WiFi 7 APs: help me decide between EAP783 and the U7 Pro Max

[Aqualung]

I have also been contemplating the eero PoE Gateway (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HJNCG81?tag=snbforums-20), though it's awfully expensive, and Dong doesn't like its wired performance, which, indeed, looks laughable:

 

[degrub]

no remedy for G.A.S. Just have to let it pass.

 

[Tech9]

Dong

Better call Dong then. I personally don't waste time with this website. Can't help you further, sorry.

 

[Aqualung]

The reason I'm pushing back so hard is that it's not clear to me that the BE98 is even a sensible baseline purchase for what you need. For one thing, it's got dual 6GHz radios of which one is said to be for backhaul

I do not need dual 6GHz radios, no backhaul needed, no mesh scenario. I do need at least two 10GbE LAN ports though, and the BE98 Pro is the only one that offers that, unfortunately.

 

[tgl]

I'm amused to notice that Dong's top-rated switch is one I have (XGS1250-12). It's relegated to a secondary, lightly-loaded spot in my network, because what Dong doesn't mention is that its fan spins up annoyingly loudly as soon as you put more than a couple Gbps through it. I tell this story just to emphasize that chasing spec-sheet numbers is not necessarily going to end with a satisfactory answer.

 

[tgl]

I do not need dual 6GHz radios, no backhaul needed, no mesh scenario. I do need at least two 10GbE LAN ports though, and the BE98 Pro is the only one that offers that, unfortunately.

As @Tech9 suggested, you'd be better off getting a separate switch to handle those clients; it's unlikely that the ASUS actually has adequate switching fabric to drive all those ports at full speed.

Even in dedicated switches, more than 2 10GbE ports is rather rare, and rarer yet for them not to be SFP+ ports that are meant to be carrying fiber links to other aggregating switches. Yes, you can find SFP+ modules with RJ45 ethernet outputs, but here's a dirty little secret: those things are full-on switches in themselves, because they have to modulate between the rather inflexible SFP+ interface spec and ethernet. They are expensive, and they draw a lot of power (possibly more than your switch is budgeting for an SFP+ port), as a consequence of which they run hot. Especially the multispeed ones.

 

[Tech9]

What most people don't understand is the fact 10GbE port in specs doesn't necessarily mean 10Gbps capable hardware behind it.

 

[Tech9]

Even in dedicated switches, more than 2 10GbE ports is rather rare, and rarer yet for them not to be SFP+ ports

Netgear M4300 series:

https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/datasheet/en/M4300.pdf

 

[tgl]

I just looked a tad more closely at the BE98-Pro's tech specs, and now I'm even more confused, because what those say is

1 x 10Gbps for WAN/LAN
1 x 2.5Gbps for WAN/LAN
1 x 10Gbps for LAN
3 x 2.5Gbps for LAN
1 x RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps for LAN
1 x USB 3.2 Gen1
1 x USB 2.0

There's still only two 10G ports, so how is this superior to the other models mentioned on that front?