your opinion on MikroTik - CRS125-24G-1S-RM please?

[EngChi]

Considering this as primary switch (not router) as it seem to tick off all of the right boxes
24 ports
rack mounted
low power consumption
fairly low price (<$200)
listed as L3 switch compatible (for VLAN management)

any first hand experiences?

Thank you

 

[System Error Message]

until routerOS 7 comes out and has STP mikrotik switches should not be considered. I have one and i hate the loops that tend to happen from time to time or that it gets stuck thinking one port is the gateway and if you plug in the gateway to another port you lose internet connectivity. I suggest you look at ubiquiti for switches first but if you are willing to wait the CRS is a fully manageable switch meaning you can actually set filters which you cant do on a semi managed switch. Most low cost switches are semi managed and will let you set your vlans (which is a layer 2 component not layer 3). Layer 3 switches are used for routing/layer 3 segmentation and other layer 3 protocols. A switch being layer 3 does not affect vlans. A switch being layer 3 can avoid having traffic passing through router when doing layer 3 segmentation.

Many fully managed switches are expensive and only the good switch brands produce them (hp, cisco, juniper, dell).

The CRS itself is a layer 3 switch (switch, its also a router but the router is meant for managing and lacks a fast CPU), it is fully managed letting you configure things, it has a steep learning curve (if you expect a pretty/fancy GUI you will be disappointed as you will be presented with loads of features and options on every screen), which lacks STP, LACP (static bonding works but LACP isnt supported) and layer 3 learning (it will find out where the gateway is but when that changes it doesnt seem to know). I've complained to mikrotik quite a bit about the lack of these things and explaining how widely used they are but they dont seem to have put any importance in it. As far as anyone is concerned it works with the lack of the 3 features i mentioned which doesnt make it ideal in a network that is always running.

 

[EngChi]

Thank you SEM. Given the routing is handled by RB750GR3 , am I better off just picking an unmanaged 24 switch and call it done for now? Miktorik RB750GR3 will handle WAN connections, internal Windows DC will run DHCP/DNS, etc, and switch simply bridge connections ?

I.e. TP-link TL-SG1024 is very cheap with 24 ports , low power consumption.

TP-LINK TL-SG1024

Just need to figure out if I am/am not gimping my Wifi speeds with Unifi controllers when wired into this with power injector..

 

[System Error Message]

Think about it this way, lets say you have a layer 2 switch and you do layer 2 segmentation (using vlans). If you have 2 PCs that want to transfer data to each other and you use the IP address (even if they are on a different/same IP subnet) than the traffic will go through the router first which will limit your routing capacity to a total of 1Gb/s (not bidirectional). If however you had a layer 3 switch and the routes were in the switch than 2 PCs that are on different subnets and layer 2 networks will go through the switch instead.

If you want a cheap layer 3 switch take a look at ubiquiti, they are fully managed (probably) and can have decent POE at a good price so if you ran network gear that have POE in (like some wifi APs and routers and perhaps other gear) than this could be a nice feature.

As for mikrotik CRS until they add STP, fix layer 3 learning and add LACP i would not recommend them as the CRS is the best mikrotik has to offer in the switch line. They dont even have CRS with POE out ports like ubiquiti do.

A fully managed layer 3 switch will allow you to perform filters just like you could do if you did routing through the router. This is if you wanted to filter your internal communications (like blocking network A from using printer on network B but allowing network C to use network B's printer).

 

[EngChi]

ok. thank you for explaining - this is how I/we learn.
So my plan of having RB750GR3 to be the heart of my network (router) combined with Windows DC to handle everything else would limit me on speeds between devices to 0.5 Gb max , correct?

I run some numbers on network jacks/devices wired and am already at 30 jacks needed so I have to think of how exactly it would work

ISPs -> Router/Firewall -> Switching layer -> Devices (Wires and Wireless through AP)

Comcast/ATT -> RB750GR3 -> ???? + TPlink SG1024 -> wired
???? + Unifi AP AC Prod -> wireless.

now the question is what ???? could be . I know I want at least 24 ports in addition to what SG1024 gives me . looking at what unifi offers now https://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/unifi/UniFi_Switch_US-24_US-48_DS.pdf

 

[System Error Message]

if all traffic went through the router you would be limited to 1Gb/s not 0.5Gb/s.

I dont see why you need 2 seperate switches, ubiquiti has low priced managed switches that have 48 ports.

 

[EngChi]

if all traffic went through the router you would be limited to 1Gb/s not 0.5Gb/s.

I dont see why you need 2 seperate switches, ubiquiti has low priced managed switches that have 48 ports.

Any model numbers and recommendations? when I look at it using Bhphoto video and limit to 48 ports, it gives me three options ( US-48 $415, US-48-500W $760, US-48-750W $940) none of which are low priced for home use...

Plus I already have the unmanaged TP-link for ~$78

 

[System Error Message]

Any model numbers and recommendations? when I look at it using Bhphoto video and limit to 48 ports, it gives me three options ( US-48 $415, US-48-500W $760, US-48-750W $940) none of which are low priced for home use...

Plus I already have the unmanaged TP-link for ~$78

There might be an older model thats a bit cheaper that has 48 ports, 2 SFP+, 2 SFP and POE out, there was a thread not so long ago someone mentioned it.

If you dont need fully managed than there are 48 port semi managed switches like the netgear prosafe for instance.

 

[EngChi]

Thank you. In process of picking up a server rack hardware from local business that was downsizing, they also wanted to give away a 48 port switch (linksys SRW2048) which they given me for $75. So I think this should close the need as it has enough ports for everything and could be the base for my new home network.

Now just need to figure out how to feed internet into this and how to connect Unifi AP AC pro and I should be set.