Router Help Please

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Router Help Please

semigeek

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#290093 20-Oct-2021 18:17

Today my broadband was switched over from 2degrees to Spark, and even though it was mentioned on here in the New Spark Broadband Offerings topic that you keep the 2degrees supplied Fritzbox when out of contract with 2degrees, you don't, as they want it back, even after being with them for 5 and a bit years.
Anyway, so now I am looking at routers, and went to check out one a bit earlier, this was in Harvey Norman. The specific model I looked at, is this one D-Link DIR-X1860 EXO AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Router | Harvey Norman New Zealand
The Harvey Norman salesman said it won't work with fibre as you will need a modem too. In my head, I am saying to myself - no, you just need the router, which connects to the ONT and in the router you put your username and password and set up the other settings, which then gives you WiFI and Ethernet connectivity in the house.

So, am I right in my thinking or was the Harvey Norman salesman right and I need both a modem and router or modem/router combined?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#2798277 20-Oct-2021 18:19

You just need the router.

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MaxineN

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#2798278 20-Oct-2021 18:21

The harvey norman rep was either confused or not very clued in.

The other thing to be aware is that if you're trying to route 1 gig through WAN/PPPoE you may have a bad time with the DIR-X1860(trial and error).

See if you can try and get a trademe'd Spark Smart Modem for cheaps or a HG659B. Hell you might even find a FritzBox!

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shrub

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#2798279 20-Oct-2021 18:22

Don't trust Harvey Norman sales staff.
Technically he is correct but still useless information. The fibre connection box that Chorus/enable provide is your modem and that device would be your router.

semigeek

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#2798280 20-Oct-2021 18:25

MaxineN:

The harvey norman rep was either confused or not very clued in.

The other thing to be aware is that if you're trying to route 1 gig through WAN/PPPoE you may have a bad time with the DIR-X1860(trial and error).

Why would I have a bad time with gig fibre, is the router not up to the task?

semigeek

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#2798281 20-Oct-2021 18:25

freitasm:

You just need the router.

That's what I thought, thanks.

MaxineN

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#2798282 20-Oct-2021 18:27

semigeek:

MaxineN:

The harvey norman rep was either confused or not very clued in.

The other thing to be aware is that if you're trying to route 1 gig through WAN/PPPoE you may have a bad time with the DIR-X1860(trial and error).

Why would I have a bad time with gig fibre, is the router not up to the task?

Some routers(notably netgears and ASUS ones) just can't flat out handle 1gig, they'll top out at 400-500. Some have gotten up to 1gig through 3rd party custom firmware. I'm just mentioning it in case that d-link can't do it and you end up wondering why. Also there are much better options out there that are actually rated for it.

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semigeek

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#2798293 20-Oct-2021 18:38

MaxineN:

The harvey norman rep was either confused or not very clued in.

The other thing to be aware is that if you're trying to route 1 gig through WAN/PPPoE you may have a bad time with the DIR-X1860(trial and error).

Some routers(notably netgears and ASUS ones) just can't flat out handle 1gig, they'll top out at 400-500. Some have gotten up to 1gig through 3rd party custom firmware. I'm just mentioning it in case that d-link can't do it and you end up wondering why. Also there are much better options out there that are actually rated for it.

I see, didn't know that. I guess there is the option of being able to return if the router fails to achieve advertised speeds. But just out of interest, what are some better options, though budget is limited to about $200.

MaxineN

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#2798295 20-Oct-2021 18:40

semigeek:

MaxineN:

The harvey norman rep was either confused or not very clued in.

The other thing to be aware is that if you're trying to route 1 gig through WAN/PPPoE you may have a bad time with the DIR-X1860(trial and error).

Some routers(notably netgears and ASUS ones) just can't flat out handle 1gig, they'll top out at 400-500. Some have gotten up to 1gig through 3rd party custom firmware. I'm just mentioning it in case that d-link can't do it and you end up wondering why. Also there are much better options out there that are actually rated for it.

I see, didn't know that. I guess there is the option of being able to return if the router fails to achieve advertised speeds. But just out of interest, what are some better options, though budget is limited to about $200.

Get Spark to charge you the $106.20 to have the Spark Smart Modem. It will do the job and will literally be plug and pay and you'll get support from Spark in case something goes wrong.

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mrgsm021

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#2798337 20-Oct-2021 20:55

Have you checked out this thread:
https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=66&topicid=197871

cyril7

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#2798350 20-Oct-2021 21:37

To have HN sales guy advise on this stuff is equivalent to Toyota sales guys advising you on what to purchase off his showroom floor to go enter the Paris Dakar. Like really, get real.

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semigeek

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#2798352 20-Oct-2021 21:41

mrgsm021: Have you checked out this thread:
https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=66&topicid=197871

Yep, have now.

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gareth41

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#2798589 21-Oct-2021 10:37

For 1Gig UFB, you need a router with a fast CPU and most importantly one which has two separate internal CPU ports connecting to the routers switch.

Example here of the TP Link which has 2x internal CPU ports eth1 and eth2:

Most routers will only use a single CPU port with internal VLAN's connecting the CPU to the switch, this causes a bottleneck and you'll only get 500Mbits at best routing from WAN to LAN.

I used a Mikrotik 3011UiAS which has 2x 5 port switches and two internal CPU ports, total 10 ports. The ONT is plugged into a port on switch 1, and all other LAN devices are on switch 2 - nothing else is on switch 1. If I plug a device into a port on switch 1 (same switch ONT is connected to) then I get severely degraded throughput due to packets having to traverse a single CPU port going from WAN to LAN

MadEngineer

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#2798599 21-Oct-2021 10:55

^hooefully you spotted that 3011UiAS has an sfp port which you could have plugged a copper module into which had a dedicated xor’d connection to cpu1, otherwise both switches have two gigabit links proving a connection to each cpu

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RunningMan

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#2798821 21-Oct-2021 15:05

gareth41:

For 1Gig UFB, you need a router with a fast CPU and most importantly one which has two separate internal CPU ports connecting to the routers switch.

It's more you need sufficient capacity to the CPU, it doesn't have to be 2 ports. RB4011 for example has 2.5G FD between each switch chip and the CPU.

fe31nz

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#2799100 22-Oct-2021 01:22

gareth41:

For 1Gig UFB, you need a router with a fast CPU and most importantly one which has two separate internal CPU ports connecting to the routers switch.

Example here of the TP Link which has 2x internal CPU ports eth1 and eth2:

Most routers will only use a single CPU port with internal VLAN's connecting the CPU to the switch, this causes a bottleneck and you'll only get 500Mbits at best routing from WAN to LAN.

I used a Mikrotik 3011UiAS which has 2x 5 port switches and two internal CPU ports, total 10 ports. The ONT is plugged into a port on switch 1, and all other LAN devices are on switch 2 - nothing else is on switch 1. If I plug a device into a port on switch 1 (same switch ONT is connected to) then I get severely degraded throughput due to packets having to traverse a single CPU port going from WAN to LAN

The above is actually a strange way of doing it. The router CPU does need two Ethernet ports, but the normal arrangement is one port connects to the switch for the LAN ports, and one is directly connected to the WAN port. It does not hurt the throughput to have both CPU ports connected to the switch, but it costs two switch ports - one for the CPU WAN port, and one for the actual WAN port. The switch in the above diagram has 7 ports, and if only the CPU LAN port was connected to it, it would have 6 ports available for LAN use. Instead, it has the WAN port and 4 LAN ports actually available to be connected to.

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