I am utterly confused with this switch compared to cisco

RouterOS Beginner Basics
1
  1. How do I set a default route for the whole switch?
  2. How do I tag VLAN’s on certain portrs.
  3. Why is there a VLAN under bridge, and then VLAN’s under interface. What is the difference?
  4. How come I can’t bond ports when it’s under the bridge interface, and I have to take it off the bridge, isolating those ports from the rest of the switch?
  5. How do I bond two sfp+ ports so I can connect it to another Mikrotik switch?

I am so utterly confused by this interface, the help section is all command line, and I want to work in WinBox.

I am using the WinBox interface, becasue I wouldn’t even know where to begin with the CLI. ZSo please help me through the GUI.

I have the CRS328-24P-4S+RM

2

As per the write up on the product page, are you using this as a switch (use SwOS), or a router (use RoS)?

3

You’d find out yourself eventually, WinBox and CLI have same structure, so any CLI examples can be easily applied using WinBox. That’s one reason why you see CLI examples everywhere. The other is that what can be expressed using few lines in CLI would usually need significantly more WinBox screenshots. Too much work for anyone to do, and easier for user to get lost in.

Routes are configured in IP->Routes.

VLANs under bridge are for configuring bridge/switch. VLANs as interfaces are when you need the router to participate in them, not just bridge/switch traffic.

There’s this popular and long thread about VLANs: http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/using-routeros-to-vlan-your-network/126489/1

Personally I like examples in manual (https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Interface/Bridge#Bridge_VLAN_Filtering). I find them good enough to understand how it works. First three are for basic switching/bridging. The fourth about management access shows how to add VLAN as interface to it. You’d do the same not only for management, but for any kind of access, routing between VLANs, etc.

I can’t help you with bonding.

4

What is the Cisco model that you are comparing?

Regards.

5

Some of these have already been replied to fairly well, so I just have a few comments.


This is also done with Cisco with exactly the same distinction. On Cisco switches you have vlan definitions (ex. type “vlan 25” or whatever at the command prompt and then give it a name) and “vlan interfaces” (ex. “interface vlan25”). Every VLAN should be defined in the Cisco switch but only those VLANs that the switch itself needs an IP on should have a vlan interface. Bridge/VLAN is the equivalent of “vlan ##” on a Cisco switch and Interface/VLAN is the equivalent of “interface vlan##”


  1. How come I can’t bond ports when it’s under the bridge interface, and I have to take it off the bridge, isolating those ports from the rest of the switch?

You misunderstand - after removing the ports from the bridge to add them to the bonding interface, you then should add the bonding interface itself as a port on the bridge.


  1. How do I bond two sfp+ ports so I can connect it to another Mikrotik switch?

Remove the two SFP+ ports from the bridge, create a bonding interface, add the ports as members of the bonding interface, and then finally add the bonding interface as a new port on the bridge. Make sure you use 802.3ad instead of the default balance-rr for the bonding interface, otherwise hardware offload will be deactivated.