Router for 1Gbps line

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Dames

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Hi everyone - I’m wanting to test a better router with my current setup to see if it has an impact on my download speeds. Given the cost of higher-end routers, I really don’t want to spend the money on one as a test. If it ends up making no difference then it will be a waste. Anyone have any other suggestions? Do I need to ask the fibre provider to test the line themselves? Unfortunately I don’t know anyone else with a 1Gbps line.
 
Dames said:
Hi everyone - I’m wanting to test a better router with my current setup to see if it has an impact on my download speeds. Given the cost of higher-end routers, I really don’t want to spend the money on one as a test. If it ends up making no difference then it will be a waste. Anyone have any other suggestions? Do I need to ask the fibre provider to test the line themselves? Unfortunately I don’t know anyone else with a 1Gbps line.
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Who is your ISP? Have you tested while connected to the ONT directly? That is the best way to see if the router is the bottleneck or if the the line might have an issue like packet loss.

If you use Afrihost it's likely just DHCP and plug and play. Other ISPs there might be a need to dial a pppoe session which can still be done on the computer connected directly to the ONT.
 
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What router do you currently have? To max 1Gbps usually requires gigabit ethernet, or very few devices connected to a 802.11ac access point.

You won't be able to max with Wi-Fi usually, but cheaper routers that can handle gigabit as gigabit ethernet and Wan port are the Tenda AC8/10 on scoop, or some of the mikrotik ones.
 
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AfriNatic said:
Who is your ISP? Have you tested while connected to the ONT directly? That is the best way to see if the router is the bottleneck or if the the line might have an issue like packet loss.

If you use Afrihost it's likely just DHCP and plug and play. Other ISPs there might be a need to dial a pppoe session which can still be done on the computer connected directly to the ONT.
Click to expand...

It’s DHCP - have tried through ONT and maxing out around 4/500 Mbps. Will try with another PC this week and see if it’s the same.
 
Johnatan56 said:
What router do you currently have? To max 1Gbps usually requires gigabit ethernet, or very few devices connected to a 802.11ac access point.

You won't be able to max with Wi-Fi usually, but cheaper routers that can handle gigabit as gigabit ethernet and Wan port are the Tenda AC8/10 on scoop, or some of the mikrotik ones.
Click to expand...

Have this one at the moment: https://www.tendacn.com/za/product/ac10.html

Definitely not expecting maxing at exactly 1Gbps, but would expect more than what I’m currently getting. If it is an issue with the line, guess it’s an Octotel query then...
 
The problem is that the networking protocols are the bottleneck, combined with the fact that most routers on the market use a linux kernel that is 10 years old.
Most speedtests are are smoke and mirrors as they rely om multithreading to bump up the numbers.
Practically, a 200mbs link without packet loss is always better than a 1gbs with packet loss.
What fascinates me is that people will spend 40K on a PC and then skimp on a router for a few hundred and moan about problems. A decent 1gbs router will be about 10K and anything less is a compromise.
 
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r00igev@@r said:
The problem is that the networking protocols are the bottleneck, combined with the fact that most routers on the market use a linux kernel that is 10 years old.
Most speedtests are are smoke and mirrors as they rely om multithreading to bump up the numbers.
Practically, a 200mbs link without packet loss is always better than a 1gbs with packet loss.
What fascinates me is that people with spend 40K on PC and then skimp on a router for a few hundred and moan about problems. A decent 1gbs router will be about 10K and anything less is a compromise.
Click to expand...

Agree with you there - but, you should in theory at least still be able to gauge what your router is going to be capable of if you connect direct to the ONT? Surely you’ll get a picture of max possible speeds that way, and if still way below expectation then it’s either a packet loss issue or your WiFi/Ethernet adapters don’t support the speed?

On a different note, what’s the best way to test for packet loss on a connection?
 
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Dames said:
Agree with you there - but, you should in theory at least still be able to gauge what your router is going to be capable of if you connect direct to the ONT? Surely you’ll get a picture of max possible speeds that way, and if still way below expectation then it’s either a packet loss issue or your WiFi/Ethernet adapter don’t support the speed?

