I have a BR1 Max 5G with comcast/Xfinity and a Google Fi 5G failover backup which has been working great.
I recently upgraded to 2Gbps Xfinity service and am wondering if the BR2 with its 2.5Gbps WAN ports will actually give me the capability to use the full speeds of the new comcast service. I ask this because the Br2 advertises the same 1Gbps throughput which would lead me to believe that it can’t. If that’s the case, what’s the point of the 2.5Gbps WAN ports?
Edit - I should clarify that I have a UniFi setup with 10Gbps SFP+ connections between switches and the UDM Pro and 2.5Gbps ethernet run throughout the house. When I hook up my modem directly to my UDM Pro I do get 2+ gig speeds, but want to put the Peplink device back in again to feed the UDM Pro.
Any help is appreciated!
Yes, the BR2 is a 1 gb/sec router. The WAN port is spec’d at a max of 2.5. Only Peplink can answer why these specs for the WAN port but I’ll guess that it cost no or very little more than the alternative so why not provide it? Certainly no harm providing a physical layer that can operate faster than the expected data rate. Prevents the hardware from becoming a limitation.
I guess I sorta wonder as to the rationale for using a BR2 in this application. Another approach: We have a client (not customer) who selected a Balance 310X (2.5gb/sec throughput) which is fed by 2 gig fiber; the 2nd WAN port is attached to a BR1. Works splendidly.
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I asked about the BR2 as it’s one of the few Peplink devices other than the SDX and higher end stuff that has a 2.5Gbps WAN and Lan port. The Balance 310X only has 1000Mbps WAN/LAN ports so I imagine the 2.5Gbps throughput is only useful for local traffic or to enable multiple users to maintain traffic across the router at gigabit speeds? I don’t see how that would let me leverage the full 2gig connection. Correct me if I am not understanding that. To be clear I would sell the BR1 if the BR2 did what I needed.
I already got a quote for an SDX plus the 5G module but the price is just so much higher than what I could piece together elsewhere, the only downside being the quick speed of failover on the Peplink gear. Something like a Firewalla Gold Plus at $600 plus my existing BR1 would probably work for me, but it sounds like that would take a minute or so to failover which isn’t great. That solution at $1600 all-in would let me use my full 2gig service on singular devices vs the SDX solution at $6k+.
Edit: I also wonder if I disable DHCP/Routing from the BR2 if I can pass 2.5Gbps data through it still when on the primary WAN? I wouldn’t neccesarily need the advertised router throughput technically?
Hey – thanks for checking me on that. I sent an e-mail to our client. He corrected me. :<) After I spoke with them last, they tested, but subsequently rejected the 2gb/sec provisioning and replaced it with two 1gb circuits; the Pro 5G is connected to the 310X via an ethernet/USB dongle. The 1gb connections are from two different providers – far better than a single 2gb WAN.
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