Router with link aggregation suggestions...

[PsycoGeek]

I'm looking for wireless routers that support link aggregation on it's wired ports. So fat I've only seen a few, most notably the Netgear Nighthawk X8 (X10 too) and the Asus RT-AC88U. I've read up on them both... which is why I'm looking for more suggestions. I really don't feel great about either, and I have used Netgear wireless routers for the past 8 years or so. All but one device we have uses AC class networking.

I've been looking at Linksys as well, but can't find anything on link aggregation on any of their products. Nor on Synology's routers (one of which hasn't been released in the US yet). Does DD WRT offer link aggregation on Linksys?

The reason for the need is I have a new Synology DS916+ NAS and want to take full advantage of it's capabilities. We stream our movie/TV show library from it, as well as (sometimes) huge file transfers, & computer backups.

 

[pete y testing]

hi

just for info the asus rt-ac88u doesnt seem to support the full IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation but only does adaptive load balancing

i can confirm however that the netgear r8500 does fully support IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation as i have the synology ds 415+ here and when connect to the r8500 i get an active bonding link on both the netgear and synology and get the full 100M available to 2 comps at the same time as you are aware that even with link aggregation any single connected comp is still restricted to 100M due to the giga ethernet ports

because the r8500 works with the 802.3ad standard i assume the r9000 does as well

The reason for the need is I have a new Synology DS916+ NAS and want to take full advantage of it's capabilities.

some will say its cheaper and makes more sense to just buy a network switch with link bonding and complying with the 802.3ad standard and connect your NAS and any other ethernet connect devices to it to achieve the same ends and they are prob right and you will prob save money over buying a big honking router but for convenience sake the r8500 and above will do what you are after

as far as other brands go there doesnt seem to be a lot of interest in link bonding yet as i guess it just adds complexity to the gui

 

[PsycoGeek]

I just got off of a chat with Synology support. Their routers (the RT1900ac and RT2600ac) don't support it either. Kinda silly that their NAS boxes do and the routers don't.

 

[pete y testing]

I just got off of a chat with Synology support. Their routers (the RT1900ac and RT2600ac) don't support it either. Kinda silly that their NAS boxes do and the routers don't.

yup i agree , have discussed this with synology directly and did push hard to get them to incorporate link bonding in the new router but they didnt seem to see the need for it just stating that a link bonding switch would be better used for this

so like i said at this stage the only router that can do the full 802.3ad standard are the netgear r8500 and r9000 as far as i know and i dont know any 3rd party that does it at this stage ether

pete

 

[sfx2000]

The reason for the need is I have a new Synology DS916+ NAS and want to take full advantage of it's capabilities. We stream our movie/TV show library from it, as well as (sometimes) huge file transfers, & computer backups.

I'm certainly hoping that you're going through the trouble for fault-tolerance and connection redundancy - because LAG is not faster...

(Has to do with how ethernet works at the physical layer across the wire) - the road is twice wide, but the cars are the same width and run at the same speed (putting this very much in to layman's terms)...

I used to use this as an interview question - if one has 4*1GB links, what is the maximum speed on each wire, and what is the total speed - 98 percent of candidates got this one wrong...

 

[MichaelCG]

I agree with the statement regarding fault-tolerance vs speed. You are telling me that you are moving enough data around on a regular basis to peg out a 1Gbps connection? With LAG, you may have 2Gbps of total bandwidth available....but that will only give you that bandwidth depending on how many actual devices are communicating across the link. One PC to the NAS, 1Gbps max. Two PCs to the NAS, possibly 2Gbps max (1Gbps to each PC)....maybe....and unlikely anywhere near those speeds.

If you really are worried about saturating a 1Gbps port, you probably shouldn't be looking at consumer grade routers to provide your switching features. You can pick up used Cisco gear for cheaper than most of these routers cost and they for sure will support the features and speeds you are after.