VDSL2 Router - large home network ASUS DSL-AC56U or Draytek

Just made a fatal mistake moving from BT where had no issues to Vodafone enticed by lower costs. Turns out the supplied VF router (Huawei HHG2500) is garbage. Regular drop outs.

Looking for a VDSL2 router that is fast and reliable DHCP/ Gigabit LAN for multiple concurrent users, 6+ switches, 60+ wired devices plus 20+ wireless devices attached to the LAN via BT Whole Home mesh access points.

WiFi doesnt matter and will be switched off, since using the mesh wifi access points.

Thinking about this - good value at £79.99:-
ASUS DSL-AC56U AC1200 Wireless Dual-Band VDSL/ADSL 2+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016BWRBVG

or spend more (£227) on something like:-

DrayTek Vigor 2862N VDSL/ADSL Router Firewall
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/draytek-vigor-2862n-...

Wont use much advanced features, just basic port forwarding.

Thanks

Draytek. It's a no-brainer. Although you may not use all of the advanced features, they are rock solid units and far superior to consumer stuff..

Dan

You already have wi-fi so why do you need a wi-fi router? The Draytek 2862 without any wi-fi is a lot cheaper at about £185

I've been happy with my TP-Link Archer VR900, but mainly got that for the combo upgrade to VDSL and 802.11ac. Port forwarding is there (listed as Virtual Servers) as is dual-stack.

If you already have dedicated Wi-Fi provision and multiple switches anyway, I'm guessing you aren't necessarily bound to having a one-box solution.

In that case I would go the whole hog and get a separate VDSL modem (e.g. Draytek 130) so that you can pair with any ethernet router as technology evolves.

I would suggest Ubiquiti ER-X or ER-X-SFP for future options), it's plenty fast enough for 100s of devices and if you ever need the more advanced firewall / routing features they are there (EdgeOS aka customised Vyos formerly known as Vyatta Core).

In reply to a post by caffn8me:

You already have wi-fi so why do you need a wi-fi router? The Draytek 2862 without any wi-fi is a lot cheaper at about £185

Thank you guys for all the advice and confirming my thoughts. I was a little impatient yesterday and did indeed order a Draytek 2862! for peace of mind as much as anything and also being kind of familier with Draytek having had a 2820n many years ago before fibre. I noticed the wired only version and thats what I went for.

Web chat with Vodafone tonight and got my username and password to copy and paste.

Just finished the switch over. All OK for a few mins then the network went down. After isolating and connecting back in stages I found the culprit (Netgear GS116 unmanaged switch). Swapped it out for a spare unit and all running perfect now.

During the switchover I had swapped switches around since a 5 port was full, replaced with the 16 port. I recall having problems with this switch before but was working with a couple of devices connected. Is it possible/common for a switch to work with 1 or 2 devices but then bring the whole network down when more devices connected or have intermittent problems when loaded? That is what I was experiencing. Need to check Netgears warranty period if still eligible for RMA - the switch is a few years old.

The EdgeRouter X SFP works well with a seperate modem (one of the Openreach supplied ones works) and has ability if you pick the right ones to power up some UniFi access points too. I use the EdgeRouter X SFP with a carefully positioned Unifi UAP AC LR access point in the house and a UniFi AC Outdoor Mesh access point in the shed for coverage in the garden bother powered via 24V passive PoE then a Netgear GS116Ev2 for switching in the house.

Though for longer term the new EdgeRouter 4 is possibly a better bet as you get quad core 1GHz MIPS with 1GB RAM compared to the 880MHz dual core MIPS with 256MB RAM of the EdgeRouter X SFP. LinITX are showing 42 arriving next week.

https://linitx.com/product/ubiquiti-edgerouter-4port...

In theory both the X and 4 having SFP ports could have an SFP based VDSL, g.FAST or GPON modem plugged in the front should they ever get UK approval.

Been using a pair of EdgeRouter 8's at work for several years now and been quite impressed to the point where we upgraded to the Infinity's last September.

Yes have used them for work purposes for many years including multi-building networks.

The smaller EdgeRouters often seem to be discounted for home use because people assume from the form factor their features will be just like other consumer models.

Currently my home ER-X is participating in IPSec multi-site VPN with OSPF routing between offices and it's doing this even from behind the pre-existing VDSL Wi-Fi router - which is crazy given the ER-X was half the price.