On a different note, what’s the best way to test for packet loss on a connection?
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Indeed. Connecting directly to the ONT or CPE should give you the desired speeds. If not then no router will improve the speeds unfortunately. For a 1Gbps it can vary but should be getting between 700-900Mbps I will say to a local server in the same province as the line. Speeds will likely fall once you start testing further away as the latency increases.

If the speeds fall drastically once latency increases you can bet there might be some form of loss somewhere and that needs to be investigated. I think if you are on a 1Gbps line on a gpon then it's unrealistic to expect full 1Gbps all the time the speeds will vary depending the traffic on the OLT.
 
Dames said:
Agree with you there - but, you should in theory at least still be able to gauge what your router is going to be capable of if you connect direct to the ONT? Surely you’ll get a picture of max possible speeds that way, and if still way below expectation then it’s either a packet loss issue or your WiFi/Ethernet adapters don’t support the speed?

On a different note, what’s the best way to test for packet loss on a connection?
Click to expand...
You need an end point in the cloud. Unless you have an automated system the only way you pick it up is with iperf. Its a pain to test manually. You need to be there at the right time. But a good congestion control algorithm and something like fq_codel on decent hardware can mitigate packet loss.
 
@DuckKnuckle said he reached 1 Gbps+ on his edgerouter x, when he configured it with hardware offloading. I'm sure there will be a lot of other routers also capable.

Router recommendations - Ubiquiti or Mikrotik

Looking to upgrade from my hAP AC lite with something beefier that would be able to handle gigabit on the WAN once we get fibre. WiFi is managed separate from the router so device would specifically be for routing and firewall for the home LAN. Which of these 2 would you recommend and why...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
StefanB7 said:
@DuckKnuckle said he reached 1 Gbps+ on his edgerouter x, when he configured it with hardware offloading. I'm sure there will be a lot of other routers also capable.

Router recommendations - Ubiquiti or Mikrotik

Looking to upgrade from my hAP AC lite with something beefier that would be able to handle gigabit on the WAN once we get fibre. WiFi is managed separate from the router so device would specifically be for routing and firewall for the home LAN. Which of these 2 would you recommend and why...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
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Yeah, I average ~85MBps on Origin, Steam, and Rockstar. Star Citizen maxes out at 125MBps
Speedtest.png
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DuckKnuckle said:
Yeah, I average ~85MBps on Origin, Steam, and Rockstar. Star Citizen maxes out at 125MBps
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StefanB7 said:
@DuckKnuckle said he reached 1 Gbps+ on his edgerouter x, when he configured it with hardware offloading. I'm sure there will be a lot of other routers also capable.

Router recommendations - Ubiquiti or Mikrotik

Looking to upgrade from my hAP AC lite with something beefier that would be able to handle gigabit on the WAN once we get fibre. WiFi is managed separate from the router so device would specifically be for routing and firewall for the home LAN. Which of these 2 would you recommend and why...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
Click to expand...

UDM Pro? im by no mean an expert. just want one and i dont even have fibre :laugh:
 
nad_isa said:
UDM Pro? im by no mean an expert. just want one and i dont even have fibre :laugh:
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I’ve just got the EdgeRouter X. Likely keeping it as a switch and changing over to the Ubiquiti US8-150

You can’t go wrong with the ER-X. The CPU and RAM usage are low, it’s silent, but keep in mind that it’s a switch and not a router with WiFi.

For WiFi, I use the Ubiquiti Aircube AC
 
Hi all

I am using a UDM Pro at the moment. I upgraded from the UDM. There is a difference in speed all be it not too much. I was getting about 940mbps with the UDM and now i am getting just less than 1100mbps. I am using Afrihost as an ISP. I have been trying to find out from Afrihost or Vumatel if i can bypass the ont and plug the fibre directly into the SFP+ port on my router but no one has been able to give me a solid answer.

speedtest.PNG
 
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