Advice on small business router

[Tech9]

I use RV's for simplicity and reliability. My networks are closed, no public access, no guest networks. They are all set the same way and I can move x-number of Chromebooks from one location to another without changing settings. When the routers enter EOS, I will perhaps continue using them as PoE switches with Netgate firewalls. Dual WAN is a must - Bell Fibe and Rogers Cable. This is where I can test IPv6 on Bell/Rogers networks. At home is TekSavvy. I'm thinking about Omada with remote management as well, but haven't decided yet. End of 2022 project. Omada with stats for multiple locations is nice. Need to do some tests first.

 

[coxhaus]

You don't need VLAN support on the router to prioritize LAN IP traffic, only on the switch where you'd setup a voice VLAN. Once at the router, it's QoS that's needed then to prioritize Internet traffic.

I used quality of service for a VLAN on the switch. Cisco switches have 8 ques. I created a voice VLAN. It is much simpler that way.

If you use a Cisco VLAN switch or any VLAN switch for that matter your ASUS wireless becomes worthless. You will be much better off buying a business router.

 

[sfx2000]

They are all set the same way and I can move x-number of Chromebooks from one location to another without changing settings.

Education or business/corp environment?

Just curious, a lot of folks here might consider Chromebooks as toys, but I have found them to be quite useful in a small biz environment - someone's unit breaks, swap it out for another one, they sign in to their Google (public, edu, or workspace) account, and they're back in business with little downtime.

Not only that, but even when unmanaged they are typically more secure than other OS platforms.

 

[Tech9]

Education or business/corp environment?

Education. Chromebooks work best. Networks all the same, clients all the same - minimum support cost. I can do it over the phone basically.

 

[sfx2000]

I used quality of service for a VLAN on the switch. Cisco switches have 8 ques. I created a voice VLAN. It is much simpler that way.

If you use a Cisco VLAN switch or any VLAN switch for that matter your ASUS wireless becomes worthless. You will be much better off buying a business router.

While VLAN's do add a level of complexity, properly planned and executed...

• Voice VLAN for VOIP for Voice over WIFi calling
• Media VLAN for the streamers - handy to map them out for VPN users that want to geo-unlock content.
• Standard Best Effort for general purposes

This implies that the switch would set up the VLAN's, and Queue/Flow management can be done on the router side. Access Points that support VLAN/QoS mapping are a key part of this.

Most business/enterprise-class gear can do this without having to go to third-party community software.

 

[coxhaus]

This implies that the switch would set up the VLAN's, and Queue/Flow management can be done on the router side. Access Points that support VLAN/QoS mapping are a key part of this

I used a Cisco L3 small business switch so the QoS is done on the L3 switch. All the IP phones were wire connected to keep latency low.
But wireless would work.