What benefit is there to purchasing:
One device with two modems vs. two devices with a single modem? (and connecting them via the ethernet WAN connection)
The BR2 is almost 3x the price, but I suspect that it outperforms two BR1’s.
Am I right or should I save some money and buy two BR1’s instead?
I’ve often wondered the same. The br2 pro has the same specs as the br1 pro, just adding a second modem, and a serial and usb port and extra wan port. But its somehow almost 3x the price.
Then you have the mbx mini which is dual 5G like the br2 pro. Looks go have similar hardware to a balance 310 5g, just with an additional USB port, the cat-12 modem and swapped for a 5G modem, and built in WiFi. And it’s 3.5x the price of the 310 and 2.5x the price of the br2 pro.
I get sales volumes and all, but the price scaling sometimes seems way off between different devices. Honestly, I could sell a lot more higher end devices if there were consistent and logical price scaling.
@Noah_Helterbrand makes good points. If using a single device is important for space, aesthetics, etc, or if you need the USB and serial ports, I’d go with the BR2. Otherwise, I’d probably go with 2 X BR1s, save the extra $$ and have the benefit of a second device should one have problems. I think there is no clear answer.
so you would have one be synergy controller (master) and one be client (slave)?
Is it still the case that remotesim/fusionsim is not supported on the BR1 pro?
That would be a strong difference.
Sure, one could do that. Or, simply connect one of the 2nd BR1 Pro’s LAN port to the WAN port of the other Pro. Place the one “farthest out” in “IP Passthrough” mode. Then, suppose the one actually serving as a router failed. One could take the one previously in Passthrough mode, load the config from the other one to it and be “back on the air” but with one modem rather than two. There are a number of ways in which this could be configured.
It’s good to have options. :<)
I have all aboard and have tried a mix of different setups and configurations.
To echo some of the other notes, two BR1’s gives you some redundancy in case one device fails. I’ve used them both in Synergy mode and, before that feature was around, with one just as a WAN source. The latter means managing two devices, which can be annoying. Synergy solves that, but it does mean a bit more complexity. I’ve also not had complete reliability with Synergy in a number of situations that can be frustrating, so hopefully over time that becomes more reliable.
I have noticed running two BR1s is more power than one BR2, which should make sense since they’re two independent routers with more overhead than one with two modems. So if you are on a boat like me, that might be a consideration longer term.
I have the MBX Mini 5G as well, and while it is a very nice router, it uses more power than the BR2, is a lot bigger, and the modems aren’t the same. I prefer the BR2/BR1 modems for my use cases.
I believe @Jonathan_Pitts is correct, though - FusionSIM / Remote SIM isn’t supported on the BR1, so you’d have to move SIM cards around in that situation.
Like Steve, I have tested both. A couple of additional thoughts:
In favor of the BR2
Of course you could have both a BR2 and a BR1 and do even more.
Keep in mind the ongoing costs for PrimeCare for 2 x BR1 vs 1 x BR2. The BR2 is cheaper than 2 x BR1.
I’d also favour the BR2, but it really also comes down to what’s needed.