Replacing a RB951G-2HnD what do you recommend?

RouterOS General
1

Hi,

I have a bunch of MK in my (home) network (a RB951G-2HnD, a HAP AC3, a HEX S, a RB260GSP (for POE) and cAP AC)

(all running routeros 7.6)

I’ve recently upgraded to 1GB at the ISP level and notice my bandwidth cannot go over 250/210 (download/upload mbps)

For historical reasons the RB951G-2HnD is my chock point, since it’s routing to the internet (connected to my ISP cheap router which I cannot replace/bypass), it does internal DNS (but not external for that I have a pihole), DHCP, graphing, Firewalling (not many rules), light usage wifi.

I have been trying a lot of combinations and If I take my RB951G-2HnD out of the way I can get 9x0 mbps easilly (from hex, from AC3 for example)

When doing a speed test (in webfig) between RB951G-2HnD and my HEX (which has the RB260GSP between them) I’ve noticed the CPU load at the RB951G-2HnD was 100%)

Doing more tests, when running okla speedtest I’ve noticed the CPU on the RB951G-2HnD seems to be maxed out

system resource cpu print[/quote]

Columns: CPU, LOAD, IRQ, DISK

CPU LOAD IRQ DISK

0 cpu0 95% 85% 0%

system/resource/irq print

Columns: IRQ, USERS, CPU, ACTIVE-CPU, COUNT

IRQ USERS CPU ACTIVE-CPU COUNT

0 2 wlan1 auto 0 226 293
1 3 usb1 auto 0 0
2 4 switch0 auto 0 1 688 903
3 16 beeper auto 0 1 758
4 111 gpiolib auto 0 0

tool profile

Columns: NAME, USAGE
NAME USAGE
www 0.5%
ethernet 8%
console 1%
flash 0%
ssh 0%
dns 0%
firewall 20.5%
networking 45.5%
radv 0%
management 3.5%
wireless 0%
routing 6.5%
profiling 1%
bridging 4.5%
unclassified 8.5%
total 99.5%

/system/resource/monitor
cpu-used: 98%
free-memory: 85824KiB

So looking at all of this, makes me think the RB951G-2HnD (which was my first MK and it has been running for years and years) has reached it’s end of life for me and it’s time to replace it.

Unless someone tells me otherwise and that there is a way to get the missing 7xx mbps out of him :slight_smile:

I was thinking of buying a new AX3 and replace the RB951G-2HnD with my AC3

Is this a good idea or there is a better replacement?

Thanks

2

Hi,

I think it is a good idea but from AX3 you will probably not get full 1GB. If you do not need USB you can even buy AX2. I have approx 700Mbps on AX2 and Im only few meters from the router..no walls etc.AC2 should be able to route 1 GB but it depends on firewall rulls, QOS etc.

3

You are probably limited by WiFi performance, while tspascoal is limited by ethernet performance as the RB951G has much slower WiFi.
I think the AX2 or AX3 would be close to 1Gbps routing but it depends on the actual configuration, of course.
Even the RB951G should be capable of a bit more than 250/210, likely the FastTrack is not enabled in his config or he uses IPv6.
The performance would also be a bit better with RouterOS v6.49.7 instead of v7.6.

Regarding the actual question: it depends on if you want WiFi to be included or want to keep it separate, how many etherports you require, etc.
The newer MikroTik models all are a lot faster than the RB951G and other MIPSBE based models of ~10 years ago.
I have a RB4011 myself (the model with WiFi), it should be capable of doing it but it may not be the ideal router for other reasons (e.g. no extra storage or USB).

4

Apologies from not making it more clear.

I don’t care about wifi.

Well I do care, but not on this matter. I have APs scathered around the house (although clients mostly use 2 of them), but I don’t need that much bandwith for wifi (AC is more than enough and the only AX device I have is wired), all wifi clients are not that demanding they stream video but the wireless bandwidth is more than enough (it might change in the future though, but not in the near one).

My problem is that I have 1GB internet and have a bottleneck that only allows me to use 1/5 of it at best, which is annoying and a waste of money.

All clients that I care for speed/bandwith are wired, but limited since my backhaul is chocked (most of my traffic is internet, there is almost internal traffic)

If my wireless bandwidth is improved, all fine and dandy but what I need is to fix my wired issue.

Thanks for your reply, It makes sense what you said, but it’s secondary at this point

5

Do you have any idea how much the downgrade might get me (rough order)? (From memory I don’t recall any (significant) decrease in performance when upgraded to 7.6

It might be an option I guess, but probably won’t move the needle (we are talking about a 5x increase)

I don’t use ipv6 and FastTrack is enabled (unless I’ve messed it without realizing it)

add action=fasttrack-connection chain=forward comment=“defconf: fasttrack” connection-state=established,related hw-offload=yes

I do have a dummy rule to get FastTrack counters, could that be such impactfull?

