[Blog] Upgrading the home network for >1Gbps internet service part 2

 TLDR; I chose the UCG Fiber https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/cloud-gateways-compact/collections/cloud-gateway-fiber/products/ucg-fiber It has the right combination of 2.5GBase-T, 10GBase-T and SFP+ ports that can support 10Gbit Fiber, with a price that's hard to beat. 

Early on in the process it became pretty clear that using the provided XB8 modem/router from Xfinity was not going to cut it. If used as intended, it was serviceable, but once I started adding simple things like port forwarding, or trying to deactivate the Wifi, it basically gave up. This put me on course to get a new, 2+GBit capable router. 

Requirements

1. Capable of routing 2.5+GBit/s. Preferably even higher as I dont want to have to upgrade again if the internet gets faster
2. A few 2.5Gbit ports, this goes hand-in-hand with being able to route 2.5Base-T speeds
3. A few SFP+ ports, for 10Gbit connectivity to the CR326-24G
4. Nice to have: 10GBase-T port, since the NAS has multiple 10GBase-T ports already ( save on a SFP+ NIC)
5. Cheap-ish

Candidates

• DIY Router VM inside my ESXI server
• DIY Router using a mini-PC from China
• Turn-key solution such as Ubiquity or Miktotik

DIY Router VM

• Pros
  
• Cheapest by far. Would simply need to get a 2.5GBit NIC
• Potentially very flexible with powerful PFSense or similar software
• Cons
• Point of failure, ESXI server goes down, no internet
• ESXi server will become critical to basic network operation
• Quite a bit of configuration and time to maintain settings
• Still need a 2.5GBit switch that has SFP+ to connect to rest of network

DIY Router via MiniPC

• Pros
• Isolate network
• Cons
• Can get expensive. A miniPC that has 10GBit, 2.5GBit and SFP+ can get pricey, close to $300
• Support is nonexistant
• Same amount of configuration and time requirements as VM Solution
• Still need a 2.5GBit switch that has SFP+ to connect to rest of network

Turnkey Solution

• Pros:
• Simplest solution
• Ubiquity would integrate well with existing APs
• Cons:
• Can be expensive
• Potentially limited functionality based on who created the software

In the end the Ubiquity Cloud Gateway Fiber fit the best into my needs AND was cheaper than a DIY solution. Especially considering that it had enough ports to act as the router AND switch. With 4 2.5GBit ports, it has enough ports for some "medium speed" devices. The 10GBase-T port could plug directly into the NAS. Finally, the 2x SFP+ 10GBit ports is enough to connect the ESXi server and backbone switch to the router at full 10GBit. All for the low low price of $274. I couldn't beat that when trying to roll-my-own.