A business grade router is a type of network router that is designed for use in office environments and business networks. Business grade routers have advanced features and capabilities tailored for business networking needs compared to consumer grade routers used in homes.
What are the key features of business grade routers?
Some of the key features and capabilities of business grade routers include:
- Advanced security – Business routers offer robust security features like firewalls, VPN support, content filtering, anomaly detection etc. crucial for business networks.
- Increased performance – Business routers have faster processors, more memory and higher bandwidth capacity to support the demands of multiple devices and users on a business network.
- Reliability – Business routers are designed for continuous 24/7 operation with advanced QoS, failover and redundancy features.
- Scalability – Business routers allow expanding the network capacity by adding modules/interfaces as per changing business needs.
- Network management – Business routers support centralized management, monitoring and troubleshooting through SNMP, command line interface and management software.
- Multiple WAN interfaces – Business routers allow connecting to multiple ISPs/WAN links for improved uptime and bandwidth capacity through load-balancing and failover.
- Advanced traffic management – Business routers provide fine-grained control over network bandwidth and access using traffic shaping, prioritization and load balancing features.
- VPN capabilities – Site-to-site VPN allows securely connecting remote offices. Remote access VPN allows remote employees to securely access company resources.
What are some examples of leading business router vendors and models?
Some leading vendors providing business-grade routers include Cisco, Juniper Networks, HPE (Aruba), Huawei, Extreme Networks, Netgear, D-Link, TP-Link etc. Here are some popular models from these vendors:
| Vendor | Model |
|---|---|
| Cisco | ISR 4000 Series, ASR 1000 Series, 800 Series |
| Juniper | MX Series, SRX Series, EX Series |
| HPE (Aruba) | 8300 Series, 6300 Series, 5400R Series |
| Huawei | AR Series, NetEngine 8000 Series |
| Extreme Networks | X435 Series, X620 Series, X770 Series |
| Netgear | MP Series, SRX Series, GAX11000 Series |
What factors should you consider when selecting a business router?
Here are some key factors to consider when selecting a business router:
- Network size – Number of users, devices, traffic levels, number of locations/sites to connect.
- Performance – Throughput, concurrent sessions supported, expansion capabilities.
- Reliability – MTBF, redundancy/failover capabilities, hardware/software reliability.
- Security – Firewall, IPS/IDS, VPN, filtering capabilities.
- Traffic management – QoS, traffic shaping and prioritization capabilities.
- Network management – Monitoring, troubleshooting, automation and SDN capabilities.
- WAN connectivity options – Number of WAN ports, DSL, cable, LTE support.
- VPN capabilities – Site-to-site, remote access, encryption protocols.
- Form factor – Desktop, rackmount, modular chassis based on deployment.
- Budget – Cost of device/license along with support costs.
- Scalability – Ability to expand capacity by adding interfaces/modules.
- Vendor support & warranty – RMA policies, support resources, warranty period.
What are the benefits of using business grade routers?
Some key benefits that business grade routers provide over consumer grade routers:
- Increased performance and reliability for supporting multiple demanding business applications.
- Advanced security features like firewall, VPN, anomaly detection to protect business data.
- Granular traffic management and QoS capabilities for optimal WAN usage.
- Redundancy and failover capabilities for minimal downtime.
- Scalability to expand network capacity by adding interfaces/modules.
- Centralized monitoring, management and troubleshooting.
- Strong service support from vendor for trouble-free operation.
- Standard-based interoperability between different vendor devices.
- Investment protection from a modular chassis-based model.
Using business-class routers improves overall performance, security and reliability of business networks. The advanced features optimize connectivity and help achieve goals like enhanced productivity, reduced costs and delivering reliable applications to end users in the organization.
What features to look for in business routers for small businesses?
Some important features in business routers for small business networks include:
- Fast Ethernet or Gigabit ports – For connecting multiple wired devices and switches.
- NBASE-T support – For flexibility in using different speed Ethernet devices.
- 802.11ac WiFi – Fast wireless access for employees and guests.
- SD-WAN capabilities – Simple, cost-effective way to connect remote sites.
- Stateful firewall – Robust security for protecting business data.
- Site-to-site VPN – Secure connectivity between branch offices.
- Remote VPN – Allows remote employees to access resources.
- Traffic management – Control over application performance.
- Link aggregation – Combine ports for increased throughput.
- PoE ports – Power devices like IP phones, security cameras.
