MikroTik (officially SIA "Mikrotīkls") is a Latvian network equipment manufacturing company. MikroTik develops and sells wired and wireless network routers, network switches, access points, as well as operating systems and auxiliary software. The company was founded in 1996, and as of 2025, it was reported that the company had 384 employees.
With its headquarters in Riga, Latvia, MikroTik serves a diverse array of customers around the world. The company's products and services are utilized in various sectors, such as telecommunications, government agencies, educational institutions, and enterprises of all sizes.
In 2022, with a value of €1.30 billion, Mikrotik was the 4th largest company in Latvia and the first private company to surpass €1 billion value in Latvia.
History MikroTik was established in 1996 by founders John Tully and Arnis Riekstiņš in Riga, Latvia, developing networking software for x86 PC hardware that would develop into a product called RouterOS. The earliest versions of RouterOS were based on Linux 2.2.
In 2002, MikroTik expanded its product line by producing their own networking-focused low-power single-board computers (SBC), branded RouterBoard, that ran RouterOS. These early SBCs could be expanded and/or integrated as components of other systems, but as time passed, this RouterBoard/RouterOS platform would develop into a full line of network equipment.
Timeline 1997 Release of software for x86 PC platform, called simply MikroTik Router Software, based on Linux 2.0, that would eventually develop into RouterOS.. Original requirement is at least 8 MiB RAM.
1999 First stable RouterOS release based on Linux 2.2, adding support for PCI wireless cards (802.11b).
2001 First stable RouterOS v2 release, based on Linux 2.4, introduced hotspot, HTB, OSPF, BGP, and RADIUS client. First stable WinBox release.
2002 Release of RouterBoard series PCI add-in boards to be used with MikroTik x86-based PCs running RouterOS.
2003 First stable Netinstall release. All MikroTik RouterOS appliances have at least 8 MiB flash and 8 MiB RAM. Release of RouterBoard 200, a single-board router platform with miniPCI and memory card slots, and RouterBOARD 220 with the SBC integrated into an enclosure with a 2.4 GHz wireless array antenna (SISO) powered by power over Ethernet (PoE). Original RouterBoard was based on the Geode CPU. Release of the RB230 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first DDR SDRAM, PCMCIA, PoE-out, and cellular-ready appliance and upgradeable to 512 MiB RAM.
2004
Release of the RB532 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first ruggedized and MIPS hardware (in little endian mode) and supporting Nstreme, with 48V power input and expandable to 6 miniPCI slots. Release of the R52, MikroTik's first miniPCI card and dual band (selectable), Wi-Fi 2, and Wi-Fi 3 device.
2005 Release of MikroTik's first high power and MMCX cards. First stable RouterOS release with both stable Nstreme and wireless 802.1X.
2006
First MikroTik User Meeting (MUM). Release of the RB112, world's first $49 2-radio ready outdoor CPE and MikroTik's first product with expansion headers. All new RouterOS appliances introduced after the RB112 have at least 16 MiB RAM. All new RouterOS appliances introduced after the RB133c have at least 16 MiB flash and 32 MiB RAM. Release of the RB133, world's most affordable professional board with 3 minPCI slots. Release of the R52H, MikroTik's first high power dual band (selectable) device. First stable User Manager release. First stable Nstreme2 release.
2007 Release of the RB150 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first SOHO appliance. Release of the RB333 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first PowerPC, MIMO-ready appliance and supporting HWMP+.
2008 First stable RouterOS v3 release, based on Linux 2.6, includes SMP, MPLS/VPLS, PIM-SM, OpenVPN, and HWMP+ support. Release of the RB600 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first native quad miniPCI and gigabit appliance. Release of the RB411 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first MIPS appliance in big endian mode and with actual active 802.3af and supporting Nv2. Release of the RB433 RouterBoard, world's most affordable board capable of actually supporting 3 radios and MikroTik's best selling board ever. Release of the RB433AH RouterBoard, MikroTik's first microSD appliance. Release of the RB1000 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first DDR2 SDRAM and hardware encryption appliance and upgradeable to 2 GiB RAM. Release of the RB450 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first wired-only SOHO and redundant power appliance. Release of the RB411U RouterBoard, MikroTik's first USB, miniPCIe, EDGE, and 3G cellular-ready appliance, and with SIM card and both miniPCI and miniPCIe slots. Release of the R52n wireless card, MikroTik's first MIMO card and Wi-Fi 4 device. First stable The Dude release.
2009
Release of the RB433UAH RouterBoard, MikroTik's first dual USB and triple dedicated storage appliance. Release of the RB450G RouterBoard, MikroTik's first gigabit SOHO appliance. Release of the R52n-M wireless card, MikroTik's first medium power Wi-Fi 4 device with MMCX. Release of the RB750 router, MikroTik's first device with CPU and switch integrated in the same chip and fully assembled SOHO appliance. Release of the RB750G router, MikroTik's first fanless gigabit appliance. Release of the RB800 RouterBoard, MikroTik's first appliance with 1 miniPCIe plus 4 miniPCI expandable to 4 additional miniPCI slots. First stable MetaROUTER release. First stable RouterOS v4 release, based on Linux 2.6, includes Wi-Fi 4 and Lua scripting support . Release of the R52Hn wireless card, MikroTik's first high power MIMO and Wi-Fi 4 device.
2010
Release of the RB250GS switch, first SwOS and MCU-based appliance and without discrete RAM and only 16 KiB RAM and 128 KiB flash, and device with an Intel MCS-51-compatible MCU (with a RISC backend). Release of the RB1100 router, MikroTik's first SATA and dedicated rackmount appliance. Release of the RB493G RouterBoard, world's first SOHO router with more than 8 gigabit ports.
