Radius Server versus MT User Manager

RouterOS General
1

I’m a bit puzzled here. I’ve had a radius server running on a PC connected to my hotspot('s) running on a routerboard in a box with antenna etc.
Due problems and necessary configuration changes I’m now building a separate machine taking care of the Hotspot.
I only now found MT has this usermanager and the OS itself has its users database. Both (or are we actuall talking the same thing here?) are basically capable of performing the same actions as a Radius.
My Question is now why should you use a (hard to configure for non Linux adepts) Radius server if all administration basically can be performed by the MT software itself?
Everywhere in the doc’s and this forum I see reverts to a Radius but actually I do not quit understand why.
Before I start spending loads of my precious time I would like to know what route is best to go. My set up will be for 4 to 6 hundred users in time with a mix off permanent subscribers and holiday (short time) users.

Does anybody have a quick answer to this?

2

The User Manager is a fairly new addition to RouterOS. Also many people use commercial/custom ISP billing systems that use radius.

3

External Radius is also much more configurable - you can do exactly what you want, vs. doing only what MT allows in the user manager…

MT’s usermanager will also not function well in large scale deployments… (Hundreds of thousands of users).

The UserManger IMHO really should not be seen as a Radius server… It offers significantly less than what a fully fledged Radius server does.

4

to write something positive - user manager is perfect for small/average sized hotspots; it is easily to install and configure (try to explain radius to an average technician); it’s optimised for routeros hotspot; you get support for both and it’s also on the same box as your hotspot.