Consider your needs and budget, then choose a router that offers strong performance and good coverage for your setup.
Consider your needs and budget, then choose a router that offers strong performance and good coverage for your setup.
Hey there! I’m getting ready to move into a new place soon and heard they don’t support smart devices or strong connectivity without their own router. I wanted to set up some smart home features but also need to connect my NAS. After some research, I learned about link aggregation and realized it’s important for reliable performance. I’m considering the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, but I’d love to know if others have tried it before. Did anyone experience it well enough to confirm its value or if it mostly just looks good? Any suggestions for better alternatives would be appreciated!
This router is everything you need. Setting it up with WinBox can be tricky at first, but it becomes easy once you master it.
I’d likely have to replace my network interface card for the camera, but it’s not a major issue. As a photographer, I often move large files around, so the quicker I can transfer them and start editing, the better.
Consider purchasing a switch with 802.3ad compatibility. This makes it simpler to locate suitable routers for your setup. Devices supporting 802.3ad are widely available. Additionally, your NAS might handle load balancing independently of specific router or switch support, such as the behavior observed in Synology's NASes (https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowl...k_linkaggr)
It's reassuring to see such options available, but would an ASUS router handle this effectively? Or are you suggesting integrating it with a more affordable model that lacks capabilities?
I never handled link-aggregation before, so I had to research it. It looks like this feature needs Windows Server, not the regular consumer versions, and it only boosts performance when moving several files at once. Single files still depend on your network speed—like 1Gbps on a gigabit connection. I assumed it would help faster transfers, but it seems my knowledge was incomplete. Maybe others with more experience should share their thoughts instead. P.S. The Asus router only supports link-aggregation on two ports, making it practical mainly for multiple PCs accessing the NAS together. It doesn’t work with 802.3ad on other ports, so even with dual NICs and Windows Server, you can’t use it.
I also dove deeper into the details since some labels don’t fully capture what’s involved. It looks like configuring a link aggregator for the NAS is straightforward, but not for the computer. Still, I could manage to set up the NAS with aggregated access and transfer files between my desktop, laptop, phone, or cloud downloads in batches—so it’s still practical. It seems there might be an option to combine two cables into one, like an Ethernet RAID, though that doesn’t appear to be available for consumers at the moment.