Now that it is available and I have had my hands on a new RB493G, I thought I would share....

Basically its an RB493AH with more RAM, more Flash, faster ethernet, USB, and a microSD slot on the underside for only $30 more.

Features
--------
Atheros AR7161 680MHz CPU (MIPS 24K Big Endian architecture)
256MB RAM
128MB Flash (the data sheet incorrectly says 64MB)
9 10/100/1000 auto-MDI/X ethernet ports
3 MiniPCI slots for radio cards
1 USB 2.0 slot (not sourcing 5vdc)
1 microSD slot
accurate voltage and temperature monitoring (awesome!)
RouterOS Level 5 license (ships with version 4.12)

MT made the ethernet Gigabit by adding two Atheros AR8316 ICs. The good news is a fast and proven switch chip. The bad news is, as with the RB1100, the ports are not all on the same switch chip so you can't slave a port in one switch group to a master port in another group. Not really a big deal for most people. You can always bridge between them or plan around them.

The ports are mapped to two groups. For clarity we'll call them A and B.
Group A has ports 1, 6, 7, 8, 9
Group B has ports 2, 3, 4, 5

All in all, at $30 more than the RB493AH, the RB493G is a great value.

I had been using RB493AH boards at all of my wPOPs. I think I'll be switching to this new board. The temperature and voltage monitoring alone make it worthwhile.

Tom

What is the maximum MTU (jumbo frames?) and how do the capacitors look?

...and how do the capacitors look?

Yeah, this detail really interests me too!

What is the maximum MTU (jumbo frames?) and how do the capacitors look?

It looks like 1524 on all ethernet prts.

3 electrolytics on the PS circuit. No other lytics.

Picture here:

http://www.roc-noc.com/images/P/RB493G.jpg

Tom

May I ask you Tom if you have any positive experience of using an SR71-A with RB493-xx boards? And btw does SR71A fits inside 493 indoor case?

May I ask you Tom if you have any positive experience of using an SR71-A with RB493-xx boards? And btw does SR71A fits inside 493 indoor case?

No I have not used the SR71-A. But I do have a customer that is using them with the RB433AH and he is pretty happy with the performance.

Yes, the SR71-A will fit inside the indoor case. But the indoor case now only has two antenna mounting holes and one square hole for a USB cable to pass through. So you have to be creative when putting an antenna in the square hole.

Tom

Thank you for the info Tom.
Personally I do prefer using R52Hn because of the newer and supposedly improved chipset but one of my clients insists that 3x3 MIMO can improve the performance significantly. I don't agree but you know the old saying that the "customer is always right"...

accurate voltage and temperature monitoring (awesome!)

Just how close to reality is this? .1v out? 1v out?

I would have loved it if it werent for separate switch groups.... WTF!

accurate voltage and temperature monitoring (awesome!)

Just how close to reality is this? .1v out? 1v out?

I only tested one board for voltage and it was within .1 volt of my fluke VOM. And I am not sure I can probe exactly where they are checking voltage. I didn't cross check the temperature setting against anything but I did see that it was working. I checked a cold board and then checked several times as it warmed up.

Tom

I would have loved it if it werent for separate switch groups.... WTF!

The RB/192 had the same separate switch groups. The RB493 replaced it and had a single switch chip. I am guessing that MT didn't want to wait for a 9 port Gigabit ethernet switch chip that is affordable.

It's really too bad that these switch chips don't have a really high speed bus that allows you to gang them together.

While I'm at it... and hot blonds don't go for geeky network guys.

Tom

The RB/192 had the same separate switch groups. The RB493 replaced it and had a single switch chip. I am guessing that MT didn't want to wait for a 9 port Gigabit ethernet switch chip that is affordable.

I cant speak for price, but I know they exist... Just not Atheros... 2 separate gigabit switch groups is about as worthless as a 2 pec......... Wonder if that CPU can keep up with bridging 120meg/second of data. Its really just throwing ports on there for the heck of it. The only real use it would be is if you needed to have 2 separate networks anyways. 493AH is still my choice at this point.

While I'm at it... and hot blonds don't go for geeky network guys.

