Router for 1000/1000 symmetric fiber

[idave]

Hi all.

I am about to get a gigabit symmetric fiber installed in my flat. The router the ISP will give me has a maximum WAN to LAN throughput of 827Mbps.

I was wondering if there is some other brand of routers that can do better than that and possibly closer to gigabit speeds.

The chart lists a whole bunch of routers that can reach a speed similar to my ISP's router, but I would like to see if I can get something more towards the SoHo market segment that is also under GBP200 and can reach higher throughputs.

I will only ever have 3-4 clients in my LAN, and my current router (a Billion BiPAC 7800N) cannot even get close to those kinds of speeds, but I can use it as a wireless AP.

I have seen the TP-LINK TL-ER6120 and Dlink DSR-500, but I am not sure about their performance (I cannot find any indication anywhere of what is is).

Any other suggestion?

 

[idave]

I almost forgot: I also had a look at the Asus RT-N65U, but I am not sure whether it can have better throughput than ~830Mbps...

 

[Fraoch]

Wow, I'm sure you have a lot of jealous people looking at you here. Of course, we don't know how much you're paying.

Anyway, the chart you're referencing is really the best indication you will find. You're going to need lots of power if that's what you really want to do, and true gigabit from a router doesn't seem possible for under GBP200. In fact, you'd be surprised at what your wired gigabit clients are getting - my iperf testing results topped out at about 800 Mbps. So your clients may not actually be capable of pulling in 827 or 830 Mbps.

However we all want to have the best we can afford, so...comparing WAN - LAN and LAN - WAN throughput, the Engenius ESR750H tops the charts. However the review notes its poor wireless speed. You'd be better off using your existing router as an AP. If you want blistering wireless, try the ASUS RT-AC66U or the RT-N66U if you don't have 802.11ac clients. Both the ASUS routers have very high wired throughput as well.

Not sure how your ISP's router is configured but around here they're usually quite locked down and there's very little you can control. That's a consideration far beyond just simple routing speed.

Myself, I found total simultaneous throughput indicative of power, which is why I got the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite. Plus I want complete control over everything and I'm willing to learn new things in order to get this. It costs less than both those ASUS wireless routers as well - it has no wireless so you're only paying for power and performance.

The MicroTik devices are more geared towards the commercial/SOHO market as well.

If you really want to squeeze every bit of speed and power out of that incredible WAN connection, take a look at this. It advocates breaking out typical router components into separate devices. You'd get a router, either wired-only or turn the wireless off, a switch and an AP (or convert your existing wireless router into an AP). That way each device does only one thing, decreasing the load on each device and increasing speed, plus allowing you to upgrade to better components piece-by-piece when they are released.

 

[somms]

Wow, I'm sure you have a lot of jealous people looking at you here. Of course, we don't know how much you're paying.

http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/silicon-slopes.html

GoogleFiber is rolling out gigabit service to more locations (including my back yard) for a whopping $70/month!

 

[idave]

Wow, I'm sure you have a lot of jealous people looking at you here. Of course, we don't know how much you're paying.

62.50GBP/month

The ISP is called hyperoptic and brings a Gigabit Ethernet port into your home. From there it's your equipment (or their router, if you want).

Oh and you get a public, static IP

Anyway, the chart you're referencing is really the best indication you will find. You're going to need lots of power if that's what you really want to do, and true gigabit from a router doesn't seem possible for under GBP200. In fact, you'd be surprised at what your wired gigabit clients are getting - my iperf testing results topped out at about 800 Mbps. So your clients may not actually be capable of pulling in 827 or 830 Mbps.

That's TCP performance right? Because with UDP I remember I get like 980-990 Mbps. But I'll run some more tests to make sure...

But yeah, if that's the maximum LAN speed, then the Hyperoptic router might really be worth keeping.

However we all want to have the best we can afford, so...comparing WAN - LAN and LAN - WAN throughput, the Engenius ESR750H tops the charts. However the review notes its poor wireless speed. You'd be better off using your existing router as an AP. If you want blistering wireless, try the ASUS RT-AC66U or the RT-N66U if you don't have 802.11ac clients. Both the ASUS routers have very high wired throughput as well.

I could very well keep my existing little Billion 7800N...

