Single Gigabit Router vs Router + Gigabit Switch

[TenzoNakami]

Pretty much self-explanatory. I just moved, the connection speed directly from the cable to the PC without anything reached out to 10mbps down and up.  (sad? yes. no choice.)

 

Should I get a Gigabit Router (Archer C7 to be specific) or a combo of Router + Gigabit Switch (Archer AC20 + TL-SG1005D)?

 

All of the cabling uses up Cat6e cable. We have both server and NAS, although the server will only be accessible from the local network, the NAS will also be accessible online.

 

Anyone have any better suggestions? Or which one would you recommend and why to pick one over the other? Thanks

 

NB: Seems like the Archer AC20 is only available in SEA region and more info about it can be found here.

[Denned]

No difference. Less to go wrong with a single device, although still just a dump switch, so it's not like there is much to go wrong.

[TenzoNakami]

6 minutes ago, Denned said:

No difference. Less to go wrong with a single device, although still just a dump switch, so it's not like there is much to go wrong.

Are you sure? If I were to pick up on the Archer C20 only (it is rated at 100mbps) will it struggles when the server access data from NAS and transmit it back to PC?

[Denned]

14 hours ago, TenzoNakami said:

Are you sure? If I were to pick up on the Archer C20 only (it is rated at 100mbps) will it struggles when the server access data from NAS and transmit it back to PC?

I very much assumed it was 1g ports on the router aswell. Hard to believe anyone is still selling something like that.

In which case, the switch would be the superior solution. But honestly, spend the extra money a get a router with gigabit interfaces aswell or instead.

 

[TenzoNakami]

8 hours ago, Denned said:

I very much assumed it was 1g ports on the router aswell. Hard to believe anyone is still selling something like that.

In which case, the switch would be the superior solution. But honestly, spend the extra money a get a router with gigabit interfaces aswell or instead.

 

Thanks for the help! I was planning to setup NAS and server along, so in the end I got the Archer C7. Since the C7 has the gigabit ports and there is no (literally) cheap 10gbps switches. Do you have any recommendations for 5-8 ports cheap 10gbps switches?

[System Error Message]

There is a difference, its to do with the CPU architecture and links in the router itself.

A typical router has a single WAN port and 4 switched ports. That switch port connects to the CPU via the link speed of the WAN port so theres no problem here as long as theres 1 WAN and 1 LAN. When you start using 2 WANs on the same device, that link becomes a bottleneck. It gets even worse when you have other interfaces on the same device like the AC88U with its 2 switch chips.

 

It doesnt matter if a router has a switch or not, what matters is that it doesnt have internal bottlenecks. A router's goal is the center of a Layer 3 network, a switch's goal is the center of a layer 2 network. Some switches can route but not perform NAT which is what a router does.

 

I suggest looking at mikrotik routerboard block diagrams, theres lots of different internal configurations and in the past i criticised asus ac87U for it's internal bottlenecks.