MikroTik is a European network equipment manufacturer providing complete networking infrastructure solutions, from 60 GHz links and powerful 5G connectivity to IoT and 100-400 Gigabit enterprise networking. The company’s products combine hardware with flexible RouterOS software to deliver scalable, secure, and affordable solutions for customers worldwide. Designed and built in Europe, MikroTik technology serves everyone from individual users to large-scale ISPs, mobile carriers, researchers, and data centers.

The challenge

One of MikroTik’s main challenges was achieving high-speed 5G performance while maintaining energy efficiency and cost balance for their end users.

The solution

The company selected the Quectel RG650E-EU module for its proven 5G performance and stability, comprehensive band support (reliable connectivity on different carrier networks across Europe) and carrier aggregation, ease of integration with excellent documentation and strong partnership with technical reliability.

The module is integrated into MikroTik’s Chateau 5G R17 ax, a 5G home and office router designed for high-performance connectivity. Unlike typical consumer 5G routers, this device merges professional-grade networking with unprecedented user-friendly flexibility, adapting to an extreme variety of needs from households with no IT skills to engineers with decades of experience. It combines a quad-core 1.8 GHz ARM CPU, Wi-Fi 6, and the Quectel Release 17 5G modem to enable advanced carrier aggregation and wide FDD + TDD band support.

The results

The module’s compact design and low thermal output were key to achieving a sleek form factor without compromising performance. This integration enabled MikroTik to deliver a high-performance, yet cost-efficient router that meets both enterprise and consumer expectations, offering fast, reliable, and flexible 5G connectivity worldwide.

The Chateau 5G R17 ax is distributed and deployed worldwide, with strong demand across the EMEA region. Its broadband support and compliance with EU standards make it especially popular in European markets, where it provides future-proof home and enterprise connectivity even in rural or remote regions with limited fixed-line infrastructure.

Customers gain instant, high-speed 5G connectivity, even without a SIM card thanks to built-in eSIM support. The device offers exceptional coverage and signal strength through 4×4 MIMO and Wi-Fi 6 dual-band performance, a secure flexible platform powered by RouterOS v7 giving full control over VPNs, VLANs, scripting, and firewall rules without subscriptions or paywalls, a cost-effective 5G upgrade path that merges consumer simplicity with ISP-grade reliability, and a sustainable, European-made design focused on long-term durability and energy efficiency.

The future

The device serves multiple industries, including:

• Telecommunications and ISPs for customer-premises equipment and managed 5G connectivity
• Enterprise and SMB networks for branch connectivity, VPN links, and mobile backup
• Smart home and IoT integrators for connected systems, gateways, and remote monitoring
• Government and education sectors for secure remote work and broadband access
• Rural and mobile operators for expanding high-speed coverage in underserved regions

“Our work with MikroTik demonstrates how focused engineering can dismantle traditional cost-to-performance barriers in networking,” said Patrik Larsson, Regional Sales Director Nordics & Baltics at Quectel. “The RG650E-EU was pivotal in transforming their vision for an accessible, high-grade 5G router into a manufacturable reality, making professional-grade networking performance genuinely accessible to a global audience.”