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Searching for an ADSL router

Started by Sander May 17, 2007 at 2:38 PM 4 replies 3.8k views

Original Post

May 17, 2007 at 2:38 PM

Hi all. I need some help finding an ADSL router. I have a quite extensive list of requirements, but there *has* to be a device out there that has it all. I found several good candidates but they all fail on one or more points. Specifically: I haven't found one that does VIOP *and* gigabit ethernet. Here's what I need: * ADSL and ADSL2 * 10/100/1000 Mbit ethernet, 4 ports minimum * 802.11g Wifi * DHCP that knows hostnames (I'm tired of editing my /etc/hosts on every computer all the time) * QoS (Quality of Service) so I can give VoiP higher priority than e.g. my nightly backups * VoiP (that is, I want to be able to hook a regular phone up. I bought an expensive phone last year and I don't want to buy a special VoiP phone with an ethernet connection). * NAT, port forwarding, etcetera. The standard options. Oh, and preferably it runs Linux or is flashable with Linux. The closest I found so far is a Linksys. Very nice with 2 VoiP ports but only 100Mbit ethernet. I want Gigabit because all my computers have Gigabit NICs. Thanks in advance!

Sneftel

May 17, 2007 at 2:54 PM

"Because my computers have gig-E NICs" isn't really a great reason to spring for a gig-E switch, particularly as ADSL doesn't even come close to saturating a 10Base-T link. If you have a specific reason to want a gigabit intranet link, though, I'd really suggest getting a separate gig-E switch to plug into the router. The switch stuff included in most off-the-shelf "family Internet" devices isn't that great, and if you actually need gig-E it almost certainly won't suffice.

Sander

May 18, 2007 at 3:27 PM

I have a bunch of servers and I regularly move large amounts of data across my local network. Gig-E will also help me with my backups (all my PC's backup /home and /etc to the fileserver on reboot and shutdown).

Quote:
The switch stuff included in most off-the-shelf "family Internet" devices isn't that great, and if you actually need gig-E it almost certainly won't suffice.

What features would a separate switch offer that an off-the-self device doesn't?

Sneftel

May 18, 2007 at 10:03 PM

Speed, basically. Your average D-Link gig-E internet router might technically be able to communicate using 1000Base-T frames, but its backplane is unlikely to be capacious enough to actually maintain those speeds. A good Cisco switch will give you some extra features, I guess, but what it will really give you is actual switched gigabit ethernet performance.

EDIT: Actually, looking around it seems like some of the more recent consumer-level gig-E switches might actually be relatively fast. If you're in a situation where a particular product is almost perfect and just missing the switching you want, though, getting a separate switch might still be a good idea.

[Edited by - Sneftel on May 18, 2007 10:03:23 PM]

hplus0603

May 19, 2007 at 1:54 PM

I would get a router that has everything except the GigE ports, and then I would get a separate GigE switch. Plug all the local computers, and the DSL modem/router, into the GigE switch. Problem solved.

Btw: are you sure you don't want 802.11n? Buying a g now is like buying a b 5 years ago -- likely to soon seem short-sighted.

Sander

May 19, 2007 at 6:23 PM

Yup. A router that does VioP and a Gigabit switch is what I'm looking for now. Unmanaged switches aren't that expensive (I say an 8-port netgear for $70 on newegg) and I saw a nice Linksys.

About 802.11n: There's two problems with 802.11n. First, it doesn't exist yet. The standard isn't finalized until 2008/2009. The second problem is -- again -- functionality. I can find nice 802.11n access points in an ADSL2 modem but not combined with standard phone jacks to hook up my regular phone for VOIP.

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