The last time i had used RouterOS was back in 2010 or so and had a RouterBOARD 493G - a nine port 10/100 [w/ POE] and while I still have it, it is well outdated for my needs.
I am looking at getting the class 4 license for RouterOS itself w/o any additional hardware so I can install it and use a dedicated PC to act as a router/gateway/firewall/IDS type system. I have three 10Gbit NIC cards installed - One for WAN the and the other two for either 1 or 2 LAN subnets.
My question: Is going with Mikrotik OS a viable solution to handle my rather simple at home needs? I know its designed to be used with a WISP moreso than anything. Is RouterOS still easy to setup for my situation?
I have a 5Gbit symmetrical fiber line from Metronet [now part of T-Mobile] w/ a statuc IP. I am using an Asus gaming router [WiFi 7] and use it just for my phone and my Asus laptop. A 10Gbit switch behind it handles PC's and all other devices. I much rather prefer an OS type of system....like RouerOS or Zentynal or ClearOS.
Hello, I personally only used CHR on Proxmox as I had difficulties installing x86 on bare metal setup so I would advise you to go in CHR direction. There is a step by step tutorial on Mikrotik official youtube channel.
Second thing is, RouterOS doesn’t have IDS/IPS features nor deep packet inspection (If you want Next gen firewall RouterOS unfortunately doesn’t provide that just yet.)
So in conclusion, if you can make compromise on those two things then, if you have powerful enough hardware to run RouterOS on it, it will do the job. But if you really need/want advanced features like IDS/IPS then you you should be looking towards unifi,fortigate etc.
I am considering RouterOS as a software router on my own PC, and for my home setup it looks viable if I only need routing, firewall, VLANs, and basic features. I understand it does not offer IDS or IPS, so if I can live without next gen security, RouterOS or CHR should work fine on capable hardware.