@shedrock wrote:
Thanks @Datalink for all the very helpful information. However, I can't seem to find a Router that has a multi-gig WAN port. I am looking at Best Buy and Canada Computers, but unless I am missing something, (i am sure I am) then maybe they don't carry them. I would purchase one and return this D-Link for sure if it's going to allow me to have better speeds.
Canada Computers has a bunch of ASUS routers that have 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet LAN and WAN ports:
RT-AX86U Pro - https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_5329&item_id=233155
RT-AX88U Pro - https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_5329&item_id=236564
GT-AX6000 - https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_5329&item_id=214378
New Wi-Fi 7 routers are now also coming on the market, so the prices on those older routers will be coming down.
Also, keep in mind that as long as your computers have only a Gigabit Ethernet port, their download speeds will still top out at 930 - 940 Mbps.
Most have only one 2.5g port which then can be connected to a multi-gig port switch.
Side note: the WAN port are only 1-gig
Looking at the routers that @-G- pointed out:
1. RT-AX86U Pro: this only has a single 2.5 Gb/s WAN / LAN PORT. Not a contender.
2. RT-AX88U Pro: this has two 2.5G / 1G ports, WAN / LAN. Can be configured, maybe for dual WAN ports for port aggregation which doesn't matter as Rogers XBx modems don't support WAN aggregation. This is a possibilty.
3. GT-AX6000: this also has two 2.5G / 1G ports, which can also be configured for port aggregation. This is a possibility as well.
Thee are other Asus routers that support 2.5 Gb/s ethernet, but, at the moment I don't know off of the top of my head whether they have dual 2.5G / 1G WAN / LAN ports.
In terms of the two possible routers above, it comes down to what size of footprint do you want for a router?
Note that both routers are also supported by Merlin, which is an enhanced version of the Asus firmware:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-3004-388-4-is-now-available.86428/
Just to note, @-G- tried one of these recently and returned it as he wasn't satisfied with it. I've used Asus routers for a number of years, but, I probably don't use 95%, or more, of what the router is capable of doing. So, with limited functions running, I don't really have any complaints other than an odd case where a tablet doesn't get along with the 5 Ghz network. Personal opinion, my thinking these days is for a separate ethernet router and wifi access point, where you can upgrade one or both as you prefer. That's a much different can of worms as they say. I like the ability to filter adds, which the Asus router addons offer, so, if I can duplicate that in an stand alone ethernet router, I might consider going down that route.
The TP-Link router that you pointed out only has a single 2.5Gb/s WAN port. So, its depends on what you want to do, run up to 2.5 Gb/s as an aggregate data rate into the router, with 1 Gb/s ports outbound to your devices, or, buy a router with two 2.5 Gb/s ports which provide that capability for both WAN and LAN ports. I'm thinking down the road where you would only have to add a multi-gig switch to provide higher data rates to your ethernet connected devices.
Its all crystal ball gazing and future preference at this point.
Most definitely. On sale too !
I just replaced my router with the ASUS RT-AX86U pro.
On my 500m Ignite I test out at 920m. Even on my cell phione I connect wifi6 at connection rate of 1.4g and test out at 920m.
Used to only test out to 520m on the netgear router. So I rplaced it. Wanted wifi6.
The router page at TP-Link is located here:
Archer AX80 | AX6000 8-Stream Wi-Fi 6 Router with 2.5G Port | TP-Link Canada
So, that router has a single 2.5 Gb/s port, that can be configured as a WAN port or a a LAN port. So, if you configure that as a WAN port, you can receive up to 2.5 Gb/s into the router. From there, you spread that 2.5 Gb/s across the wifi devices and gigabit ethernet ports. Anything downstream running via ethernet will only run 1 Gb/s raw data rates which will translate into approx 940 Mb/s.
The switch that you pointed out is a gigabit unmanaged switch, so the most that you can run thru that switch is approx 940 Mb/s.
If you use the gigabit WAN port on the router to connect to the modem, then you're capped at 1 Gb/s in terms of total data rate into and out of the WAN port. I'm assuming here that you will be running the modem in Bridge mode. That leaves the 2.5 Gb/s port as a LAN port.
Are you looking for future capability to run up to 2.5 Gb/s to ethernet connected devices, or are you ok with running approx 940 Mb/s to those devices. If you're ok with 940 Mb/s at the moment, then the router and switch will do the job.
For the switch, keep in mind that switches come in a large variety of port numbers. So, you can do 5, 8, 16, 24, ports, etc, etc. And there is also the choice of unmanaged (plug and play), managed, Power over Ethernet (POE) to provide power to wifi access points. If two 5 port switches work,ok. If you need more ports, you can buy larger switches.
Keep us informed as to how it all turns out and if you run into any problems, don't hesitate to ask questions 🙂
Keep in mind, Black Friday sales will be coming up. When does Amazon hold their yearly sales days? Has that already passed?
@Datalink wrote:
Looking at the routers that @-G- pointed out:
1. RT-AX86U Pro: this only has a single 2.5 Gb/s WAN / LAN PORT. Not a contender.
2. RT-AX88U Pro: this has two 2.5G / 1G ports, WAN / LAN. Can be configured, maybe for dual WAN ports for port aggregation which doesn't matter as Rogers XBx modems don't support WAN aggregation. This is a possibilty.
3. GT-AX6000: this also has two 2.5G / 1G ports, which can also be configured for port aggregation. This is a possibility as well.
Thanks. I thought that these were almost equivalent from a hardware perspective, and I could have sworn that the RT-AX86U Pro had two 2.5 GigE ports (I almost bought one of these) but clearly I was mistaken.
Just to note, @-G- tried one of these recently and returned it as he wasn't satisfied with it. I've used Asus routers for a number of years, but, I probably don't use 95%, or more, of what the router is capable of doing. So, with limited functions running, I don't really have any complaints other than an odd case where a tablet doesn't get along with the 5 Ghz network.
Yeah, I found the RT-AX88U Pro (with both stock firmware and Asuswrt-Merlin) to be a somewhat wonky -- not a quality I want in a device that secures my home network. Also, if you enable any features that disable hardware acceleration/offloading your throughput will plummet.
Coming from an Enterprise and Service Provider networking and large-scale infrastructure background, I'm not a fan of consumer-grade networking gear. I don't want cloud-based management or to do any configuration with a mobile app. I want gear that's secure and rock-solid stable, that I have total control over. I don't even care whether it has a graphical or web-based UI for management. My other pet peeve is when vendors stop providing software support after only a year or two, sometimes leaving you with an abandoned, bug-ridden product, where you don't even have the option of installing open source software.
Personal opinion, my thinking these days is for a separate ethernet router and wifi access point, where you can upgrade one or both as you prefer. That's a much different can of worms as they say. I like the ability to filter adds, which the Asus router addons offer, so, if I can duplicate that in an stand alone ethernet router, I might consider going down that route.
I've been running in that mode for years. While everybody complains about their Wi-Fi dropping, I have business grade access points that can support hundreds of connected devices without a single hiccup.
For my router, I had been running OpenWrt for years. Now, I'm running a Firewall Mini PC with 2.5 GigE ports. If you know what you are doing, you can install a very basic BSD UNIX or Linux system and hand-configure your own router/firewall from scratch... but maintenance can be a pain. pfSense also works great on these devices, and I prefer it to OPNsense. You can also run OpenWrt.
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