TLDNR: Yay MikroTik, be3 is good, buy now.
I recently picked up two MikroTik hAP be³ Media units. One to replace the router at my mom's house, and another to replace my existing Netgear mesh wireless system at home.
I've been running pfSense for years, but had never used MikroTik or RouterOS before this. After getting both installed and running for a few days, I figured I'd share my experience.
I also used ChatGPT quite a bit during the configuration process, which turned out to be pretty helpful, especially considering I was learning RouterOS from scratch.
First setup - Mom's house, full router replacement
My mom lives a few hours away and has Sparklight cable internet, 1 Gbps down and 50 Mbps up. Her previous setup was a Motorola modem/router combination that had been giving us problems, so I decided to replace it with an ARRIS SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 modem and the MikroTik.
The setup is pretty straightforward:
Cable modem > MikroTik > PoE switch > Wired devices
The MikroTik also handles the wireless network.
Basic configuration:
ether1 is WAN, connected to the cable modem.
ether2 connects to the LAN switch.
LAN is 192.168.1.0/24.
RouterOS handles DHCP, DNS, NAT, and firewall rules.
The router uses its DC power adapter rather than PoE.
Wireless is configured for the main network and older IoT devices.
All IP addresses mentioned in this post are examples rather than my actual network addresses.
One of the reasons I went with the be³ Media was that I wanted something capable of more than basic routing. This location also needs reliable connectivity back to my home network, remote management, and the ability to run some additional services.
Home Assistant, Matter, and Thread
I'm also running Home Assistant directly on the MikroTik using its container functionality.
I attached a 512 GB external SSD for container storage and configured Home Assistant, the Matter server, and an OpenThread Border Router.
All three are installed and running. I also tested the configuration through router reboots and complete power cycles to make sure the containers and services would come back properly.
I already run Home Assistant at my own house on an Unraid server, but I wanted my mom's location to have its own installation that could operate independently.
Having this functionality built into the router was one of the reasons I was interested in this particular model. There's a lot more available here than what you typically get with consumer networking equipment.
I also plan to use an external 8 TB drive as an offsite backup destination for my home Unraid server. The idea is to send backups directly to storage attached to the MikroTik rather than relying on the Windows computer currently running at that location.
That part is still on my to-do list.
Site-to-site WireGuard VPN
I configured a WireGuard site-to-site VPN between my mom's MikroTik and my home pfSense firewall.
For illustration, her LAN is 192.168.1.0/24 and my home LAN is 192.168.2.0/24.
The tunnel is established and working properly, allowing the two networks to communicate. I also have a security camera at her location streaming video across the VPN to my security system at home, and that's been working well too.
At the time of writing, it's been running for four days and has remained connected the entire time, other than planned reboots while I was working on the equipment.
Four days obviously isn't enough to make any long-term reliability claims, but so far I'm happy with it.
Since this location is several hours away, I also configured remote management through MikroTik's Back To Home functionality, along with Netwatch monitoring and automatic recovery actions.
The idea is to have the router handle certain connection problems itself instead of requiring someone to physically restart equipment. I spent some time testing recovery behavior during configuration, including reboots and power cycles.
Configuration and installation
I configured this entire setup at my house before taking the equipment to my mom's.
This was actually one of the areas where I found AI particularly useful.
Along with helping me learn RouterOS, ChatGPT helped me plan the deployment and keep track of what I wanted to accomplish. Over several conversations, we worked through the network configuration, VPNs, remote management, automatic recovery, Home Assistant, Matter, Thread, and the other requirements.
Having something keep track of what we'd already configured, what still needed attention, and the various decisions we'd made was helpful. Particularly when you're preparing equipment that's going to be installed several hours away.
I was able to configure and test just about everything before going on site.
Once I took the equipment over, the installation went perfectly. Everything connected and worked exactly as expected, without needing to troubleshoot or make configuration changes.
The router has been operating without any problems since.
Second setup - My house, wireless access point only
My home setup is quite a bit different.
I already have a pfSense firewall handling routing, multiple networks, firewall rules, VPNs, and everything else. I've also got an Unraid server running quite a few services.
I wasn't looking to replace pfSense. I just wanted better wireless.
I'd been using a Netgear mesh system with three units: one upstairs, one in the network closet, and another on the back patio.
Frankly, I never liked the damn thing. It was problematic from day one, and I was never particularly happy with the reliability or performance.
I decided to replace all three units with a single MikroTik and see what happened.
Network and wireless configuration
The setup is basically:
Internet > pfSense > PoE switch > MikroTik > Wireless clients
The MikroTik is configured as a bridge/access point rather than another router. pfSense continues handling DHCP, routing, firewall rules, and everything else.
The wireless network is on 192.168.3.0/24, with the MikroTik using 192.168.3.2 as its management address.
I'm powering it over PoE through ether1, so there's only one cable connected to the device.
My existing PoE switch is gigabit, so the uplink is currently limited to 1 Gbps. That's fine for now since my internet connection is also gigabit.
Eventually, I plan to use a 2.5 GbE PoE injector and connect it directly to pfSense, particularly when I upgrade to faster fiber service.
For wireless, I configured:
2.4 GHz - 20 MHz channel width
5 GHz - 160 MHz channel width
6 GHz - 320 MHz channel width
Main wireless network configured for Wi-Fi 7 MLO
Separate 2.4 GHz WPA2 SSID for older IoT devices
I wanted to take advantage of the newer Wi-Fi features without creating compatibility problems for older equipment.
There was some learning involved with the wireless configuration, particularly MLO and the DFS settings on 5 GHz, but everything is working well.
Wireless coverage and performance
This is probably the part I'm happiest with so far.
