinking is between the 2 below, any reasons for the one over the other?
CSS 326-24G-2S+RM https://mikrotik.com/product/CSS326-24G-2SplusRM
CRS328-24P-4S+RM https://mikrotik.com/product/crs328_24p_4s_rm
PoE or no PoE…
No PoE required
I have CRS125 and CRS326
working very well for C-vlan and S-vlan
but i prefer CRS326 because it has 2 SFP+ 10Gbps
I do not like CSS versions, coz NO winbox
best regards
Thx guys,
Based on input from all, decided on CRS326-24G-2S+RM