4 ports are more than enough, and having wifi is a plus since it would save me some money by not having to buy a cap (there are no AX caps) although I could keep the RB in service as an AP (but I prefer not to, to save on the electricity bill and space)

The RB5009UG+S+IN seems nice, but it’s more expensive and It would require an extra cap which makes it even more expensive. So the AX3 seems a nice compromise

Perhaps fiber would be nicer, but I have no machine to splice fiber so that would an extra cost (cabling + SFPs)

The reasoning for the AX3 was twofold, the 2.5 GB port will allow me some future expansion (I wish MT had a 2.5 switches) although > 1 port should be better (but AFAIK no model has more than one) for my backhaul, and the Wifi 6 might be nice in the future (I only have 2 wifi 6 devices and one of them is wired so won’t benefit from it and the other doesn’t really needs it, but some machines are poised from an upgrade in the future so they would benefit from it).

Thanks for the reply. Appreciated

6

Make the hAP AC3 the router.
Seek out other WiFi.

I just swapped my hAP AC2 for a RB5009.
I use the 10G SFP+ to the CRS328-24G

Since my WAN feed is limited to 1G… I saw no change going from the hAP AC2 to the RB5009 in speed tests and the like.

However I have more ports to all the stuff I am constantly messing with.

I have a WiFi6E WAP in the mail (So the manufacture tells me.)
But my WiFi6 AP does get up in the 600-700 range when in the same room with my phone.
Similar results with Ruckus or Cambium Wireless… but the “Best” Mikrotik WiFi I have is the Audience and its not even close.

Addition:
Since the CRS326 has 2 SFP+ ports. One port has a S+RJ10 in it. That goes to a 10/100/1000/2.5/5 POE injector. So my Access Points I test, can negotiate to up to 5

7

I was going to recommend not trying to solve both routing and wifi with one device. All in one is of little interest especially if the router placement by necessity is not in an optimal spot for wifi.
The RB5009 is capable of handling higher WAN inputs (has a 2.5 gb port) and thus has more utility than gotsprings is intimating.
I would advise waiting for capaX3 devices for inside wifi and if cannot wait there are some decent wifi6 products out there.

8

Certainly not a factor of 5. Maybe 20-25%.

I don’t use ipv6 and FastTrack is enabled (unless I’ve messed it without realizing it)

add action=fasttrack-connection chain=forward comment=“defconf: fasttrack” connection-state=established,related hw-offload=yes

I do have a dummy rule to get FastTrack counters, could that be such impactfull?

No that is always present with fasttrack. You can check if your fasttrack is really working by looking at those counters (they should see the majority of your traffic).

4 ports are more than enough, and having wifi is a plus since it would save me some money by not having to buy a cap (there are no AX caps) although I could keep the RB in service as an AP (but I prefer not to, to save on the electricity bill and space)

Then those AC3/AX3 devices seem to be good options for you. And as you already have one, you could get another or swap things around a bit.

The RB5009UG+S+IN seems nice, but it’s more expensive and It would require an extra cap which makes it even more expensive. So the AX3 seems a nice compromise

Yes, the 5009 is the next step up in performance and will not really be required for 1 Gbps.

9

Anav,

Well I can do layer 3 at the router with the 10G uplink.

But my ISP can only get up to 1Gig… Ergo why I don’t see difference on most stuff…

10

As a MikroTik enthusiast, you should get the RB5009 of course. It was made for you. I have the RB4011 because that is what was available at the time. Have never regretted the decision. Nice hardware. Always separate the radio hardware from routing and switching, so you can upgrade or optimally position.

11

I’ve just moved the AC3 to the RB place and have place an extra HAP AC Lite I had around in the AC3 place (want to keep the RB with old config In case I’ve messed up with the new config)

I now get close to 1GB (very similar to the results when I connect directly to the ISP router).

the AC lite is only 100 mbps but it’s enough for now (AX3 is out of stock on my supplier)

One day I migh uset fiber (I have 2 “old” connections from previous ISPs, but they are only single mode cables, don’t know if I need multi mode for MT)

12

Yeah, unfortunately that would send my budget to the roof. :frowning:

For now I’ve moved the AC3 as the router (which doubles as very lightly used WIFI)

13

higher WAN is not really possible, since my ISP only provides 1 GB (and not going to change in a while I guess. Not that I need it, I had previously 500 MB which was more than enough, but on the new contract they offered 1GB at the same price)

So I only need to be able to use 1GB (and not using only 2xx mbs when paying for 1GB)

14

Yeah, majority of traffic is FT in all the counters.

I’ve now moved the AC3 where the RB was, and I’m not getting close to 1GB.

I had an old HAP AC Lite unused so I’ve placed it where the AC3 was previously (to keep the same wifi coverage, although the AC3 was moved further on a very superficial look it seemed to be able to cover most of the area it was covering before) but I added the AC Lite just in case.

AX3 is out of stock on my supplier, so this will do for now.

15

You will need to show your config to diagnose what may be loading the CPU…

16

Which config do you need? I have a full (verbose) export I can select the sections you want. I assum the FW rules?

17

Not verbose!!

/export hide-sensitive file=anynameyouwish (vers 6)

/export file=anynameyouwish (vers 7)

For each case ensure there is no MT device serial number or any public WANIP information.