Question MSI Radix AX6600 - HowTo Single 2.5GB Port?

[DasFox]

Hi,

I have an MSI Radix AX6600

https://www.msi.com/Networking/RadiX-AX6600-WiFi-6-Tri-Band-Gaming-Router

If the router has only one 2.5gb port and the rest are 1gb can you do faster then 1gb speeds, or I'd need a switch hooked up to it, in order to do this?

I don't understand why companies are putting only one 2.5gb port, some marketing gimmick?

I was digging around online trying to understand this, and I also watched this video, for whatever it's worth;

At 2:45 she talks about switching it from WAN or LAN, and plugging the pc directly into the 2.5gb port, and at 3:20 talks about 'Other Devices' to make use of the speed.

Here's a screen shot of the UI to switch the 2.5GB. I'm not sure if it really matters which port I use for the modem.

View attachment 98500


So, in order to get faster than 1gb, I'd need a switch?

Right now does it matter if I plug the modem or pc into the 2.5gb port?

Maybe the simplest/best thing to do, without the need for a switch, is just buy a router with two 2.5gb ports like the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX6000?

ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 | Gaming networking｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

Dual-Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router, Dual 2.5G WAN/LAN ports, enhanced hardware, WAN aggregation, VPN Fusion, Triple-Level Game Acceleration, free network security and Mesh WiFi System

rog.asus.com

I just bought the MSI Radix AX6600, so I can return it, if the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 is a much better router. I was just trying to save money, since so many so called gaming routers tend to be gimmicks and cheaper ones can work just as well.

THANKS

 

[Shmee]

To allow multiple computers to communicate with each other on the LAN at 2.5Gbps speeds, yes you would need a multi-gb switch. Of course each computer would need to have a 2.5Gbps or higher RJ45 port.

 

[DasFox]

Wait, you said 'multiple computers', I only have one computer connected to the router wired.

Does it matter if I plug the PC's ethernet into the 2.5gb port or the modem?

I have an Asus ROG B550-F Gaming board with an Intel I225-V ethernet, my understanding, the I225-V is good up to 2.5gb.

THANKS

 

[Tech Junky]

Does it matter

No, because your other ports are 1ge.

 

[JackMDS]

When advance Tech is coming in it is Expensive. In many cases the expensive is not due Material but rather due to cost of research and Dev.

So.. in order to offer the New Hardware to regular consumers they start with adding partial change to maintain affordable consumers price. Once the dev. aspect cost is covered the new Hardware will include the faster ports across all ports.

I learned this lesson long time ago and I buy the New Expensive hardware if I really need the Techno. for functional purpose rather than for boosting ego.

 

[Tech Junky]

due to cost of research and Dev.

There's nothing new about Ethernet though.

Similar issues are observed with WiFi 7 when it comes to getting beyond the WiFi back to Ethernet. A lot of the devices tout 10+GE speeds yet only have 1/2.5/10GE ports. What's the point of having more RF speed if it gets bottlenecked by the physical port? Most use cases won't be doing p2p wifi transfers.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Correct, most people won't be doing p2p wifi transfers or even transfers from wifi to the internal LAN. You don't really need the tech if you don't have a use case for it. I think this is why home/consumer network equipment has stagnated at 1GbE for so long, while 10GbE has been out for 22 years now, and we just barely see it in consumer equipment.

Now for the people who would make use of faster transfers within their own network, well, they have been using 10GbE and even 40GbE for some time now. Some are now even venturing into the 100GbE and even 400GbE realms. But that kind of speed is only needed by those who have a need for high speed storage and high speed sharing across multiple systems. Personally, I don't have a need for higher than 40GbE on my main server and 10GbE on my other computers in the home. That more than handles my DVR and video/media streaming usage, as well as my gaming needs.

 

[Tech Junky]

won't be doing p2p wifi transfers or even transfers from wifi to the internal LAN.

I do client/server moved but, on the rare occasion move files from phone to other devices. Faster lan/wifi does make a difference as Internet speeds are hobbled by the ISP unless you pay considerably more monthly.

WiFi 7 is getting more reasonable in price with a 10ge port.

