net: To 1.4Gbps and Beyond (without Link Aggregation)

Wow, who would ever have thought we would get to this, now this is Comcast territory so not symmetric, but I’m getting a 1.4Gbps download and a 40Mbps upload now. This required some significant changes to the network. I had been using an Arris SB8200 which is a 32×8 DOCSIS 3.1 modem that has two 2Gbps internet ports which I had to virtually bond into a 10Gbps connection through UniFi VLANs in my Unifi 48 POE switch and then this comes out of one of the STP ports to the UniFi Dream Machine. This was an expensive toy at $145, but more importantly, I can’t believe I got Link Aggregation to work. I don’t need the ports right now so I’ll leave the LAG and so forth up, but it’s nice to recover two 1Gbps Ethernet and one STP port.

But in a recent power outage, I discovered that recovering the Link Aggregation isn’t super easy. I had been using an Arris SB6183 for a long time which is DocSIS 3.0 and supports up to 686Mbps.

So, Comcast reminded me about this problem, and in looking at new modems, there’s the Motorola MB8600 with a single 2.5Gbps port so I could get rid of all that link aggregation. it also frees up an STP port on my UniFi switch. That means I can have up to three devices with these 2.5/5/10Gbps modules for a really fast wired connection. The nice thing is that you first have to activate it and its way clearer how to do this, then plug it in and you will need a cellular connection or something when you do this. It takes about 10 minutes and look at the bottom of the modem for its CM MAC and it connects which is nice.

I’m currently running my older Synology DS-2413+ with 2Gbps through link aggregation as well as a Synology 1812+ in the same way. I will have to do an upgrade at some point as the old Drobo and DroboPro are really cranky. The USB connection to the Synology causes the Synology kernel to crash, so I think in 2023, I can expect a new NAS that is going to use up one of these fast connections.

The planet is telling me that at least the older Synology no longer gets the latest operating system updates, so that means its probably time for 10-year upgrade. That’s about how long these NAS are lasting, the Drobo’s were bought in 2007 or so and the Synologies arrived in 2013, and now its amazingly 2022!