MikroTik LTE & 5G Failover: Keep Your Connection Up (Chateau & LtAP)

Downtime costs money, and a wired line will eventually fail — a cut fiber, a carrier outage, a construction crew with a backhoe. The fix is a second path over the cellular network that takes over automatically. MikroTik's Chateau and LtAP routers put LTE or 5G right in the box, so you can add resilient failover to a home office, a retail site, or a remote cabinet without a separate modem.

Everything below is in stock in our MikroTik LTE & 5G Routers collection, with fast US shipping.

Pick the right cellular device

Browse them all under MikroTik LTE & 5G, or see the full MikroTik range. If you want the cellular device to feed a separate main router, pair it with an RB5009.

How failover works on RouterOS

Failover is just two default routes with different priorities. Your wired WAN is the primary route (lower distance), and the LTE interface is the backup (higher distance). RouterOS continuously checks whether the primary gateway is alive; when it stops responding, the backup route takes over automatically, and traffic returns to primary when it recovers. Configure it all in WinBox; MikroTik's RouterOS documentation covers the LTE and routing options in depth.

Automatic failover configuration

First make sure the LTE interface can get out — it needs its own NAT (masquerade) so traffic can use it when it is active:

/ip/firewall/nat add chain=srcnat out-interface=lte1 action=masquerade \
    comment="LTE NAT"

Now the two default routes. The wired WAN gets distance 1 and an active check on its gateway; the LTE route gets distance 2 so it is only used when the primary is down:

/ip/route add dst-address=0.0.0.0/0 gateway=WIRED_GW distance=1 \
    check-gateway=ping comment="Primary WAN"
/ip/route add dst-address=0.0.0.0/0 gateway=lte1 distance=2 \
    comment="LTE backup"

check-gateway=ping makes RouterOS watch the primary and withdraw its route when the gateway stops answering, which promotes the LTE route. For a tougher check that survives a gateway that is up but the link behind it is dead, use a Netwatch script that pings a reliable external host (e.g. 1.1.1.1) and disables/enables the primary route based on the result — that catches "gateway alive but internet down" cases that a simple gateway ping misses.

SIM, APN, and band notes

Insert an activated data SIM, then set the carrier's APN so the modem can attach. In RouterOS this is an LTE APN profile applied to the interface. A few field tips: keep a dual-SIM model (like the LtAP) if you want carrier redundancy too; lock to a band or point a directional unit (LHG LTE) at a known-good tower when signal is marginal; and watch your data plan — a backup link can quietly burn through a cellular cap if a failover event lasts for hours, so alert on prolonged failover.

Frequently asked questions

Can one device be both my Wi-Fi router and my LTE backup?

Yes — that is exactly what the Chateau line is for. It is a full router with Wi-Fi and a built-in LTE or 5G modem, so it can serve your network and fail over to cellular on its own. The LtAP does the same in a rugged, mobile form.

How fast does failover happen?

With check-gateway=ping, RouterOS typically switches within a few seconds of the primary gateway going unresponsive. Existing connections may reset as the public IP changes, but new connections immediately use the backup. A Netwatch script lets you tune the detection interval.

Do I need a special SIM or data plan?

Any activated data SIM for your carrier works. Because a long outage can use a lot of data, pick a plan sized for how long you might run on backup, and consider a dual-SIM model for carrier redundancy.

5G or LTE — which should I buy?

Buy 5G (Chateau 5G ax) only where you have confirmed 5G coverage and want maximum backup speed; otherwise a Cat 18 LTE model (Chateau Pro / LTE18) is plenty for failover and costs less. For a distant rural tower, a directional LHG LTE often beats an indoor unit.

Will traffic return to my main line automatically?

Yes. Because the wired route has the lower distance, RouterOS prefers it again as soon as its gateway responds, so the router falls back to primary on its own once service is restored.

Add a safety net to your site. Browse MikroTik LTE & 5G Routers and we will help you pick the right model and plan.