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rocca
Start.ca
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join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca to Davesnothere

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Re: New 'Elite' tier in red areas

said by Davesnothere:

What about a 10Mbps plan which HAS a cap ?

I don't think there is enough space, ie it is only $10 between 6Mbps and 20Mbps, if I made one in the middle for a $5 difference then I can't increase the usage for that unfortunately.

FiberToTheX
Premium Member
join:2013-03-14

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Rocca has there been alot of demand for the new 'Elite' tier since it's official launch ?

I know this tier has me somewhat interested but it's almost double the cost of the pro package for perhaps 3x more speed (dl) and a bit higher upload.

I do like the idea of 400Gb as that gives an extra 100Gb of breathing room but the higher speeds (~15Mb/s) means you could easily eat up the cap if not paying attention.

I'm just trying to figure out how to pitch this proposal from the Pro package to the Elite package. I'm primarily interested in it due to the increased upload and the higher download but it's all about how I can pitch this proposal.

dillyhammer
START me up
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join:2010-01-09
Scarborough, ON

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said by rocca:

As for the math, you can also look at it from the other angle and say "triple the speed for only 40% more".

Yeah, I tried that pitch.
The Mrs. just looked at me like I had 3 heads.



Mike

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

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said by FiberToTheX:

Rocca has there been alot of demand for the new 'Elite' tier since it's official launch ?

For a new product one-business day in it's doing okay. As for how to convince the other half, that I can't help you with.
OntarioTL
join:2013-03-05
London, ON

OntarioTL

Member

I was on the phone first thing on Saturday morning to upgrade and had to wait until today to see some nice speed.




The only issue I had was working with the Asus RT-N16. Has anyone been able to use QOS enabled with the new speed? I downloaded the latest firmware from Asus but when I enable it and set the speeds for 10Mbit up and 250Mbit (for speedboost) Down, the max speed I see is roughly 85Mb/s.
Scycotic
join:2012-12-10

Scycotic

Member

QoS uses a lot of processing power. The router probably can't handle both the speeds and the QoS processing at the same time...

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

2 edits

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said by OntarioTL:

I....

 
Classic Maxell cassette tape TV ad from 1992 :

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· YlByF9oA
OntarioTL
join:2013-03-05
London, ON

OntarioTL

Member

Lol, I actually owned those blank tapes...ah the old days of Dolby B-C NR to remove hiss!
mikee
join:2012-12-21
Gloucester, ON

mikee to rocca

Member

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What about Asus RT-N56U? I know you recommend RT-N66U but its nearly 60 $ more with the 56U you'd save 60$ and according to the benchmark site it can handle nearly as much speed as the 66u.
Viper359
Premium Member
join:2006-09-17
Scarborough, ON

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I used the 66 router, with both Merlin and then dd-wrt. Its a great router, and if you just need the basics, it can do it.

I found however, I needed more. I needed openvpn, I needed QOS, and I needed to be able to direct specific static IP addresses to specific locations. IE, a device at 192.168.1.100 to go through my vpn, and another to go through my regular internet connection.

The router could do it, but it took A LOT of work, and knowledge. Handling openvpn connections, it just didn't have the raw processing power to give me more than 15Mbps. (Remember, its encrypted)

Since these routers are near the $200.00 mark, I decided I needed something more robust, and longer lasting. Noting that commercial grade routers can cost thousands, I decided I would try to build my own box, and use PFSENSE. For less than this router, I got up and running, and all my issues are solved. It takes some time to get everything setup, but once you do, its a joke.

There is lots of documentation out there, and it really helped that my vpn provider helped with support. (That surprised me).

This is not meant to start an argument, I posted this, because my personal experience required something more robust and powerful. If you are looking at the 150/10 tier, you most likely have more devices and a more advanced network setup to begin with. At the near $200 price range, you have to start asking yourself, is this worth it? I am not an IT God, but, I can usually bum through most things if documentation is out there. Once I got the basic understanding, this was a breeze. Especially, specific device routing!! Compared to dd-wrt, which I could never get working 100%. The other bonus for me, I won't require another router for many many years. Just a cheap $20.00 switch here and there.

