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Author Topic: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick  (Read 2052 times)

Weaver

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Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« on: January 01, 2019, 02:37:21 PM »

Say in a few decades time, if I am still around that long, I get a B4RN-style gigabit symmetric FTTP pipe. And everyone is going around in flying cars, finally.

My routers, a Firebrick FB2500 and an FB2700 are not that fast, I forget but I think the FB2700 might be rated at notional 350 Mbps routing (using who knows what size packets though), and the FB2500 at maybe 250 Mbps.

The new FB2900 is somewhat faster, can’t remember, but as I recall, the notional routing max throughout figure was somewhat below 1 Gbps.

So if one signs up for B4RN or I win the lottery and get AA to plumb in a BT FTTP Ethernet link for x million £/month, then what would I do for a router? An FB2900 would suddenly become a serious bottleneck. It seems more than a bit mad to suggest that a B4RN user buy an FB6000 at what £12k [?]  ??? :( just to remove the bottleneck. Mind you, if paying £x million per month to BT for Ethernet over fibre then £12k doesn’t sound quite so insane. Actually, no, it is still a bit mad.

I don’t understand why Firebrick has such a huge price gap between the FB2x00 and FB6xxx devices. A higher-throughput device, at a somewhat higher price would be attractive. Something with say with a faster CPU, or multi-core, if that is feasible from the point of view of the amount of software work and hardware work required. Or something with hardware assist for critical functions.

Of course, unless the lottery thing happens, in reality I am quite safe, because it will take so long before speed reaches these remote parts that Firebrick Ltd will have easily had enough time to come out with a new model by then, so quite safe.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2019, 02:41:04 PM by Weaver »
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burakkucat

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2019, 06:44:22 PM »

Hmm, an interesting question.

As money is no object, I'll suggest either a device from the Adva FSP range or (with CarlT's help) a Juniper device.  :)
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Weaver

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2019, 11:12:21 PM »

Somewhere, I do have a Juniper Netscreen SS20, which I got from eBay. I never managed to get it going though and the manual needs a wheelbarrow. I got my FB2500 instead because it just worked immediately and everything was sane and logical.
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johnson

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2019, 10:31:55 AM »

Higher end consumer routers (£100-£200) can get in the 900+mbit/s range from WAN to LAN when running stock firmware with hardware offload etc. See table 2 here:
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32995-dlink-dir-879-ac1900-exo-wifi-router-reviewed?start=1

If you want to interfere with the packets for QoS or want to run VPN on the router then one of the newer low power consumption x86 machines running OpenWRT/pfSense/OPNSense can do that at gigabit speeds, something like this or this.

Such a possible future connection would not require the line bonding you have currently which from my understanding is why (among other things) you find the firebrick to be useful.

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Weaver

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2019, 03:20:47 AM »

The Firebrick does line bonding upstream for me and has fantastic ease-of-use. I love the fact that the config is all XML-based and you can edit the config in a text editor, diff it and so on with no problem, as opposed to being forced to use some UI or other.

I also love the failover to 3G now too.

If I were to go elsewhere I would be very interested in Mikrotik, pfSense and Juniper.
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DaveC

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2019, 12:47:06 PM »

The FB2900 claims "switching and routing" at up to 750Mbits/s.  I would be surprised if in real-life usage you would find that to be a serious bottleneck (although the "up to" is a bit concerning...).

My understanding is that they are currently working on a 10G capable range of Firebricks (for use in A&A), so hopefully the higher speeds will trickle down to the FB2x00 range in due course.

As for alternatives, some of the Ubiquiti Edgerouters claim gigabit speeds, and they can, like the Firebricks, be configured from a single text file (JSON or JSON-like IIRC).

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burakkucat

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2019, 03:49:43 PM »

Somewhere, I do have a Juniper Netscreen SS20, which I got from eBay.

It might be a good idea to list it "for sale", on eBay.  :-\

I managed to find a data sheet for that device and for the "uplink" ("northwards") it lists --

Mini-Physical Interface Module (Mini-PIM) slots: 2
WAN interface options:                Mini-PIMs: 1xADSL 2+, 1xT1, 1xE1, V.92, ISDN BRI S/T, 1xSFP, 1xSerial

One other image that I saw showed a SS20 with both a T1 and an ADSL2+ interface. Quite an antique device!  :D
« Last Edit: January 03, 2019, 04:24:34 PM by burakkucat »
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Weaver

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Re: Fantasy non-problem - gigabit Firebrick
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2019, 05:25:05 AM »

@burakkucat - Mrs Weaver may have buried or lost the Juniper during one of her reorganisations, but if it could be found, then eBaying it would be the good thing. The device has two ADSL modules plugged into it.
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