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Router upgrade - evaluating options?

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dlambert

New Around Here
Note: I'm posting here vs. the routers board only because the question touches on some of my non-router setup as well. If moderators feel it's more appropriate in the "routers" section, feel free to move it.

My current setup:
* TW RR cable internet access, approx download speed 7.5mbs observed
* Netgear FVS318 router
* (dead gigabit switch - explained later)
* Cisco WAP4410N WAP

Background:
After struggling for years to find a router / wireless combo that worked well, I settled on the setup above a number of years ago, and I've been generally very happy with it -- especially the stability of the FVS318 and WAP4410N. Based on the reliability of these units, I'm sold on spending a few extra bucks to get small-biz products vs. consumer products.

As indicated above, in my current setup, I've got the FVS318 set up in the basement connected to my cable modem, and up till very recently, I had a (relatively) cheap Netgear gigabit switch between the FVS318 and everything else in the home, since the FVS318 has no gigabit ports. That switch died recently, and I'm also moving to a new home, so I'm trying to do a bit of planning in anticipation of my new setup. I currently have LAN devices plugged directly into the FVS318, so I'm limited to 10/100 on my LAN at the moment.

Goals:
* Reliability (#1). Going for months at a time w/o worrying about networking infrastructure -- priceless!
* Gigabit speed on LAN
* Jumbo frame support for media sharing (mainly a future need)?
* VLAN w/ support for wireless
* Fewer devices (maybe?)

A couple notes on the above:
* I'm not doing a ton of media sharing right now, but I've got some interest in building a media PC at some point, and I'd like to be able to access media within the LAN w/o slowing everything to a crawl. I'm not absolutely certain that jumbo frames are required for this, but I'd consider it a bonus to have that capability if I need it.
* My son has shown up on a couple of occasions recently with some laptop-toting friends, and it's really nice to be able to set up a guest SSID with the WAP4410N. I don't believe I can take advantage of the VLAN capability of the WAP4410N, however, without a VLAN-capable router, as well. It would be really nice to segment that traffic away from my LAN. I'd also consider VLAN support a plus for the occasional software development work I do on VM's, etc.
* A gigabit-capable router would let me eliminate a switch at that location, I believe. I can't say for certain that the stability I've enjoyed with my current setup is due to having a router only doing routing and a WAP only doing wireless, but it seems like adding LAN routing to my router wouldn't be a big stretch for it.

Options I'm considering:
* The Netgear FVS318G seems like a great upgrade from my current FVS318. It should boost speeds, provided I see any better performance out of RR in my new home, and it would do gigabit routing on my LAN. No jumbo frames, though, and no VLAN.
* Cisco's RVS4000 looks like a good companion to my WAP4410N, with jumbo frames and VLAN support. If this would allow VLAN isolation of a guest network on the WAP4410N, I'd consider this a big plus.
* Cisco RV180 -- looks like the update to the RVS4000. About the only thing I didn't see was the IPS feature from the RVS4000 -- I'm not sure how much I'd really miss that.
* Cisco's WRVS4400N would be an all-in-one solution, which is attractive from a simplicity standpoint, but I'm not quite convinced how I feel about putting all my eggs in one basket -- I'd appreciate some feedback here.
* Other -- what other good options am I missing?

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it might save some time if I spilled as much info as possible right off the bat.
 
Last edited:
dlambert, I see that you didn't get any answers although it passed some time. I'm guessing that you didn't wait that much and you went into buying and setting up.

I'm in a similar situation and I am curious what sollution did you choose.

Thank you!
 

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