New 2.5Gbe Home Network Setup

[zenlow23]

Moving to a new place and would like to seek advice from the masters here on the most optimal way of setting up a new 2.5GbE home network. Any input on the merits of 2.5GbE is welcome.

It's a 3 level home with the terminal point pulled right into the center of level 1 and at least 1 CAT6 pulled to each room/area.
Getting myrepublic to relocate my current 1Gbps plan and still using my netgear Orbi RBK50s on wireless backhaul.

Priority is speed (of course) and I'm intending to get a NAS with dual 2.5Gbe ports (The Asustor or Qnap) to share family videos that can be played on the main hall TV.

Just can't get my head round to the connections for a 2.5GbE LAN and would appreciate any advice on routers, switches or mesh systems. Would love to be educated so I can troubleshoot in future. I am aware link aggregation for 1+1Gbps networks have been discussed at length here but I'm not sure if anyone has found a solution for getting more than 1Gbps speeds. Also whether LINK aggregation for NAS translates into any real world benefit.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[TanKianW]

Share family videos? Raw videos? Or you meant...ahem...ahem...down**** movies. For later, you should be able to set up a PLEX media server on your NAS side and stream to your hall on a 1G connection. Recommend hall side to use a Nvidia Shield Pro (for hardware acceleration). You should be able to stream ATMOS and DV/4KHDR contents without hiccups.

If you just want the kick of >1G home network, then I recommend to go straight for 10GbE if the internal cabling not exceeding 100m (based on Cat6 spec)​

 

[xonix]

Example of RAID 1/5 performance of NAS with 2.5 GbE :
https://www.asustor.com/en-gb/product/performance?p_id=61

Download speed	What you can do on YouTube TV
25 Mbps +	4K Plus subscribers: View 4K quality on available programs.
13 Mbps +	Reliably stream HD video, even with other devices using the same network.
7 Mbps +	Stream one-HD video. If many devices are streaming videos or using the network at the same time, you may run into some buffering issues.
3 Mbps +	Stream standard definition video.
Under 3 Mbps	YouTube TV may load slowly or rebuffer.

Issues with Live Streams on Prime Video​

What to do if you're having problems watching live streams or events on Prime Video.

If you're having issues watching live streams or live events on Prime Video, please ensure that you are watching on a supported device, and have a sufficient download speed. Prime Video recommends a minimum download speed of 1MB/s for SD content and 5MB/s for HD content.Prime Video will serve the highest quality streaming experience possible based on the bandwidth speed available.
Note: If you're experiencing any issues with the video "juddering" or having excessive motion blur, we recommend turning the Motion setting on your TV to Off. This setting might have a different name depending on your TV manufacturer. Some examples of the Motion setting include Auto Motion Plus, Tru Motion, MotionFlow, Cinemotion, and Motion Picture.

These are the recommended internet download speeds for playing TV shows and movies on Netflix.

	Recommended megabits per second
Broadband connection	1.5 Minimum: 0.5
Standard definition (SD)	3
High definition (HD)	5
4K/Ultra HD (UHD)	25

What are the Disney+ Internet Speed Recommendations?​

Low internet speeds or an inconsistent connection when you’re watching Disney+ isn’t fun.

We want you to have the best possible experience watching all your favorites on Disney+ so for consistent, high-quality streaming, we recommend the following speeds:

• 5.0 Mbps for High Definition content
• 25.0 Mbps for 4K UHD content

 

[xiaofan]

If you can afford, go directly to 10G gears as suggested by Brother TanKianW.

I think 2.5Gbe is still good as a step-up for the 1G home network.

2.5G adapters are cheap. Consumer router now have 2.5Gbe LAN port, for example, Asus RT-AX86U.

2.5Gbe Switch is less common but there are a few options in the following thread, eg, from QNAP and TP-Link.

You can also use mini PC based router with multiple 2.5Gbe ports (running pfSense or OpenWRT) to get rid of the switch but they are less common.

Reference: more discussion here for 2.5G home network.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/2-5-gbps-wired-home-network.6347648/page-2

 

[xiaofan]

You may want to use Ethernet wired connection for the client like PC/laptop (with 2.5G adapter) which need to have access to the NAS.

For wireless clients, it may still be limited to the gigabit Ethernet port.

Wireless AP/mesh with 2.5Gbe port seems to more geared toward enterprise users.

But one possible solution is to use commercial routers like RT-AX86U.

Eg:
Main router : RT-AX86U with 1G WAN port for Internet, 2.5Gbe LAN port connected to the 2.5Gbe switch (eg: from QNAP). The NAS will be connected to the switch. The switch will also distribute to the other floors' LAN ports.

