Mikrotik Router Basic Configuration Using Winbox

MikroTik is one of the most popular routers. MikroTik Router has a lot of
networking services that help to build a stable and smooth network so easily. It is
said that any ISP Company or any Enterprise Office cannot go a single day without
MikroTik Router. So, system administrators who are not using MikroTik Router yet,
they will soon start using MikroTik Router, I think. As a system administrator, I
am also using MikroTik Router about 5 years in my network and really I have got a
very stable and smooth network. MikroTik Router is mainly famous for bandwidth
control service and packet filtering functionalities as well as cheap price.
MikroTik Router is also favorite to any system administrator because of having
graphical user interface (GUI) software named Winbox which helps to manage MikroTik
Router so easily. As the usage of MikroTik Router is growing rapidly, this article
is designed to show the basic configuration of a MikroTik Router from very
beginning using Winbox software so that a new MikroTik Router user can easily
configure his/her router from very starting and can operate his network smoothly.

Prerequisites to Configure a MikroTik Router

Before going to start basic configuration of a MikroTik Router you should have
below the information.

Basic knowledge on IP Addressing.

A MikroTik RouterBoard or MikroTik RouterOS installed on a PC.
Winbox Software.
PC with windows operating system installed and RJ45 cables.

If you have the above requirements properly, you are now ready to start MikroTik
router basic configuration. The rest of this article will show the step by step
guide to configure a MikroTik Router from very beginning.
4 Easy Steps to Configure a MikroTik Router

MikroTik Router basic configuration includes assigning IP addresses, configuring

default gateway and enabling NAT for accessing internet. MikroTik Router basic
configuration can be divided into 4 steps.

Assigning WAN and LAN IP addresses

Gateway configuration
NAT configuration and
DNS configuration

Among the above 4 steps, first three steps are mandatory for accessing internet
trough your MikroTik router and step 4 is optional but it must be done for proper
MikroTik Router configuration.

To configure a MikroTik Router properly according to the above 4 steps, I am using

the following information and a simple office network diagram where three users are
connected to MikroTik Router through a network switch and the first interface of
the router is connected to internet for accessing internet information.

MikroTik RouterBoard 1100 AHX2

WAN IP: 172.22.3.99/25 (ISP provided)
Gateway: 172.22.3.1 (ISP provided)
Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
LAN IP Network: 192.168.10.0/24 (Private IP block chosen by me)

Simple Office Network

Simple Office Network

According to our simple office network diagram, first interface (ether1 port) is
connected to ISP internet and this interface is our WAN port. We will set our WAN
IP (provided by ISP) in this interface. Second interface (ether2 port) is our LAN
interface and we will set our LAN Gateway in this interface. The users of this
network will be connected to MikroTik Router trough a switch for accessing
internet. In practical, your network will not be so simple like this network
diagram. You may have to maintain a large network where there may have hundred or
thousand of users. But the basic configuration is same for all networks. However,
we will now start our MikroTik Router basic configuration according to the above 4
steps and following our simple office network diagram.
Step 1: Assigning WAN and LAN IP Addresses

The first step to configure a MikroTik Router is to assign WAN and LAN IP addresses
in WAN and LAN interface accordingly. The following steps will show how to assign
WAN and LAN IP addresses in a new MikroTik Router.

Download Winbox or collect Winbox from any source.

Connect your PC with MikroTik Router by a RJ45 cable.
Open winbox software in your operating system and click on Neighbors tab.
Connected Ethernet�s MAC will appear in this tab. If you don�t find MAC Address,
click on Refresh button. MAC address will appear soon. Click on the appeared MAC
address and selected MAC address will be appeared in Connect To input box.
MikroTik Router default username is admin and password is blank. So, type admin
in the login input box and password field left blank and then click on Connect
button. MikroTik graphical user interface (GUI) will appear now.
Now click on Remove Configuration button if prompted or from Winbox go to
System > Reset Configuration and click No Default Configuration and then click on
Reset Configuration button to reset RouterOS. Router will be rebooted and login
again and then you will find a zero configuration RouterOS.
Go to IP > Addresses menu item. Address List window will appear now. Click on
PLUS SIGN (+). New Address window will appear. Put your WAN IP address (In this
article: 172.22.3.99/25) which is provided by your ISP in Address input box and
then select WAN interface (in this article: ether1) from the Interface drop-down
menu and click Apply and then OK button.
Click PLUS SIGN (+) again and put LAN Gateway IP address (in this article:
192.168.10.1/24) in Address input box and choose LAN interface (in this article:
ether2) from Interface drop-down menu and click Apply and OK button.

Assigning WAN and LAN IP Addresses

Assigning WAN and LAN IP Addresses

Assigning WAN and LAN IP addresses has been completed. We will assign MikroTik
gateway which is provided by ISP so that MikroTik Router can communicate to
internet through this gateway.
Step 2: Gateway Configuration

After completing WAN and LAN IP setup, we will now assign MikroTik default gateway
which is provided by ISP. The following steps will show how to assign default
gateway in MikroTik Router.

From Winbox, go to IP > Routes menu item. Route List window will appear now.
You can see two dynamic routes are already added in this Route List. Click on PLUS
SIGN (+). New Route window will appear. Now put gateway address (in this article:
172.22.3.1) which is provided by your ISP in Gateway input field.
Now click Apply and OK button.

Assigning Default Gateway IP

Assigning Default Gateway IP

MikroTik default gateway configuration has been completed. Now we will create NAT
rule so that MikroTik Router can masquerade our LAN user IP to access internet.
Step 3: NAT Configuration

After completing gateway configuration, you have to create a NAT firewall rule to
masquerade LAN IPs. Otherwise, LAN user cannot access internet through MikroTik
Router. The following steps will show how to create masquerade firewall rule in
MikroTik Router.

