Load Balancing Router + Multiple Switch + Asus Routers as AP & Win 10 Network Discovery Problem

[coxhaus]

NAT acceleration means nothing to me. I would add enough stuff in the first week where it won't run accelerated any way.

Cisco's VPN may cost money but it is rock solid once you get it running. I ran Cisco VPN is the past many years ago without any problems. It never once gave any problems other than setting it up.

I have run TP-Link business class router, D-Link, pfsense on a Xeon server platform, Netgear, Belkin, Linksys and lots of routers and I always come back to the Cisco RV routers. The Cisco software is more sophisticated to my way of thinking. It does what I need. I always find issues with other vendors software to where I quit running their product. I also feel like 2 or 3 years down the road other Vendors drop support for their old hardware or they are super slow to update their firmware. Cisco supports their product until end of life which is many years down the road.

There is no consumer router which can match the features of the RV routers. It may not be the way you want it to work but RV routers will do more. You need to adopt the Cisco way. ACL, access lists, break most routers. How can people live without ACLs. I have no idea. It is my first defense I use on a router. Ubiquiti and Microtek are probably the only routers which would have enough features for me but I don't consider them consumer class routers.

Untangle is a very nice software router. I would run it again. It is such a maintenance free product that works well. The Cisco RV routers are smaller and easier so I just use them now days. Untangle has better firewalling capability. I am trying to get rid of my rack and rack mounted servers which leaves Untangle out.

 

[System Error Message]

NAT acceleration means nothing to me. I would add enough stuff in the first week where it won't run accelerated any way.

Cisco's VPN may cost money but it is rock solid once you get it running. I ran Cisco VPN is the past many years ago without any problems. It never once gave any problems other than setting it up.

I have run TP-Link business class router, D-Link, pfsense on a Xeon server platform, Netgear, Belkin, Linksys and lots of routers and I always come back to the Cisco RV routers. The Cisco software is more sophisticated to my way of thinking. It does what I need. I always find issues with other vendors software to where I quit running their product. I also feel like 2 or 3 years down the road other Vendors drop support for their old hardware or they are super slow to update their firmware. Cisco supports their product until end of life which is many years down the road.

There is no consumer router which can match the features of the RV routers. It may not be the way you want it to work but RV routers will do more. You need to adopt the Cisco way. ACL, access lists, break most routers. How can people live without ACLs. I have no idea. It is my first defense I use on a router. Ubiquiti and Microtek are probably the only routers which would have enough features for me but I don't consider them consumer class routers.

Untangle is a very nice software router. I would run it again. It is such a maintenance free product that works well. The Cisco RV routers are smaller and easier so I just use them now days. Untangle has better firewalling capability. I am trying to get rid of my rack and rack mounted servers which leaves Untangle out.

peplink for loadbalancing + VPN and support.

ASUS can have ACLs on them by using the linux bit, something i appreciate from RMerlin's firmware, and they do support their old routers too which is a few years. Mikrotik still releases software updates for their super old routers.

I dont call the cisco RV sophisticated, i call it simple, hence why i said, if its a comparison of a consumer router or cisco RV i'd pick the cisco RV, but if theres asus i'd pick asus instead from the 3.
Between pfsense, cisco RV, mikrotik, ubiquiti i'd pick mikrotik, then pfsense/untangle, then ubiquiti and lastly cisco RV. I'd only pick peplink if i need to load balance, want the support and dont have the skill. peplink beats the cisco RV in loadbalancing, tunnels/VPNs and support.

 

[coxhaus]

Having to write code on your Asus is not what I consider having ACLs. People ask questions all the time in the ASUS forum on how to do something which you can't do without writing code. ASUS are lacking in my way of thinking as far as a router goes. They need to provide more functionality. They seem simple to use be are lacking when it comes to basic advanced networking.

Load balancing has kind of died out with gig links. If you need redundancy then a backup cell is probably preferred.

Yes I agree Cisco is simple. That is the beauty of their code. They do what you need and are simple to use. That is why I think Cisco's programing is sophisticated. Even when you add advanced network features Cisco code is simple to use.

I just don't think you can beat a RV340 router with a Cisco SG300 layer 3 switch for the money. It is a strong combination. Which is simple to use. You throw in Cisco's wireless APs into the advanced VLAN networks and this combination is just hard to beat. Nobody does wireless roaming like Cisco in simple to setup APs. Just another example of sophisticated programming.

Ubiquiti seems to be working on making advanced networking simple to use. I like what they are doing.

 

[System Error Message]

Having to write code on your Asus is not what I consider having ACLs. People ask questions all the time in the ASUS forum on how to do something which you can't do without writing code. ASUS are lacking in my way of thinking as far as a router goes. They need to provide more functionality. They seem simple to use be are lacking when it comes to basic advanced networking.

Load balancing has kind of died out with gig links. If you need redundancy then a backup cell is probably preferred.

Yes I agree Cisco is simple. That is the beauty of their code. They do what you need and are simple to use. That is why I think Cisco's programing is sophisticated. Even when you add advanced network features Cisco code is simple to use.

I just don't think you can beat a RV340 router with a Cisco SG300 layer 3 switch for the money. It is a strong combination. Which is simple to use. You throw in Cisco's wireless APs into the advanced VLAN networks and this combination is just hard to beat. Nobody does wireless roaming like Cisco in simple to setup APs. Just another example of sophisticated programming.

Ubiquiti seems to be working on making advanced networking simple to use. I like what they are doing.

they have been thats why i would pick ubiquiti over the cisco RV, switches both are good but im leaning more towards cisco for having actual layer 3 which ubiquiti doesnt have, as for APs it depends, not everyone requires a roaming setup but the point is, ubiquiti has one of the best basic APs you can get, no consumer brand has a good AP at a low price point like ubiquiti has.

I would disagree with you about price when it comes to an all cisco setup, i'd usually pick the best for each requirement, for instance i may mix a ubiquiti router with a cisco SG switch, and use ubiquiti and asus APs together depending on which area will each device be best at, for instance asus is still faster than ubiquiti and cisco for wireless, so it'd go somewhere where wireless traffis will be focused to, ubiquiti will be place where low amounts of wireless traffic is expected. Ubiquiti's AP for instance are better to be placed in large rooms or underground that have little wireless traffic for example.

Cisco is the slowest i've seen to adopt wireless tech but i really dont know where to place them as they dont always provide the best wireless experience, most of this is mainly dependent on your setup. To get the best of wifi anywhere requires advance tweaks as many settings effect many things more than just signal and performance. i dont know if cisco APs still carry that $700 from wireless N days or cost more now.