Software Alternatives & Reviews

SmoothWall VS MikroTik RouterOS

Compare SmoothWall VS MikroTik RouterOS and see what are their differences

SmoothWall logo SmoothWall

Smoothwall Express Open Source Firewall distribution

MikroTik RouterOS logo MikroTik RouterOS

The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.
  • SmoothWall Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-02
  • MikroTik RouterOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-25

SmoothWall videos

How to Install Smoothwall Express 3.1 SP2 + Review + VMware Tools on VMware Workstation Tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started With Smoothwall Express
  • Review - Install and Configure Smoothwall Firewall within VMware Workstation

MikroTik RouterOS videos

MikroTik RouterOS security review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SmoothWall and MikroTik RouterOS)
Perimeter Security And Firewalls
Operating Systems
7 7%
93% 93
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Firewall
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SmoothWall and MikroTik RouterOS

SmoothWall Reviews

Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Smoothwall got a good reputation in the early days when it was competing with IPCop. It went silent in 2014. Smoothwall OS has been abandoned and is no longer relevant or secure. You should avoid it. The website is still up and running but hasn't been updated in many years.
Source: teklager.se
8 Best Open Source Firewall to Protect Your Network
Smoothwall express supports LAN, DMZ, Internal, External network firewalling, web proxy for acceleration, traffic stats, etc.
Source: geekflare.com

MikroTik RouterOS Reviews

  1. many bugs that block connections

    since 2 years they didn't fix bugs that block the router from the internet


The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
MikroTik RouterOS is an open-source router OS software that is designed to provide a powerful, customizable, and secure networking experience. It is based on the Linux kernel and offers a range of features and capabilities that make it a popular choice among network enthusiasts, developers, and IT professionals. The open-source nature of MikroTik RouterOS means that users...
11 Best pfsense Alternatives To Secure Your Network
Before acquiring licensed software, MikroTik enables you to test the MikroTik RouterOS technology. This is referred to as Trial Mode by MikroTik, and it allows you to try the whole MikroTik RouterOS features and functionality set for up to 24 hours.
10 Best pfSense Alternatives and Similar Firewalls
RouterOS has a stateful firewall, which conducts stateful inspection and maintains track of the state of network connections traversing it. It also includes Source and Destination Network Address Translation, NAT assistance for common applications, and UPnP compatibility.
5 Router OS Turns Old PC Into High Performance Router And Enterprise Network Switch
RouterOS is the operating system of RouterBOARD. It can also be installed on a PC and will turn it into a router with all the necessary features – routing, firewall, bandwidth management, wireless access point, backhaul link, hotspot gateway, VPN server and more.
A Feast of Linux-Based Routers
Though the code is not open and it is more of a commercial offering, RouterOS from MikroTik is Linux-based. It installs onto and turns regular PCs into a enterprise-level router. It gives you all the necessary features, including routing, firewall, bandwidth management, wireless access point, backhaul link, hotspot gateway, VPN server, and more.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MikroTik RouterOS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SmoothWall mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of SmoothWall yet. Tracking of SmoothWall recommendations started around Mar 2021.

MikroTik RouterOS mentions (23)

  • Ubiquiti showing other users' consoles
    Anyone using Mikrotik these days? Been Mikro-curious for awhile and always see them thrown around as a Unifi alternative. Yet to hear of any firsthand implementations though. [0] https://mikrotik.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Free - Self-hosted - WebRTC - alternative to Zoom, Teams, Google Meet - Real time video calls, chat, screen sharing, file sharing, collaborative whiteboard, dashboard, rooms scheduler and more!
    I keep reading it as the networking hardware company Mikrotik. Source: about 1 year ago
  • hap ax2 or ax3
    The "Buy" link at the top of mikrotik.com - this is how most hardware vendors with a distribution network have their site set up. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Germany ups reliance on Huawei for 5G despite security fears
    Or Mikrotik from Latvia, for switching/routing: Https://mikrotik.com/. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Management VLAN vs Native.
    There is way to get default to do whatewer you want (including preseted VLAN on some port): Get some config, which you'd like to use as default Login to mikrotik.com Use branding section to get packet, which can be installed on any RoS to change default config and some other things. Source: over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SmoothWall and MikroTik RouterOS, you can also consider the following products

pfSense - pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

IPFire - IPFire is a server distribution with intended to use as a firewall.

OpenWrt - OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers

OPNsense - OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.

Endian Firewall Community - Endian Firewall Community (EFW) is a "turn-key" linux security distribution that turns...

VyOS - VyOS in an open source Linux-based operating system sold and distributed by Sentrium corporations. It is geared toward IT specialists and network administrators for the purpose of securing network and company data... read more.