I cleaned up the garage and found in a box a white plastic unused MikrotTik
RouterBoard 750GL & a used black all steel MikroTik RouterBoard 450 (which
is built like the Tonka trucks we used to play with when we were kids).

They don't have power supplies but they say on them they will take anywhere
between 8 to 30 VDC (and both have a dual Ethernet/POE port anyway). I
opened up the black Routerboard 450 (it had four solid screws) because there
was no model number sticker which even has a JTAG port on the motherboard,
along with a second power supply port inside (and an RS-232-looking-like
connector for a "serial console"). They used to build things well in the
olden days I guess.

Each has 5 RJ45 ports, four of which are labeled Eth2, Eth3, Eth4, & Eth5.
What can I do with them that would make them useful to me?

Since they're not Wi-Fi, are they useful as dumb switches, for example?
(they didn't come with a power supply so that will be a minor issue)

What use would you find for these spare parts MikroTik routerboard boxes?

On 2021-10-18 3:53 p.m., Thomas wrote:
> I cleaned up the garage and found in a box a white plastic unused MikrotTik
> RouterBoard 750GL & a used black all steel MikroTik RouterBoard 450 (which
> is built like the Tonka trucks we used to play with when we were kids).
>
> They don't have power supplies but they say on them they will take anywhere
> between 8 to 30 VDC (and both have a dual Ethernet/POE port anyway). I
> opened up the black Routerboard 450 (it had four solid screws) because there
> was no model number sticker which even has a JTAG port on the motherboard,
> along with a second power supply port inside (and an RS-232-looking-like
> connector for a "serial console"). They used to build things well in the
> olden days I guess.
>
> Each has 5 RJ45 ports, four of which are labeled Eth2, Eth3, Eth4, & Eth5.
> What can I do with them that would make them useful to me?
>
> Since they're not Wi-Fi, are they useful as dumb switches, for example?
> (they didn't come with a power supply so that will be a minor issue)
>
> What use would you find for these spare parts MikroTik routerboard boxes?
>

The GL750 could still be used as a router,

https://www.amazon.ca/Mikrotik-RB750Gr3-5-port-Ethernet-Gigabit/dp/B01MSUMVUB/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=mikrotik&qid=1634591520&sr=8-7

On the 450 I have no idea.

Rene

On Monday, October 18, 2021 at 2:18:37 PM, Rene Lamontagne wrote:
> The GL750 could still be used as a router,
>
> https://www.amazon.ca/Mikrotik-RB750Gr3-5-port-Ethernet-Gigabit/dp/B01MSUMVUB/
> On the 450 I have no idea.

That Amazon link (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MSUMVUB) is similar to what I
have (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJPWZ8O) but yours has a USB port while
mine has a knockout for an unused USB port that doesn't exist in mine.

I'm surprised yours is over a hundred dollars though, as mine is years old.

This RB750GL is still in the package so I haven't opened it up yet, but I
did unscrew the metal case on the metal used RB450 router to look inside
(http://mikrotik.com.ua/download/rb450.pdf).

This pic matches its motherboard (https://mikrotik.com/product/RB450).

I don't know if this is good for nowadays as it's a 300MHz CPU, 64MB RAM,
5xEthernet, which has a 10/100 Ethernet switch (but no Wi-Fi capability).

I'm just curious what you would do with these two routers if you had them so
that I can maybe think up of a use for them. What can be done with them?

On 2021-10-18 7:27 p.m., Thomas wrote:
> On Monday, October 18, 2021 at 2:18:37 PM, Rene Lamontagne wrote:
>> The GL750 could still be used as a router,
>>
>> https://www.amazon.ca/Mikrotik-RB750Gr3-5-port-Ethernet-Gigabit/dp/B01MSUMVUB/
>> On the 450 I have no idea.
>
> That Amazon link (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MSUMVUB) is similar to what I
> have (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJPWZ8O) but yours has a USB port while
> mine has a knockout for an unused USB port that doesn't exist in mine.
>
> I'm surprised yours is over a hundred dollars though, as mine is years old.
>
> This RB750GL is still in the package so I haven't opened it up yet, but I
> did unscrew the metal case on the metal used RB450 router to look inside
> (http://mikrotik.com.ua/download/rb450.pdf).
>
> This pic matches its motherboard (https://mikrotik.com/product/RB450).
>
> I don't know if this is good for nowadays as it's a 300MHz CPU, 64MB RAM,
> 5xEthernet, which has a 10/100 Ethernet switch (but no Wi-Fi capability).
>
> I'm just curious what you would do with these two routers if you had them so
> that I can maybe think up of a use for them. What can be done with them?
>

Use the RB750 as a hardwired router only, no wireless the 450 i have no idea

Rene

On Monday, October 18, 2021 at 6:22:06 PM, Rene Lamontagne wrote:
> Use the RB750 as a hardwired router only, no wireless the 450 i have no idea

I don't even know what I could do with these two extra routers, really.

I've been playing with the two routers and agree with you that the RB750GL
is a gigabit router while the RB450 is 10/100 which isn't as good overall.

That means if I'm only going to use one of them, it would be the 750GL.

From using the supplied software called "WinBox", each router can be set up
as a router or as a bridge, and each has five total ports for the switch.

I already have a modem connected directly to a main Wi-Fi router so I'm not
really sure what I would do with these two "extra" routers. Are they useful
to someone that I might know for a reason that they may need them?

I'm trying to think of what good these are for in a typical home setup.
What's the need they serve if you already have a normal AC Wi-Fi router?

I guess if I need extra connections, I can use the RB750GL as a switch by
connecting one LAN connection of the RB750GL to one LAN connection of the
main Wi-Fi router. I lose one connection on the main Wi-Fi router but I gain
three connections on the RB750GL, which is an overall gain of two
connections for the RB750GL. (Is that right?).

Or maybe, I'm wondering if I can connect the WAN port of the RB750GL to the
modem and then I maybe could take one of the LAN outputs of the RB750GL to
connect to the WAN port of the current main Wi-Fi router?

That would add three wired connections I think. (Is that right?)