Opinions on best use of 2.5gb port

[Tom Brough]

So updating my home network, finally got a cat7 cable run from downstairs to upstairs for my backhaul instead of relying on wireless like I was using on my Aimesh set up, question now I have is best use of the routers 2.5gbe port.

In my old set up, Asus Aimesh based, I had the 2.5gbe as my wan port, I'm in the UK on virgin 1gig network, shows 1120 down and 102 up, obviously everything else was wireless, the tri-band system used a 5ghz band for backhaul, however now I've got a cable I'm not sure if I switch to using a normal 1g wan port and using the 2.5gbe on both routers as the backhaul?

Obviously I'm not really using the 2.5gbe port effectively as the wan on a 1gbe connection speed, so if I use the 2.5gbe as backhaul will it be better for LAN use, Plex server on local Nas streaming to TVs in the house etc could use more bandwidth and not fight with the wireless devices as much?

What's opinion guys n girls?

Tom

 

[Crimliar]

It really depends on if you think you are saturating that 1Gbps (each way) between the two routers! If not then I'd probably leave things as they are. Or you can just fiddle and see if there IS any improvement - it's a quick fiddle and there's really no consequence if it doesn't change anything!

 

[Tech Junky]

Media streaming doesn't use much bandwidth. Typically under 20mbps/stream unless you're doing 4k even that is usually under 30.

On my custom setup I have my AP connected to my 2.5 port to not bottleneck lan traffic. On my setup I can get 1.7gbps to internal devices. If you're doing heavy DLs then leave your wan connection as is for max ISP bandwidth for any wired devices.

 

[Tech9]

I had the 2.5gbe as my wan port

Continue using it as WAN port. It doesn't really matter in your case.