Router/Firewall for 300mbs FTTP

Hi All,

I have a location with a (Gigaclear) FTTP running at around 300mbps. They supply a modem, and a velop router. I want to replace the router with a better one, and perhaps use the velop as a wireless access point.

I am used to Drayteks (2860 on FTTC lines), and like their built in features (syslog, VPN, security, etc), and configurability regarding port forwarding, etc. Their wifi is terrible. However I am not sure which I'd go for, or if I'm a little out of date in choosing a Draytek?

I guess the 2862 (max throughput 400mbs - is that 200mbs each way though? And are these figures true in practice?) or 2926 would be an appropriate upgrade to a 2860, but is it up to the task, and are the drayteks out of date?

Drayek don't seem to have released any new routers for some years, and I'm not even sure what the processor or memory is on them.

Any advice/experience appreciated.

Edited by deleted (Fri 28-Feb-20 09:54:54)

In readiness for our very soon expected FTTP I have purchased a Netgear Nighthawk X6 (R8000)

Got it up and running now and like the extra distance the WiFi puts out over my ageing BT Hub

Edited by MrSaffron (Fri 28-Feb-20 12:14:47)

Removed a probable referral link replacing it with my own https://amzn.to/2T88cBd

Netgear Nighthawk X6 at £139.99 on Amazon

Whether this meets all the needs of the original poster not, sure and have not splurged on one myself so cannot vouch for the WiFi speeds but reputation from others is generally good.

A Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X will be fine for a 300Mbps service, depending on how many features you enable. It should be fine with full Qos, but there is not much headroom left. Whether you need QoS on a 300Mbps service is a different matter.

The EdgeRouter 4/6P or the 12/12P if you want a switch in the router would be good for the full symmetric 1Gbps with lots of features enabled. These are however a lot more expensive, but expect them to last a long time and have security updates for best part of a decade.

They have a GUI, but I can't comment on it as I don't use it. We used a pair of Edgerouter 8's at work then upgrade to the Infiniti's and I use a X-SFP at home and they have all worked flawlessly.

In fact if you want to go slightly rouge you could probably get the EdgeRouter X SFP (always a better buy in my view as all ports are passive PoE out) or the 4/6/12 couple them with the correct BiDi SFP from fs.com and ditch the modem. It's not really a modem it's an ethernet media convertor for BiDi. You just need to know the RX and TX wavelengths and the distance it is for. They are under £10 each postage probably costs more.

There is also a very good chance that one of these will be able to power the "modem" from an Edgerouter using it's 24 passive PoE.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EBCQ5FM

I would expect the Mikrotik hEX/hEX POE and hEX S should all be fine as well (they are the same class of hardware as the EdgeRouter X)

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

I would expect the Mikrotik hEX/hEX POE and hEX S should all be fine as well (they are the same class of hardware as the EdgeRouter X)

I have the hEX PoE and use it on BT FTTP (and FTTC before that). It's a lovely compact box with four ports of PoE out, but it has only a single-core 800MHz MIPS CPU.

If you have Fasttrack turned on then it will route >900Mbps with 1500 byte packets, but unfortunately there's no Fasttrack for IPv6. It can just about route 300Mbps of IPv6, with the CPU load hitting 100%. The only other issue I have is there's no serial console, so it's easy to lock yourself out.

I do very much like the stability and CLI of the Mikrotik though, and use the larger ones in data centres.

If I were buying now, I'd probably get the RB4011iGS+RM - quad core ARM 1.4GHz. The internal architecture has two 2.5Gbps connections going to two five-port gig switches, plus a separate 10Gbps interface. Plenty of grunt there.

Or else I'd just build a small fanless PC and run pfSense on it.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

I would expect the Mikrotik hEX/hEX POE and hEX S should all be fine as well (they are the same class of hardware as the EdgeRouter X)

If I were buying now, I'd probably get the RB4011iGS+RM - quad core ARM 1.4GHz. The internal architecture has two 2.5Gbps connections going to two five-port gig switches, plus a separate 10Gbps interface. Plenty of grunt there.

Or else I'd just build a small fanless PC and run pfSense on it.

Agreed the RM4011 is overkill for even 1gig lines, along with the 10Gig SFP+ port means its probably got a long potential lifespan. Really is the best buy at the moment, especially given the UniFi Dream Machine Pro is double its price and has similar specs.

As to PfSense/OpnSense you can also just buy a cheap old Dell/HP/Lenovo Workstation for £50. Not the most power efficient but near enough silent.

Also TP-Link are reportedly releasing a new Omada branded router. Given their propensity to create similar products to Ubiquiti / Mikrotik but make it cheaper might be worth to wait and see what it is.

Edited by deleted (Sat 29-Feb-20 11:26:20)

Dont go anywhere near the Dream Machine/Pro, I foolishly got one (pro) in the hope to complete my Unifi setup or switches and wireless ap's. Its a total pile of doggy doo, I wont go into detail read their forums for that, but its painfully bad, how they think this is enterprise ready is a total joke.
Anyway ive gone for a Draytek 3910 to use with my Giga + FTTP connections that are due soon. This is an actual brand new released Draytek.

Please can you tell me the make/model of the ONT or Modem they provide with the Velop?

I have Gigaclear arriving in a few weeks and it seems hard for their customer support to provide me those detail. I am doing work in the part of the house where the modem will go, so knowing the size of the box and more importantly where the wires/plugs will be arranged is important to know. I too will not be using the Velop.

Thanks.

Hi. Still using the velo pat the moment, although that's mainly because I haven't had time to change it. Will be interested to see what you end up ordering.

The modem is a GENEXIS, but can't see a model number. The installers did say there was talk of replacing them with another model. Would take a picture for you but we've got a load of boxes stacked up in front of it.

Could you ask them what model of Genexis they are currently supplying to save me having to move my boxes?

It is not an ONT., but basically an ethernet media converter given that they are a PtP ISP. With the right router (one with an SFP socket) you could ditch their "modem" (its not one of those either), and just use a BiDi SFP directly. Just need to work out what wavelengths for TX/RX they are using to make sure you get the right SFP.