Tom

Speak for yourself.

It's really too bad that these switch chips don't have a really high speed bus that allows you to gang them together.

I was wondering Tom if the two switch groups could be chained together. Not the best workaround but it might work for some.

It's really too bad that these switch chips don't have a really high speed bus that allows you to gang them together.

I was wondering Tom if the two switch groups could be chained together. Not the best workaround but it might work for some.

Yes, of course you can can always bridge them together. That is always a work around but does take CPU cycles. So I would use bridging for my lower traffic links and use the main 4 or 5 for the highest traffic.

I don't want to put a negative spin on this product. I still plan to use this at my WPOPs.

The RB493G is relatively low cost and has the most Gigabit ethernet ports of any RouterBoard along with miniPCI slots for radios.

The wildly sought after RB1100 costs a bunch more, has two blocks of 5 Gigabit ethernet ports (same switch chips) along with three independent ports but no radio card slots.

Tom

Hi,
just a quick question, Tom.
Would it be possible to use a patchcable (1m, 0,5 m) and put it in switchgroup one with one end, switchgroup two with second end? that way you would have at least 7 GBit ports left, with a "Backplane" of only 1 Gbit/s FD, but that could suffice for many things...

Greetz
Schnulch

I don't want to put a negative spin on this product. I still plan to use this at my WPOPs.
The RB493G is relatively low cost and has the most Gigabit ethernet ports of any RouterBoard along with miniPCI slots for radios.

I, too, don't actually consider this twin chip implementation as some serious limitation. I'd definitely use RB493G even if it was a single AR8316 - five port unit. Also, the freedom of having both bridged and switched ports is something really interesting.

Would it be possible to use a patchcable (1m, 0,5 m) and put it in switchgroup one with one end, switchgroup two with second end? that way you would have at least 7 GBit ports left, with a "Backplane" of only 1 Gbit/s FD, but that could suffice for many things...

That's what I was considering actually. I don't see any reason why this might not be working.

Hi,
just a quick question, Tom.
Would it be possible to use a patchcable (1m, 0,5 m) and put it in switchgroup one with one end, switchgroup two with second end? that way you would have at least 7 GBit ports left, with a "Backplane" of only 1 Gbit/s FD, but that could suffice for many things...

Greetz
Schnulch

Sure, nice kludge but as you pointed out, you lose two ports. If you are using it only for a switch then yes, you have a 7 port gigabit switch. But if you need some wan or routed ports, then the benefit is quickly lost.

Hmmm... That just reminded me of a similar kludge that Cisco did with their HWIC-4ESW (4 x 10/100) ethernet cards. A few years ago I tried using two of these cards with a Cisco 1841 router but found out in the docs that you lose two ports when you do this and end up with 6 usable ports. They must have connected two of the ports together internally to bond the cards together in a similar way. Just no external cable was used.

Tom

Any suggestions on where i can get a hold of this unit ? I've been holding out since it was announced but have no idea who is stocking them. I'm located in Aus so generally i have to order from overseas anyway....

Edit: Also does anyone have any info on power consumption of these units ?

Just got one of these babies but I haven't yet checked in detail the current consumption. It doesn't seem to exceed the specs, though (3-5W on idle - no cards).
Something I liked is that it doesn't run as hot as other routerboards. Actually, it runs pretty cold (< 15 degrees C above environmental temp) even when closed in the indoor case with two R52Hn cards fitted.

A few things I really hate so far are, the same useless microSD slot that failed to recognize any memory card I tried, and the unpowered USB connector (I wonder who thought that up and what they were smoking at the time). Despite these imperfections and questionable design decisions, I think RB493G is a great board.

Hi! I have bought one RB 493G.

I would like to try iy as a webproxy, what do you suggest to use as storage, an USB stick or a Micro SD card?

I tryed to connect a usb pen but the system do not find them, is the usb connector alimentated? I think of no

If it is not alimentated, what can I connect on the usb port?

And what is the Micro-SD limit storage? 4Gb?

