Could you try the solution that works on the CRS125 to see if it also resolves the CRS226 slow routing issue?
Please see the following post: http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/lower-isp-speeds-after-swapping-450g-to-crs125-24g/85665/9
Hammer,
Thanks for the tests.
I can confirm 6.15 has a much higher throughput on my CRS125-24G-1S than latest 6.27.
I had some time to waste, so I went through all RouterOS versions from 6.15 to 6.27 to see where it broke : 6.21 is where I lose 50% from performance.
Maybe someone from Mikrotik will see this and investigate a little more. So far, 6.20 is the fastest.
Cheers!
Kinda fun how people intend to use a switch to do routing, A switch is a L2 device and not a L3,
While it the CRS allow you to use some L3 function it doesn’t means that it will route at wire speed nor even close in fact it haven’t been even designed to do so, routing is a resource intensive process that cannot be carried at high level on such low powered CPU,
My advice is buy a separate router there are Mikrotik router that can do 600 Mbit + for around 80-100 USD and come even with a SFP cage,
Hi Alael
Yes, the ‘CRS’ series is a Switch or? (CRS Cloud Router Switch) but …
- This is for a family, but with VPN function
- I have tested it before and had no problems with the speed
- This is not true. Example: HP has more Layer 3 switches as Layer 2
but without a firewall, NAT, etc.
I had no chance to get the settings or newer firmware to test locally. Should I be on it, I can test it then.
Switches in routers in the non “soft” world are the same thing these days.. IPs/routes get programmed in hardware and forwarded at line rate.
I wish MT would actually start programming the forwarding tables in the switch chips to make them line rate routers.. that’d be the cats PJs.
i think the confusion started with marketing statements from mikrotik about CRS series establishing it as a layer 3 switch.
In networking a layer 3 switch its a layer 2 switch with some layer 3 capabilities at wire speeds like routing build in in hardware ASIC.
CRS is NOT a layer 3 switch
CRS is a layer 2 switch plus a router (600mhz single core cpu 128 mb ram) embedded in for management purposes, that explains why newer and powerfull CRS 2xx has a lower performance router (400mhz), its only for management purposes.
of course we can take advantage of the embedded router capabilities, but taking in account the limited performance of router functionalities.
With this in mind we must focus efforts on exploiting hardware switch capabilities, that is the purpose of CRS series, provide a layer 2 switch alternative to compliment the existing router products.
Examining CRS switching capabilities, the potential its awesome, i am impressed with the pool of extensive options avaliable to use, practically mikrotik exposes all switch chipset capabilities to the delight of networking engineer.
Its necessary to work documenting this huge capabilities in especific escenarios to make the CRS a practical solution.
I think important points to do this are:
Do not try to do with switch the work suited for a router
Do not try to do witch router the work suited for a switch.
Concentrate efforts on Switch capabilities, (switch menu on winbox) use the other funtionalities only for device management purposes.
I personally have verified following mikrotik CRS examples on version 6.27 and works as expected:
Port Based VLAN
Mac Based VLAN
Port Level Isolation
Protocol Level Isolation
Thats a start to replace other vendor switches with CRS.
take in count CRS miss some key market functionalities:
802.1x authentication
STP and RSTP for loop prevention.
Link Aggregation compatible with other vendors (LACP)
ACL (on CRS 1xx is not supported)
QoS are extensive but its totally different from router os queue tree and simple queue strategies
QoS on hardware switch of CRS its based on industry commonly known as hierarchical modular qos which is widely documented from mayor vendors of the industry.
exploiting CRS huge switching functionalities requires study but the reward its huge, getting provider class functionalities with a 200US switch its simply a win win
If you are new to the switching topic you must familiarize with that, manageable switches are different in purpose and capabilities from routers, and in many cases mikrotik users are very familiar with routers but not manageable switches.
I’m looking at buying a CRS226-24G-2S+ since it has two 10Gbps SFP+, however I came across this read while doing research which has me a bit worried about L3 performance.
I’m hoping to connect this to a VDSL2 service that provides 100Mbps down / 40Mbps up with the following features ideally handled by the CRS:
- PPPoE for the Internet providing IPv4 and IPv6
- A few VPNs (PPTP/L2TP - no more than 3 or 4 concurrent)
- NAT for the Internet
- Couple of firewall rules for inbound from the Internet to a server
Am I pushing my luck with this on the CRS on its own?
The 226 is a low performance router. It is not similar to the 2011.
The 125 is similar to the 2011.
Same result 25/12 with CRS125-24G-1S-2HnD-IN simple masqarade 
Not sure why this old topic got re-opened, these devices are switches and shouldn’t be used for routing. If you want to do so anyway, know what you are getting!
But your results are incorrect for a CRS125. It’s able to do around 200 to 300Mbps of NAT (use fasttrack, etc.). Also check earlier in the topic where I linked to a possible setting issue causing slower speeds than necessary. If you have a CRS226, the speeds you posted are inline with what is to be expected. It’s a switch.
p.s. Just as an update, because this topic is very old. In the current RC versions of RouterOS, STP has been implemented for CRS devices.
Yes, this topic scared me when I wanted to upgrade my internet to a supposedly 1Gbps connection, but the posts here are outdated and/or wrong.
I’m running a CRS125-24G and for me it routes at 700Mbps WAN to LAN through PPPoE > VLAN > ETHER1 with masquerade NAT. Still has 20% CPU idle, when it’s doing it. More than enough for most situations where you would use it. That’s with FastTrack of course.
I expect with good configuration you would get at least half that performance on the 226.
I am extremely happy with the product. Not only is it a single device which replaces both a switch and a router, but it also performs amazingly.
Just wanted to say I fell for that device, too. Why a ‘Cloud Router Switch’ should not be used for routing is beyond me, but I’m using it as a Switch now…
How would you call a switch you attach to a router? Just a switch? Me too.
For sure there are applications where such switch can be nicely used as a router too. But none can complain about the performance when it is used so.
People probably get confused because other manufacturers market “L3 switches” that you could also name a “router/switch”
but those actually route at wirespeed. I remember that when I first got a 1Gbit L3 switch at work I was amazed at the routing
performance it had, relative to our Cisco 3600 router at the time.
However, the routing functionality of such a switch is often less than that of a MikroTik CRS. Basic models have only
static routes and sometimes RIP. Expensive models can have BGP but often limited. Tunneling is not possible, let alone
encrypted tunneling. However, as a router between VLANs, and between company sites connected by transparent ethernet
metro networks, they perform just fine.
The MikroTik CRS just isn’t in that class. It does not do routing in the switch fabric. When you want a true L3 switch, don’t
shop at MikroTik. Go to Aruba networks, Cisco, etc.
When you actually want a fast router (not a switch), you can get a MikroTik CCR. But you will need a proper switch in addition.
this device is terrible, it becomes a toy.
I switch the cables from the server to crs 326-24g-2s+rm
I have configured my routing settings, passes half the traffic 450mbit.
processor is loaded on 70% / no losses, but not passes all traffic