Telecom Wireless / 8-port Router Suggestions

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D1023319

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Topic # 88390 15-Aug-2011 13:06

I am helping mate setup a home network using Telecom Broadband.
In short he has need for a wireless and 8 ethernet port router.

in this context , do any brands / models of router work better with Telecom Broadband than others?

I ask as i know from my own experience with Telstraclear that I have found my Linksys router ( a geekzone recommendation) to be very stable compared to a previous Netgear model I used.

Tom_Rush

208 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 506890 15-Aug-2011 16:10

Depends on what you want, what LAN speed, the throughput requirements and the WiFi requirements.

Given you never mention 100Mbit/1Gbit Ethernet and one assumes ADSL2+ I could suggest the following with a budget/Non-business environment in mind.

Use the Telecom NZ provided TG585 as an access point.

Get a Linksys E4200 router (WiFi 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz - 300Mbits + 450Mbits ) with 4 100/1000Mbit Ethernet and one Ethernet uplink, which includes a USB port for HDD or printer (pretty slow).

Back-end the Linksys E4200 onto the Telecom TG585. My experience says it works (approx 2 days and no dramas

)

Then add a 100/1000Mbit switch onto one of the Linksys E4200 ports.

Effectively the 4 LAN Ethernet ports on the E4200 are switched and not routed, so by adding an additional switch you're just extending the switched LAN of the E4200. This is a consideration if you're supporting multiple high end high traffic Ethernet devices.

If you don't want to got the switched LAN path using the Linksys E4200 and TG585 you can get 7 Ethernet ports.
4 on the E4200 IP subnet and 3 on the TG585 IP subnet. The 3 available ports on the TG585 (1 already used for Linksys E4200 uplink in 2 host network) will still have access to the Internet via the three available Ethernet ports(or the TG585 WiFi), but will not be able to 'route' back onto the LAN of the Linksys E4200. That may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your requirements.

Don't think you can get a 'budget' modem/router with 8 100/1000Mbit Ethernet ports.

You could always get a Linksys WAG320N as the base of an all-in-one solution and then extend the LAN from there.

I'd go 1Gbit Ethernet myself as 100Mbit translates to approx. 12MBytes when it comes to remote disk access, which is pretty slow these days. USB 2.0 is 480Mbits(60MBytes)

As a giggle the TP-LINK WA730RE does work as a 802.11n (2.4Ghz only) range extender with the Linksys E4200 if the mood takes you.
Wouldn't use the TP-LINK WA730RE in a business environment as it's a _bit_ flaky.

My Linksys E4200 has been up for months without any dramas.

Oh, you just wanted a product name/device to support your requirement.

Now, how do you spell 'Over engineered'.

D1023319

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Reply # 507160 16-Aug-2011 10:32

thanks for advice - I'll check the specs on those potential solutions noting money is not really limitation.

FYI - my mates place is a wiring nightmare with ethernet cables everyhere and certainly not how I would approach it. I always like to reduce devices - connections so my pref would be to push him back to the std 4 port and push one of kids to wireless laptop to make space for NAS in future.

Hence my main concern was compatability with Telecom residential broadband given my experience with Telstra.

D1023319

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Reply # 507281 16-Aug-2011 13:08

Clarification - the Telecom Modem is not a Thomson TG585. It is a D-Link DS 502T not that this will have impact on the wireless router I select

Skolink

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Reply # 507300 16-Aug-2011 13:41

Tom_Rush: You could always get a Linksys WAG320N as the base of an all-in-one solution and then extend the LAN from there.

No, these and all the other UFO shaped devices (eg WAG160N) are utter crap.

D1023319

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Reply # 507364 16-Aug-2011 15:16

FYI - I currently use a Linksys wrt54GL at home which I have found to be exceptionally stable.

In the absence of a newer version of this - I am currently thinking about the D-LINK Wireless N Router DIR-615 - as it seems to be good product at reasonable cost.

Skolink

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Reply # 507383 16-Aug-2011 15:31

I'd go for TP-Link over D-Link.

Tom_Rush

208 posts

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Reply # 507648 17-Aug-2011 00:39

Is there a TP-LINK modem/router(ADSL2) with Gbit Ethernet? TP-Link does have 'routers' with Gbit Ethernet.

I have a TP-Link WA730RE and it works well with the Linksys E4200 as a range extender for my mobile phone's 802.11g WiFi.

WA730RE does need to be reset every few days, but that may just be the nature of range extension as I have nothing to compare it with. TP-Link has Bandwidth monitor, PoE and SNMP and is a bit more 'feature' rich than the Linksys modem/routers (UFO's).

But for me, and given I have a 1Gbit Ethernet NAS I wouldn't even consider a 100Mbit Ethernet device TP-Link or otherwise as a single device modem/router solution. Even without the NAS, I'd still want Gbit looking forward.

It's still the "Happy time" with the Telecom NZ TG585 V8 so I haven't bothered swapping it out to road test my WAG120N

with Telecom NZ as an access point.

For me, I tend to separate functions ADSL2/Ethernet access device and a core Gbit Ethernet router with WiFi dual band 2.4Ghz/5Ghz for the LAN.

