Question Recommend business grade older Netgear gigabit router

[Rocktronic]

I need a router for my network. I currently have Spectrum fiber modem and Netgear ProSAFE GS-105 switches but I need a router to talk to the modem. The modem doesn't work with just switches and needs a router first.

I don't want a wireless capable router even if wifi can be disabled. I want the newest of the older business model with gigabit, 4-5 port, and metal case similar to the switches. I don't know which model numbers to look for.

Can anyone recommend specific models that fit the bill?

Looking to order a used one off eBay but can't narrow the search to exclude wireless routers. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[bill001g]

In many ways a consumer router is actually going to be better. I guess it depends on what you mean by "business" router.

Most router say made by cisco or juniper have a lot of features you are never going to use...but you will pay for them. These type of router are either designed to be used internal to a company or they have very advanced routing feature designed to be connected to large commercial internet connections.

There are of course so called small business routers but many of these are just consumer routers with a much large price tag on the box but very little other function.

What exact feature do you need.

They key thing a consumer router has is the ability to run the NAT function in hardware. This allows the device to pass traffic at full speed even above 1gbit. If you use a cpu chip to do this you get much less thoughput. The problem is when you use some features that need to look at the data you can not use this hardware assist. This is where a commercial router helps because it has much more cpu power.....note you must read the fine print because there are many so called commerical routers that can not even come close to 1gbit wan/lan.

Again it depends on what exact feature you need. I doubt you are here because you are running BGP routing between mulitple ISP.

 

[Rocktronic]

I want one that is rugged and intended for continuous use. I guess I meant commercial grade not business but I suppose I do want the NAT function.

The switches have worked great until I connected a fifth computer and now I can't get them all online at once due to restrictions of the modem.

 

[kanewolf]

I want one that is rugged and intended for continuous use. I guess I meant commercial grade not business but I suppose I do want the NAT function.

The switches have worked great until I connected a fifth computer and now I can't get them all online at once due to restrictions of the modem.

MikroTik routers are pretty bulletproof. But they aren't as easy to configure as many.
Ubiquiti UniFI are the easiest to configure but are still designed for small businesses rather than home. I have an all UniFI system at home.

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"The switches have worked great until I connected a fifth computer and now I can't get them all online at once due to restrictions of the modem."

What restrictions? Where are you seeing those restrictions? More details needed.

If you swap in, for testing purposes, the fifth computer for one of other working computers does the fifth computer work?

How are all of the devices connected? Perhaps a network loop has been created....

Check all device IP addresses (Static and DHCP) along with their corresponding subnet masks.

Network configuration being:

Spectrum ISP === fiber ===> [Fiber port] Modem [Ethernet port LAN] ---- Ethernet cable ---> [WAN port] Router [LAN port(s)] ------ Ethernet cables ----- > ProSafe 105 Switches -----> Other wired network devices.

Feel free to edit and correct my line diagram as necessary.

 

[kanewolf]

This:

"The switches have worked great until I connected a fifth computer and now I can't get them all online at once due to restrictions of the modem."

What restrictions? Where are you seeing those restrictions? More details needed.

If you swap in, for testing purposes, the fifth computer for one of other working computers does the fifth computer work?

How are all of the devices connected? Perhaps a network loop has been created....

Check all device IP addresses (Static and DHCP) along with their corresponding subnet masks.

Network configuration being:

Spectrum ISP === fiber ===> [Fiber port] Modem [Ethernet port LAN] ---- Ethernet cable ---> [WAN port] Router [LAN port(s)] ------ Ethernet cables ----- > ProSafe 105 Switches -----> Other wired network devices.

Feel free to edit and correct my line diagram as necessary.

My thought is he was able to get 4 public IP addresses through the modem. When he tried 5 it failed.

 

[Rocktronic]

This:

"The switches have worked great until I connected a fifth computer and now I can't get them all online at once due to restrictions of the modem."

What restrictions? Where are you seeing those restrictions? More details needed.

If you swap in, for testing purposes, the fifth computer for one of other working computers does the fifth computer work?

How are all of the devices connected? Perhaps a network loop has been created....