Not sure how your ISP's router is configured but around here they're usually quite locked down and there's very little you can control. That's a consideration far beyond just simple routing speed.

I agree, I still have to find that out.

Myself, I found total simultaneous throughput indicative of power, which is why I got the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite. Plus I want complete control over everything and I'm willing to learn new things in order to get this. It costs less than both those ASUS wireless routers as well - it has no wireless so you're only paying for power and performance.

Hmmmm... does that come with a proper Linux distro you can play with? For instance, could I install an OpenVPN server if I wanted? How locked down is it really?

The MicroTik devices are more geared towards the commercial/SOHO market as well.

Which model would you suggest? There seem to be LOADS on their website.

If you really want to squeeze every bit of speed and power out of that incredible WAN connection, take a look at this. It advocates breaking out typical router components into separate devices. You'd get a router, either wired-only or turn the wireless off, a switch and an AP (or convert your existing wireless router into an AP). That way each device does only one thing, decreasing the load on each device and increasing speed, plus allowing you to upgrade to better components piece-by-piece when they are released.

I agree on breaking down the devices. However all I really need is a WAN router as they are bringing me a Gigabit ethernet port. No modem required there. So really, if I could find a good router, I could keep my existing Billion as a switch/ap, and I'd be golden...

 

[somms]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...its-12-000-one-gigabit-per-second-connections

That is a very strong option for those in London! At only 50 quid a month!

 

[Fraoch]

http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/silicon-slopes.html

GoogleFiber is rolling out gigabit service to more locations (including my back yard) for a whopping $70/month!

62.50GBP/month

The ISP is called hyperoptic and brings a Gigabit Ethernet port into your home. From there it's your equipment (or their router, if you want).

Oh and you get a public, static IP

Oh if I didn't live in an over-regulated country with Internet access owned by a duopoly...here I could get 150 Mbps down/10 up for $122.99/month, capped at 250 GB/month, and if I could get FTTH (I can't) it would be 250 down/250 up capped at 500 GB/month for $225.99/month.

That's TCP performance right? Because with UDP I remember I get like 980-990 Mbps. But I'll run some more tests to make sure...

Yes, this is iperf defaults, TCP.

But yeah, if that's the maximum LAN speed, then the Hyperoptic router might really be worth keeping.

Probably the thing to consider is how locked-down it is...you may not get a whole lot more Mbps with another router, but at least it will be more open to you.

I could very well keep my existing little Billion 7800N...

True, since you'd never be able to pass that 1 Gbps wirelessly anyway...

Hmmmm... does that come with a proper Linux distro you can play with? For instance, could I install an OpenVPN server if I wanted? How locked down is it really?

It's extremely open, almost a pfSense box really (although it's much faster due to the Cavium processor optimizations). It runs EdgeOS, a forked version of vyatta, which is compatible with Debian. OpenVPN is actually installed by default:

VPN: IPsec, L2TP, OpenVPN, PPTP client and server

If you want to install packages, you can install one from a mips build in the Debian Squeeze repos or you can build your own.

Which model would you suggest? There seem to be LOADS on their website.

Most of them have performance numbers on the bottom of each specification page so you can get an idea how fast they are. You obviously need one with gigabit ports, and there are a two with a newer, faster processor:

- the RB951G-2HnD, the lowest-cost one with the newer processor and 128 MB of RAM

- the RB2011UAS-2HnD-IN, which adds many more LAN ports and an SFP cage...it's possible the fibre could go right into an SFP module if the ISP would support that (doubtful)

I agree on breaking down the devices. However all I really need is a WAN router as they are bringing me a Gigabit ethernet port. No modem required there. So really, if I could find a good router, I could keep my existing Billion as a switch/ap, and I'd be golden...

Either the Ubiquiti or a MicroTik device would be fast, open and extremely configurable. The Ubiquiti is a much newer platform than even the MicroTiks with the newer processor, and it uses a very fast networking processor that most consumers don't have access to (Cavium Octeon Plus dual-core). It's not quite as mature as the MicroTik though. The MicroTik devices are probably somewhat slower and both routers I quoted above come with wireless which you might not need. The user interface is more mature and comes with every setting you could do over the CLI, but that means you're faced with a very complex GUI with lots of settings.