New router for 2.5g

Krispy Kritter

Krispy Kritter

Gawd
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
655
Thinking about upgrading my current router to a model that supports 2.5g LAN.

Currently looking at this one TP-Link Tri-Band BE9300. Anyone have any experience or recommendations for other models?


Thanks
 
As I was checking out the one you listed I saw this really expensive router for $800. :eek:
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I currently use an Arris G36 Cable Modem/Router combo with a 2.5GbE Lan port hooked up to a pair of QNAP 2.5GbE switches (one next to the modem and another in the garage so I can have 2.5GbE to all my machines)
https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Surfboard-G36-Multi-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B096W6X41Y
The description is wrong on the Amazon page for the Arris, it has Four 1GbE ports and One 2.5GbE port.
cox speed test 2356mbps.png


Best Buy has their Recycle and Save program going on again for select networking gear, so you can bring in an old router or modem, etc, and get 15% off of a new Modem or Router.
I brought in our first Motorola 6Mbps modem and got $45 off of the G36.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/arris-...-6-router-combo-black/6480359.p?skuId=6480359
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Unifi just came out with the Cloud Gateway Ultra with 2.5GB WAN connection for 129$. Throw in a UG+ Access point and you got something that just works :) and is much cheaper than that junk
 
Vengance_01 said:
Unifi just came out with the Cloud Gateway Ultra with 2.5GB WAN connection for 129$. Throw in a UG+ Access point and you got something that just works :) and is much cheaper than that junk
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This would be awesome if it had all 2.5GbE ports, but what does this mean in this image?
IDS/IPS throughput 1Gbps. Does that mean even though it has a 2.5GbE Wan port that only 1Gbps can go through it?
1708823667369.png
 
Zepher said:
This would be awesome if it had all 2.5GbE ports, but what does this mean in this image?
IDS/IPS throughput 1Gbps. Does that mean even though it has a 2.5GbE Wan port that only 1Gbps can go through it?
View attachment 637580
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sadly with IDS/IPS it can only handle 1gb of throughput. now they don't mention at what level... so you could get more if less features turned on
 
Vengance_01 said:
sadly with IDS/IPS it can only handle 1gb of throughput. now they don't mention at what level... so you could get more if less features turned on
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Does that mean if I have 2Gbps internet service and I have 2 machines plugged into the 1Gbps ports, each one can only download at 500Mbps, or would each be able to get 1Gbps?
edit: Oh, just looked up what those were and they are security features.
 
Zepher said:
Does that mean if I have 2Gbps internet service and I have 2 machines plugged into the 1Gbps ports, each one can only download at 500Mbps, or would each be able to get 1Gbps?
edit: Oh, just looked up what those were and they are security features.
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it just means the wan port can only give 1gb. but the lan traffic is not affected. all clients can transmit at 1gb speeds
 
I saw that Asus as well. Definetly not paying $800. If I can't find a decent router with LAN ports, a standalone switch could work as well. I'm just hoping to have it all in a single unit. Less clutter.
 
Krispy Kritter said:
I saw that Asus as well. Definetly not paying $800. If I can't find a decent router with LAN ports, a standalone switch could work as well. I'm just hoping to have it all in a single unit. Less clutter.
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These are the QNAP's I have, TPlink has a similar one for around $100-120. I paid $120 each for these on sale, they were $140+ and hard to get for awhile due to the chip shortage a couple of years ago.
IMG_1804.JPEG
 
Plenty of good cheap switches. Now if you plan do Unifi at least get a managed switch. Plenty of good ones with 1Gb and 2.5GBe.
 
Or just get 2x 10Gb sfp cards and run a DAC between them or use sfps and fibre. Far cheaper and faster than even one switch for a point to point between two PCs. Hell, might as well just go ahead and get 20Gb or 40Gb if you're going to be running fibre or if the two PCs are close enough for a DAC.
 
SamirD said:
Or just get 2x 10Gb sfp cards and run a DAC between them or use sfps and fibre. Far cheaper and faster than even one switch for a point to point between two PCs. Hell, might as well just go ahead and get 20Gb or 40Gb if you're going to be running fibre or if the two PCs are close enough for a DAC.
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I bought some really cheap 8-port 2.5GB switches with 10GB SFP+ fiber in between them. Total cost was like ~$200 with 65ft of fiber (which ended up being way too long, but still works great).
 
ONLY IF you have an internet connection that is at or faster than 2.5Gb/s AND your current machine(s) has a 2.5Gb/s nic, then those would be good reasons to upgrade, otherwise you would be wasting your money bigtime....cause your internet speed will never be any faster than the slowest link in the chain, unless you are only going to be using it for an internal LAN, to transfer files/data between 2 or more computers inside your home....

