EdgeRouter vs Microtik

[jvrobert]

So I'm debating between the Microtik 1100AHX2 and the EdgeRouter 8 ER-8, they both seem roughly the same price.

I'm mainly upgrading because I have a crappy old Buffalo wifi router with wifi turned off doing my routing, and I want more features, some hobby stuff, and something that will route 1Gbps WAN in the nearish future.

I am planning on buying a new Unifi AC access point in the near future, and have a decent Ethernet switch already.

Any major advantages to one or the other in a typical advanced home usage scenario? I'm leaning towards the EdgeRouter because it seems it might have better throughput.

Or maybe there's a better option in the ~$300 or less range?

Thanks!

 

[System Error Message]

Well they have lots of ports but i'll list the differences.
The main difference is a dual core 64 bit PPC with IPSEC acceleration vs a dual core 64 bit MIPS at the same frequency. PPC takes less performance hit when you add configs and QoS compared to MIPS and especially in VPN. PPC will do 500Mb/s of PPTP per core and similar with L2TP+IPSEC.

The RB1100AHx2 has 2 5 port switches that are architecturally like this [6 port switch]-------1Gb/s----[router]-----1Gb/s---[6 port switch]. As a router, RouterOS is much better as a pure router than ubiquiti edgeOS but ubiquiti may be more useful if you can run linux programs on it since routerOS hides the linux part.

The RB1000AHx2 is very noisy when the fans turn. There have been mods around this and you can try search for some at the mikrotik forum. One has placed a gigantic heatsink so he has no need for fans and the router always stays cool. Some just buy 1U server fans that are quieter.

Mikrotik routerOS isnt as user friendly as Ubiquiti edgeOS.

Basically the RB1000AHX2 is a faster and better router than ER8 but the ER8 may have the advantage in user friendliness and if it has the linux part exposed you can run linux programs and make it into a useful server. Both will do 2Gb/s of NAT but the RB1100AHx2 does 2Gb/s using software while the ER8 uses hardware NAT for that speed. The RB1100AHx2 is also complicated with it's port config with 2 5 port switches that have 1Gb/s link to CPU. IT has something called a bypass but i dont know if it solves the problem.

I dont have much knowledge on ubiquiti but im getting one soon once i verify that you can run linux programs on it like on any linux OS. I already have a mikrotik CCR1036 with 2SFP+ but im also getting a the ERP which is the highest end offered by ubiquiti.

 

[netwrks]

If you are looking at Ubiquiti for a home network, the the UBNT PoE5 should be more than enough. I use one at home. It offers two WAN ports, and 3 hardware chip switched ports (in one subnet). If you want more ports, just put a switch on it. (managed or unmanaged). They both support the same firmware, so you can do the same thing, config wise, on both platforms. The UBNT Pro 8 however, are all routed ports. You can bridge ports, but it's not ideal. As with Mikrotik, there is a bit of a learning curve with Ubiquity. YOu can also add a multitude of Debian packages on the Ubiquity EdgeOS platforms.

 

[jvrobert]

Thanks for the input guys. I decided to go whole hog since my switch is rack mountable I bought a cheap 6U rack and an EdgeRouter 8 pro. Having linux available will open some options for me and from your and other's description the user friendliness seems a bit better, even though some stuff is CLI.

Probably even the EdgeRouter Lite will be 'enough', but who want's just enough when massive overkill is available, right? I figure the router is at least a 10 year investment so justified the cost that way, lol.

 

[Trip]

who want's just enough when massive overkill is available, right?

Godspeed to you sir!

 

[faur]

Hi everybody, i'm looking to buy another mikrotik router because the old one cannot do NAT more than 200mb/s. I'm on PPPoE 1Gb WAN down and 200Mb Up so i need a router to be able to do NAT and some firewall rules. I was thinking about a RB800 because it has 4 slots where i can put some wifi radio module... but apparently cannot do 1Gb PPPoE because of the lack of CPU power... so i need an advise from you... which decent priced mikrotik router can do that? CCR1009 can for sure but it's a little bit over the budget for a home router...

Any advise will be highly appreciated.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Mikrotik(for routing) + AC87U(for 5Ghz) + AC68U(for 2.4Ghz) + Cisco switch(for NAS link aggregation)

 

[System Error Message]

The RB1100AHx2 is capable of 1Gb/s PPPOE. Without PPP it would be capable of 2Gb/s. Basically as i mentioned above the RB850gx2 is a competitor of the ERL while the RB1100AHx2 is a competitor of the ERPro. Its basically a question of which CPU. The RB1100AHx2 will achieve up to 2Gb/s NAT using software while the ERPro requires hardware acceleration.

PPPOE takes some processing. The good news is that the PPC CPUs in both routerboards have IPSEC acceleration which means faster IPSEC whether its a tunnel or VPN.