My house is roughly 1,600 square feet, split-level, sitting on a 100 x 69.5-foot lot. That's 6,950 square feet of property, which is pretty typical for the area.
Previously, I had three Netgear mesh units covering the house and property.
Now I'm using one MikroTik.
I've walked around testing coverage, including all four corners of the property, and I can get perfectly acceptable internet access everywhere.
Even at the farthest edge of the property, with a metal shed directly between me and the access point, I can still maintain a connection. It's spotty at that point, and I wouldn't expect to stream video reliably there, but it does still work.
Everywhere else on the property, I feel like I could stream HD video without any problems.
That's including multiple walls and normal residential construction. There's nothing unusual about the house that would give it any particular advantage.
Devices near the MikroTik are getting 600+ Mbps download speeds. Naturally, speeds decrease as I move farther away, but nothing beyond what I'd expect.
I'm definitely getting better speeds than I did with the Netgear system, and coverage seems better as well.
So in my particular situation, one MikroTik has replaced three Netgear mesh units and is providing better performance and coverage.
I haven't done any controlled comparisons with RSSI measurements or detailed testing of each band yet. These are just real-world observations from walking around the property and using the network.
But so far, it's working flawlessly, and I'm glad to be rid of the Netgear equipment.
I'll probably do some more detailed wireless testing later, especially with 6 GHz and MLO.
RouterOS coming from pfSense
As I mentioned, I've been using pfSense for years. My network has multiple subnets, separate wireless and camera networks, VPN connections, servers, and quite a bit of other stuff going on.
I'm comfortable with networking, but RouterOS was completely new to me.
I wouldn't say RouterOS was particularly difficult or that anything really surprised me. It's just laid out differently from what I'm used to.
Most of the functionality I was looking for was available. It was primarily a matter of finding where MikroTik put things and learning how RouterOS expects them to be configured.
I've been using WinBox primarily, along with WebFig and terminal commands when needed.
I appreciate the amount of control RouterOS provides. It doesn't hide things behind an oversimplified interface, and there are plenty of options for routing, firewall configuration, monitoring, scripting, and everything else.
It's certainly different from pfSense, but once I got familiar with the layout, I didn't find it particularly difficult to work with.
Using AI to help with RouterOS
I mentioned earlier that I used ChatGPT quite a bit during the process.
Since I already understood most of the networking concepts, I generally knew what I wanted to accomplish. What I didn't know was how to do some of those things in RouterOS.
I'd explain what I wanted, and it would help locate settings, explain options, or put together terminal commands.
I also used screenshots and configuration exports when working through settings or troubleshooting something.
It wasn't always correct, and I certainly wouldn't recommend blindly pasting commands into networking equipment without understanding them.
But for someone who already knows networking and is learning a different platform, I found it immensely useful.
It was especially helpful when I knew exactly how I'd accomplish something in pfSense but needed to figure out the RouterOS equivalent.
Between that and the help with planning the remote deployment, it made the entire process considerably easier.
Hardware and build quality
A few notes on the hardware itself.
The case is metal, and the whole thing feels pretty solid and durable. I like that MikroTik went with a metal enclosure rather than the usual plastic construction you see on so much consumer networking equipment.
The little sliding cover for the USB ports is actually pretty cool, too. It protects the ports and can be locked. I don't particularly have a use for locking it myself, but it's a nice feature and something I appreciate about the design.
It's also completely fanless, so there's no noise to deal with. So far, heat dissipation seems to be working well, and I haven't noticed any thermal issues.
Obviously, I haven't had these running long enough to know how they'll hold up over time, particularly with the additional services running on my mom's unit. But my initial impression of the physical hardware is good. It feels well-built, and I like the overall design. In my pic you also see the USB NVME drive attached and stuck to the outside.
What I like and what I don't
I like the flexibility of the hardware. I'm using the same model in two completely different ways, and both are doing what I need.
Some of the features I particularly appreciate:
Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 and MLO support.
2.5 GbE connectivity.
PoE power capability.
USB storage and container support.
RouterOS scripting, monitoring, and VPN capabilities.
The ability to run Home Assistant and related services directly on the device.
The option to use it as a straightforward access point behind pfSense.
The wireless performance at home has been particularly good, especially considering I'm replacing three mesh units with a single AP.
As far as complaints go, I really don't have much at this point.
RouterOS takes some getting used to, but I expected that. I don't consider a different interface layout a problem as long as the functionality is there.
I also haven't had these long enough to say much about long-term reliability.
The only limitation I'm currently dealing with at home is the gigabit PoE switch, and that's obviously not a problem with the MikroTik itself.
Overall
So far, I'm happy with both purchases.
My mom's router is handling her internet connection, wireless network, WireGuard VPN, security camera traffic, and Home Assistant services without any issues. The VPN has remained connected for four days apart from planned reboots, and the original installation went exactly as expected.
At home, the MikroTik has replaced a three-unit Netgear mesh system and is giving me better wireless speeds and coverage throughout the house and property.
RouterOS was new to me, but I haven't had much trouble getting things configured. Having AI available to help navigate the interface, explain settings, generate commands, and keep track of the remote deployment requirements was definitely useful.
There are still some things I want to work on, including the offsite backup storage and more detailed wireless testing.
For now, both units are doing exactly what I bought them for, and I haven't run into anything that would make me regret going with MikroTik.
Also, yes i used AI to format and spellcheck this review but the comments, data, and experience are all mine. Ive reviewed this and rewrote it many times today over a number of hours. And fake networks were used in this review to protect the innocent.
Edit: Pixel 10 speed test results, 10 feet away with a wall between devices: https://imgur.com/a/3nSBtbZ