And I recommend Unifi's and Netgear's mid-to upper range routers...

And as for TP's stuff, the only place it belongs is in the bathroom... :D
 
MavericK said:
I bought some really cheap 8-port 2.5GB switches with 10GB SFP+ fiber in between them. Total cost was like ~$200 with 65ft of fiber (which ended up being way too long, but still works great).
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I've seen people sell a 10Gb 'kit' with cards and cables for $25 shipped. ;)
 
ng4ever said:
How to make your own 2.5 Gbps or 10 Gbps router ?
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https://www.amazon.com/CWWK-Network-PCI-ex8-Compatible-5600MHz-Barebone/dp/B0CQVJ7Q8C/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C79F1T23/ref=ewc_pr_img_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XHMB5GP/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=AWD7GDDT7Q2ZT&psc=1

That has a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot on it too, so you can add a 10GbE NIC to it. Note: it doesn't fit flush with the side of the case so you'll have to remove/bend the NIC bracket or use an PCIe riser/extender. Load up a free open source firewall like OPNsense. Add a network switch and access point and you have a quality setup.

You can get mini PCs with 4 - 6 NICs, 2 SODIMM slots, and faster CPUs too. You can virtualize your firewall and run other services but you'd probably want more than 8GB of RAM. A somewhat undocumented feature on CWWK Mini PCs (and most others) is each NIC can be independently passed through directly to VMs. So you have one NIC for your hypervisor management, two NICs passed through to a VM for WAN/LAN, and extra NICs to do what you see fit.

Basically this (although seems like Amazon CWWK store can undercut Aliexpress on some models):
MavericK said:
Buy a Topton/CWWK N100/200/305 fanless box with 2-4 2.5GB Intel NICs on Aliexpress, install Proxmox (optional) and OPNSense - done.
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Personally, if I had 800$ or so for funding my network upgrade from gbit to gbit++ I'd upgrade my unifi network to newer 10gbit stuff. I know some aren't fond of the company but I personally like the software/hardware including the cloud remote access.
 
uberjon said:
Personally, if I had 800$ or so for funding my network upgrade from gbit to gbit++ I'd upgrade my unifi network to newer 10gbit stuff. I know some aren't fond of the company but I personally like the software/hardware including the cloud remote access.
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My big issue with them is the planned obsolescence. I've never had a ton of issues actually using their products before, except when they decide to take away features you had previously to drive you towards new hardware.
 
MavericK said:
My big issue with them is the planned obsolescence. I've never had a ton of issues actually using their products before, except when they decide to take away features you had previously to drive you towards new hardware.
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Interesting, Ive personally never noticed anything disappear? But maybe those features I wasn't using?

Have you tried using a mix of old/new hardware before? My unifi dream router happily supports my very old outdoor+ access point. It's probably 8-10yr+ old tech working with a modern controller flawlessly.
 
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I moved this weekend and had an appointment with Verizon to move my FiOS connection yesterday. I've had the standard Gigabit so I kept that, but was surprised the router they brought out supports up to 10Gb on the WAN port and one of the LAN ports. The other two LAN ports up to 2.5Gb.

The installer mentioned they have a 2Gb plan now and are quickly ramping up to offer 10Gb this year.

I don't really see myself bothering with upgrading my WAN speed but it'll be neat to start messing with 2.5GbE LAN things. I'm just using the Wifi (6Ghz Wifi 6E) for the moment until I work out wiring runs.

1713888827459.png
 
uberjon said:
Interesting, Ive personally never noticed anything disappear? But maybe those features I wasn't using?

Have you tried using a mix of old/new hardware before? My unifi dream router happily supports my very old outdoor+ access point. It's probably 8-10yr+ old tech working with a modern controller flawlessly.
Click to expand...

For me, the big one was back when I was working for a small IT company doing small/medium business stuff. We had a lot of clients with Unifi APs attached to a cloud key that we controlled, so we had several sites on the key for different clients. Most of these clients had like 1-4 APs, so not huge companies. Eventually, Ubiquiti pushed out an update for the cloud key that stopped allowing you to create multiple sites on the same cloud key - there was no warning about this before you upgraded, thankfully we found out before pushing the update to our main cloud key. The idea is that Ubiquiti wanted all of these small companies to buy their own cloud key and then just have it attached to our cloud management account.

Previous thread about the issue for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/l3l1ol/psa_dont_upgrade_cloud_key_if_you_need_multisite/

Ubiquiti has shown that they will remove features at will (and without notice) if they want to try to squeeze more money out of you.
 
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