Speed and connectivity between wireless antenna and internal router on combination devices

[tbrig1]

Hi all,
Sorry if this has been brought up elsewhere but I haven’t been able to figure out the right search query to find what I’m looking for. I recently purchased gigabit fiber for my home and started evaluating some options for replacing a combo firewall/router/wireless appliance to some dedicated appliances for each.

It got me wondering about the speed of the connectivity inside of these combo devices. I’m probably oversimplifying but I would think the wireless radios must connect by integrated circuit to the routing and switching chipsets in the device for data plane processing/forwarding. Are those connections just as fast or faster than what the radio provides?

For comparison, thinking about the connection path of a separate physical access point: there’s a certain speed clients connect over to the AP, the AP itself has an uplink port(s), and that connects to a port on a switch. Ideally all of those physical connection pieces are greater than or equal to the bandwidth the AP can support for wireless so that you’re not creating bottlenecks across the LAN.

If anyone has thoughts or could point me to some resources, I’d appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Tech9]

Are those connections just as fast or faster than what the radio provides?

Most have built-in PCIe controllers. Current BCM4912 SoC has 4x PCIe controllers.

thinking about the connection path of a separate physical access point

AP performance and class dependent. APs may have Gigabit, 2.5GbE, 5GbE, 10GbE ports.

Here is one AXE11000-class AP with 10GbE PoE++ port as an example:

AXE11000 Ceiling Mount Quad-Band WiFi 6E Access Point

Powered by WiFi 6E technology, the AXE11000 Ceiling Mount Quad-Band WiFi 6E Access Point EAP690E HD ensures hyper-connectivity with steady performance in demanding environments.

www.tp-link.com

 

[tbrig1]

Ok thanks that explains it then. 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0 would allow for around 4Gbps from the radios

 

[sfx2000]

I recently purchased gigabit fiber for my home and started evaluating some options for replacing a combo firewall/router/wireless appliance to some dedicated appliances for each.

Just saying - at a high level, the ISP's have done their homework, and the recent crop of residential gateway appliances are not that bad...

We're a long way from crappy DSL/WiFi gateways these days - most of the RG's I see these days here in San Diego - Cox/Spectrum/ATT - they're pretty good on the WiFi side...

I mean, if you're a networking expert, and do this as your day job, that's one thing, but if not, you might just consider keeping what the provider has to offer...

They're on the hook for performance if you use their gear...