recommendations for 1.6gbps hardware

any recommendations for 1.6gbps hardware? I currently use a mikrotik but it only has a set of 1G ports.

looking for something that is either 2.5/2.5 on both ports or 2.5/10G.

not consumer grade hardware if i can avoid it.

Since you’re presumably familiar with/like, then another MikroTik? What does the rest of the network look like?

Depending on how many ports you need at the faster 2.5G (or higher) line rates, it’s going to be more cost beneficial and flexible to run via a network switch that has 2.5/5/10G capable ports to leverage the faster WAN connection.

I’d probably also consider the newer Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber / CG Max routers too which have several 2.5G LAN ports built-in and 2.5G WAN and/or 10G WAN ports or SFP+. Pretty good bang for the buck on these.

The other possible alternative is to roll your own hardware and run either OPNsense or pfSense on either an appliance or general purpose hardware perhaps with a variety of ports in using Intel NICs. This will be more work to setup than a prebuilt MikroTik though.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Since you’re presumably familiar with/like, then another MikroTik?

That's what I was going to say.

The RB5009 has 1 x 10G SFP+ and 1 x 2.5G port; you could use the 2.5G for WAN and 10G to a local switch. There's also a version with PoE on all ports, which might save you a switch if you're happy with "only" 1G to each of your wireless access points - such as the very reasonable Unifi U6+. In real-world usage I'd say you'd rarely saturate the ethernet port.

If you really want wifi faster than 1G, and can afford Wifi 7 access points with 2.5G uplinks, then you can afford a switch to go with them.

If you want a router with integrated wifi and the spec you're after, then I think you're out of luck on Mikrotik. There's the snappily-named RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN but it only has a single 10G+ port, so your WAN and LAN would have to be trunked through a switch to exceed 1G - and it only does Wifi 5. I'd strongly recommend separate router and wifi anyway.

Edited by candlerb (Sun 04-May-25 12:10:22)

I’ve read and watched quite a few glowing reports and heard quite good things about the new Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber (UCG-Fiber) as noted above and it’s roughly in the same price ballpark as the MikroTik RB5009.

Very different beasts in some ways, but in others not so much…I’m keeping an open mind. Heresy as a MikroTik bird, but then again I do have lots of Ubiquiti past, present (and future) too.

The UCG-F has fewer ports, but importantly the ones present are all 2.5G and above: so 4 x 2.5G copper (one with PoE+) and 1 x 10G copper for LAN and two WAN ports again capable of 10G, one of which is an SFP+ pluggable so a candidate for a £50 GPON (or XGSPON for those folks on high-tier capable Altnets) pluggable ONT. Yes somewhat ‘controversial’ in some quarters I know, but why not eh, we’re all adults here 😅

For folks interested in running Ubiquiti WiFi and other stuff (I’d argue one of the best bang for buck out there for WiFI access points, with plenty of optionality/price points) then the UCG-Fiber has all the Ubiquiti suite apps (Network, Protect, Access, Talk etc.) available natively on it and you can even drop in third party M.2 SSD stick for storage (though you need to buy an £18 cassette to hold the stick).

My remaining lasting gripe with Ubiquiti routers (again controversial sorry ahem gateways) is that they had a somewhat spotty record with our good old British ISPs obsession with PPPoE, but I think they have cracked it this time. Might get one to test on my EE FTTP connection to see how it fares.

the rest of the network is really basic at the moment.

1G network running cat5e between upstairs and downstairs. router downstairs for internet (currently a HEX), switch in loft (1G zytel) which drops to outlets, unifi AP on the upper floor and POE cameras.

I also have a NAS server also linked at 1G to the loft switch.

looking at upgrading the NAS to 10G, the network to 10G, the link to the AP to 2.5 or 10G and the downlinks between the floors to 10G, with 2.5G to the ONT.

I want to future proof for the day that 10G drops to my door (netomnia are one town over) and something capable of multi-gig PPPOE which seems the biggest pain point (thanks openreach).

