Best routers out there ?

[Mr. Scram]

.. not if you explicitly construct the installation to support this.

Metal conduit is perfectly normal and in almost all situations involving potential mechanical damage vastly safer than any other option.

Can that be statistically supported? I assume insurers have data on these kinds of things.

[Monkeh]

.. not if you explicitly construct the installation to support this.

Metal conduit is perfectly normal and in almost all situations involving potential mechanical damage vastly safer than any other option.

Can that be statistically supported? I assume insurers have data on these kinds of things.

I'm not an insurer, so you should probably ask one of those vultures.

[Zucca]

first post over the 10Gb link !

camooon free_el more details... happy with the installation? Was it more plug or pray?

[MyHeadHz]

Arstechnica has done quite a bit of testing throughout the years, including thorough real-world tests.  The first paragraph in the link below has some links to some other useful articles depending on what exactly you're interested in.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/the-router-rumble-ars-diy-build-faces-better-tests-tougher-competition/

There may be more recent articles, but that was the last one I have bookmarked.

[Berni]

Those are some very nice tests, properly stressing the routing performance and all.

Tho to be fair this is pretty severe stress compared to something that it might typically see at home, but it does show the differences between even higher performance solutions.

[free_electron]

There were a couple of small snags during the install.

The router did not immediately get a wan ip address. I had to reboot the modem. But that may be a modem issue. New Modem ordered ( i will upgrade from 300Mbit/s to a 1G link )
Router configuration was super easy. The router talks bluetooth to a tablet app. There is no public visible config on wan or lan thru  web page. You need to connect using an app. So that closes points of attack.

Signal strength is very high in the entire house, to the point i probably won't need an extender ... I am starting to think that those fancy routers with 6 antenna's are more show than anything else ....
10G link over SPF to SPF cable was up immediately. ( 15 ft cable)

The mikrotik switches came up on their 192.168.88.xxx. I could see them using the winbox utility but no way to get into their config page as they all had the same address.

Only option was to powercycle in such a way that the one closest to the router came up first , got an address in 192.168.156 range, then the next one , then the last one.
So what will happen after a power loss ? if the one closest to the router comes up last the other two will sit in 192.168.88.xxx.

Fortunately there is a config setting where you can tell it the fallback address. So i hardcoded the fallback to 192.168.156.2 , 3 and 4 ( for the three machines ) and let them attempt dhcp anyway. the router will use those addresses through dhcp also, so irrespective if the switches can get a dhcp lease or use their fallback : their ip address does not change.

The router is set up to only deal out dhcp above 192.168.156.100 and hands out pseudo static addresses linked to the mac addresses.
All my 'static' devices like the tv , roku , apple tv , ipcams, nvr, nas boxes have been assigned ip addresses locked in the router. The devices are still dhcp but the router will always hand out the same IP address for that specific device
Same goes on wifi. The alexa dots,spots and echos and the home automation has pseudo statics but on wifi
Router only deals out 'guest' wifi for unknown mac addresses with a limit of 1 device and only internet connection at 1mbit/s. So i can bring in new devices one by one and then assign them in the router.

I had to powercycle a number of devices as they were in the 192.168.1.xxx and looking for the gateway at 254. the new router is 192.168.156.1
and run the network diagnostic on the windows machines to fix the network settings.
Many devices only search for a gateway at powerup.
Devices over wifi do not have that issue. The moment you connect to the new wifi port all is well. All hardwired devices have problems.
They should be able to detect : my gateway is offline , let me see if there is another one available.

Next thing i will attempt is to create vlans so that the entertainment ( tv and media players) sit in one vlan. Then all apple devices in another vlan.
office will be one vlan. the nas boxes will be allocated so that some are visible only on one vlan , some on multiple vlans.

[NiHaoMike]

Router configuration was super easy. The router talks bluetooth to a tablet app. There is no public visible config on wan or lan thru  web page. You need to connect using an app. So that closes points of attack.

That seems like it would be less secure, unless you have the option to flip a switch on the unit to disable that feature when not in use?

[free_electron]

you need to be in range with bluetooth to pick it up. then it hands over to wifi and it is password protected.

[SteveyG]

Not sure how widespread it was amongst Mikrotik's devices, but it's worth a quick check of the power supply input circuitry. On the device I use, the buck regulator datasheet suggests it was not designed to work up to 24V with the power supply bundled with the device.

Some info here:

[Zucca]

Next thing i will attempt is to create vlans so that the entertainment ( tv and media players) sit in one vlan. Then all apple devices in another vlan.
office will be one vlan. the nas boxes will be allocated so that some are visible only on one vlan , some on multiple vlans.

Not an Internet of Terror VLAN?

Thanks for wrtiting it up.

One router only with no further mesh antennas in different places? Sorry if it is a stupid questions I am learning the mesh wifi jazz right now.

[free_electron]

yup. The amplifi HD has a much stronger signal throughout the house. i have not been able to find any deadspots. Compared to the big Netgear with impressive looking three antenna's ...

[Nominal Animal]

Uh, am I the only one running a small SBC (NanoPi in my case) as a honeypot, just because, uh, reasons? 

[ogden]

Uh, am I the only one running a small SBC (NanoPi in my case) as a honeypot, just because, uh, reasons? 

