One way to connect to a Mikrotik router is to use Winbox. This software manages Mikrotik virtual server by controlling bandwidth. In this article, you will get acquainted with the various features of Winbox and you will see How to Connect to Mikrotik using Winbox. We suggest you check out the packages offered on the Eldernode website, if you would like to purchase Mikrotik VPS Server.
Table of Contents
How to Connect to Mikrotik using Winbox
What is Winbox?
Winbox is a software designed for network use that focuses on bandwidth control. Winbox allows people to connect to the Mikrotik Router. It is also used to manage Mikrotik virtual server. You don’t need to run Winbox on a Mac or on a server running Linux. Just install the Winbox on your system and connect to it using your Mikrotik IP server. This is a pairing element for Win32, but can run on Linux and MacOS using Wine.
Get Started with Winbox
First download Winbox loader from the Mikrotik download page. Then double-click on Winbox.exe to run Winbox loader. We have two modes for the Winbox loader:
–> Simple Mode
–> Advanced Mode
Simple Mode
The default layout of the Winbox loader is Simple mode. Enter the router’s IP or MAC address, enter your username and password, and click the Connect button to connect to the router:
Another option is to enter the port number after the IP address like this: your_IP_address:9999. You can change the port from the RouterOS service menu.
The important point in terms of security is to use a single IP address.
You can see the list of available routers from the Neighbors tab. From the list of detected routers, if you click on the IP address, the IP is used to connect, but if you click on the MAC address, the MAC address is used to connect to the router:
In the list above, you will see devices that are not compatible with Winbox, such as Cisco routers or any other device that uses CDP (Cisco Detection Protocol). The connection to the SwOS device is establishing through a web browser.
Advanced Mode
An advanced mode with Tools—>Advanced Mode must be enabled to reveal additional Winbox loader parameters:
How to Access Winbox via Command-Line
You can use the command-line to automatically pass the connection parameters, user and password:
winbox.exe [<connect-to> [<login> [<password>]]]You can use the following command to automatically transfer the connection, user and the password parameters to connect to the router by saving the RoMON Agent in the list of managed routers:
winbox.exe --romon [<romon-agent> [<connect-to> [<login> [<password>]]]]IPv6 Connectivity
Another feature of Winbox is support for IPv6 connectivity. To connect to the router’s IPv6 address, you can put it in square braces, such as when web browsers connect to the IPv6 server:
Connecting to a Mikrotik from Winbox
–> First run the Winbox tool.
–> Then go to Neighbors.
–> In this step, Winbox must find your router and MAC address.
–> Find your router in the list and click on the IP/MAC address.
–> Finally press the Connect button.
After the Winbox plugins have been downloaded and you have done the authentication, you will see the main window of Winbox.
Winbox Interface Items
The interface features are as follows:
–> Its design is intuitive for most users.
–> Users can add various information fields such as CPU usage and memory to the main toolbar (at the top).
–> The menu bar (on the left) shows the list of all available menus and submenus and changes depending on the packages that are installed.
–> Work area where all menu windows open.
1 –> undo and redo
2 –> Safe Mode: This option prevents the router from becoming inaccessible when the router is configured.
3 –> Title Bar: The title bar contains information that specifies which router the Winbox session opened with. The information is displaying in the following format:
[username]@[Router's IP or MAC] ( [RouterID] ) - Winbox [ROS version] on [RB model] ([platform])4 –> Memory
5 –> Winbox Traffic
6 –> Secure Mode
Conclusion
As we have seen, Winbox is a configuration tool that can connect to the mikrotik router via the MAC or IP protocol. In this article, we reviewed the features of Winbox and you learned how to connect to Mikrotik using Winbox.
