MikroTik Certified Routing Engineer

MTCRE · ● Active · Professional · MikroTik

Exam facts

Vendor source — MikroTik Training Overview ↗
Official exam guide — MTCRE Exam Guide ↗
Exam objectives — Routing Engineer Curriculum ↗

About

The MikroTik Certified Routing Engineer (MTCRE) is a professional-level routing certification for engineers working with MikroTik RouterOS across ISP, WISP, and enterprise networks. It builds on the MTCNA and covers advanced routing protocols (OSPF, BGP, RIP), tunneling technologies (PPP, EoIP, IPIP, GRE), VLAN segmentation, routing filters, and BGP path-selection mechanics. The cert is widely recognized in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and Latin America as a marker of hands-on routing expertise; it is particularly prominent among ISP/WISP engineers and network operators using MikroTik hardware or RouterOS in production environments.

Domain context — Networking/Routing

Vendor-specific routing certification for multiprotocol networks and ISP backhaul infrastructure.

Read full deep dive — MikroTik Ecosystem →

Topics covered

• Static Routing — route definition, administrative distance, gateway and interface configuration
• Routing Information Protocol (RIP) — RIP v1 and v2, metric calculation, passive/active interfaces, route distribution
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) — single-area and multi-area OSPF, neighbor election, LSA flooding, SPF calculation, area types (backbone, stub, not-so-stubby)
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) — BGP fundamentals, AS path, local preference, MED, route selection logic, basic filtering
• Tunneling Technologies — Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Ethernet over IP (EoIP), IP-in-IP (IPIP), Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)
• VLAN Configuration — 802.1Q tagging, trunk and access mode, native VLAN
• Routing Filters and Policy — prefix lists, route maps, route filtering, conditional routing
• Traffic Control and Quality of Service — queue discipline, priority queuing, traffic shaping (if included in current exam revision)

Source: MikroTik Routing Engineer Exam Guide ↗

Common skills at Networking/Routing · Professional

Shared content for the Networking/Routing domain at Professional level — not specific to this cert.

• Configure and optimize multi-protocol routing in production networks
• Diagnose and resolve inter-domain routing convergence and loop issues
• Design and implement scalable OSPF and BGP architectures for regional/national backbones
• Implement traffic engineering and path selection policies
• Operate carrier-grade routing platforms under SLA constraints
• Automate network deployment and monitoring using vendor CLI and scripting

Recommended courses at Networking/Routing · Professional

Course-selection rule: Each course must be specifically for MTCRE or advanced MikroTik routing. Generic "network fundamentals" courses do not substitute for hands-on OSPF/BGP labs.

Practice exams

Note: MikroTik does not publish official sample questions; most candidates prepare via the vendor's own lab platform and partner training courses rather than third-party practice sets.

Books

Typical job titles at Networking/Routing · Professional

Network Engineer · ISP Engineer · WISP Engineer · Routing Engineer · Backbone Engineer · Senior Network Technician · Network Operations Engineer

(Job titles drawn from current job-board postings in regions where MikroTik is prevalent — particularly Eastern Europe, South Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia.

Salary

Salary rule: Ranges reflect professional-level routing engineers with MikroTik experience in competitive job markets. South Africa data particularly robust given MikroTik prevalence in ISP/WISP sector. USD figures align with mid-tier network engineer surveys; higher end approaches for senior or design roles.

Skills validated

Cert-specific — what this exam actually tests, distinct from the shared "Common skills" above.

• OSPF configuration across single and multi-area topologies
• BGP neighbor establishment, route advertisement, and AS path manipulation
• RIP v1/v2 protocol operation and metric calculation
• Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) link setup and authentication
• EoIP, IPIP, and GRE tunnel creation and bridging
• VLAN tagging, trunk configuration, and inter-VLAN routing
• Route filtering via prefix lists and policy routing
• BGP path selection: local preference, AS path length, MED comparison
• RouterOS CLI navigation, interface configuration, and packet filtering
• Practical diagnostics: traceroute, ping, route tracing, neighbor observation

Related certifications

• Stacks with: MikroTik Certified Associate (MTCNA) ↗
• Prerequisite for: MikroTik advanced certifications (e.g., expert-level routing or wireless certs, if released)
• Replaces: N/A — original cert; no predecessor version
• Equivalents at this level:
  • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Routing ↗ — industry-standard equivalent
  • Juniper Networks Certified Associate Routing & Switching (JNCIA-JNCIS-R) ↗ — competitor equivalent
• Vendor overview: MikroTik Vendor Overview ↗

Sources

• MikroTik Training Portal: https://mikrotik.com/training
• MikroTik Certified Routing Engineer: https://mikrotik.com/training/routing-engineer
• MikroTik Certification List: https://mikrotik.com/training/certifications
• Glassdoor Network Engineer Salary Data: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/network-engineer-salary.htm
• Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide (Technology): https://www.roberthalf.com/salary-guide
• PayScale South Africa: https://www.payscale.com/research/ZA/
• IT Jobs Watch (UK): https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk
• Hays Salary Guide: https://www.hays.com/salary-guide
• Advanced OSPF Design and Deployment (Cisco Press): https://ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2202410
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) 4 (Addison-Wesley): https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/border-gateway-protocol/0201379150
• MikroTik RouterOS Essentials (Packt Publishing, 2023): https://www.packtpub.com/product/mikrotik-routeros-essentials

Last verified: 2026-05-01
Parent ecosystem: MikroTik Ecosystem
Parent domain: Networking/Routing
Vendor overview: MikroTik Overview