Mikrotik METArouter

You may have seen metarouter in some of the Mikrotik change logs. First off, what is it?

Metarouter is a way to have logical routers running on your routerboard. In essence, you create a virtual router on your RB, then you assign some interfaces to it. You then can hand this virtual router off to a customer hand allow them to administer it without effecting any of the core functions necessary on the device. I’ve thought of a couple of ways this could be used.

One would be to segregate a wireless CPE into two. In this way, you can control from the wireless radio back into your core, while the customer can control the ethernet side. This will allow them to forward ports, setup DHCP, manipulate the firewall, all while protecting your backbone.

METArouter CPE

Another useful scenario is using an RB450 in a multi-tenant location. Say Ether1 is your internet connection, and you control that port. You create 4 virtual routers, one for each remaining internal port and hand those virtual routers to different customers. On your master router, you create a queue that limits that customer’s traffic.

METArouter on RB450