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Basic VLAN Configuration

Basic VLAN Configuration

Section titled “Basic VLAN Configuration”

TL;DR (Quick Start)

Section titled “TL;DR (Quick Start)”

For the impatient: here’s the 30-second version.

# Create VLANs on trunk interface
/interface vlan add name=vlan100 vlan-id=100 interface=ether2
/interface vlan add name=vlan200 vlan-id=200 interface=ether2
/ip address add address=10.100.0.1/24 interface=vlan100
/ip address add address=10.200.0.1/24 interface=vlan200

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

This guide demonstrates how to configure VLANs on MikroTik RouterOS using VLAN interfaces on top of a physical interface.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • A MikroTik router running RouterOS 7.x or later
  • Access to the router via SSH, WinBox, or WebFig

Configuration Steps

Section titled “Configuration Steps”

Step 1: Create VLAN 100 Interface

Section titled “Step 1: Create VLAN 100 Interface”

Create a VLAN interface with ID 100 on ether2:

/interface vlan add name=vlan100 vlan-id=100 interface=ether2 comment="Management VLAN"

Step 2: Create VLAN 200 Interface

Section titled “Step 2: Create VLAN 200 Interface”

Create a second VLAN for guest network:

/interface vlan add name=vlan200 vlan-id=200 interface=ether2 comment="Guest VLAN"

Step 3: Assign IP to VLAN 100

Section titled “Step 3: Assign IP to VLAN 100”

Configure an IP address on the management VLAN:

/ip address add address=10.100.0.1/24 interface=vlan100 comment="VLAN 100 Gateway"

Step 4: Assign IP to VLAN 200

Section titled “Step 4: Assign IP to VLAN 200”

Configure an IP address on the guest VLAN:

/ip address add address=10.200.0.1/24 interface=vlan200 comment="VLAN 200 Gateway"

Verification

Section titled “Verification”

Check 1: VLAN Interfaces

Section titled “Check 1: VLAN Interfaces”
/interface vlan print

Expected Output:

Flags: X - disabled, R - running
 #   NAME     MTU  ARP        VLAN-ID  INTERFACE
 0 R vlan100  1500 enabled        100  ether2
 1 R vlan200  1500 enabled        200  ether2

Check 2: VLAN IP Addresses

Section titled “Check 2: VLAN IP Addresses”
/ip address print where interface~"vlan"

Expected Output:

Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
 #   ADDRESS          NETWORK        INTERFACE
 0   10.100.0.1/24    10.100.0.0     vlan100
 1   10.200.0.1/24    10.200.0.0     vlan200

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

Problem: VLAN traffic not passing

Section titled “Problem: VLAN traffic not passing”

Symptoms: Devices in VLAN cannot communicate, no connectivity.

Causes & Solutions:

  1. Switch port not configured as trunk - The connected switch must tag traffic:

    • Configure switch port as trunk/tagged for VLANs 100, 200
    • Verify with packet capture that tagged frames are being sent

  2. Wrong VLAN ID - Verify VLAN IDs match on both ends:

    /interface vlan print

  3. Parent interface down - Check the physical interface:

    /interface print where name=ether2

Problem: VLAN interface not running

Section titled “Problem: VLAN interface not running”

Symptoms: VLAN interface shows without ‘R’ (running) flag.

Causes & Solutions:

  1. Parent interface is down - Bring up the parent interface:

    /interface enable ether2

  2. VLAN disabled - Enable the VLAN interface:

    /interface vlan enable vlan100

Problem: Inter-VLAN routing not working

Section titled “Problem: Inter-VLAN routing not working”

Symptoms: Devices in different VLANs cannot reach each other.

Causes & Solutions:

  1. IP forwarding disabled - Verify routing is enabled (it is by default)

  2. Firewall blocking traffic - Check forward chain:

    /ip firewall filter print chain=forward

  3. Devices have wrong gateway - Ensure devices point to the correct VLAN gateway IP

Problem: Only one VLAN works

Section titled “Problem: Only one VLAN works”

Symptoms: One VLAN has connectivity, others don’t.

Causes & Solutions:

  1. Native VLAN mismatch - Check if traffic is being sent untagged: 
    /interface vlan print detail
    Verify the switch native VLAN configuration matches
Section titled “Related Topics”

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

Advanced Topics

Section titled “Advanced Topics”

References

Section titled “References”