Router Port Specs Needed for Milti-Gig Internet

[NismoZ]

Just doing to research before the time comes to upgrade my router at some point. The desire is there to plan for the future and multi-gig internet service of 2.5 or 5Gbps. Would I need something with an internet WLAN port of 10Gbps for the internet service and then an additional regular ethernet port of 10Gbps to connect to the PC? Something like this routers port configuration?
https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-axe300/

If my PC currently has a 2.5Gbps port, that's my internet speed limit unless I buy a PCIe 10Gbps NIC, correct?

This router has powerful aggregation, but you would need dual ports on the target device to support those speeds, right? Aggregation is something that the TPLink above doesn't need since it has single, higher speed ports?

ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 | Routers | ROG United States

Quad-band WiFi 6E gaming router, new 6 GHz band, dual 10G ports, 2.5G WAN port, dual WAN, AiMesh support, VPN Fusion, Triple-level game acceleration and free network security

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[ColinTaylor]

Just doing to research before the time comes to upgrade my router at some point.

Ask again when that time has come. It's likely by then there will be a completely different range of hardware available.

One thing to be aware of is that currently most 10Gb ports do not operate at 2.5Gb or 5Gb, only 1Gb or 10Gb. So if you were to plug your PC into one it would only operate at 1Gb.

 

[NismoZ]

Ask again when that time has come. It's likely by then there will be a completely different range of hardware available.

One thing to be aware of is that currently most 10Gb ports do not operate at 2.5Gb or 5Gb, only 1Gb or 10Gb. So if you were to plug your PC into one it would only operate at 1Gb.

Yeah, I know things keep changing. But, you never know when hardware might go south and you need to get something fast, I always like to do my research for that stuff. Thanks for the thoughts on some ports being 1 or 10Gbps, but cannot negotiate speeds in the middle and would negotiate down to 1Gbps. Is there any specific way to tell this about a router before a potential purchase?

 

[tgl]

One thing to be aware of is that currently most 10Gb ports do not operate at 2.5Gb or 5Gb, only 1Gb or 10Gb. So if you were to plug your PC into one it would only operate at 1Gb.

Yeah, I was just eyeing that TP-Link's specs with suspicion. It lists two "10Gb" ports and one "2.5Gb" port. If the 10Gb ports run at multiple speeds, I'd expect to see something like "1/2.5/5/10". Maybe the spec sheet writer was just sloppy, but it'd be worth asking questions before you buy.

 

[Tech Junky]

This is where using a PC as a router comes into view. You can put in a NIC that can do all of the speeds 1/2.5/5/10ge or even higher as things progress. I put a quad port 5ge nic in my setup for $200. I split them into 2 wan and 2 lan and can shift them to either as needed with a config change. If I need more ports then just add another nic or hook up a cheap switch.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is there any specific way to tell this about a router before a potential purchase?

I've only investigated a couple of Asus routers and their product pages make no mention of the 1/10Gb restriction (even though it is present). I haven't looked at any other devices.