I feel like this question has probably been asked, but searching the forums hasn't brought any answers. I'm in the process of buying a couple wAP ac units to upgrade my problematic wi-fi at home. I decided I would also like to upgrade my router and like the hEX PoE, especially the ability to power the APs. But I also already have an unused low powered 1U server from work with 6x gigabit interfaces / dual core processor and 2 GB of ram. I've started setting up the server and installed the level 1 license just to re-familiarize myself with Mikrotik, but will the level 1 license work for a basic home setup? What I'll need - basic NAT for 2-4 connections at a time connected to a ~110mb cable modem, mostly doing a lot of Netflix streaming. 2 port forwarding rules for remote RDP access and for remote Plex streaming access for my personal music "cloud" service. And preferably - a 5 port bridge for the other 5 ports not utilized by the WAN to save me from setting a small switch on top of it. It seems like from the wiki, that bandwidth and sessions won't be limited by the license, only advanced features I won't need at home. The level 4 license is very reasonably priced, but if I had to buy something I would probably rather just buy the hEX.

I think the electricity savings would more than pay for a hEX over a powerful PC running 24x7.

Very true. On the other hand the power of the server can be used better when virtualization is used to run also other services at once. Using the chr brings the advantage over the x86 by other licensing model that allows unlimited functionality for testing purposes for free.

Thanks for bringing up the chr. That's one of the possibilities I had in mind, I just didn't know what the terminology was yet. I hadn't finished reading about it when I first posted, but I also intended to eventually setup The Dude, and thought that I may make use of a second virtual machine for that. It sounds like I don't need a second machine, but do need a location to store the data which my DIY system brings to the table. I also in general just like the fact that my router has replaceable parts and testable hardware if something hard to diagnose ever comes up (compared to a very reliable but probably not repairable single board).

I believe with the CHR you'll be limited to 1 mbps / 1 mbps with limited functionality, but for testing/playing it should be good.

Forget the belief and try. Also read the documentation.

CHR you can install and register to your account for no cost. This will continue to work even after 30 days but you just can't upgrade RouterOS after this. It will still continue to work.