You may be hard pressed to find that one all singing, all dancing device in which you're happy to put all your eggs, but by separating the functions you can then focus on the best features of a given device with some degree of fail-over.

If you think about ADSL2, WiFi and maybe four Ethernet all routing/switching on a single device, that's a lot going on and a single point of failure. And most of these low end modem/routers are not highly spec'd i.e TG585 or WAG120N.

All this aside, for the average Jane/Jone with just a laptop/desktop requiring Internet access and buying into Telecom NZ today, the current Telecom NZ TG585 V8 (ADSL2, 802.11n WiFi, 4 Port Ethernet) seems pretty stable and functional as I see it thus far.

Oh and to the OP, eight Ethernet ports does seem a bit excessive, given a CNet CQU-906 USB 2.0/1.1 WiFi adapter can be bought for less than $40.00. And given it's micro size, 150Mbps 802.11gn, good range (over 15 metres and a few board walls) and optional hotspot configuration there really isn't much requirement for all those 100Mbits(?) Ethernet.

Skolink

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Reply # 507718 17-Aug-2011 09:44

Agreed functions are best seperated, I have seperate modem, router+wifi, and 24 port switch. Untill recently the wifi was seperate, but then I replaced the router with a TP-Link WR741ND running Gargoyle firmware.

The D-Link DIR-615 is not gigabit, but I don't know if there is a TP-Link all-in-one with gigabit either.
I'll say again - don't buy the WAG320N even though it's features look good - it is useless, esp wireless signal strength (my parents have one).

theEd

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Reply # 507781 17-Aug-2011 10:53

If you do want to have an all-in-one, you have to pay decent money to get a decent one. A Vigor2710n will do the job.

Ragnor

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Reply # 507799 17-Aug-2011 11:14

D1023319: FYI - I currently use a Linksys wrt54GL at home which I have found to be exceptionally stable.

In the absence of a newer version of this -

What absence?

Asus RT-N16, Linksys WRT610N, Linksys E2000, E3000, E4200.... all flashable with DD-WRT or TomatoUSB.

theEd

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Reply # 507800 17-Aug-2011 11:16

I can definitely recommend the Linksys E4200 as a good WRT54GL replacement, although the wireless on the E4200 isn't particularly strong (which isn't too unusual for internal antenna).

D1023319

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Reply # 507854 17-Aug-2011 12:30

Thanks again for feedback

To clarify
- I am not interested in a all-in-one - modem router
- I do not like internal aerials.
- I do not want to replace the Telecom supplied modem TG585
(the version of which I am told is purely a modem without other features such as multiple lan ports or wireless).

I am unsure of the need for Gigabit Ethernet as my older Linksys WRT54G at home is adequately fast for streaming media around the house, e.g from PC to Xbox via Cat5 that is 20 metres away in lounge and acting as media extender.

As I am personally a Telstra customer - I know from experience to get a router thats compatible.
Hence here I am mainly interested in compatible routers that are proven to be stable on Telecoms broadband network.

Out of interest from listening to feedback - I quite like the look of the following:

TP-Link TL-WR1043ND

General Built-in DSL modemNo Built-in printer server CoolingPassiveDesigned for rack mounting (19")No DHCPYes DMZYes File serverVia USBFlash memory (maximum) Flash memory (supplied)Bitmap 8 MBMAC filteringYes Management interfaceWebNATYes Power consumption (operating) Power consumption (standby) RAM (included)Bitmap Bitmap 32 MBRAM (maximum) 64 MBSPIYes Standards followedDraft 802.11nTarget audienceHome usersThroughput WAN-LANBitmap 96 Mbit/sVoIP (SIP)No WMMYes Communication 6to4 Antal simultana uppkopplingar Data link layerDraft 802.11n, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11gFrequency band2.4GHzIPv6No Number of DMZ Ports Number of LAN portsBitmap 4 pcNumber of WAN PortsBitmap 1 pcStandards followedIEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3uSupport for mobile broadbandNo Wireless networkYes Data transfer rate Bitmap 300 Mbit/sDetachable antennaYes Including antenna Yes MIMOYes Wireless securityTKIP, WEP, WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2, WPA2-PSK, WPSCompatibility MPLS Multicast QoS Yes Routing protocol Stöd för JumboframesNo WDS Yes Connectors Communication modeFull-DuplexUSBYes Number of USB 3.0 ports No USB 2.0 ports Bitmap 1 pcUSB ports (total) Bitmap 1 pcDimensions Dimensions (WxHxD)200 × 140 × 28 mmWeight Security VPN VPN pass throughYes VPN protocolIPSec, L2TP, PPTPMiscellaneous Release year 2009

stevenz

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Reply # 509039 19-Aug-2011 15:10

I had a house wired with 2 8-port gigabit TP-Link switches hanging off a basic DSE (rebadged TP-Link) modem. They ran uninterrupted together for over a year, they are very cheap and apparently pretty bulletproof.

If you need 802.11n then the basic requirements you need to make it worthwhile is external aerials and MIMO support, preferably supporting the 5Ghz spectrum.

@KnightNZ