Just got 10gb internet at home. Looking for new wireless router recommendations.
I just got 10 gigabit fiber internet in my apartment (Sonic.com), and I'd like to upgrade my wireless router to use as much of that pipe as is feasible. (Yes, I'm aware it's a lot of bandwidth and I'm unlikely to use it all on a regular basis, but I'll never hit the max if I don't have equipment that can actually use it.)
I currently have a Netgear RAXE500 that's only connecting to the ONT at 1gbps because the ONT doesn't support 2.5gbps connections. (Weirdly, it only supports 1gb and 10gb, not 5.) So, I'm looking for a router that can at least connect to the ONT at its max speed and dole out the bits as fast as it can over the appropriate interfaces.
I've done some searching and have a few candidates. I've generally only used Netgear and Linksys wireless routers. They've been pretty reliable for me and I only upgrade every 5 to 7 years. So I'm looking for a long-term solution.
I won't need a mesh solution. Just a single WAP with some ethernet ports for wiring up a few devices.
Can anyone recommend or comment on any of these?
Archer AXE-300
https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-axe300/
I only know that TP-Link is highly recommended in general. I like that it has a 10gb ethernet port for downstream devices, but I'm unsure how soon I'd need that (if ever). Unless I decide to run my server of some form.
Netgear Orbi 960
https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbre960/
I'm fairly familiar with Netgear's stuff. My last two routers have been made by them. I'm a little weary of their constant sales pitches to subscribe to Netgear Armor and other subscription services. But overall I've had a good experience. I'm not super-jazzed that this doesn't have any 10gb ports. And I don't think the 2.5gb port is going to see much use.
Netgear Orbi 860
https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbr860s/
Similar notes to the above. But this one doesn't have a 2.5gb port, which I'm guessing is why it costs a little less. I don't know these two stack up in a head-to-head, though.
Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000
https://rog.asus.com/networking/rog-rapture-gt-axe16000-model/
I'm a little skeptical of "gaming" equipment in general. But this device has pretty good reviews. It's also kind of a visual monstrosity. And it seems like it's got enough CPU horsepower to sling the bits around. I just don't know anything about Asus's networking gear, even though they were a goto motherboard purchase back in my PC building days.
Does anyone here have any knowledge about the above, or another recommendation that I missed?
I'm not in a rush to buy. I'm mostly looking for something to keep my eye on as the Christmas season ramps up. I'm looking to be pragmatic about this purchase.
Comments Section
I'm a DOCSIS/PON engineer for an ISP that has plans similar to what your ISP is selling. We do most our testing and validation directly off of ONT's for simplicity and uniformity, but we recently picked up an ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 to get a better picture of performance on a router that a lot of our higher tier customers use.
One of my coworkers got it hooked up but hasn't done much testing on it yet. Or at least hasn't shared any findings yet. It's pretty huge and pretty shiny looking though 😅
Yeah. It's enormous. It looks like it wants to be fed something more than just electricity and internet bandwidth.
I'd be interested in their results though, if they have any.
This is actually not weird as 10Gb has been a standard for quite some time and those interfaces typically will negotiate at 1Gb or 10Gb. There are some specific 10Gb interfaces that will only negotiate at 10Gb too.
I would be really surprised if you can find any SOHO Wi-Fi router that will route and NAT at 10Gb.
I know it's early days for the tech. I'm just trying to get as much out of it as I can.
You're going to want a dedicated router for this. I don't believe any consumer "wireless router" will actually be able to route traffic at 10 gigabit speed. Your best bet will likely be a PC running PFSense or OPNsense. It'll need two 10 gigabit interfaces, and you'll need a switch with at least one SFP+ port. More if you have any devices that can actually use the full 10 gigabit speed. And obviously you'll need an AP.
My ONT doesn't have a SFP+ jack. It's RJ45/Ethernet.
We're talking true consumer-level 10gb here. They're deploying equipment that customers are likely to already connections for.
And I was really hoping for a solution that wouldn't pull 400W+ of power given that I live in a state where electricity is ~30¢/kWh.
Unifi Dream Machine Pro SE and pick the WAP that suits your needs like the Unifi6 Pro AP.
The unifi 6 is still 1g backhaul
First off, jealous.
With that kind of speed, switches can get quite expensive. Consumer devices do not have great 10G switching ability and usually only have one or two ingress Ethernet or, perhaps if you're lucky, an SFP+ port.
If I were you, and your ISP uses a GPON or PON SFP+ adapter, I would go with a Mikrotik 10G SFP+ switch, such as the Mikrotik CRS305, which is a great deal, that you can plug directly into the router. The router will see the SFP module at full speed (I did this myself on a Telus GPON fiber in Canada at my folk's place) and you can purchase egress SFP modules into a high-end WiFi 6 router or AP via Ethernet (you can get adapters for both fiber and ethernet amongst others in SFP). The Mikrotik can provide a simple bridge, or it can also provide DHCP etc.
The reason I recommend the above is that you will also be able to use two other ports to directly plug in your PC or Laptop with a 10G adapter (i.e. Thunderbolt 3 or PCIe) and access the full speed without it being slowed down by the slower network in the home router.
Mikrotik is a little Latvian company that focuses on commercial and prosumer networking equipment and their RouterOS or SweOS permits you do anything you want (even announcing freakin' BGP routes).
TLDR: 10G SFP+ ---> Mikrotik Switch -----> Wifi Router
----> Direct connection to PC for crazy speeds.