The world should know, Mikrotik is NOT reliable.
My CCR1036 (Old design with only one PSU) has 4 PSU failed in a row for each year. I just need to switch to another router to keep the internet on.
It’s ridiculously faulty design for a vital network device supposed to run 24X7 365 days a year, failed each year on PSU.
Good to know, thanks for sharing with us. Indeed probably an isolated batch where the PSU units were sourced from a different, probably Chinese supplier who in turn did not deliver according to required/promised specifications. Ideally MikroTik should have conducted their own tests on the batch before passing them on to customers, but who knows what happened. Not the best sign either way
I have decades of experiences on SonicWall, Fortigate, and Cisco, most of them are made in China, but i never experienced the same ridiculous PSU failure like Mikrotik. The core functions of firewalls (router) is the software, that’s why we pay license fee each year to Fortigate. The hardware is suppose to be the carrier of all the functions of the software, it is supposed to be there always, stable and consistent.
Firewall (router) supposes to run 24X7, 365 days a year. Mikrotik cannot even compete with my USD 150 ASUS Wifi Router on up time. Cheap can be a good thing but it cannot reduce the fundamental quality of servicing hours, or no one will dare to use it again.
Not only software bug, my CCR1036 got 4 times PSU failure since 2018, average 1.5 year with one PSU failed.
Bad cheesy cheap hardware design, my LED display fall into the case and need me to glue it to the case.
The value of Mikrotik over Fortigate, Cisco, SonicWall, etc. is cheaper, but only when Mikrotik products working the same hours.
If cheap Mikrotik hardware breaks much often than Fortigate, Cisco, Sonicwall, it has no value to users. The cost to fix the broken
Mikrotik will be high and not worth it considering it cheap.
I totally agree with you, and it’s become a tread mark form mikrotik
Well if you consider mikrotik is walking on your network, I suppose tread fits!! ( ‘trademark’ ). Concur, it seems that we are seeing an incomplete software process or maybe not.
First, I blame the beta users, working for free and doing a lousy job of detecting all the new beta firmware problems 
Up your game peeps, no time for holidays and half efforts!!
Second, I blame the end user that want tomorrow’s fixes, yesterday!
Third, I blame the lack of resources MT puts on these releases and specifically the millionaire or more owners, to cheap to sell their second yachts to fund software work.
To be frank, most software processes induce unwanted errors, that didn’t exist before. These errors are usually demonstrated/found at the system test level as most coders are only testing the functionality within a closed limited environment and thus in isolation the code works. This is one of the purposes of IV&V FQT (verification) at the system level by independent company testers at the organization, and then acceptance testing (validation) by an independent body - usually trained software endusers ( sadly it would appear MT relies on beta testers for this function ). The FQT asks the question, does the code act according to design - did we build it right, the acceptance testing asks, did the code work for its intended purpose.
Can happen with any brand.
But this right here “My CCR1036 (Old design with only one PSU) has 4 PSU failed in a row for each year” I call bullshit.
If 4 different PSU fail on you, I put the blame 100% on you for not protecting your equipment with a good UPS, if at all.
Sure, it’s well known fact that when you don’t use a UPS, then capacitors that are next to heatsinks fail quickly. But when you use a UPS, then the capacitors move away from the heatsink automagically thus extending their lifetime. 
The original revision of CCR1036 was badly designed.
The PSU gets no airflow at all and the capacitors that keep failing are right next to a heatsink.
https://prnt.sc/y4PPpmC1cxeB
I’ve had multiple of those fail on proper datacenters with UPS, generators, constant 21 degree ambient temps, the works, and they still failed multiple times. You call bullshit on Tier 3-Tier4 Datacenters too?
I manage a small number (19 units) of CCR1036 and only one PSU failure in 10 years now. The failed PSU was not on UPS.
Now, almost anything is possible.
Like having n% of PSUs fail from a batch. I get that.
But changing 4 different PSUs in one single unit and having them all fail…I don’t know Rick.
I am running CCR1036 for almost 7 years nonstop. No a one single problem. Not even with PSU.
So your anecdotal experience that without UPS CCR1036s fail is not bullshit, but without any knowledge under what circumstances tons of other users’ CCR1036 have PSU failures are. Got it.