2011 Release of the SXT 5HnD router, MikroTik's first integrated 2x2 directional outdoor appliance and with a MIMO array antenna. Release of the RB711-5Hn access point, MikroTik's first integrated 5GHz 802.11n bare board. Release of The Groove 5Hn, MikroTik's first zero-loss device and world's smallest fully featured outdoor router. Release of the RB711-2Hn access point, MikroTik's first integrated 2.4GHz 802.11n bare board. First stable releases of IPv6 and RouterOS v5, based on Linux 2.6.35, introducing WebFig, Nv2, SSTP, GRE, and WPS. Release of the OmniTIK UPA-5HnD router, MikroTik's first bottom entry, with an integrated omnidirectional antenna, and outdoor PoE-out appliance. Release of the RB750GL router, MikroTik's first gigabit device with CPU and switch integrated in the same chip. Release of the RB711UA-2HnD access point, MikroTik's first integrated high power 2.4GHz MIMO board. Release of the RB751U-2HnD router, MikroTik's first integrated dual chain appliance and with an internal antenna (2) and USB power output reset. Release of the RB1100AHx2 router, MikroTik's first dual core and dual built-in power supply appliance. Release of the RB2011LS router, MikroTik's first SFP appliance. Release of MikroTik's first SFP modules.
2012
Release of the Metal 2 router, MikroTik's first fully assembled ruggedized hardware. Release of the RB750UP router, MikroTik's first SOHO PoE-out appliance. Release of the RB2011UAS-2HnD-IN, MikroTik's first touchscreen and microUSB appliance. Release of MikroTik's first SFP+ modules. Release of MikroTik's first SFP+ Direct Attach Cables. Release of the CCR1036-12G-4S Cloud Core Router, world's first 36-core router and with 24 million pps throughput under $1000 and first MikroTik appliance with DDR3, SFP+, 10GbE, a Tilera 64-bit TILE-Gx many-core CPU, 1 GiB flash and at least 4 GiB RAM upgradeable to 16 GiB. Release of the RB2011UiAS-RM, MikroTik's first dedicated rackmount device with a software-toggleable PoE-out port.
2013
All newly manufactured MikroTik products RoHS 2 compliant. Release of the SXT Lite5 router, world's most affordable and widely deployed professional 5GHz outdoor CPE. Release of the original RB260GS switch, MikroTiK's first SwOS appliance with SFP. The switch chip was the AR8327, the MCU remained the TF470. Production of MikroTik switches with data ports slower than gigabit ended. First stable RouterOS v6 release, based on Linux 3.3.5, includes 64-bit support, partitions, FastTrack, and FastPath. First stable QuickSet release. Release of the RB951Ui-2HnD wireless router, MikroTik's most popular appliance under OpenWrt and main workhorse. Release of the CRS125-24G-1S-IN, MikroTik's most influential switch ever and first with 128 MiB RAM and low-throughput routing capability. Release of the QRT 5 router, MikroTik's first integrated ruggedized hardware. Release of the RB14e, world's first multiplexed 4-in-1 adapter card.. Release of the CRS212-1G-10S-1S+IN, MikroTik's first mostly "copper-free" appliance.
2014 Release of the CRS226-24G-2S+RM, MikroTik's first switch with SFP+ and 10GbE. First stable CAPsMAN release. Release of MikroTik's first Wi-Fi 5 devices. Release of the NetMetal 5 bridge, MikroTik's first ruggedized device with a miniPCIe slot. Release of the RB953GS-5HnT-RP RouterBoard, MikroTik's first dual miniPCIe and 3x3 MIMO device and non-rackmount appliance that was never offered with less than 128 MiB flash. Release of the S-RJ01, MikroTik's first copper SFP module. Release of the PowerBox, MikroTik's first dedicated outdoor power distribution router. Release of the mAP, the world's first professional pocket router, and with microUSB to PoE power passthrough. Release of the SXT LTE bridge, MikroTik's first 4G/LTE and integrated cellular appliance. Release of MikroTik's first SFP+ Active Optical Cables. Release of the cAP 2n, MikroTik's first dedicated ceiling access point.
2015
Release of the hAP lite, world's first $22 professional dual chain wireless router and MikroTik's first SMIPS appliance, and with a multi-function reset button and microUSB for power input (only and dumb) and MikroTik's best selling hardware ever. Release of the hAP lite TC, world's most affordable professional router and most affordable and widely deployed 2.4 GHz home router and managed access point. Release of the hAP wireless router, MikroTik's first appliance providing up to 1A power output on a USB port. Release of the hEX lite, world's most affordable MPLS/VPLS router. Release of the wAP, MikroTik's first appliance with bottom+rear entry and offered in 2 color choices and universal access point. Release of the cAP, MikroTik's first dual chain ceiling access point. Release of the CCR1072-1G-8S+, world's first 72-core router and MikroTik's first M.2 appliance and with more than two 10GbE ports, with ECC RAM as standard, dual removable hot-swap power supply system and aggregate throughput reaching 80 Gbps, more than 120 million packets per second. Release of the CCR1009-7G-1C-PC, world's first fanless router capable of 8Gbps throughput and appliance with a logical 2-medium general networking combo port and MikroTik's first fully assembled desktop model never offered with less than 128 MiB flash. Tik-App brought in-house. Release of MikroTik's first integrated sector routers. Release of the mAP lite, the world's smallest access point and MikroTik's most affordable expandable appliance. First stable CAPsMAN v2 release. Release of the RB3011UiAS-RM, MikroTik's first ARM and USB 3.0 appliance.
2016 Release of the hAP ac wireless router, world's first triple chain SOHO router with built-in SFP and MikroTik's first fully assembled 6 internal antennas appliance. MikroTik's management app released for iOS too.