Looking for router recommendation

[pfh]

Moving into a "wired" building. What I've discovered that means is that every room has at least one ethernet jack all wired to a wooden cabinet sunk into the wall with a metal cover in a coat closet. The ISP recommended I put an small 8 port gigabit switch into the cabinet (there is one electrical outlet in the box) and voila, every room would have a direct connection to the internet. Oh, I don't want every room exposed to the internet with no protection at all?

Ideally I would be looking for a gigabit router with 6-8 ports (wireless is not a requirement). Everthing I look at seems to have 4 ports and I need at least 6. The enclosed nature of the cabinet gives me substantial concerns about overheating. Trying to keep the cost under $350. I don't need a really fancy firewall, but I do need something. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[joegreat]

Ideally I would be looking for a gigabit router with 6-8 ports (wireless is not a requirement). Everthing I look at seems to have 4 ports and I need at least 6. The enclosed nature of the cabinet gives me substantial concerns about overheating. Trying to keep the cost under $350. I don't need a really fancy firewall, but I do need something. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi,

Every home router I know has only 4 LAN ports. But you can put switches AFTER the router to connect more wired devices.
I have ~20 devices (mostly wired) connected on the router with switches in the rooms where the devices are. Of course my home has cables to every room...

My main router is connected to the internet provider and distributes the wi-fi plus the wired signal to the rooms. In the rooms switches spread the wired signal to the devices (incl. to the 2nd router as wi-fi access point).

As a router I suggest the Asus RT-AC68U (to keep it cheap and powerful) or the N66U if it comes to wi-fi range (plus John's fork of Merlin's version .43 firmware).
This allows you to stay in budget as the unmanaged/home switches with 4/8-ports are very cheap.

With kind regards
Joe

 

[System Error Message]

Or you can use an enterprise grade router or even a semi managed switch if you dont want all ports exposed to each other or the internet.

For example the RB1100AHx2 has 13 ports, the CCR1009 has 8 ports, Ubiquiti edgerouter pro has 8 ports. VPN routers and cisco RV arent worth looking for stability reasons. You than would need to think about wifi which you can get an AC AP instead.

You can also go a route involving a router, a semi managed switch with POE out and a wifi AP that can be used with POE which means 1 plug, some ports and a good setup.

What internet speeds do you have?

 

[Cloud200]

A few things.
1. Do NOT get the Ubiquiti edge router pro and use all 8 ports. It is an 8 port router, there is no switching chip built in.
2. What does the ISP give you off the main feed at your demarc? Is it a public IP address or does the building do something strange and host their own router?
3. Personally I would install an 8 port switch, a wires only router and place a wireless access point elsewhere in the apt. If heat is an issue cut a hole in the panel and install a fan.

 

[pfh]

A few things.
1. Do NOT get the Ubiquiti edge router pro and use all 8 ports. It is an 8 port router, there is no switching chip built in.
2. What does the ISP give you off the main feed at your demarc? Is it a public IP address or does the building do something strange and host their own router?
3. Personally I would install an 8 port switch, a wires only router and place a wireless access point elsewhere in the apt. If heat is an issue cut a hole in the panel and install a fan.

Looks like a public IP address. Any wires only router you would recommend?

 

[chadster766]

I recommend the Linksys LRT224 and a LGS308 switch. Both the units support VLAN tagging and IP Subnetting in case you need to isolate network jacks at some point.

 

[Cloud200]

For switches I personally prefer HP
Specifically models 1620-8G and 1920-8G
I do like the Linksys LRT214 myself. Decent little router. Easy to configure but you must update the firmware before you do anything else. Initial release was very buggy for me.
At home I have a Ubiquiti Edgerouter. A tad more complex, I would recommend only if you are not doing anything too complex and are willing to tinker and learn.
As System Error Message stated, Mikrotik also has quite a few models of routers. They are NOT for the faint of heart.

