The type of load balancing recommended in MikroTik RouterOS depends on your specific networking needs, the number of WAN links you need to balance, and the goals of your configuration (for example, maximizing bandwidth, providing redundancy, or balancing specific loads). of traffic).

We present some common load balancing strategies in MikroTik RouterOS and for which situations they are most suitable:

1. ECMP (Equal Cost Multi-Path)

• Recommended use: When you have multiple WAN links with similar costs (for example, bandwidth and latency) and you want to distribute traffic equally between them.
• Advantages: Easy to configure, it provides automatic and efficient traffic balancing.
• Considerations: ECMP works best when links are of similar capacity. Not ideal for very uneven bandwidth links.

2. PCC (Per Connection Classifier)

• Recommended use: To balance traffic between multiple WAN links based on specific connection parameters, such as source and destination IP addresses and ports. It is useful for maintaining consistency of sessions, such as online banking connections or online gaming.
• Advantages: It allows detailed control of load balancing and is highly customizable.
• Considerations: It requires a more complex configuration and a clear understanding of your network's traffic needs.

3. NTH

• Recommended use: To rotate connections between multiple WAN links based on a connection counter. Good for situations where you want to distribute loads sequentially between links.
• Advantages: Simple to implement and effective at distributing new connections equitably.
• Considerations: It may not be ideal for applications that require maintaining the same route for successive packets within the same session.

4. Route Marking Based Load Balancing

• Recommended use: In scenarios where you need fine control over specific traffic going over certain WAN links, possibly to optimize bandwidth usage or to comply with traffic usage policies.
• Advantages: It offers maximum flexibility and control over how traffic is distributed across your WAN links.
• Considerations: It is the most complex option and requires advanced knowledge of RouterOS and your network capabilities.

General considerations

• Redundancy: Regardless of the method chosen, consider implementing failover mechanisms to ensure service continuity in the event of the failure of one of the WAN links.
• Monitoring: Use MikroTik monitoring tools to evaluate the performance of your load balancing configuration and adjust as necessary.

Load balancing in MikroTik RouterOS is a powerful tool to optimize the performance of your network and the availability of your Internet connections.

Choosing the right method will depend on a careful analysis of your specific needs and the capacity of your WAN links.