Cloud7 2x2x2 | EnGenius Networks Europe B.V

Cloud Managed Wi-Fi 7 2x2x2 Indoor Access Point

www.engeniustech.com

$250 but, hasn't been released officially yet from the looks of inventory. My biggest gripe with these APs everyone is selling is either price or port. This thing has both at a reasonable price.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I'm sitting happy with a Netgear R9000 for my wifi access point. It has a 10GbE SPF+ port and works with DD-WRT and OpenWRT firmwares. I personally wouldn't touch a wifi router or access point that doesn't support third party firmware like DD-WRT or OpenWRT as you get continuous updates and bug/security fixes for years longer than the other routers (which will usually drop support after a year or two, or whenever they need to hit a sales goal, so they silently drop support of the previous models to get you to buy the latest one...).

 

[Tech Junky]

wouldn't touch a wifi router

I agree with the router but, the WIFI side tends to be more of an issue with new tech not being so easy to work outside of the box. My setup is a PC as a router and other functions because of the same sentiment about consumer gear. Right now though I'm using a Zyxel AP and can't complain other than it's AX and not AX/E but, that was a choice since just adding 6ghz wasn't enough to spend more money on since the BW would still be a max of 160mhz vs BE supporting 320mhz which makes it more appealing. However, 160mhz can get me 1.7gbps on the LAN but, BE will almost triple that.

Back in the days of AC though I had a QNAP card inside and turned it into an AP when I ditched all of the consumer gadgets and AX/E never really came out with HW that supported AP mode but, BE has a couple of options. I picked up a couple of M2's last fall but, it's been a bit of a waiting game to fire them up in AP mode due to devs dragging their feet to roll functionality into the kernel modules needed to activate it. Things are picking up pace though recently and it should be feasible now or soon. I just need to allocate some time to playing around with it and verifying stability. If things works as intended it will save me the $250 on an AP where the M2 was under $40 and should yield the same results / be open source inside my linux box.

 

[lantis3]

@Tech Junky

Banana Pi BPI-R4 WiFi 7 router board is powered by a MediaTek Filogic 880 processor - CNX Software

Banana Pi BPI-R4 is a WiFi 7 router board powered by the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor with 4GB DDR4 RAM, 8GB eMMC

www.cnx-software.com

https://www.amazon.com/BPI-R4-Wi-Fi-Dual-Band-Router-Board/dp/B0CPFJQCG2

No wifi 7 card included and the vendor put wifi 7 in the product title?

 

[Tech Junky]

wifi 7 card

The “WiFi 7 iPA NIC Module” is based on a four-chip design with MediaTek MT7996 (WiFi 7 tri-band BE19000 SoC), MT7995N (2.4 GHz WiFi), MT7977AN (6 GHz), and MT7977B (6 GHz).


MTK has an offering that's a single card as well but, ime they don't perform well. I grabbed the qca wcn7851 as qca cards tend to work well as an AP. If I had a ton of devices to host then swapping that out for the qcn module would be better as it has more radios/streams but also comes in at $500.

 

[lantis3]

The “WiFi 7 iPA NIC Module” is based on a four-chip design with MediaTek MT7996 (WiFi 7 tri-band BE19000 SoC), MT7995N (2.4 GHz WiFi), MT7977AN (6 GHz), and MT7977B (6 GHz).

OK. Found more info here. Claimed will be released soon. But quantity will be limited to 30-40 at launch.

Banana Pi BPI-R4 BPI-BE14 Wi-Fi7 NIC module

Is there any other NIC available? like is there any example for stick a BE200 or sth on R4 and make it work?

forum.banana-pi.org

Banana Pi BPI-R4 BPI-BE14 Wi-Fi7 NIC module

I have been busy with BE14 calibration, OpenWRT One testing and R4’s case, so don’t have much time, sorry. We are modifying the layout of BE14 recently, and the V1.0 version will be produced soon, but the quantity will not be too large, just about 30 to 40. After that, it will be hundreds.

forum.banana-pi.org

Probably will be very expensive initially.

 

[Tech Junky]

very expensive initially

Could be. Might not be. 3 chips isn't the most efficient method and when I was running the AC qnap as an AP I had to run two services to get both bands online. If the banana is the way you want to go MSI sells a wcn card for $50 and was on sale for $40 so, keep an eye on that for another sale