Beyond that, you can get a wireless router, install it inside the box and disable the WiFi on it.
Connected to it would be a dumb switch such as an HP 1410‑8G
A good example of a router to do this with is the Asus RT-AC56U

 

[pfh]

For switches I personally prefer HP
Specifically models 1620-8G and 1920-8G
I do like the Linksys LRT214 myself. Decent little router. Easy to configure but you must update the firmware before you do anything else. Initial release was very buggy for me.
At home I have a Ubiquiti Edgerouter. A tad more complex, I would recommend only if you are not doing anything too complex and are willing to tinker and learn.
As System Error Message stated, Mikrotik also has quite a few models of routers. They are NOT for the faint of heart.

Beyond that, you can get a wireless router, install it inside the box and disable the WiFi on it.
Connected to it would be a dumb switch such as an HP 1410‑8G
A good example of a router to do this with is the Asus RT-AC56U

Thanks. Unix junkie and one of the boxes at home is a linux server - cli doesn't scare me if I have documentation. Just have a lot more DBA experience than networking.

 

[System Error Message]

There are some limitations for routers with switch chips and cpu ports. The link between the switch chip and the CPU is 1Gb/s per direction. The RB1100AHx2 has 2 5 port switch chips. If you need 8 ports altogether you can get one that has all CPU connected ports and bridge them (mikrotik does this at wirespeed). Even consumer routers have this limit which is what limits their WAN speed. If LAN traffic isnt of concern than you can use these routers. Try to find a CCR1009 without a switch chip.

A lot of non consumer routers will bridge at wirespeed.

 

[coxhaus]

I think the best solution is to use a router as a router and limit control to the internet WAN pipe. Use a switch to run your local network. A switch is a faster solution for your local network.

 

[Cloud200]

I don't like all in one devices.
I prefer having a dedicated router, switch, access point, NAS etc.
In the short run I get better performance, reliability, and ease of configuration/troubleshooting.
In the long run it becomes cheaper and simpler to make upgrades.

The detraction is wires and physical space used.
Power usage also goes up but not as much as you would think.

 

[stevech]

I don't like all in one devices.
I prefer having a dedicated router, switch, access point, NAS etc.
In the short run I get better performance, reliability, and ease of configuration/troubleshooting.
In the long run it becomes cheaper and simpler to make upgrades.

The detraction is wires and physical space used.
Power usage also goes up but not as much as you would think.

I prefer a WiFi router and if needed, 1 or more APs. I also have a gigE switch into which my NAS, desktop PC, printer, other stuff is plugged because I don't know what the WiFi router does with its LAN ports internally and prefer to have bulk data to/from NAS stay within the switch.

 

[System Error Message]

I think the best solution is to use a router as a router and limit control to the internet WAN pipe. Use a switch to run your local network. A switch is a faster solution for your local network.

A switch is not faster all the time.
Take my CCR1036 for example with bridging. It will bridge at wirespeed even with a lot of rules and configuration and layer 3 firewall on the bridge. Try that on a fully managed switch and it will slow down from wirespeed.

You dont need seperate switches, having the router and switch on the same board is more power efficient and can give more flexibility in software but so far they still use 1Gb/s link to the CPU. I'd rather if the router had 8 ports switched with a 10Gb/s link to the CPU. If you separate the router and the switch you can use LAGG on both the router and switch to increase the maximum WAN speed. This is why i prefer bridging and having a router with SFP+ to connect to my switch with SFP+ so it gives me the option of having much faster internet without the annoyingly common limits routers with switch chips have and lets me stack.

 

[coxhaus]

I prefer a WiFi router and if needed, 1 or more APs. I also have a gigE switch into which my NAS, desktop PC, printer, other stuff is plugged because I don't know what the WiFi router does with its LAN ports internally and prefer to have bulk data to/from NAS stay within the switch.

I run an UTM firewall besides my router so a all-in-one will not work for me.