Which (rack mount) Router for home

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hsmnel

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Question for the network guru's. Which of the following for home use. I can get both for almost the same price and usually do not have more than 5 PC's connected.

MikroTik Rack Mount SFP Router | RB2011UiAS-RM ( https://scoop.co.za/mikrotik-rack-mount-sfp-router-rb2011uias-rm.html )

or

TP-Link 16 Port Gigabit Rackmount Switch (TL-SG1016D) (https://www.buyanything.co.za/tl-sg...MI6bOxjpy_3QIVbb7tCh2o-g44EAQYHSABEgL00fD_BwE)

The MikroTik does have a POE port so that might be handy for the Ubiquiti AP. I am looking for a rack mount. (The MikroTik look more kick-ass)
 
RB2011 CPU is below par for what the router licence level has and how many ports it has. If you are a light user you might not see the limitation but if you do intensive stuff you could start dropping packets.
 
As ponder said, one is a router, and one is a switch.

Some answers might help:
What is your budget?
What are your other requirements? (except that it must be rack mountable)
What is your line speed?
Do you want to do QOS and other fancy stuff?

I cant help much, but that might help the other guys sort you out.
 
You've linked one router and a switch, the switch won't work as a router.
As others have pointed out, you're missing a few key points here like budget, throughput requirements to your modem, do you want to do DPI etc etc etc.

While a lot more over the budget of your initial listing, I use the Ubiquiti USG Pro 4 at home. It'll cover everything you absolutely will ever need in a home environment but you'll probably want to use a switch with it if you're hardwiring your 5 PCs.

https://scoop.co.za/ubiquiti-unifi-security-gateway-pro-4-port-usg-pro-4.html

If you're only running one Ubiquiti AP you won't really need PoE. Also depending on the AP, the switch might not be able to power it. Get an injector and you're good to go.
 
IOPS said:
You've linked one router and a switch, the switch won't work as a router.
As others have pointed out, you're missing a few key points here like budget, throughput requirements to your modem, do you want to do DPI etc etc etc.

While a lot more over the budget of your initial listing, I use the Ubiquiti USG Pro 4 at home. It'll cover everything you absolutely will ever need in a home environment but you'll probably want to use a switch with it if you're hardwiring your 5 PCs.

https://scoop.co.za/ubiquiti-unifi-security-gateway-pro-4-port-usg-pro-4.html

If you're only running one Ubiquiti AP you won't really need PoE. Also depending on the AP, the switch might not be able to power it. Get an injector and you're good to go.
Click to expand...
For home he can get a normal USG + Port Switch with POE for the AP.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, I will now first study the difference between router and switch and get back to you all
 
Thor said:
For home he can get a normal USG + Port Switch with POE for the AP.
Click to expand...

If you read the original post you'd see OP was asking for a rack mount solution. The "normal" USG isn't rack mountable out of the box.
 
hsmnel said:
Thanks for all the replies so far, I will now first study the difference between router and switch and get back to you all
Click to expand...

Router is there to provide a path between a local network (all your private devices) and other networks (the internet). For this, the RB2011 is a great device with solid routing performance, a robust firewall and some VPN Capability. As @Wasabee! mentioned though, the CPU is a tad on the dull side, so you'll only route at about 250-300 Mbps with a few firewall rules and NAT (translating the internet from outside your network to your private devices on the inside) enabled - nowhere near the 1 Gbps ports on the device. Also, the RB2011 only has 5 x 1 Gbps ports (4 once you plug in a WAN) and 5 10/100 ports.

The Switch is there to provide a path between your devices only. A switch uses a dedicated switching processor (ASIC) to move packets around your network really fast and with little to no intelligence (It doesn't know where the internet is nor where this site is).

So ideally, you would place a RB2011 at the top of rack as your router (Interface with the internet and create a local LAN, assign addresses using DHCP, provide firewall, DNS and remote access). Then you would connect the switch to a LAN port on the router and use the switch to connect all your devices, APs etc.
 
Device (router) selection would also depend on what throughput is required and whether he enables DPI, IPS, etc. The more features that gets enabled, the less throughput will be obtained, unless he gets a higher specced router or runs without some of the features.
 
Similar Question as OP.
I have 100Mbs fiber which I want to connect to a rackmount router which then needs to connect to a rackmount POE switch which then needs to connect to 3 access points and some other hardwired LAN connections.

This is for home (heavy) use:
6x computers (3x gamers)
2x servers
4x televisions (streaming)
various mobile devices (also used for streaming)
Security system with IP cameras
Printer

The router requires VPN Client (not just VPN Server) as VPN needs to be setup on the router to VPN to other locations.

Questions:
1. Which Rackmount router?
2. Which access points? (I would if possible be able to switch between AP seamlessly) ( Ubiquiti?)
3. Which rackmount switch (needs to be POE to power the access points) 16ports should be enough.

I used to do networking however have been out of the game for 10 years and did not keep up with the latest networking tech.
 
hsmnel said:
Question for the network guru's. Which of the following for home use. I can get both for almost the same price and usually do not have more than 5 PC's connected.

MikroTik Rack Mount SFP Router | RB2011UiAS-RM ( https://scoop.co.za/mikrotik-rack-mount-sfp-router-rb2011uias-rm.html )

or

TP-Link 16 Port Gigabit Rackmount Switch (TL-SG1016D) (https://www.buyanything.co.za/tl-sg...MI6bOxjpy_3QIVbb7tCh2o-g44EAQYHSABEgL00fD_BwE)

The MikroTik does have a POE port so that might be handy for the Ubiquiti AP. I am looking for a rack mount. (The MikroTik look more kick-ass)
Click to expand...
Get the TP-link, you can get a mikroltik for a router if you need one.

The POE of the mikrotik wont work with ubiquiti anyway.
 
Zarnicate said:
Can public buy direct from scoop or do you need to register as dealer?
Click to expand...
Can register as a Cash Buyer

Zarnicate said:
I presume the Gateway pro WAN port just connects to the Fiber LAN1 port?
Config on the router to connect to ISP?
Click to expand...

Usually,depends on the fibre provider
It's either DHCP client or a PPPoE username and password config


All Unifi is very decent,pretty flashy,and nice that the unifi family of components will integrate into a controller pretty nicely

One note though is you'd either need a Cloud management account,or a Cloudkey,or another device to configure as a Unifi management device ( Rasppi works decent )
 
If you want to get your hands dirty or have a bit more technical flair you could go the Mikrotik route,the RB3011 has a bit more brunt than RB2011,and use Mikrotik cAPs and switches,or a hybrid setup
 
PsyWulf said:
Usually,depends on the fibre provider
It's either DHCP client or a PPPoE username and password config


All Unifi is very decent,pretty flashy,and nice that the unifi family of components will integrate into a controller pretty nicely

One note though is you'd either need a Cloud management account,or a Cloudkey,or another device to configure as a Unifi management device ( Rasppi works decent )
Click to expand...

Openserve is the fiber provider

Can you elaborate on the Cloudkey or another device. Basically can I configure the server to manage it?
Or can it not be accessed via the LAN or Console port?
 
Zarnicate said:
Openserve is the fiber provider
Click to expand...
Openserve is usually PPPoE

Can you elaborate on the Cloudkey or another device. Basically can I configure the server to manage it?
Or can it not be accessed via the LAN or Console port?
Click to expand...

Management is handled by Adopting the devices into a controller and managing it from there,unlike the Mikrotiks,Ubiquiti Edge/Air or your general devices which usually offer their own web-management or CLI instead to manage individually
 
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