CONS:

No wireless support, so you need an old router kicking around into bridge mode to supply the wireless. (This is changing, but, not 100% implemented yet)

My box currently uses 65W of power, compared to what most consumer grade routers use. I still cannot complain, because my actual system uses around 250W idle.

You will need switches! Highly rated 5 port, 10/100/1000 can be found sub $20. I just got a 16 port switch for less than $50.00 (I also see this as a positive, because if a switch craps out, its a cheap replacement. Anyone that has ever had a router die, knows what I am talking about.)

The PFSENSE software uses the Freebsd operating system, and can only run on that. No other OS can be on the same drive etc. In other words, you must build a dedicated box or run it in a virtual environment.

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS

Member

I wonder if a Cisco ISR 800 series router would handle everything you're detailed. Only worked with 2900s.

Not that I'm judging your pfsense box solution, that's pretty damn good DIY work there. I'm just that kind of fool who would plunk down the cash required for something like a Cisco ISR 800 for home use. I enjoyed working with Cisco gear while at Fanshawe, would be nice to have one at home now. Also contemplating having a VDSL connection as a backup once Bell upgrades my area this summer, which means throwing out the idea of any consumer router, I'd want to properly configure the two connections, maybe even load balance the two (45+25 down and 4+10 up? ). The ideas of mad network junkie...
Viper359
Premium Member
join:2006-09-17
Scarborough, ON

Viper359

Premium Member

Very possible, but for the prices Cisco charges, no thanks. I also find lately, a lot of Cisco stuff has become very bloated, and their specs for low to mid grade business class stuff very over-stated. Don't get me wrong, they still make some of the best enterprise grade stuff going. For the home use, I just can't spend the dollars Cisco tries to command.

I do admit, Pfsense can do everything you just detailed, with ease. You just need a 3rd network card for two ISP connections. Load balancing seems pretty simple based on what I read so far.

If I could do my setup with ZERO actual schooling, (self taught everything I know) someone who actually knows what their doing, it must be endless, the possibilities.

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS

Member

We barely touched upon pfsense at Fanshawe and it was only shown as a alternative firewall to Cisco ASAs (the other was IP tables), seemed pretty feature packed. We only looked at NAT features though really, was a 1 day thing. The entire three curriculum is heavily Cisco loaded, so maybe I'm tainted.

GreenEnvy22
join:2011-08-04
St Catharines, ON

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What I did, find an old watchguard (make sure it's an x86 model) on ebay. Then load pfsense onto it. Very easy to do. I also swapped the cpu out for a pentium-m (was a celeron-m), and rear fans out (they were incredibly loud, new ones are whisper quiet).

Those swap outs are entirely optional.
Viper359
Premium Member
join:2006-09-17
Scarborough, ON

Viper359

Premium Member

I have to admit, I was really surprised what little resources are truly required to run a good stable box for a firewall and router. I think I went overkill, not realizing it. I have a 150/10 connection, but I really only required my router to be able to handle about 40-50 Mbps peak over vpn. Even when its at this peak, I am using next to no processing power. I think 20-25% tops.

AMD A4-5300 3.4 Ghz, dual core processor, 4 Gigs of ram, 500 gig hard drive, MSI A75MA-E35 board, with a fractal core 1000 mAtx case.

d4m1r
join:2011-08-25

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^Wow....Yah that is a little over kill

I do something similar at home with an old Dell desktop that I converted into a server...1Ghz P3 and 512MB DDR RAM FTW!

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS to Viper359

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x86 processors are actually pretty power things, even for being CISC. It just that consumer oriented OSes are made so complex to that they can fit the chasm wide variety of operations and features that an every day person might want.

So something like OS with a specifically for one purpose (lets say being a router/gateway ) will run pretty lean and mean on similar hardware, which is why people reused old computers or netbooks for these home-made routers.