I personally know people with lots of CCR’s and none complained so much so to make it obvious it is a trend.
Is there some statistic regarding this trend of failures?
Or if someone states they don’t have a recurrent problem with specific Mikrotik gear, it is anecdotal, but somehow, if someone states “Mikrotik is NOT reliable.”, then that is the rule and not the exception?
How about APC Smart UPS 3000RM Online, together with 3 Dell PowerEdge R720, 1 Qnap NAS, 1 IBM SAN Storage, in 32U Server cabinet.
PSU failure only happen to Mikrotik, never to Dell PowerEdge, Qnap, IBM, or ISP modem.
APC UPS got network management card AP9630 to monitor irregular voltage, properly grounding according to TIA-942, and
extra surge protection on main switch.
Commscope cabling and Panduit patch panel, we use data center standard to build up this small server cabinet. Group policy
to go for open source that’s why i choose Mikrotik.
I see no reason the blame is on the end user.
Yes, it’s the first time it ever happened to me. i working in IT service for decades, maintaining Cisco, SonicWall, Fortigate, Check Point, etc. Firewall, some of them serving as IoT data collector firewall, in high temperature incineration plant, without UPS protection, but rarely
the PSU failed on me. It’s ridiculous to have Mikrotik PSU failed 4 times, and you can see the metal top of the capacitor bulge up, not only so,
badly assembled display touch led, cave in when you touch it.
Mikrotik CCR1036 is NOT reliable compared to my current Fortigate 200E firewall, and SonicWall NSA2700.
Totally i have 20 smaller firewalls like Fortigate 60E / TZ-XX to collect IoT data, none of them have PSU blown.
However, to be fair, we need to pay annual fee to upgrade the firmware but NOT for Mikrotik CCR1036.
If i need to replace PSU for every 1.5 year, how about charge me the license fee annually and upgrade the PSU to a more stable one?
It’s pain to remove all cables and re-plug them to another router, remove CCR1036 and carry it to the vendor for break-fix.
You can also install a better power supply, especially if you are replacing it every 1.5 years.. You are the only one that has reported them failing that much.
24v 4 amp power supply, from memory..
Do you have any other equipment from Mikrotik (ie, another CCR1036 or something else similar) ?
Can you establish a pattern regarding PSUs dropping dead from all CCRs from Mikrotik ?
Do you have replacement router, once that 1036 drops dead ? I surely would have one, considering it failing once a year. Is it another Mikrotik or something else ?
The world should know, Mikrotik is NOT reliable.
That up there is a bold statement, considering it’s coming from 1 piece of equipment failing.
At the moment, I have exactly 48 various Mikrotik products (routers, switches, APs,) running 24/7 all across my network for years now. Apart from one RB1100AHx4 dead from lightning surge that came through vDSL modem copper wire (I blame ISP) I yet have to see even power brick from Mikrotik failing, yet alone entire device. And I know that 48 devices is not big number for a pattern, that’s why I won’t say to the world that Mikrotik IS reliable. But it is reliable for ME.
EDIT:
Considering that you run some serious network, I would suggest that you replace that aging router for something newer, or at least, other piece of the same used device.
There is another thread here that has become active again where even Mikrotik admitted early power supply failure in many of the early CCR r1 routers.. Bad caps..
The ‘green’ caps was the design change/fix, and they were certainly better after.
Our CCR1036 that seems to be dying, We have a CCR1009 that will be swapped in so I can fix the CCR1036.. We outgrew the CCR1009 but it was left in the rack as a spare/backup.. This issue does have us looking at a CCR2116 again but that Marvell 98DX3255 looks like a major handicap, which is why we haven’t (yet).
Mikrotik CCR1036 is NOT reliable compared to my current Fortigate 200E firewall, and SonicWall NSA2700.
Totally i have 20 smaller firewalls like Fortigate 60E / TZ-XX to collect IoT data, none of them have PSU blown.
No, no other Mikrotik products, CCR1036 is the first try to see if we can replace some less important production line with Mikrotik.
I don’t think i am the only one. There are many PSU failure reports back to my local vendor, and you can check this forum to find the same
PSU failure report.
Where’s the better power supply for CCR1036? I always use the power supply from the original supplier. CCR1036 is protected by APC UPS 3000RM, with one surge protection on main power switch.