I’m thinking about upgrading my network. Below are two that seem great. The specs on the CCR seem impressive.
CCR2004-16G-2S+PC
RB5009UPr+S+IN
I aleady have a few hAP ax3. My main router board is older and seems so be too slow. Also have a really old HP Procurve switch. That needs replacing also.
Which main board device ( above) would you get? Also What switch for would you get?
Strangely enough it depends on your requirements, number and type of devices, internet connection, what kind of speed you want to achieve and which infrastructure you have (cables) and budget.
The CCR2004 @$465.00 is not exactly comparable to the RB5009 @$299.00, 16 ports of the one are double the 8 ports of the other, and as well two SFP’s on the former are double the one SFP of the latter, even power usage is 2:1, 30W vs. 16W..
In any case, they are both passive cooled devices (silent) so you probably want to couple the one you choose with a passive cooled switch, and again it depends on how many ports you need, etc.
Both devices have ample of ports to be used as switches as well. Just beware that CRS2004 has actually 2 switches built in and traffic between both port groups passes CPU. The same is true for both SFP+ ports, tgey are handled directly by CPU.
This is not the case with RB5009, all ports (including SFP+ port) are handled by single switch chip. Which makes RB5009, in certain use cases, a pretty decent ethernet switch.
I should have specified more particularly what I was wondering. The stats on the CCR appear to be three times better, If I just look on it first set of data on the stat sheets. So is paying an extra $150 worth the difference?
On the other hand my current router is 20 times slower on the specs RouterBOARD 3011UiAS
The main router needs 8 ports.
For example routing 25 bridge filter rules…
RB5009 - 9851 Mbps
CCR - 32333 Mbps
3011 - 1581 Mbps (my current router)
Seems like the CCR is better maybe worth extra $$
What do you think?
Not sure where you got the performance figures. The number, which seems to resemble reality the best, is listed under “Routing → 25 ip filter tules → 512 byte packet size”.
For CCR2004-16G-2S+PC it’s 2767.9 Mbps.
For RB5009UG+S+IN it’s 3096.2 Mbps.
For RB3011UiAS-RM it’s 452.6 Mbps.
The above figures are for routing (i.e. for LAN<->WAN traffic). For switching (i.e. LAN<->LAN traffic), where using bridge filters is rare, all of them can do wirespeed in most use cases (depending on config which has to be optimal for each of device types).
The routing speed of the RB5009 is very similar to that of the CCR2004 (actually a little bit faster), so if 8 ports are enough for you, you’d better save the money for the moment.
What may make the difference is if you are going to use the SFP(s), the second SFP port of the CCR2004 may be useful for a switch downstream, but otherwise the RB5009 seems (to me) a better choice.
thank you both of you for all of your information. That was a good point that the reality is checking the 25 filter rules with 512 byte.
So compare what seems to be a reasonable actual occurrence, good idea
would you suggest running fiber to the switch that’s downstream from there? Or could I just use cat 6. I guess that could be a bottleneck. And slow down the traffic when it gets to the switch.
I need to replace the old HP pro curve switch Also. it has 10 devices. What would be a good switch to put downstream?
seems like I could almost use a second RB5009. but is there a switch that would be more appropriate to use?
Maybe CSS610-8G-2S+IN.?
thank you both of you for all of your information. That was a good point that the reality is checking the 25 filter rules with 512 byte.
So compare what seems to be a reasonable actual occurrence, good idea
would you suggest running fiber to the switch that’s downstream from there? Or could I just use cat 6. I guess that could be a bottleneck. And slow down the traffic when it gets to the switch.
I need to replace the old HP pro curve switch Also. it has 10 devices. What would be a good switch to put downstream?
I’m gonna have to go find out where I got the stats from and I will report back
If you can use fiber, use it.
Not only because it is better/faster/whatever, but because temperatures of fiber SFP’s are “acceptable”, copper SFP’s are essentially small electric stoves (that can often create issues for the amount of heat they generate, definitely not good on passive cooled devices).
For the switch you need a 10+ port one, with one or maybe 2 SFP’s, possibly passive cooled, which seems to me it means:
https://mikrotik.com/product/crs326_24g_2s_in
if you can do with 8 ports (and possibly use an el-cheapo 5 port unmanaged switch for slower devices), there is also this one:
https://mikrotik.com/product/css610_8g_2s_in
but this one is SWOS (Lite) only.
Personally I would spend the 100+ bucks saved choosing the RB5009 for the former, mooore ports is always better, and the possibility to use either SWOS or ROS is a bug plus IMHO).
