Yes, in MikroTik RouterOS you can mark packets to then apply specific policies, such as limiting bandwidth to certain types of traffic, including traffic to and from social networks.

This process involves several stages, including identifying social media traffic, marking corresponding packets, and applying bandwidth control rules.

We tell you how you can do it:

1. Identification of Social Network Traffic

First, you need to identify your social media traffic. This can be challenging due to the number and variety of social networks, as well as the use of multiple IP addresses and domains. A common strategy includes:

• Using known IP addresses: List of IP addresses used by social media platforms.
• DNS Analysis: Capture of domain names associated with these platforms (such as facebook.com, twitter.com, etc.).

2. Package Marking

Once the traffic is identified, the next step is to mark those packets using the rules of mangle in MikroTik RouterOS:

/ip firewall mangle
add chain=prerouting action=mark-packet new-packet-mark=social_media passthrough=no dst-address-list=SocialMedia

In this example, all packets destined for IP addresses stored in an address list called SocialMedia are marked as social_media. Make sure you have previously configured this IP address list under /ip firewall address-list.

3. Bandwidth Limitation

Then you can use the functionality Queue to limit bandwidth to marked packets. This is done in the section Queue Tree o Simple Queues, depending on your settings and preferences:

/queue simple
add name="Limit Social Media" target="" packet-marks=social_media max-limit=1M/1M

This command creates a queue that limits the bandwidth for social media traffic to 1 Mbps up and down.

4. Monitoring and Adjustments

Finally, it is crucial to monitor the operation of these rules to ensure that traffic is being correctly identified and limited.

You may need to make adjustments to IP address lists or bandwidth limits based on actual usage and changes to social network IP addresses.

By implementing these steps, you can effectively control and manage the bandwidth dedicated to social networks on your MikroTik network, which can be especially useful in business or educational environments where it is necessary to prioritize bandwidth for critical applications.