High density router for Venue with 18 Ruckus R710 AP's and Ruckus ICX 7150 -48P Switch with Fiber Optic Internet

[jorge_sanint]

Hi everyone, I installed a Ruckus ICX 7150-48P - switch and 18 Ruckus R710 AP’s.   I have a fiber optic internet.

I need a recommendation on a router that can accommodate high density traffic and be be able to maintain speeds and work well with Ruckus hardware in a high density network (thousands of people may be connected at the same time).     Does anyone know a router that could meet the task requirements ?

I currently have a Trendnet router (trendnet gigabit TEW-829DRU) which looses speed rapidly after a reboot and provides only 10 percent of the actual speed And without anyone but me connected.  
I measured with laptop bypassing router and it measures 900 mbps for both uploads and downloads (if I bypass the router)

If I connect router it measures well at the beginning (500 mbps or more) for the first five minutes and then goes down to 90 /20 Approximately and wont go up.  I need a router that can handle the Ruckus hardware.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you

[eizens_putnins · Accepted solution]

Hello,

It's quit normal that SOHO router will not provide sufficient performance, but 90/20 seems more as some misconfiguration - I would expect capability in a range 100-200Mbps bidirectional. Unfortunately,  I don't think you can hope to get reliable over 1Gbps NAT performance from any SOHO box currently.

Anyway, you can always use some professional firewall, such as Watchguard T40 or even M370 or higher, for example. Other firewall brands should provide similar capability - Fortinet, Sophos, etc., just check what firewall performance is stated without using antivirus and similar services (it is much lower for older appliances, so look for current models only).

You can go for cheapest box without Security Suit, if you don't need any subscription security services, and you can get reliable NAT performance over 1 Gbps (or 3 Gbps with bigger box) than. 

 Hope it helps

[eizens_putnins · Accepted solution]

Hello,

It's quit normal that SOHO router will not provide sufficient performance, but 90/20 seems more as some misconfiguration - I would expect capability in a range 100-200Mbps bidirectional. Unfortunately,  I don't think you can hope to get reliable over 1Gbps NAT performance from any SOHO box currently.

Anyway, you can always use some professional firewall, such as Watchguard T40 or even M370 or higher, for example. Other firewall brands should provide similar capability - Fortinet, Sophos, etc., just check what firewall performance is stated without using antivirus and similar services (it is much lower for older appliances, so look for current models only).

You can go for cheapest box without Security Suit, if you don't need any subscription security services, and you can get reliable NAT performance over 1 Gbps (or 3 Gbps with bigger box) than. 

 Hope it helps

[jorge_sanint]

@eizens_putnins​  @Vesalius​  Both of you have given me great advice and direction.  Your answers are  very complementray from each other and give me a much better  understanding of what I have to do.  I wish I could mark both of you as the accepted answer.   

[vesalius · Accepted solution]

Agree that something seems off as this router should be able to handle more than the final 90/20 as lesser Home routers do all the time.

The options are plentiful and likely mostly constrained by what you want to pay. you don't really need the Wi-Fi on the router. Several good options were given above.

Less expensive options, of a small PC/router (qotom/APU/protecti/ebay minipc etc..), running VyOS, opnsense, pfsense can handle this traffic but will require you to setup and support. Paid support and hardware are available from all three of the Firewall router vendors I mentioned as well. 

[jorge_sanint]

@Vesalius​ What hardware requirements would you recommend for a mini PC running  VyOS, opnsense, pfsense ?  

Thank you 🙂