An alternative 8 ports one (not cheaper) is the:
https://mikrotik.com/product/crs310_8g_2s_in
wow, thank you so much for the information. I really appreciate it now. I’m going to have to go read about everyone and try to figure it out, but I think I’ll just follow what you said and get the 24 port. Why would I need TWO (2) SFP?
anything in particular that I should watch out for when ordering the fiber? I have seen a bunch of different ones on Amazon just not sure which one to get.
also, last time I looked at buying equipment I don’t think the switch only operating system was available. SWOS. should I stay away from that?
as the switch is running ROS What’s the big difference between a switch and a router like the RB 5009 and one of the CRS’s
My Macs and NAS have 2.5G ethernet. What switch can I use for that in addition to everything else?
Future expansions? Or some other similar excuse. See answer to your last question.
Just keep in mind that generally there are two distinct kinds: single-mode (SM) and multi-mode (MM) … and they don’t mix. MM is generally slightly cheaper and for use on (relatively) short distances (up to around 500 meters) it’s fine. Anyway, when purchasing equipment, one has to be careful to get equipment for the same fiber mode … e.g. 850nm MM SFP+ modules and MM patch cords.
Since ROS offers much more functionality than SwOS, it’s a bit harder to “dumb it down” to switch only configuration. Or the inverse: for somebody who only needs switch functionality, learning ROS is harder than learning SwOS. But since you’re going to have a ROS device (router) and you’ll have to learn ROS anyway, you can easily go for ROS on switch … this will bring you unified management interface if not anything else.
Hardware. CRS comes with a very performant switch chip (all ports switched at wire speed - all ports concurrently). Routers may come with switch chip or without it. Some switch chips are just fine (e.g. the one built in RB5009) but they might lack support for all the features (e.g. offload of VLAN-enabled bridge to switch chip in RB5009 seems not to be supported yet). Or they come with a bit funny HW layout (two switch chips in CCR2004 which come with a few gotchas).
Have a look at list of Mikrotik switches … and find a device with “G+” in the name … G means that switch comes with of 1Gbps RJ45 ports. If it’s G+, then switch comes with of 2.5Gbps (or faster) RJ45 ports. One example is CRS310-8G+2S-IN.
So if you go for a 24-port 1Gbps switch and add the before mentioned CRS310, you’ll want to connect both switches using SFP+ (10Gbps) connection. Hence need for second SFP+ port on “core” switch.
AFAICU SwOS is just fine (and simpler) if the switch is used as “simple” managed switch, but with RoS you have more possibilities, if needed.
The way a router (designed as a router) and a switch (designed as a switch) differ is in the way the ports are connected to the CPU and between them (dedicated switch chip), a switch is faster at switching, and router is faster at routing (though often a same device is used in both roles, and there are some “compromise” devices such as the CRS series, which are mainly switch but with some routing capabilities and the L0009 that is advertised as router, but actually it works better as a switch), it depends.
Two SFP’s should (could) be useful to have one connection “upstream” (towards router/internet/outside) and a second one “downstream” (a second switch in the same or another room) or (say) two connections upstream (2 ISP routers in failover or load balancing).
Fiber is in its own a whole world, a very deep rabbit hole, it depends a lot on your physical setup, you cannot (yet) have DIY “fiber patches” (the tools/splicer/taper/etc. are simply too expensive, and even if it not rocket science you need to learn using them), so you need pre-made ones (that you cannot normally pass through existing pipes/conduits as the terminations are relatively bulky and fiber is (relatively) fragile, if you need that, have a specialized technician/electrician do the terminations.
Then there is the issue with SFP’s, finding good ones that actually are compatible with Mikrotik devices (unless you use Mikrotik SFP’s) may be a challenge in itself.
Same goes for DAC cables, Direct Attachment Copper, in practice a copper patch with SFP’s already attached at the two ends, good enough to connect two high speed devices for a short distance, and creating no or very little heat, so as an example suitable in your case if you have the main router and the main switch in the same room or however at a distance below 10 m or so and can pass the cable with the very bulky SFP attached.
About fiber, the basic distinction is between single mode and multimode, but there are a number of other characteristics when choosing a fiber patch cable, both single mode and multimode will do for the distances you likely have in your home (meters, not kilometers), multimode is also a bit cheaper/more common (please read as more likely to be reused in other projects):
https://community.fs.com/article/singlemode-sfp-vs-multimode-sfp-what-is-the-difference.html
You will need to do some research and learning before ordering/buying stuff.