Edited by wifig33k (Sun 04-May-25 21:27:16)

A decent router / gateway like one of those noted above together with say a small 8-port switch that can do 1G/2.5G or 1/2.5/5/10G ( depending on budget etc.) with POE++ support would work fine here.

Back to Ubiquiti for a moment - they have had an absolutely massive 6 months, releasing more new (generally very, very good) product than I can remember in a very long time. Have a good look at their recent product portfolio on the switching side and WiFi access points.

I'd agree with all that. Noting that:

1. If you're preparing for 10G externally then you'll want a router with 2 x 10G ports. (*)
2. Cat5e is rated to run at up to 2.5G. If the link from upstairs to downstairs is short then it may just about work at 10G (and good-quality Cat5e often exceeds Cat5e specs). But ideally you'd either replace this with Cat6A, or a single-mode fibre patch lead if the router and switch both have an SFP+ port. (It's better to avoid copper 10G SFP+ modules if you can, as they tend to get very hot. And SM fibre will allow speeds of 25G and above in future). (**)
3. You didn't say what model of Unifi AP you have. For 2.5G uplink you'll need something like U6 Enterprise, the new U7 Lite (which is cheap but doesn't have 6GHz), or the U7 Pro or above. For 10G uplink it's the U7 Pro XG/XGS.

(*) In general: I suggest delaying any purchase as long as possible, until it's actually needed. You'd kick yourself if you bought something now before you needed it, and in a year's time you could have got something both better and cheaper.

For the 2.5G router, would you consider a NUC-type server with 2 x 2.5G ports? I bought the Beelink EQ12 16G/500G on Amazon for £240 a couple of years ago and it's a very nice low-power N100 (4-core) box, although I use it as a server rather than a router. It's the kind of thing you could easily re-use when you later upgrade to a more powerful 10G router.

Note that you can buy a RouterOS licence to run on PC hardware - the price is very reasonable - or as a VM (they call that CHR - Cloud Hosted Router). Basically, build your own Mikrotik.

(**) If the downstairs router isn't doing anything other than routing (i.e. you're not using its wireless capabilities or any other LAN switch ports) then you could move the router up into the loft, and use the Cat5e cable just to connect down to the ONT. That allows you to keep the 2.5G uplink for now, while upgrading everything else to 10G

Have fun!

Edited by candlerb (Mon 05-May-25 10:56:45)

right now its an AC lite (wifi6) with a 1G port.

considering U7-Pro-XG (10G Ethernet) + UCG-Fiber (has 3 10G ports)

UCG-Fiber is interesting as can swap the LAN and WAN ports. so could do 2.5G WAN, multi-10G LAN.

moving that to the loft and having 2.5G downstream to downstairs to the ONT
would give me a bunch of 10G ports to run the NAS and the U7-Pro-XG.

then later on add a 10G switch and use the UCG-Fiber just for internet routing.

the alternative plan, might be to buy CR2004-1G-12S+2XS. its coming down in price now. it has no switch chip, but it can route almost 10G. and a bunch of 10G SFPs. incredibly flexible.

I am open to ripping out the cat5e for future proofing and running fibre between the floors if need be.

I read that the UCG-Fiber has PPPOE hardware offloading, which is definitely a consideration here (thanks openreach) not sure. how CR2004-1G-12S+2XS would do with PPPOE.

UCG-Fiber - £274
CR2004-1G-12S+2XS - £447

That’s fine, but I’d caution against putting equipment with a fan or two or three in a loft space. The UCG-F is completely passive so should be OK, but not the CR2004-1G-12S+2XS - that’s really destined for rack mounting and where there’s minimal dust and/or temperature swings.

yeah I might drop it down to a cupboard below if I go that route which I have been considering doing for the NAS too to keep it out of the way.

i have also been considering a small sideless rack that I can mount near the ceiling in top of the cupboard as I have NVR gear too and put a proper patch panel in place for all the ethernet point drops.

something like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08XQZWXH3/?tag=ceukrevi...

I think the UCG-F has a fan too.

We also have an integrated garage, but I not been successful in getting any connectivity in there yet for anything.

Edited by wifig33k (Mon 05-May-25 11:58:12)