Go to IP > Firewall menu item and click on NAT tab and then click on PLUS SIGN
(+) button. New NAT Rule window will appear.
From General tab, choose srcnat from Chain drop down menu and put LAN IP Block
(in this article: 192.168.10.0/24) in Src. Address input box.
From Action tab, choose masquerade from Action drop down menu and then click
Apply and OK button.

NAT Configuration in MikroTik RouterOS

NAT Configuration in MikroTik RouterOS

NAT configuration in MikroTik Router has been completed. if you do not create this
NAT rule, your LAN user cannot access internet through MikroTik Router.

Three mandatory steps for configuring a new MikroTik RouterOS to access internet
has been completed. LAN users are now able to access internet through Mikrotik
Router if they use custom DNS server IP. But we will now configure DNS in MikroTik
Router so that it can resolve DNS request as well as it can work as a DNS server.
Step 4: MikroTik DNS Configuration

After completing three mandatory configuration, we need to configure DNS in

MikroTik Router so that it can resolve DNS request from the LAN user as well as
itself. The following steps will show how to configure DNS in MikroTik RouterOS.

Go to IP > DNS menu item. DNS Settings window will appear. In this window, put
DNS server address that you have got from ISP company or you can put Google public
DNS IP (8.8.8.8) in Servers input box. You can put secondary DNS server IP by
clicking add new value button (drop down button) located after the Servers input
box. Optionally, you can turn MikroTik router as a DNS server. Turning MikroTik
router as a DNS server is a better idea, I think. Because if you use public DNS
server in your network, every DNS request of your user will consume your paid
bandwidth. But if you turn MikroTik router as a DNS sever, your user will get DNS
solution from MikroTik Router without consuming paid bandwidth. So, if you want to
turn MikroTik into a DNS server, click the Allow Remote Requests check box and
click Apply and OK button.
If you turn MikroTik Router into a DNS server, all MikroTik IP addresses can be
used as a DNS server IP including WAN IP which is a public IP and problem will
arise here. If anyone outside of your LAN use WAN IP as a DNS IP, your MikroTik
will be happy by serving him/her DNS solution consuming your paid bandwidth. So,
you must stop DNS request from outside of your LAN. For stopping DNS request from
outside of your LAN, you should apply firewall rules which will drop all DNS
requests coming from your WAN interface (in this article: ether1). For this, go to
IP > Firewall menu item and click on Filter Rules tab and then click on PLUS SIGN
(+). New Firewall Rule window will appear. From General tab, choose input from
Chain drop down menu, choose udp from Protocol drop down menu, Put Dst. Port 53 and
choose ether1 from In. Interface drop down menu. Now click on Action tab and choose
drop from Action drop menu and then click Apply and OK button. You must create
another similar rule for TCP connection. For this, click on PLUS SIGN (+) again and
choose tcp from Protocol drop down menu, Put Dst. Port 53 and choose ether1 from
In. Interface drop down menu and then click on Action tab and choose drop from
Action drop menu and click Apply and OK button. Now your MikroTik DNS server is
safe from outside of your LAN.

DNS Configuration in MikroTik Router

DNS Configuration in MikroTik Router

DNS configuration in your MikroTik Router has been completed. Now your MikroTik
Router is able to resolve DNS request for the LAN user as well as itself.

MikroTik Router is now completely ready if you follow the above 4 steps properly.
Connect a switch to MikroTik LAN interface with RJ45 cable and connect all PCs to
this switch. Also connect ISP cable to WAN interface. Now assign IP to all your LAN
PC according to your LAN IP network series. If you face any problem to set IP
address in windows PC, follow my another article about how to assign static IP
address in windows operating system which will guide you the proper way to assign
IP address in any windows PC. Now browse any website or ping google.com from your
LAN PC. If your ISP is OK, you will now be able to browse any website successfully.

You should follow the above 4 steps so carefully to configure your new MikroTik
Router successfully. If you miss any step, your configuration will be wrong and
your LAN users will not be able to access internet through MikroTik Router. If you
face any confusion to do the above 4 steps, watch the following video tutorial on
MikroTik Router Basic Configuration using Winbox. I hope, it will help you enough
to configure new MikroTik Router.

MikroTik Router basic configuration is not so enough to maintain a real network. If

you need to maintain an office network, it will be better to use MikroTik DHCP
Server. Managing DHCP Server with Radius Server will provide you more faster and
smart solution.

Again, if you want to maintain an ISP network, MikroTik PPPoE Server is a better
solution. MikroTik PPPoE Server with Radius Server will provide you a prepaid
billing system also.

If you plan to maintain a Hotel, Airport, Railway, Restaurant network or any ISP
network with WiFi solution, MikroTik Hotspot Server is your best friend. Using
Radius Server with Hotspot, you can manage Bandwidth with Prepaid Billing System as
well as Data Limit with Prepaid Billing System.

In addition, if you find bandwidth management solution with MikroTik Router,

MikroTik Bandwidth Management with Simple Queue will be enough helpful. But it will
be better to Manage ISP Bandwidth with MikroTik PCQ.

Sometimes, you may need load balancing and link redundancy solution. Then, go
through MikroTik Load Balancing and Link Redundancy with ECMP.

MikroTik Router Basic Configuration has been explained step by step in this
article. I hope, you will now be able to configure a new MikroTik Router
successfully from very beginning. However, if you face any confusion to configure
your MikroTik Router, feel free to discuss in comment or contact with me from
Contact page. I will try my best to stay with you.