hEX S Gigabit Ethernet Router with SFP Port (RB760iGS)

Awesome product, great addition to my home lab. Integrates well with my home lab setup. Provides robust, granular control allowing a fair amount of flexibility. Ability to use the command line to apply the changes is a high point for me. If you've been looking and are considering this device, I highly recommend it. The implementation of VLAN's I was able to put to use with ease. Pushing to OpenWRT based device and serving multiple wifis on different VLAN's. Will need to give device a short break, if not can spend all day thinking about what and how you can do something.

We use this in an enterprise production environment. For non IT people, that's the term when you use this in a live business environment where downtime is costly. This small inexpensive unit comes with RouterOS which gives you enterprise grade features but at a very low price. Our application for this unit was to provide two subnets to separate groups of employees at a satellite office. Because it's full RouterOS, you can do other things like multiple WAN (internet) failover setups, etc. Mikrotik has become a go-to piece for us when we need to reduce costs. These also have been rock solid reliable.

Bought this to replace a TPLINK eros ER605. Night and day comparison. The Eros was buggy, slow, and massive DHCP problems with constant disconnects. This Mikrotik installed crazy fast (used basic install) and everything was up and running in a matter of seconds. Cannot brag about this router enough. It's fast, crazy fast. I'm not talking about transfer speeds necessarily, but the speed at which it can resolve DHCP and connect devices. It's crazy. By comparison, the ER605 took about 4-5 minutes to reboot and connect. The HEX S can do it in about 45 seconds. Rock solid!

This little thing (and really it’s tiny) is an absolute champ! I chose to put in the wiring enclosure I installed at my daughter’s new house along with the cable modem and PoE injector for a 3802. The hEX-S has one PoE out port, just not enough watts for the 3802 AP. The web interface for configuration is involved but pretty self explanatory.

I purchased this after upgrading my 75Mbps Comcast service to 1Gbps. My Sonicwall NSA220 could not handle the 1Gbps throughput. Was getting around 250Mbps max with the Sonicwall. So I went on a venture to find a cheap solution. The Comcast cable modem rental box that was given, was very basic. I could not change DNS, etc. So I returned the Comcast monthly rental. Purchased my own Arris SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, and this Mircotik Gigabit router. Worked like a charm! I now have gigabit speeds, and no longer paying Comcast monthly rental fees to service my Comcast modem. I suspect I will recoup all my cost in 1.5 years. (PROS) - Cheaper then a Sonicwall TZ500 (MSRP $1,200) - Did I mention how inexpensive! LOL - Getting Gigabit speeds with basic setup, a few NATs and DDNS setup! - Small footprint size. - Fast boot times. - Has a quick setup for very basic setup, for non IT people. - Built in DDNS like service, for dynamic public IPs, that have a need to check security cameras, NAS boxes, servers, VPN, etc. Eliminating the need for dyndns.org, no-ip.org etc.. Reminds me of Synology quickid service, etc. - 5 port gigabit switch. I used port 1 as Comcast WAN Input, and the remaining 4 as LAN. - I did all my config and management via web browser at 192.168.88.1. i.e. I did not download and use the winbox config software. (CONS) - Interface OS is not as polished as Sonic OS, but works. But I am biased. - Not as many interfaces as a Sonicwall TZ500. - Interface / OS requires IT knowledge. Basic End user, like my mom, wife, kids, grandparents, etc.. would NEVER be able to figure it out. - I, as an enterprise certified Sonicwall Systems Engineer, had to watch youtube videos on how to create hairpin destination NATs, etc. Its just not as obvious. Or you have to get to know where to find things, and how their OS works, but its manageable, once you get to know their layout and methods. - The power adapter is a basic barrel plug into the Microtik Router. Power cable has fallen out a few times, while moving the router around. It is fine if left untouched. Just wish they would have added some type of quick release power connection, as the majority of these devices do.

The hardware itself gets a 5/5, but I'm knocking this down a star for the UI and support documentation which left me wanting something better. You basically need a degree in network engineering to configure this yourself, especially if you need something sliiightly outside the norm. The Wiki has some relevant information but not all of it applies to the Hex S. The wiki has a lot of outdated information that isn't marked as such. The GUI is extremely informative and easy to use, but the actual layouts for each window are samey looking and that makes it very confusing to navigate. Almost everything is labeled in network engineering terms and there are no useful tooltips or help windows to speak of with comparable layman's terms or explanations (that I could find). I bought this unit because of the customizability of IPv6 networking, and I eventually got it doing what I needed, but in order to configure it properly I had to learn a few dozen networking terms I'd not used before (I work in IT tech support, and hadn't heard of PPPoE for example), and read dozens of outdated Wiki pages (trying to identify optimal firewall configuration was a complete pain, and I had to do it for both IPv4 and IPv6), and cross-reference those to multiple forum threads posted over the last few years. Eventually I got a good set of firewall rules that blocks what I want to block and I can make exceptions for exactly what I want. I'm kind of stunned that nowhere is there a complete "guide to set up Mikrotik router for a typical home network behind a typical American modem". All that difficulty aside, this thing is a beast once it's set up. Despite more than a dozen firewall rules it still easily handles full gigabit bandwidth, which is great because my internet connection is 1 gigabit fiber. It also beeps when it reboots which is a nice audible cue to have.

Top router, this is office quality. Super configurable, requires tech knowledge and steep learning curve for more advanced features

Its been a week or 2 and no issues, performance wise I couldn't be happier. I used Mikrotik software 20 years ago when I worked for an ISP and wasn't disappointed. My last router would random reboot then one day wouldn't boot. I am an advanced user and appreciate all of the configuration options available even though I have no use for them on my home network. Easy to configure for basic internet connectivity, fast reboot time. I hope the hardware holds up.