I may be wrong, but I think there is only the CRS310:
https://mikrotik.com/product/crs310_8g_2s_in
with 2.5 Gb ports, maybe you can rethink your topology and do everything with two of them (while more ports are always better a fastish 8 port 2.5 GB switch may be a better investment, as it is a more flexible/reusable in other projects device).
Or you could get a (cheaper) unmanaged 2.5Gb 5 or 8 port switch from other vendors (Tp-Link or Zyxel are common choices), if all you need is a dumb switch between a bunch of devices.
Your network upgrade ain’t gonna be cheap, both in money and time needed to study the matter.
Im older now and retired from software development. My company in addition to providing software did lots of installations of the hardware too. I had experts working for me that understood all this way better than I do. I started with Mikrotik when some of the engineers brought back some of the early equipment in about 2005. We then started using Mikrotik everywhere in about 2010. Anyway I know enough about ROS to be very dangerous. I can usually make stuff work but sometimes not sure why. LOL. Now I rent six rooms to others in my house. Everyone that rents seems to be wanting tech and internet. I am in the process of putting all of my security cameras onto my own home and not relying on cloud based NVRs etc. Thats what got me started on updating the network. I have 64 TB between two NAS boxes. Myself I use Apple. Three Mac Studios. I have the 3011UiAS which will be replaced. I just added 3 hAP ax3. They aren’t prefect yet. I need to get CAPsMan working. I also have Eero in 4 locations around the house.
My main wire room will have the RB5009. The upstairs wire room / server room will have the 24 port CRS. Or probably the CRS310-8G+2S+IN Then a second one at my office.
I also have three POE Mikrotik switches I got last week for the cameras.
Now I need to study all this LOTS. THANK YOU all for helping me!
Current plan is
2 - CRS310-8G+2S+in
1 - RB5009UPr+S+in
4- XS+85LC01D
Is that the correct SFP?
That is MM - 850 nm
Didnt see anything else?
Maybe select another brand for the SFP+ ??
https://www.amazon.com/10Gtek-SFP-10G-SR-Transceiver-10GBASE-SR-300-meter/dp/B01N1H1Z2F/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1X10KCKRRJR97&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TNLdbRWWmZDn60b6EkiFfZsLXXTr7T1X1L57xu7lmbsSX48xT991VWdB5S6Q4Lw_MGagr5oTGhuQ7XaK3bTZCIdvdHsFRxP-Z1Hp71Mer8aMai8wfOlgoqbosIKrW2knsi2M4ZG7f_YvgqlaIPCNJZXSJ8SKMrenOYA-gO-J9Mmfr_gOw6lx9HN_XQYUhyP8JUkdwWvz6SZMTC6PfiRaBAEUIfl81QwxUKDBfqfMQYI.Whsq_aCtMBOKgJdujIL48DFdYufjCFKRl2eOF_moSY4&dib_tag=se&keywords=SFP%2B%2Bfiber&qid=1726185148&sprefix=sfp%2B%2Bfiber%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
I am looking for the MM fiber now, not sure if this is correct??
https://www.amazon.com/FLYPROFiber-Uniboot-Outdoor-Armored-Multimode/dp/B0BWHJRP61?ref_=ast_sto_dp
MT devices can be a bit picky when it comes to working with SFP modules … MT publishes compatibility list, but of course it only contains their own modules (and even there not every box is checked). XS+85LC01D seems to have many checks so it seems to be a safe selection.
Generally it’s a bit safer to go with MT’s own modules … even though tehre are good 3rd party modules, but if you go with those, you’re on your own.
Correct. OM3 cable is fine. A pretty nice article, describing differences between multi-mode cables. There’s OM4 which allows for a bit longer distances for 10Gbps and faster (probably not needed inside a not-so-large house).
I haven’t had any problems with SFP(+) modules in my hardware (CCR1036, CRS305, CRS309, RB4011). TP-Link 1000BASE-BX-D BiDi, FS.com generic same, FS 10GBASE-SR generics or Cisco-coded, even Cisco FET-10G modules just work (the last were a bit of a surprise especially because Cisco itself ony supports them as Nexus 2K FEXes to parent switch links)
@mworsnop
It seems to me like a good plan 
.
If you go for the XS+85LC01D you are “safe”, there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues, and you have some slack for changing the hardware to even faster speeds in the future.
THANK YOU to everyone above that helped me so much to get the right equipment ordered, and learned a LOT. Everything will be here within a week and I’ll see what kind of a mess I can make. Thank you once again to everybody.