Simple Queue vs Queue Tree in MikroTik: Which Should Your ISP Use?

The Fundamental Difference

Simple Queue and Queue Tree are both bandwidth control mechanisms in MikroTik RouterOS, but they work very differently under the hood.

Simple Queue is a flat, per-target rate limiter. You specify a target IP or subnet and a max-limit — done. It is processed in order from top to bottom, and every packet is matched against every queue. This sequential processing is what kills performance at scale.

Queue Tree is a hierarchical system based on Hierarchical Token Bucket (HTB). Traffic is classified first using mangle marks, then the queue tree applies bandwidth policies based on those marks. This parallel classification is why Queue Tree scales to 10,000+ rules.

Feature Comparison

Simple Queue: Quick Setup

Simple Queue is great for small ISPs (under 200 subscribers) or for testing:

/queue simple
add name=subscriber-001 target=10.10.1.2/32     max-limit=10M/10M burst-limit=15M/15M     burst-threshold=8M/8M burst-time=10s/10s     comment="John Doe - 10Mbps Plan"

add name=subscriber-002 target=10.10.1.3/32     max-limit=25M/25M comment="Jane Smith - 25Mbps Plan"

Queue Tree: Scalable Setup

Queue Tree requires two steps: mark traffic with mangle, then apply queue policies:

# Step 1: Mark connections and packets in mangle
/ip firewall mangle
add chain=prerouting action=mark-connection     new-connection-mark=conn-10mbps src-address=10.10.1.0/24     passthrough=yes
add chain=prerouting action=mark-packet     connection-mark=conn-10mbps new-packet-mark=pkt-10mbps     passthrough=no

# Step 2: Create queue tree hierarchy
/queue tree
add name=download parent=global max-limit=1G
add name=plan-10mbps parent=download     packet-mark=pkt-10mbps max-limit=10M     queue=pcq-download-default

Performance Benchmarks

Real-world performance comparison on a MikroTik CCR1036 with 1,000 subscribers:

At 1,000 rules, Queue Tree uses roughly half the CPU. The gap widens as you add more rules.

When to Use Each

• Simple Queue — fewer than 200 subscribers, single router, need quick setup without mangle complexity
• Queue Tree — 200+ subscribers, multiple service tiers, need traffic prioritisation (VoIP, gaming, bulk), or running PCQ for fair queuing
• Hybrid — use Simple Queue for per-subscriber limits and Queue Tree for global traffic prioritisation

How ISPbills Handles Both

ISPbills supports both bandwidth management approaches:

• RADIUS rate limits — ISPbills sets Mikrotik-Rate-Limit attributes that apply via the PPP profile, working with both queue types
• Package-based management — define bandwidth tiers in ISPbills and they are enforced automatically regardless of queue implementation
• Automatic provisioning — ISPbills creates the correct queue entries via MikroTik API when a subscriber is assigned a package
• Migration support — switch from Simple Queue to Queue Tree without changing your ISPbills configuration