AnswersFile

Question

How can I log my MikroTik router current ping to Home Assistant?

Answer 1

Answer

You can log MikroTik router ping latency to Home Assistant using a RouterOS script that performs flood-ping tests, calculates the average round-trip time, and publishes the result via MQTT.

Prerequisites

MikroTik router with RouterOS that supports IoT MQTT package
MQTT broker (like Mosquitto) configured and accessible from your router
Home Assistant with MQTT integration configured
MQTT broker connection configured on your MikroTik router (see MikroTik MQTT setup)

Step 1: Configure MQTT Broker on MikroTik

If you haven't already, set up the MQTT broker connection on your router:

/iot mqtt brokers
add name="my mqtt" address=YOUR_BROKER_IP port=1883 \
    username=YOUR_USERNAME password=YOUR_PASSWORD

Step 2: Create the Ping Script

Create a script named pinglog that performs multiple ping tests and calculates the average latency. You can create this in WebFig (System → Scripts → Add New) or via command line.

:local avgRtt 0
:local numPing 2
:local toPingIP 1.1.1.1
:local broker "my mqtt"

:for tmpA from=1 to=$numPing step=1 do={
    /tool flood-ping count=1 size=38 address=$toPingIP do={
        :set avgRtt ($"avg-rtt" + $avgRtt)
    }
    /delay 1s
}

:local result ($avgRtt / $numPing)
:log info "Ping Average for $toPingIP: $result ms"
/iot mqtt publish broker=$broker topic="homeassistant/sensor/router/ping" message=$result

Step 3: Configure Home Assistant MQTT Sensor

Add the following sensor configuration to your Home Assistant configuration.yaml:

mqtt:
  sensor:
    - name: "Router Ping"
      state_topic: "homeassistant/sensor/router/ping"
      unit_of_measurement: "ms"
      icon: mdi:wan
      device_class: duration

Step 4: Schedule the Script

Create a scheduler to run the ping script at your desired interval (e.g., every 30 seconds):

/system scheduler add \
    name=ping-logger \
    interval=30s \
    on-event="/system script run pinglog"

Step 5: Test the Script

Run the script manually to verify it works:

/system script run pinglog

Check your router logs to see the ping average, and verify the sensor appears in Home Assistant.

How It Works

The script uses MikroTik's flood-ping tool to send multiple ping packets and collect latency data. Here's the breakdown:

numPing: Number of ping tests to perform (default: 2)
toPingIP: Target IP address to ping (1.1.1.1 is Cloudflare DNS)
flood-ping: Sends ping with 38-byte packet size and retrieves average RTT
Calculation: Averages the RTT from all ping tests
Publishing: Sends the result to MQTT topic that Home Assistant monitors

Customization Options

Change target IP: Modify toPingIP to ping a different host (e.g., 8.8.8.8 for Google DNS)
Adjust sample count: Increase numPing for more accurate averages (but slower execution)
Change interval: Modify the scheduler interval to test more or less frequently
Packet size: Adjust size=38 to test with different packet sizes

Important Notes

The script uses a 1-second delay between pings to avoid overwhelming the network
Flood-ping provides more accurate latency measurements than standard ping
Running ping tests too frequently can consume router CPU resources
Make sure the broker name matches your configured MQTT broker
The sensor will appear in Home Assistant automatically after the first data is published

Why Use Flood-Ping?

MikroTik's flood-ping tool is designed for latency testing and provides more accurate RTT measurements than the standard ping tool. It sends packets rapidly and calculates statistics in real-time, making it ideal for network monitoring applications.

Question