Good wireless clients of the main RT-AX86U may have greater than 1Gbps speed to the 2.5G LAN ports connected QNAP NAS.

AIMesh nodes on each floor: RT-AX86U with 2.5G WAN port used here for Ethernet backhaul (hopefully it works, need to double check). Then the wireless clients may also have greater than 1Gbps speed to the NAS.

 

[bert64]

If you are simply watching videos stored on your NAS, then 100mbps is more than adequate for 4k with 2-3 simultaneous users. Going to 1gbps will give you enough headroom to handle double digit user counts viewing 4k movies.

If you are video editing directly on the NAS, then yes higher speed would be better, but a locally attached SSD would be better still for the editing and you can transfer the finished video to the NAS when done.

That's not to say you shouldn't go for 2.5gbps (or 10gbps) if you want, but don't expect to see any significant benefit in the use case you've given. Decide for yourself it it's worth the extra cost.

Link aggregation will typically not let you use the combined speed of the two links with a single client, but will allow you to have more simultaneous users.

 

[zenlow23]

Thanks guys for your fast responses and expert advice!

How about the asus RT-AX89X - it has 8 LAN ports that I could potentially use for backhaul or direct 1GbE connections?

A 10GbE switch might break the bank for me trying to match all the parts so I'm actually eyeing the QNAP QSW-M2108R-2C (8x2.5GbE + 2x10GbE)

Checking with u guys if this will work? Trying to find the most "cost effective solution" for about 15 Cat6 points around the house.

ONT via 1GbE->RT-AX89X WAN
RT-AX89X via 10GbE port ->Switch 10GbE port
NAS via 2 x 2.5GbE -> Switch 2.5GbE ports (using link aggregation)
Switch-10GbE->Main PC
Rest 2.5GbE ports use for wired backhaul using TX8 or PCs/Devices with 2.5GbE Lan connections
8 x 1GbE ports on RT-AX89X used for wired backhaul with DX4 or other less crucial connections

Thanks guys!!

 

[hairymonster]

Go for 10Gbe NAS.

Recommend you take qnap tvs472xt. Comes with 2x 1gbe, 10 gbe and thunderbolt 3 for direct video editing.

You can also put in a single slot gtx 1650 (Turing architecture) for h265 transcoding, replace the cpu to Intel 8700T. QTS 5.0 will support 9th Gen cpu.

Lots of docker image you can install like Bitwarden, adguard, unbound etc.

 

[zenlow23]

thanks guys for your replies. just checked out the qnap tvs472xt and the cost is more than the budget for my network parts liao..lol.

any idea if the wired backhaul to actual 1GbE ports on the AX89X will work when the router is connected via its 10GbE port to the switch?

thx!

 

[TanKianW]

Thanks guys for your fast responses and expert advice!

How about the asus RT-AX89X - it has 8 LAN ports that I could potentially use for backhaul or direct 1GbE connections?

A 10GbE switch might break the bank for me trying to match all the parts so I'm actually eyeing the QNAP QSW-M2108R-2C (8x2.5GbE + 2x10GbE)

Checking with u guys if this will work? Trying to find the most "cost effective solution" for about 15 Cat6 points around the house.

ONT via 1GbE->RT-AX89X WAN
RT-AX89X via 10GbE port ->Switch 10GbE port
NAS via 2 x 2.5GbE -> Switch 2.5GbE ports (using link aggregation)
Switch-10GbE->Main PC
Rest 2.5GbE ports use for wired backhaul using TX8 or PCs/Devices with 2.5GbE Lan connections
8 x 1GbE ports on RT-AX89X used for wired backhaul with DX4 or other less crucial connections

Thanks guys!!

This QNAP managed switch is not cheap. I recommend you to go with MikroTik CRS312 which has 12 port 10GbE. You get it at about same price/or lower on Taobao than the QNAP switch.

Furthermore, RouterOS is powerful and highly customizable. If you are overwhelmed by the complexity of RouterOS, you can still boot into SwOS anytime.

 

[ruffruff]

This QNAP managed switch is not cheap. I recommend you to go with MikroTik CRS312 which has 12 port 10GbE. You get it at about same price/or lower on Taobao than the QNAP switch.

Furthermore, RouterOS is powerful and highly customizable. If you are overwhelmed by the complexity of RouterOS, you can still boot into SwOS anytime.

is the MikroTik CRS312 10Gbe ports down-ward compatible with 2.5Gbe? or will it negotiate down to 1Gbps?

 

[TanKianW]

is the MikroTik CRS312 10Gbe ports down-ward compatible with 2.5Gbe? or will it negotiate down to 1Gbps?

I do not use 2.5GbE, but the spec sheet states that it could. Except for the SFP+/RJ45 combo ports.