New network equipment

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
M

MvL

Member
Jan 7, 2011
33
0
6
Netherlands
Hi,

I need some advise about two new switches i want to buy.

I have a server rack in the basement. I have two cat6a (10Gbps) cables from the basement to the house. I want one switch in my server rack and one switch in the house. I think the switch located in the server rack must be 16 ports. I'm considering a switch with POE in the house but i'm not completely sure yet. Maybe i want to expand my network with two new AP's (same brand as switch?) in the future thats one of the reasons i'm considering a POE model. At the moment i'm using a airport extreme as AP. The switch in the house also must have at least 16 ports. All cables in the house are also cat6a. Switches with 10Gbps ports are to expensive in my opinion so i'm looking for a Gigabit model. Maybe it's a idea to have 10Gbps link to the basement but i'm not sure how expensive this will be. Please some advise.

Edit: If possible i want a fanless switch for the house.
 
M

MvL

Member
Jan 7, 2011
33
0
6
Netherlands
Thank you for your reply.

I've heard of Microtik but i have no experience with the equipment. The switch looks very interesting and is affordable. I see you have desktop and rack mountable switches.

One problem i don't have a lot of experience with fiber. I can pull a fiber cable to the basement but what do i need? I know there is single and multi mode fiber.
 
B

bds1904

Active Member
Aug 30, 2013
271
76
28
The CRS226-24G-2S+RM is a really nice switch.

As far as the fiber you need, it depends on the SFP+ module you choose. The SFP+ module you select will be based on distance. In your case of less than 300M you would use the S+85DLC03D SFP+ module. You would be using 50/125 OM3 multimode fiber.

Upstairs you could save yourself a few bucks and get a CRS210-8G-2S+IN if you don't need 24 ports upstairs.

I've always been a fan of seperating my POE switch from the main switch because it has always given me more options. I can upgrade my core switch any time I need to, with all the 10Gb options I need/want, without constraining myself to keeping the POE requirement. On top of that, how often do you actually have more than 1Gb of traffic over a POE switch, even used for WAP's? Even if you somehow managed to sustain 800Mb-1Gb of traffic over your WAP's, i can't think of a single decent POE switch that doesn't support 802.3AD.

That being said, the one feature the CRS series of switches is missing is 802.3AD, but it can do static bonding at the moment. 802.3AD support is scheduled to be enabled in a future RouterOS 6 release.

IMHO MikroTik has really fallen behind on their WAP selection. Their 951-2n & CAP 2n is only 50mw, but they are dirt cheap and work really well. The RB951Ui-2HnD is 1000mw, but it is more expensive than similar products in the market. MikroTik also does not offer ANY dual band WAP's, and have no solution for seamless roaming.

I have had really good luck with open-mesh WAP's. They have their limitations, such as no vlan support, but they just plain work. The even have 5GHz and dual band AC versions out.

My second choice for WAP's is UBNT UniFI wap's. They are only my second choice because they are expensive and I don't like their controller software.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MvL and Patrick
M

MvL

Member
Jan 7, 2011
33
0
6
Netherlands
bds1904 said:
The CRS226-24G-2S+RM is a really nice switch.

As far as the fiber you need, it depends on the SFP+ module you choose. The SFP+ module you select will be based on distance. In your case of less than 300M you would use the S+85DLC03D SFP+ module. You would be using 50/125 OM3 multimode fiber.
Click to expand...
Yes i notice that you could choice out of single mode and multimode. Not sure what's difference. Also not sure why you choose 50/125 OM3. I think I have to google and brush my skills.

Upstairs you could save yourself a few bucks and get a CRS210-8G-2S+IN if you don't need 24 ports upstairs.
Click to expand...
It's the other way around. I need more ports upstairs as in the basement. I have three server at the moment. One handles sbs functions. Two storage servers, a unRAID server and a Synology rackmount NAS. I considering to sell the Synology. I like the way unRAID is heading. I very satisfied with unRAID. So I want to connect the unRAID server with two cables to the switch and the sbs server also. Thus I need 802.3AD or is static bonding sufficient? I have no experience with creating trunks. The Servers have also a management port so I need to connect that also. Okay then I need six ports in the basement if I sell the Synology but if expand in the future then I need probably more ports. Not sure what's the price difference if it's not too much I think I'll go with the CRS226-24G+RM in the basement. It's a bit pity there is no model in between with 16 ports.

Upstairs I need ten to sixteen ports. So the only option is the CRS226-24G-2S desktop model.

I've always been a fan of seperating my POE switch from the main switch because it has always given me more options. I can upgrade my core switch any time I need to, with all the 10Gb options I need/want, without constraining myself to keeping the POE requirement. On top of that, how often do you actually have more than 1Gb of traffic over a POE switch, even used for WAP's? Even if you somehow managed to sustain 800Mb-1Gb of traffic over your WAP's, i can't think of a single decent POE switch that doesn't support 802.3AD.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Then I always can expand with a POE model.

That being said, the one feature the CRS series of switches is missing is 802.3AD, but it can do static bonding at the moment. 802.3AD support is scheduled to be enabled in a future RouterOS 6 release.
Click to expand...
When will be this new version released and is it for free for Microtik owners?

IMHO MikroTik has really fallen behind on their WAP selection. Their 951-2n & CAP 2n is only 50mw, but they are dirt cheap and work really well. The RB951Ui-2HnD is 1000mw, but it is more expensive than similar products in the market. MikroTik also does not offer ANY dual band WAP's, and have no solution for seamless roaming.
Click to expand...
that's a pity but maybe in the future.

I have had really good luck with open-mesh WAP's. They have their limitations, such as no vlan support, but they just plain work. The even have 5GHz and dual band AC versions out.

My second choice for WAP's is UBNT UniFI wap's. They are only my second choice because they are expensive and I don't like their controller software.
Click to expand...

I'm never heard of open-mesh WAP's. I'll do a search.

Yes, the UniFI are expensive but heard good things about them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom