Looking for specs for the different models. Every article I find states that NAT is performed in CPU.
Is there any models that do NAT in hardware?
Ideally, I would prefer a HW-based CGN solution, but other vendors are really pricy - but guarantees performance.
Some of devices that can do L3HW offload, can do NAT (partially) in hardware as well. Check manual page: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/L3+Hardware+Offloading
best performing way to do NAT in MikroTik is in fast-track mode
Fast track info
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:IP/Fasttrack
With CCR1036 you can achieve without problem 10Gbps of CG-NAT for internet subscribers when properly configured and deployed in a Network, i expect CCR2116 deliver the same or better performance, for around 1.000 USD and aprox 60 watt of power consumption this boxes offer a good CG-NAT solution
NAT444 CG-NAT info
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/NAT#NAT-CGNAT(NAT444)
I’m doing CGNAT with a 1036 for the time being, handling 2Gbps for ~400 households. I have 2116’s on the border handling BGP and some internal NAT.
The 1036 hums away at 3-6% utilization. The 2116’s have a higher CPU load, but I’m not running L3 hardware offload on them (yet)… it’s a little too wonky at the moment, at least for my config.
My home/office router is also a 2116, and I have experimented with HW offload on it; 7.5 “fixed” a few things, so naturally it’s broken and I had to disable it.