Don't worry. It comes and goes. When you grow up, you most likely will do other, even more exciting stuff.

[Nominal Animal]

Uh, am I the only one running a small SBC (NanoPi in my case) as a honeypot, just because, uh, reasons? 

Don't worry. It comes and goes. When you grow up, you most likely will do other, even more exciting stuff.

I'm afraid I stopped growing upwards and started growing my insulating lard layers instead, about two decades ago.. does that mean I don't get to do that even more exciting stuff?
I hope it is spaceflight, by the way.  It's one of the very few things left in my bucket list.

[ogden]

I'm afraid I stopped growing upwards and started growing my insulating lard layers instead, about two decades ago..

I did not mean maturing but professional growth instead Anyway could you please share more about your honeypot system? It's intended purpose in your case?

[Nominal Animal]

your honeypot system? It's intended purpose in your case?

I tend to have the same IP address for long stretches, and rather defensive firewall settings, because I really hate exploiters (script kiddies and the like).  I do like doing sysadmin stuff, if I get free range to do it properly.  Yes, I have done it as a job as well.

Normally, a honey pot like that would be configured to log everything remotely, so that one can detect successful unauthorized accesses hopefully before they get to the more important machines, and maybe have a few tripwires in place, but I don't actually bother.  Instead of a tool to catch botnetters and script kiddies that manage to break in, I use it to waste their time.  You create a system image on a microSD card, then replace crucial binaries with custom ones, like bash/ls/cat that simulates filesystem access, requiring interactive actions (something that looks like a prompt) at login to ensure a human must investigate, but occasionally just exits (drops the connection).  Maybe a copy of 42.zip as passwords.zip in /root.  Stuff like that.  It soothes my desire to retaliate, I guess.

I don't bother to run it often, though, as all attempts (that I see) are automated nowadays, and in general the (password!) security is so bad they don't bother doing anything manually (even if you set the host name to "cameraserver") -- there are plenty of machines they can get to using scripts.  (I do not let script attacks through.)

[Againgly]

ASUS RT-AC 5300. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

[Monkeh]

ASUS RT-AC 5300. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

Excellent work outing yourself as a paid spammer.

[EEVblog]

DELETED. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

Excellent work outing yourself as a paid spammer.

LOL, yep!

[Halcyon]

ASUS RT-AC 5300. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

Excellent work outing yourself as a paid spammer.

One issue about this router is that it only has Gigabit Ethernet ports. So you're limited to 1 Gbps tops. So much for 5.3 Gbps

Also, just another overpriced consumer router tarting itself as being something special. My pfSense box and Ubiquiti/Cisco wireless APs blow your crappy Asus out of the water.

[sokoloff]

Well, it's sold as a router that happens to have a few switch ports not a core switch.

Very few people have a LAN connection of over 1 Gbps. Almost no one has a WAN connection of even 1 Gbps, let alone over.

[Monkeh]

ASUS RT-AC 5300. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

Excellent work outing yourself as a paid spammer.

One issue about this router is that it only has Gigabit Ethernet ports. So you're limited to 1 Gbps tops. So much for 5.3 Gbps

Also, just another overpriced consumer router tarting itself as being something special. My pfSense box and Ubiquiti/Cisco wireless APs blow your crappy Asus out of the water.

It's wifi, the number on the box is always a lie..

[Halcyon]

ASUS RT-AC 5300. Equipped with NitroQAM technology, the router provides unprecedented speed of wireless data transfer - up to 5334 Mbit / s. This is one of the most powerful routers that can be found on the market today.

Excellent work outing yourself as a paid spammer.

One issue about this router is that it only has Gigabit Ethernet ports. So you're limited to 1 Gbps tops. So much for 5.3 Gbps

Also, just another overpriced consumer router tarting itself as being something special. My pfSense box and Ubiquiti/Cisco wireless APs blow your crappy Asus out of the water.

It's wifi, the number on the box is always a lie..

I'm aware. But even if you halve the theoretical maximum Wi-Fi throughput (2.6 Gbps) which is typical of half-duplex communication with decent equipment and a strong signal, you're still limited to 1 Gbps through the Ethernet ports. Even if you have a NAS at home, it's unlikely you'll be connecting it to the rest of your network via Wi-Fi. Then there is the whole WAN side of things.

It's a bit like owning a car capable of 300 km/hr but driving them on roads limited to 110 km/hr.

It's all marketing bullshit.

Having said that, there are genuine uses for >1Gbps Wi-Fi capability, but that is generally reserved for many clients on enterprise radios with aggregated Ethernet links or 10 Gbps backhaul. You won't see that in a consumer product.

[Black Phoenix]

Even if you have that Router, what kind of internal modules on notebooks support it? Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 is the only one I know and still that one only goes to 2.5Gbps on 802.11ax via 2x2 MU-MIMO.

The only use I see that total bandwidth to be used is in a lot of equipments using the WIFI in intense mode, like a lot of 4k streaming plus gaming, plus torrenting... and even that you are limited by the WAN speed with 1Gbps Ethernet Ports. - Didn't saw that in the post above this part was already touch...


Plus how much sustained traffic at that rate the equipment endures until the processor starts trotting the traffic because of heat output?

[sokoloff]

It does support link aggregation, so you can get ~2Gbps.