Hi,

I'm looking for a high performance router for a home network consisting of 3 PCs.
I'll be using 2 ISP's, that both have 100mbps metropolitan speeds.
I want to have little or no speed loss even when working with 600+ TCP connections for each PC.
I also want to make it as secure as possible. I'll only need to use RDP from time to time.

What do you think about RB450G? Will it be able to handle the job?
Any other suggestions?

BTW, which are the actual targeted applications for RB450G?

Please help.

http://routerboard.com/pdf/RouterBOARD_ ... arison.pdf

RB450G might struggle with that many TCP connections if you're doing any firewall/mangle stuff. I'd suggest the RB800 or 1000 to be safe.

RB450G is fine. I have gbit fiber optic on internet connection and few separate 1000Base-T and 100Base-T networks with ~ 200 customers and CPU load not exceed some 60%

So, is RB450G fast enough for NAT@100-200mbps + a large number of simultaneous TCP connections(2000+)?
Can I use dual WAN?

And another question, should I go for RB450G or for RB750G?
Do I need the extra RAM?
Do I need to hold the full internet route table?

I make a choice in 450G direction.

And another question, should I go for RB450G or for RB750G?

The 450G is actually better than the 750G

Do I need to hold the full internet route table?

What do you mean by that?
Usually there is 1 (in your case 2) routes for internet access.

I think the 450G will do the job.
I tried a 750 at 50 Mbit/s with BitTorrent and though the load was over 90% it did work fine.
A 450G should easily get this far.

And another question, should I go for RB450G or for RB750G?
Do I need the extra RAM?
Do I need to hold the full internet route table?

Personally I'd go with the RB450G. What do you mean by holding the full internet route table? Are you doing BGP?

Assuming 80% utilization - 80Mbps on each line and average packet size of 1000 you have a line capacity for 40000pps. RB450G and RB750G and any of PPC boards will do.
As far as security goes RouterOS offers stateful firewall and little else. If you're serious about security you'll need to think about IDS/IPS.

And another question, should I go for RB450G or for RB750G?

The 450G is actually better than the 750G

Why is it better? It has more RAM, but in my case, do I need it? (I want 100mbps NAT and 2000+ TCP simultaneous connections for 3-4 PCs)

Do I need to hold the full internet route table?

What do you mean by that?

Usually there is 1 (in your case 2) routes for internet access.

I did't know what's with that whole internet table. So for home NAT it doesn't matter.
But, to satisfy my curiosity, when would someone need to hold the full internet table?

I think the 450G will do the job.
I tried a 750 at 50 Mbit/s with BitTorrent and though the load was over 90% it did work fine.
A 450G should easily get this far.

So the 450G will NAT at 100mbps + many many TCP connections?
Keep in mind that without a router, uTorrent downloads at 12mb/s if enough seeds.

How about the 750G? (It's 20% cheaper and it has a case)
Is there any scenario in which I'd need the extra RAM?

And another question, should I go for RB450G or for RB750G?
Do I need the extra RAM?
Do I need to hold the full internet route table?

Personally I'd go with the RB450G. What do you mean by holding the full internet route table? Are you doing BGP?

No, I'm not. When is BGP used? Which are its advantages?
I've checked some articles on wikipedia, but I did not understand much besides the fact that it's very important and it is used by most ISPs.

Assuming 80% utilization - 80Mbps on each line and average packet size of 1000 you have a line capacity for 40000pps. RB450G and RB750G and any of PPC boards will do.
As far as security goes RouterOS offers stateful firewall and little else. If you're serious about security you'll need to think about IDS/IPS.

rmichael, do I need these for a home network?
What would you suggest?

Man, it would have been much easier to build a PC router, but I can't afford it, and it consumes a lot more energy.
Also, most commercial routers that are in the same price league with RB450G/750G can't handle more than 2-300 TCP connections, or 100mbps NAT.

570G is more like soho router in cute plastic case and it can handle a lot of traffic, actual performance will vary depending on configuration and how optimal it is for task at hand.

If you have 2 ISPs you will be actively using mangle, some sort of load balancing, queues and most probably queues.

If it is possible ask if you can return product in few days, so you can test out what it can handle and what it cannot. If 750G is not up to task - exchange it for RB450G

570G is more like soho router in cute plastic case and it can handle a lot of traffic, actual performance will vary depending on configuration and how optimal it is for task at hand.

If you have 2 ISPs you will be actively using mangle, some sort of load balancing, queues and most probably queues.

If it is possible ask if you can return product in few days, so you can test out what it can handle and what it cannot. If 750G is not up to task - exchange it for RB450G

It's not possible to test+return the product.

Assuming 80% utilization - 80Mbps on each line and average packet size of 1000 you have a line capacity for 40000pps. RB450G and RB750G and any of PPC boards will do.
As far as security goes RouterOS offers stateful firewall and little else. If you're serious about security you'll need to think about IDS/IPS.

For 3 PCs, do I need that much security? Each PC will have it's own firewall.
I need something that I can forget about after I configure it.
I don't want to waste time for various checks and stuff like that.

How much security you configure is up to you to decide. For 3 PCs that surf porn all day it probably doesn't matter. For 3 PCs that do all the accounting for your multi-million dollar business with government contracts you'd probably want to go a little harder.

There's no need to be rude.
Of course I'd want security, but there's always the "gain/cost" ratio.

I wasn't trying to be rude, my apologies if it came across as such. I was trying to express that no one else knows your environment, available resources and requirements so it's impossible for anyone else to do a cost/gain analysis.

Most of the consensus has been to go for the RB450G.

That is a great little router for the money and better than the other routers that you have mentioned.

If you can't afford it, then you probably cannot afford the Internet connections.

Tom

I wasn't trying to be rude, my apologies if it came across as such. I was trying to express that no one else knows your environment, available resources and requirements so it's impossible for anyone else to do a cost/gain analysis.

There will be 2-3 PCs, and the usual stuff: browsing, P2P downloads, online games, etc.
Ok, heavy P2P downloads.
Internet connections: only one for the moment(2 in the future), 20mbps external, 100mbps MAN.

Most of the consensus has been to go for the RB450G.

That is a great little router for the money and better than the other routers that you have mentioned.

If you can't afford it, then you probably cannot afford the Internet connections.

Tom

It's not like that. I can afford it, but will it be an improvement over the RB750G, for my scenario?

It's not like that. I can afford it, but will it be an improvement over the RB750G, for my scenario?

It's hard to give a definitive yes in this situation, because the amount of detail we would need to know you don't have yet. Having said that, the RB750G will be cutting it close. I personally think you would be better off getting the RB450G. Getting the extra RAM will give you plenty of breathing room to manage so many simultaneous TCP connections in a dual WAN configuration. Since you can't return the product once you buy it, just pick up the RB450G knowing it'll handle your setup without sweating and enjoy it.

Scott

Ok, so this is settled, RB450G wins over RB750G, just to have that headroom.

As far as security goes RouterOS offers stateful firewall and little else. If you're serious about security you'll need to think about IDS/IPS.

I still have to clear it up whether I need IDS/IPS.

No, you don't.

I don't what? Need to clear up? Or need IDS/IPS?

You don't need IDS/IPS.

Hi,
I have developed an IDS/IPS system for RouterOS.
It is here : http://sourceforge.net/projects/mt-fw-attack/

You need a linux machine to compile and run it.
It collects syslog messages from your's routeros device (there are instructions on how to use it) and adds the attackers on an address list which you can use to block them.