Cisco Router for FTTC?

philip2009 · 3 Jan 2014 at 15:26

Toying with the idea of a Cisco router for my FTTC connection(home user, previously used Cisco 800 series routers on ADSL). Is anyone using Cisco equipment with their FTTC connection? Any recommendations or pros and cons? Budget around £300.

bigredshark · 3 Jan 2014 at 15:54

I've used Cisco 887s with VDSL in the UK, they did a job but I decided against them in favour of Juniper SRX110 units. I felt the Juniper's had better VDSL hardware and the capability of the units was greater, they were a bit more money though...

gman1981 · 3 Jan 2014 at 16:01

Our company are just rolling out Cisco 1921 for use with FTTC, but I think they are in the region 500-600 quid.

Caged · 3 Jan 2014 at 18:14

Don't use an 867VAE, they are anaemic. Seconding the SRX110 recommendation, advantages it has over a Cisco are a usable web UI (because it isn't the 1980s any more) and if you want to use the CLI it seems better thought out than IOS (defaults to a mode that has you confirm changes so you can't lock yourself out).

Having said that you really really don't need that for a home connection. If you want to experiment with networking concepts then get a Mikrotik or an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter. They both have CLIs you can get stuck into if you want to, the Ubiquiti runs a fork of Vyatta.

m1979 · 3 Jan 2014 at 18:22

I could also recommend an ASA5505. Have had it for more than a year - 70Mbps vdsl. Of course you need an openreach modem but ASA can be managed from ASDM.

Of course for a home network it is too much but if u work with Cisco/networks than it is a good idea to have a live cisco device

DJMK4 · 14 Jan 2014 at 22:21

Is there any decent budget buys I can pick up on eBay? Which model is best, I'm running 80/20, would prefer a unit with wireless built in, Ethernet wan port and 4 fast Ethernet ports but want to see if I can do it on a budget

bigredshark · 14 Jan 2014 at 23:40

DJMK4 said:
Is there any decent budget buys I can pick up on eBay? Which model is best, I'm running 80/20, would prefer a unit with wireless built in, Ethernet wan port and 4 fast Ethernet ports but want to see if I can do it on a budget

Tricky, you need quite recent or quite high end Cisco to get genuine 80/20 wire speed. The essential document is here:

http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/downloads/765/tools/quickreference/routerperformance.pdf

The throughput numbers are based on 500byte packets so you may see somewhat higher. The numbers will also vary based on what features you use etc.

I would want a 1921 or 2821 or higher for FTTC on Cisco. Those will not be cheap units (and you'll need a HWIC for the VDSL). You have better luck with firewalls, I don't rate ASA units but you'll get one to fit your needs fairly cheap (or Juniper SSG5 or similar...)

TheKnat · 15 Jan 2014 at 07:24

Just to add my voice to this. Until recently I was using an 887VA to cut out the homehub and Openreach modem, but I could only reach throughput speeds of about 45 Mbps. Using a combination of the Openrech modem and an ASA 5505 gave me the full speed of my line.

You can get 5505 firewalls from the bay for a couple of hundred quid, but be careful as these will be the basic models which can only have up 10 internal devices on your LAN (recognised by MAC address I believe). If you want the unlimited version, your looking at around 300-400.

In the end I found both of these too much of a pain for home use, so now I run my connection through a virtualized PFSense firewall, which gives me the full speed of my line as well.

DJMK4 · 15 Jan 2014 at 08:32

bigredshark said:
Tricky, you need quite recent or quite high end Cisco to get genuine 80/20 wire speed. The essential document is here:

http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/downloads/765/tools/quickreference/routerperformance.pdf

The throughput numbers are based on 500byte packets so you may see somewhat higher. The numbers will also vary based on what features you use etc.

I would want a 1921 or 2821 or higher for FTTC on Cisco. Those will not be cheap units (and you'll need a HWIC for the VDSL). You have better luck with firewalls, I don't rate ASA units but you'll get one to fit your needs fairly cheap (or Juniper SSG5 or similar...)

To be honest I wasn't really looking to use a router with a VDSL WIC, I can just keep my standard BT Openreach modem which is fronting the connection. I am guessing a Cisco with an ethernet WAN port, you can just configuring the interface with your RADIUS details like you would with any other router and allow it to authenticate with the Openreach VDSL modem sat infront of it.

Surely this would give you enough bandwidth to sustain my avg 64mb down / 17mb up seeing as the port speeds will be F/E 10/100?

bigredshark · 15 Jan 2014 at 13:40

The details of how you connect the line are irrelevant to throughput (though my experience is the Openreach box is rubbish compared to Cisco/Juniper kit when it comes to sync speed and stability).

You'll still need a router capable of handling at least 81Mbps if you want to keep your current speeds in both directions simultaneously. As that document shows, you have to get have quite recent or quite high end Cisco gear to get those speeds on anything other than very big packets.

The fact it's got a 10/100 interface is no guarantee it'll actually pass wire speed traffic on that port (most won't) - the 1941 has 2x Gig ports but won't actually process much more than 150Mbps according to Cisco's own figures (and any Mbps throughput number is vague, PPS figures are more accurate but still vary with features etc).

If you're using the openreach modem and have a virtual server handy then there's no need for physical hardware of course, both the Cisco CSR 1000v and Juniper vSRX are excellent fully featured boxes running as VMs and if you have a relationship with vendor in some form you may well get a evaluation copy for free...