Thanks a lot, sorry for my english

RB493G's USB interface works flawlessly but as already mentioned before, it doesn't provide the necessary +5VDC VBUS power. Don't ask me why they did that. I assume technical or board layout difficulties have occurred but still is a major limitation, at least for some. In a few words to use a USB flash drive you need a 5VDC injector cable like this and a 5V power adapter. Yeah yeah I know, I too hate the "spaghetti mess" of unnecessary cables and power adapters.

Anyway, even in its current form you better stick with USB. I tried a dozen of MicroSD cards and none of them worked so far (an old known issue common to all routerboards).

PS: Despite its shortcomings I'll say it again - RB493G is a great router board.

Any suggestions on where i can get a hold of this unit ? I've been holding out since it was announced but have no idea who is stocking them. I'm located in Aus so generally i have to order from overseas anyway....

Edit: Also does anyone have any info on power consumption of these units ?

I believe we were one of the first distributors to get them and our stock came in a few weeks ago. Most Mikrotik distributors should have them by now.

Tom

accurate voltage and temperature monitoring (awesome!)

Do you know where the temperature sensor is? I'm trying to figure out if this is reliable or not.

My unit is reporting 45c for being completely idle, 0-1% CPU and the case is cool to the touch. Room temp is 23c.

it is somewhere between on oe switch chips and CPU. That is why i can show temperature like that as it receives heat from Gbit switch, that usually are hot and a cpu.

it is somewhere between on oe switch chips and CPU. That is why i can show temperature like that as it receives heat from Gbit switch, that usually are hot and a cpu.

Nice to hear that! I too think it's the best place to measure the average board temperature.

I just got my board ! i love the form factor of routerboards

one thing i too have noticed is the temperature sensor is reporting 48 degrees and it is currrently open in a room that is currently 20 degrees. seems excessive. i'll be measuring the board temps with my IR thermo when i get home to confirm.

it's not the room temperature, it's the CPU. it should be warm.

I thought as much, its a bit misleading as it's suggests that's it's the system temperature.

I took a heat reading directly from the CPU and i was getting 39 degrees but routerOS was telling me 49 degrees. Granted it is via the base of the heatsink so it wouldn't be 100% on the money, but it wouldn't dissipate that much heat from the core -> base of the heatsink. Either way it's still cooler than the majority of my active cooled cisco's .

FYI im very impressed with power usage - The average power draw i'm getting is 8 watts with 2Gbit ports switching, 1 port performing basic routing and 1x 320Ma wifi card with a 3-5 users using it for basic wifi access. I will see how much it draws on full load once i cut over the rest of the site its at.

I had been using RB493AH boards at all of my wPOPs. I think I'll be switching to this new board. The temperature and voltage monitoring alone make it worthwhile.

Tom

What's a wPOP?

I had been using RB493AH boards at all of my wPOPs. I think I'll be switching to this new board. The temperature and voltage monitoring alone make it worthwhile.

Tom

What's a wPOP?

wPOP = wireless POP aka wireless Point of Presence. Usually a tower or high building location with back haul radios and multiple access points (APs).

Tom

Hello,
i have a problem with rb493ah,also problem had showed on rb 433ah.
I was put cpu freq on 800Mhz,after several days(I do not know exactly)cpu returned on 680Mhz.
I was put cpu in boot menu of routerboard.
If anyone know what is the problem?

Thanks.

not all units work perfectly with 800MHz setting. Also, if you have wifi cards plugged in to the board - remove tham, or do not use 800MHz CPU setting.

Guys any news on the Micro-SD ? which type of Micro-SD will work ?

I added a column for RB493G in this page:
http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Supported ... mory_cards

if anyone is using some microSD card that works, please add to the list.

Guys any news on the Micro-SD ? which type of Micro-SD will work ?

I've tried many different types, capacities and manufacturers but yet to find one that works. Why MT don't tell us what microSD cards they used for testing?

Any official reply from Mikrotik ?

it is somewhere between on oe switch chips and CPU. That is why i can show temperature like that as it receives heat from Gbit switch, that usually are hot and a cpu.

Can i know the estimated heat dissipation from the router board? Also, what is the ambient temperature

Anybody knows what is the estimated heat dissipation from the rb493g? Also, what is the ambient temperature of the router?