Check all device IP addresses (Static and DHCP) along with their corresponding subnet masks.

Network configuration being:

Spectrum ISP === fiber ===> [Fiber port] Modem [Ethernet port LAN] ---- Ethernet cable --->ProSafe 105 Switch ------ Ethernet cables ----- > ProSafe 105 Switches -----> 105 switch>1 computer AND >105 switch>2 computers AND > 100mbs router>2 computers.

Feel free to edit and correct my line diagram as necessary.

Spectrum ISP === fiber ===> [Fiber port] Modem [Ethernet port LAN] ---- Ethernet cable --->ProSafe 105 Switch ------ Ethernet cables ----- > ProSafe 105 Switches -----> 105 switch>1 computer AND >105 switch>2 computers AND > 100Mbs router>2 computers.

The modem is out by the road, 150 ft Ethernet cable to the first 105 switch, 320 ft Ethernet cable to another 105 switch with three connections, one to another 105 with with 2 computers on it, one to a single computer, and one to a 100Mbs router with 2 computers.

I can only get 3 or 4 computers online at once, depending on whether or not the router is online. I suspect the modem is assigning MAC addresses and can only handle three. I talked to Spectrum tech support and they said I must have a router after the modem, not a switch.

I tried switching out computers and they all can get online if they were the in first three booted but never all at once.

 

[Ralston18]

I did not think of that and probably would not have....

My thought being:

Service ---> Modem ---- Router --- > Switches ----> 4 computers/network devices WORKS OK

and

Service ---> Modem ---- Router --- > Switches ----> 5 computers/network devices Device 5 does NOT WORK OK

If the requirement is for a fifth public IP address that is a different problem than what I thought.

 

[Ralston18]

Yes. Router after Modem.

I would expect the path to be modem ---- > router -----> switches.

With the modem's router functions (if any) disabled and the router responsible for network IP addresses.

7 computers - correct? Other network devices: NAS, printer(s), IoT devices, etc..?

= = = =

Another concern is the distances that may be involved. 320 feet is just within the 328 foot (100 meters) limit.

What about the other distances?

Quality of cable, terminations, patch panel, ports, etc. does matter.

Sketch out a diagram to show the "big picture". I.e., Network topology....

And I would still trace the wires to ensure that there are no network loops.

Edit - lost some text.

Overall, if I understand it all correctly, swap the router in where the first 105 switch is and put that switch where the router was.

However, hold pending further posts with questions and suggestions. Just in case there is some error of omission or commision on my part.

 

[cruisetung]

OP probably has some misconceptions. OP can easily buy a wifi router and disable the wifi part and have a lot more choices. It makes no difference with the router that does not come with wifi.

And what is the "business" features that OP want that home or plastic case router can't provide?

There are already many home routers that provide a lot of features that already surpass the features that old metal case "business" routers.

OP definitely need a NAT router and all home routers are NAT routers.

And what's the reason OP using extra long ethernet cables cascading switches? Are these computers located very far away and in different buildings?

 

[bill001g]

I agree with the above it is very strange this even worked normally you can only have a single device connected to the modem.

Be extremely careful about 320ft cables. That is extremely close to the limit of 100 meters. Although all ethernet cable is suppose to run at 100 meters it only takes a slight bit or corrosion on the pins and it will no longer work. Just be sure to always use high quality cable when you are pushing the limits.

I have old tplink and asus routers in my junk box that I have no clue how old they are but are 802.11b routers and they will work perfectly fine....if I am willing to deal with 802.11b wifi and 10mbps ethernet ports. I only have 2 that have ever failed. One lightning killed and the other was a stupid user error loading third party firmware

Since you plan to not use the wifi I suspect you can even use a $25 router that has 1gbit lan and wan port. You are pretty much going to use the default out of the box config other than setting a admin password and disabling the wifi radios. If you are worried about longevity just buy a spare router and if it would fail you still are going to spend much less money than chasing a so called industrial router. Most routers failures are the power bricks not the router.

 

[cruisetung]

Most routers failures are the power bricks not the router.

I happened to encounter a Netgear business class switch's power adapter died in less a month for a friend's company a while back.