AC router with VLAN support (without custom firmware)?

[ConnyG]

Hello!

My ISP/apartment owner provides ethernet to the apartment I rent. There is an ethernet jack in the entry hall that carries internet and IPTV over two tagged VLANs.

I am currently using an Inteno EG300 gateway/CPE sold by the ISP. It supports AC but I've had a lot of problems with it (does not start wireless unless I manually enable 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz in the right order, stops working and has to be rebooted, etc).

From what I've read the Netgear R7000 appears to support VLANs. It is to correct that I should be able to configure it like this?
- internet (VLAN #1): port 1-3 + wireless (NAT)
- IPTV (VLAN #2): port 4 (bridged)

Are there any other AC-routers that supports VLANs on the WAN-port?

I have been thinking of getting a VLAN-capable switch like the Cisco SG200-08 to separate the VLANs to specific ports but if there are routers that can handle VLANs it would save me some money and require less hardware.

 

[Trip]

I know this isn't the suggestion you want to hear, but reliable VLAN'ing and network segmentation is often a good jumping off point for separating routing from wireless. I personally wouldn't compromise my routing options based on trying to find a feature which is rarely found in most consumer all-in-ones. A $50 EdgeRouter-X, as one example, will do port-based VLANs and tag recognition from other switches right out-of-the box. Then just pair that with whatever AIO floats your boat (Archer C9, R7000, etc), set as an access point, and you're set.

 

[ConnyG]

That is certainly and interesting option. I didn't find a reseller here in Finland but I have friends in Sweden who could order it from one of their Swedish resellers.

I had to do a lot of googling but it think should be possible to bridge IPTV with the latest 1.7 software (it has to be bridged, no NAT or router between the set-top box and whatever is on the other side and it has to support multicast).

Over here it costs about as much as a Zyxel GS1900 or TP-LINK TL-SG2008 8-port managed switch would cost (ie 75-100 EUR), which only do switching.

 

[sfx2000]

Asus has support for VLAN's in their factory firmware if I recall correctly - at least for some models.

Linksys, I know they have some VLAN support in the WRT1900AC/WRT1200AC builds...

 

[RMerlin]

Asus has support for VLAN's in their factory firmware if I recall correctly - at least for some models.

Their support is fairly limited however. It's mostly intended for people whose ISP provide IPTV and Internet on two different VLANs. You cannot completely configure the VLANs on all four ports.

 

[ConnyG]

I finally got my EdgeRouter X on Friday (had to have a friend buy it in Sweden and then wait for him to be able to come over and deliver it to me) and I must say I love it, thank you so much for the suggestion!

At first I was unable to get an uplink but that seems to have been caused by a dodgy cable. With a decent cable I had no problems configuring it to work with my ISP:
- one incoming VLAN for internet access: the router gets a public IP with DHCP and then acts as a NAT firewall with internal DHCP, also managed to get NAT-UPNP working after some googling
- one incoming VLAN for IPTV: bridged to a port I connect the STB to with multicast enabled

And in such a small package (I laughed when I received it because the box the retailer shipped it in was more than four times larges than the actual router.

Now I have started looking at my options for wireless. I just want something stable with decent performance (no need for USB file sharing, etc). I could get a UniFi AP (802.11n, 2.4 GHz, 300 Mbps) for around 80 €. If I want something from them that supports 5 GHz as well I have to get the Unifi AP Pro or Unifi AP-AC Pro which both go for about 200 €.

 

[sfx2000]

Their support is fairly limited however. It's mostly intended for people whose ISP provide IPTV and Internet on two different VLANs. You cannot completely configure the VLANs on all four ports.

Asus has a real opportunity with the Realtek switch in the RT-AC88U if they wanted to expose the management functions of that chip

 

[RMerlin]

Asus has a real opportunity with the Realtek switch in the RT-AC88U if they wanted to expose the management functions of that chip

Why would that be any different from the bcm5301x they have been using for the past couple of years?

 

[sfx2000]

Why would that be any different from the bcm5301x they have been using for the past couple of years?

Because the realtek chip has options that the BRCM SoC router element does not (the BRCM is busy doing CTF and other things)...