What would you like to see more or what changes in the RouterOS Manual.
Detailed criticism is welcome.
User Manager is well out of date.
Hi mrz,
Hotspot universal client and one to one nat need more description.
In the typical setup of the SOHO, it is often the case that ability to access the Internet depends on the (misconfigured) device. E.g. my home network uses CRS125 to transport provider’ vlan to router, so a mistake means that I cannot access the manual until I figure out and fix what was broken.
It would be very useful to be able to get offline snapshot of the whole manual, e.g. in the pdf. Some time ago there was ability to select several wiki pages for pdf book output, but this was equally inconvenient since you have to know in advance what parts of the manual you need.
Revised and updated usage examples. Many of the examples and tutorial scripts are horribly outdated and some do not even work any more. Many examples also do not apply to real-world situations as they were created so long ago.
Usermanager/Hotspot needs the entire manual to be ripped and replaced it is so bad/old/incomplete.
Firewall needs serious updating (All sections)
QoS needs updating, as well as more usage examples with updated scenarios.
I also would like to see an updated downloadable manual. Not nice when you need the manual, but don’t have access to the internet.
I realize this request is possibly crazy, but is there a way to incorporate the manual into the actual router hardware/firmware? So you have the ability to press a help button in web/win/box and see a page dedicated to what you are doing?
Many people are missing general networking knowledge. Without the knowledge it is very difficult for them to understand the manual and make the settings they need. Normally they mostly do not know what they look for…
I would suggest to make at least hypertext links of all signifiant words to their definitions and explanations to provide additional info for the readers to understand what each word stays for.
More examples (especially in combinations and with webfig pictures) would be also helpful for them.
That was something that could help to newbies.
Now from my point of view, I would appreciate the immediate update of the manual and having possibility to select ros version to which the pages should display correctly - It means, if I use 6.27 now, but the last is 6.29 (almost), I would like to be able to set my version on top of the page and get always only content fully relevant to 6.27 ignoring (or maybe marking) the differences against the newer versions.
On top of the versioning system, I would like to have possibilty to compare two versions (for example 6.27 to 6.29) and see the differences only to know, whether I need to harmonize my configurations due to version change or not.
A good manual in my eyes, needs pictures of examples made via CLI and GUI “Both”
Otherwise the topic is tough to follow.
The User Manager commands (on the command line that is) are not described at all anywhere in the manual. That’s one of the biggest missing pieces IMO.
Then there’s some scripting quirks that aren’t clarified in the scripting page at all, such as type conversion rules. In particular, I’d like to see something like these tables, but for RouterOS’ scripting language.
As newbie myself - I would find it super-beneficial if you had section on “transition from conventional SOHO router to RouterOS” and examples of all of the typical setup stuff like port forward, static IPs, port triggering, setup for VOIP phone, setting up VPN. It’s all there but lot of it outdated, iterface names don’t match on whats default on router, etc. As mentioned above - would be very nice to have general short TCP/IP section and terminology explanation.
Document the Fast Track functionality with a few examples now that RouterOS 6.29 will be released.
LAN multicast forwarding. The manual only talks about 2 routers. It seems nobody gets it to work for subnets, myself included.
Please please please add more information and reorganize/consolidate on how to use the switch chip functionality for non CRS and CRS. I would say that there should be one link on how to use all switching features for RouterOS. It would just be faster.
Please use examples with Cisco as the main comparison.
For example.
To make a trunk port, please do this. On a Cisco the equivalent configuration would be this. With a bonus explanation of multiple tagged vlans on a trunk port.
To make an access port, please do this. On a Cisco the equivalent configuration would be like this.
I tried to use the switch chip to add multiple tagged frames on the same switch across different ports and it failed when I tried to do that. I haven’t spent much time trying to figure it out as I’m studying for other certs. However I will spend more time on it.
That’s what I can think of off the top of my head.
Thank you.
It shouldn’t be a manual for Cisco.
CRS switches implementation guide updated and with some intro to differentiate a switch from router
Manual improvements ?? What manual?? Mikrotik hasn’t had a decent manual since version 2.9 !!! And that’s a fact.
Yes, I am frustrated with lot of stuff concerning your recent software and hardware products, but my intentions are pure, so please, bear with me till the end of this post and maybe you would end up wanting to have a “beer with me” 
My first contact with Mikrotik was around version 1.x which was distributed on several floppy disks. At that time I was still wandering WTF is the router and why would I want to have one. Step by step, I was improving my knowledge and definitely fell in love with the whole idea and became a MT preacher while nobody in my surrounding didn’t even heard about it (that preaching escalated nowdays in largest Mikrotik user group on LinkedIn with more than 4000 followers from all over the world).
I’ve humbly pilgrimed to first MUM in Prague, was enchanted by the things I’ve seen, and proud to shake hands with Mr. Tully.
I have introduced 2.9.27 MT router (pirated… sorry) installed on PC, to a huge company that I was working for at the time and eventually replaced it with RB 150’s and RB1000, and that was only the beginning…
First thing I have done, when i’ve started some serious work, was to print the manual. I still have it. It is in very poor shape, but I still, from time to time, find a reason to look at it. For years I was carrying it with me as a “holly book with all the answers”, which in most situations, it was.
In my humble opinion, nothing can replace a book well written !!!
No html, php or any other searchable format displayable on the screen will ever took over.
So, the first thing I would like to see is comprehensive pdf formated manual.
If we know that 2.9 manual had a 709 pages, I expect the current version to have no less than 1000.
Each new feature has to be added promptly and new version of manual has to be released together with new release of ROS.
As for the content, I always had a few objections like: if there is a public address in the example, use public, don’t use 10.1.15.1 and declare it public. It can be confusing for the beginner who is trying to mirror described example to his own situation.
Every function or feature has to be accompanied with the most common real life example and best practice advice. Nothing can be left to user imagination and empirical reasoning.
It’s a huge task, I know, but once you almost had it done (2.9) and I don’t see any reason not to do it again.
Bear in mind that the large number of your followers are home users for whom the MT is the first contact with serious networking, and your role is not simply to supply the product, but to act educationally as well.
I sincerely hope that there is a considerable number of like minded people and expect them to declare themselves as such.
Thanks for your patience, and I wish you all the best in the future..
WebFig operations along with command line instructions?
If we know that 2.9 manual had a 709 pages, I expect the current version to have no less than 1000.
Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Command Reference Release 12.2 is 974 pages long.
Cisco IOS Master Command List, All Releases from: January 27, 2014 is 580 pages long…ONLY THE INDEX of all possible commands.
Each new feature has to be added promptly and new version of manual has to be released together with new release of ROS.
Amen.
Portable command guides are more than welcome…
Can we expect some kind of case studies in which we can lab and test various types of configurations?
“Netinstall” documentation needs update for new features.
And in “Upgrading RouterOS” page do not describe “Auto Upgrade” as kind of upgrade way.