MikroTik Routing Engineer with LABS

Compare distance vector and link state routing within an IGP, examine benefits and drawbacks of RIP, OSPF, and ISIS, and learn when to use BGP between autonomous systems.

Explore how link-state routing uses LSA messages to build an identical LSDB across routers, enabling OSPF-style SPF calculations to compute optimal paths.

Explore how ospf hello packets between two MikroTik routers establish neighborship, detailing contents like router id, hello and dead intervals, area id, authentication, and stop area flag with default values.

Compare OSPF on MikroTik RouterOS v7 vs v6, noting a single global router ID and unified v4/v6 configuration. Observe interface-template driven OSPF setup and separate OSPF process in v7.

Configure OSPF on MikroTik router version seven, create an instance and area, advertise connected networks, form neighborship, test reachability, and explore hello interval, authentication, and area changes.

Understand how to elect a designated router and backup designated router in OSPF per network segment, using priority, router ID, and manual settings to reduce LSAs.

Learn DR and BDR election in OSPF on MikroTik routers by adjusting router IDs and priorities, switching to point-to-point networks, and using zero priority to disable election.

Discover why OSPF uses multiple areas with area zero as the backbone to cut SPF workload; ABRs connect areas and ASBRs redistribute routes with other protocols like RIP.

Configure OSPF multi-area with area zero and area one, implement an area border router, advertise networks in area one, and verify reachability across routers and the 3.3.3.3 bridge network.

Demonstrate how a summary address on the ABR aggregates the four 172.16.1.0/24 to 172.16.4.0/24 networks into a single route in an OS PF multi-area network.

Learn how to configure OSPF passive interfaces to advertise connected networks without sending hello packets, preserving routes while preventing unwanted neighborship in MikroTik networks.

Discover how to import a DHCP-provided default route into OSPF and propagate it to all routers. Learn two methods—originate default and DHCP redistribution—and enable internet access with NAT masquerade.

Understand the OSPF LSA types: type 1 router LSA, type 2 network LSA, type 3 summary LSA, and types 4–5 external/ASBR LSAs, plus type 7 for not so stubby areas.

Explore how MikroTik RouterOS v7 handles OSPF LSAs, identifying router LSA type 1, network LSA type 2, summary LSA type 3, as well as type 4 and type 5 LSAs.

Explore ospf stub area types—stub, totally stub, not so stubby area (nsa), and totally nsa—and how they suppress type 3 and type 5 lsas with default routes via an abr.

Configure stub, totally stub, NSSA, and totally NSSA areas in MikroTik OSPF, observing how type five and type three LSAs and SPR behavior change with each setting.

Implement a virtual link in OSPF on MikroTik RouterOS v7 to connect area two to area zero via area one, by configuring on routers two and three.

Explore layer 3 hardware offloading on MikroTik routers version 7 and learn how enabling it on CRS devices reduces CPU load during an OSPF bandwidth test.

Explore tunneling and virtual private networks, learn why VPNs are essential in networks, review VPN types and protocols in MikroTik, and practice configuring them in hands-on labs.

Learn how virtual private networks create secure tunnels over the internet to connect offices or remote users, using encryption, authentication, integrity, and site-to-site or client-to-site connections.

Learn what the point-to-point tunneling protocol is, its 1995 origins, and why its weak encryption and firewall-blocked ports (1723 and 47) limit its use; compare side-to-side and client-to-side setups.

Configure a P2P site-to-site VPN between headquarters and branch offices using PPTP, including enabling the protocol, creating profiles and secrets, and validating connectivity through the tunnel interface.

Configure a pptp client-to-site vpn on MikroTik and troubleshoot same-network ip addressing by creating a p2p profile, vpn pool, and proxy to reach remote devices.

Configure pptp with bridge control protocol to enable layer-2 connectivity between client and headquarters. Create bridges and profiles, enable encryption, and set mru 1600 for multi-link PPP.

Explore the layer two tunneling protocol L2TP and its IPsec security, including UDP port 1701 for connectivity, 256 bit encryption, and advantages for stable, secure VPNs on MikroTik devices.

Configure a site-to-site l2tp vpn between headquarters and branch, including l2tp server and client setup, required public ip, ip addressing, user authentication, routing, and optional ipsec security.

Learn how to configure an L2TP/IPsec remote access VPN from a Windows client to a MikroTik router, including nat traversal, IPsec settings, and a step-by-step lab workflow.

Explore sstp, the secure socket tunneling protocol from Microsoft, its site-to-site and client-to-site use, and how it compares to OpenVPN and l2tp, including port 443 compatibility and firewall bypass.

Configure SSTP site-to-site VPN between branch office and headquarters without certificates, enabling SSTP, creating a secret, and establishing AES-256 encrypted tunnels.

Configure a secure SSTP site-to-site VPN with certificates on MikroTik, creating a certificate authority, server and client certs at headquarters, importing them at the branch, and validating tunneling with ping.

Configure MikroTik PPPoE server and client to establish layer 2 connectivity, assign an IP pool, create a profile and secret, and verify DNS and internet access.

Explore IPIP tunneling, its role in connecting two sites over the internet, and learn how to configure IPIP in MikroTik during the upcoming lab.

MikroTik routing engineer with labs explains ipip tunneling, contrasts it with GRE, and guides you through configuring ipip tunnels, routing advertisements, and optional ipsec encryption to connect two networks.

Explore the eoip tunnel, a protocol that encapsulates layer 2 networks over IP. Implement and verify eoip configurations in a hands-on lab to connect layer 2 networks across sites.

Configure EOIP tunnels on MikroTik to encapsulate ethernet frames inside IP, creating a layer-2 tunnel between routers and bridges that merge two networks across sites and optionally secure with IPsec.

Configure an IP tunnel over an L2TP tunnel to achieve layer two connectivity between branch and headquarter, using a bridge to form a single broadcast domain.

Understand what vlans are and why we need them. Learn how to group switch ports into vlans to isolate departments, reduce broadcast domains, and boost security.

VLANs create separate broadcast domains to reduce flat network issues, boost security, and prevent single points of failure; implement across switches with access and trunk ports using 802.1Q.

Configure VLANs with DHCP on MikroTik routing lab; create VLAN trunks, assign DHCP servers per VLAN, set up NAT, and route traffic from customers to the internet.

Configure VLAN 20 and VLAN 22 on a MikroTik switch, assign access ports, bridge them, enable DHCP for each VLAN, and enforce inter-VLAN isolation with firewall rules.

Configure VLANs using the switch chip on a MikroTik router to enable layer 2 connectivity, create bridges, and apply hardware offload for faster traffic.

Configure VLAN without switch chip by using a bridge, uncheck hardware offload, and assign VLAN 10 and 20 to ethernet ports, then enable VLAN filtering.

Explore q-in-q implementation by stacking a vlan 20 inside a vlan 10 across routers and switches, configuring trunks and access ports, and validating end-to-end connectivity in a lab.

Join MikroTik official trainings with Maher Haddad to become a certified MikroTik engineer through hands-on labs, with in-person Netherlands sessions or online live training, and the certification exam.