What is a good, fast business class router?

[Mike Nickerson]

Looking for opinions on a solid, business class router. Would need to support between 100 and 150 users and have fast upload and download speeds. Wired is prefered, but a goof wireless model would also work. Will be connecting 5 AP's and a few Wired terminals to the network. Also looking for a router with Gigabit.

I looked at some Netgear Firewalls that have DHCP and outher NAT and router functions, like the FSV336g. WOuld something like this be what i need? I know consumer grade products wont due. Any help is appreciated.

 

[bill001g]

That is a firewall and not really a router. A true "business" class router would be from a company that can provide a solution for a 10 user business all the way to a 100,000 user business. Netgear is not such a company. Really if it does not say cisco or juniper or a couple other major players it is not really a business class router.

Still you are looking at the problem incorrectly. A consumer router can easily support 100 users or more. The number of users is not what makes you need large business class routers.

How many of those features in the firewall do you really need ? How much traffic of each type. How much vpn do you plan to run. These are the types of questions that need to be answered to determine which device you need.

If all you are doing is simple internet access for these users and the traffic is say less than 100m most higher end consumer routers can easily pass that. It is when you need to filter traffic or if you were running DMZ or servers or you have multiple IP address you would need more advanced equipment.

Once you get above the fairly standard large home user there really is no fixed answer to this. Sure you could buy a $100,000 juniper firewall and I am sure it would meet your needs but to correctly select equipment you have to first very clearly define the objectives.

 

[Mike Nickerson]

Ok, I see your point. It's not about what you spend but rather what you need. With that being said, I can safely say that I do not need VPN support nor do I need to set up a DMZ. Simple firewall, port forwarding and DHCP are really all I need.

But with that being said, I've tried to get high end consumer routers to support many users and failed. In a small business application, I had 5 AP's hooked up to a linksys E3200 and after about 30 or so users would log on, the router would slow down and crash and could not even be accessed. It would need a full power reboot. I then replaced it with a well reviewed Asus RTN- something that claimed to support a large number of users, but that one was worse then the linksys! I was about to get the most expensive thing I could find and get the netgear nighthawk, But was recommended a Luxul ERB-2300 by a friend at ADI. I bought that and it worked and the network is now stable, but it's slow. This is not a fast router and it doesn't even have gigabit.

So I need a router, consumer or business, that has gigabit, can handle the connection of at least 5 access points with the possibility of up to 150 simultaneous users. These users will engage in basic web browsing, video and music streaming. That's it. Any suggestions. Please someone tell me what I need.

 

[jamzis]

After struggling with different access points in a school environment, Linksys, Airport Extremes..... crashing, not supporting more than 20 users, frustration.... We decided that anything lower than an enterprise level access point is just not worth the time and hassle. Cisco for us was out of our price range so someone recommended Unifi AP-Pro. Those Unifi are SOLID, at about $300 an access point and enterprise level, we are amazed.

 

[jeff-j]

I have used fortigates for some time now and they are not bad, and not bad priced, they also offer good wireless APs that you manage with the fortigate firewall. I have had 100 users use a fortigate 80c and that thing ran without a problem.

 

[Fitz Green]

Mike, Did you ever find a solution? We're a small business in the same boat. Have 200+ devices on our network sometimes, had to create a supernet, but doing it at moment on highest-end consumer products I can find. Would love to hear what you ended up doing.

Ok, I see your point. It's not about what you spend but rather what you need. With that being said, I can safely say that I do not need VPN support nor do I need to set up a DMZ. Simple firewall, port forwarding and DHCP are really all I need.

But with that being said, I've tried to get high end consumer routers to support many users and failed. In a small business application, I had 5 AP's hooked up to a linksys E3200 and after about 30 or so users would log on, the router would slow down and crash and could not even be accessed. It would need a full power reboot. I then replaced it with a well reviewed Asus RTN- something that claimed to support a large number of users, but that one was worse then the linksys! I was about to get the most expensive thing I could find and get the netgear nighthawk, But was recommended a Luxul ERB-2300 by a friend at ADI. I bought that and it worked and the network is now stable, but it's slow. This is not a fast router and it doesn't even have gigabit.

So I need a router, consumer or business, that has gigabit, can handle the connection of at least 5 access points with the possibility of up to 150 simultaneous users. These users will engage in basic web browsing, video and music streaming. That's it. Any suggestions. Please someone tell me what I need.

 

[GT500Shlby]

So, a lot of you guys are going the way wrong way with a lot of this. There are a lot of business grade solutions out there. You not only have Fortigate, Watchguard & Sonicwall - but even big names like Juniper, Cisco & Barracuda that make SMB solutions.

These are business class firewall devices and can cost starting at $1,000.00 to $100,000.00. If you need to support 100+ users, and are not a non-profit and you don't want to spend or think you can't afford a $1,000.00+ for a router/firewall well then you really shouldn't be in business and probably should seek IT advise from an actual IT Engineer. I'm being brutally honest. Quit being cheap, it's only going to bite you in the rear at some point in the future. An EXCELLENT business grade big-boy firewall/router that can support 500 users can be had for less than $2,500. Which is a great price.

If you have less than 500 users, or even less than 100 a $1100 Watchguard XTM26-W is perfect for the small business.

If you absolutely do not need a UTM/Firewall appliance Ubiquity has a router that's only $99 and can handle 100+ users easy.

 

[Kewlx25]

PFSense on $800 of PC hardware can handle 1gb/1gb speeds. It's mostly turn-key.

 

[abailey]

Take a look at the Ubiquiti Edgerouter series. Their routers are pro level but start as little as $100 and their top model is only $375 or so. They are made for business, though, meaning they are not plug and play. You have to configure them (though they have wizards that help). Also Ubiquiti access points are a good value if you need them.

 

[Seth_5]

I use the ubiquiti systems in Florida at many of our clients. They offer a scale-able product that has a pretty easy set up and is easy to manage.. I think you should look into those if you haven't already solved the problem.

 

[vmanuadmin]

HI all

I network administrator of a company with above 150 users (device).Now i am using fortinet 60D which cost around 400$ only..As per your requirements its fines..But i would suggest fortinet 100D which has cost around 1500$,because its worth for your future renovations..And smooth faster networks.