Additional considerations would include compact form factor, ease of management, affordability and support options from the vendor. Selecting the right business router with essential features can help small businesses build a fast, reliable, and secure network.
What are the typical WAN port options available on business routers?
Business routers are equipped with different WAN interface options to connect to ISPs or external networks. Common WAN port options include:
- DSL – ADSL, VDSL, SDSL ports to connect to DSL broadband links.
- Cable – DOCSIS ports for connecting to high speed cable internet.
- Fibre – SFP ports for plugging in fibre optic WAN interfaces.
- LTE/cellular – LTE wireless broadband connectivity.
- T1/E1 – For legacy TDM leased line connectivity.
- Ethernet – 10/100/1000 BASE-T ports can also be used for WAN links.
Higher-end business routers also support modular interface cards to expand connectivity. For example, a router chassis can accommodate cards such as:
- Multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports
- 2.5G/5G/10G Ethernet
- Serial interface cards
- Fiber cards (SFP/SFP+/XFP)
- POS (Packet over SONET/SDH) interfaces
This modular approach provides great flexibility to customize WAN interfaces as per changing business needs. The multi-WAN ports also facilitate connecting to multiple ISPs for load-balancing and failover capabilities.
What software features should you look for in business-grade routers?
Advanced software and network management features are critical for effectively operating and monitoring business grade routers. Here are some key capabilities to look for:
- Routing protocols – Support for protocols like BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, RIPv2 for route propagation and optimal path selection.
- IPv6 – Dual stack support for transition from IPv4 to IPv6 addressing.
- Multicast – IGMP snooping and PIM for supporting multicast applications.
- SD-WAN – Centralized management and intelligent traffic steering over multiple WAN links.
- Application visibility – DPI for identifying applications and setting QoS policies.
- QoS – Traffic prioritization, shaping and policing capabilities.
- High availability – Options like VRRP, non-stop routing for redundancy and failover.
- Secure access – Options like NextGen firewall, IDS/IPS, web filtering.
- VPN – Site-to-site and remote access VPN capabilities.
- Traffic analytics – For monitoring traffic load and utilization using NetFlow/JFlow.
- Automation – Programmability using REST APIs and Ansible modules.
Advanced software features enable businesses to efficiently manage network traffic, get insights into application performance, accelerate deployment of new services and implement automation workflows. This helps improve productivity while reducing operational costs.
How can you monitor and manage business routers effectively?
Effective monitoring and management is crucial for obtaining optimal performance from business routers. Here are some tips:
- Use a centralized management platform to configure, monitor and troubleshoot multiple routers through a single pane of glass.
- Enable SNMP on routers so they can be monitored by NMS platforms. SNMP traps alert when faults occur.
- Enable logging on routers and send logs to a central syslog server for analysis and correlation.
- Use flow monitoring capabilities like NetFlow/JFlow to gain visibility into network conversations and utilization.
- Configure alerts for critical events like high CPU usage, link failures, security threats etc.
- Monitor interface statistics like errors, discards, saturation to identify network issues.
- Regularly check and install new firmware/IOS updates to patch vulnerabilities.
- Use automation tools like Ansible, Puppet, Chef to standardize router configurations across the network.
- Back up router configuration periodically and before deploying changes to allow rollback.
- Test new configurations in staging environments before deploying to production routers.
Leveraging the right tools and practices for monitoring, automation and standardization is key for effectively operating and managing business grade routers.
What are the differences between consumer grade vs. business grade wireless routers?
While both consumer and business grade wireless routers provide WiFi connectivity, business grade access points are designed with several enhanced capabilities:
| Feature | Consumer Grade Router | Business Grade Router |
|---|---|---|
| Wireless standards | 802.11n/ac | 802.11ac Wave 2 |
| MU-MIMO support | Limited | Multi-user |
| Antennas | 2×2 or 3×3 | 4×4 or higher |
| Max throughput | 1300 Mbps (2×2 AC) | Over 2500 Mbps (4×4 AC) |
| Power over Ethernet | Sometimes | Always |
| Beamforming | Limited | Multi-user, directional |
| QoS traffic shaping | Basic | Advanced (WMM) |
| Security | Basic WPA2 | Robust (WPA2-E, AES, auth) |
| Central management | No | Yes, controller-based |
| Deployment | Standalone | Controller-based or cloud |
Business grade access points deliver stronger performance, advanced management capabilities and enterprise-class security required for business environments as compared to consumer grade wireless routers.
Conclusion
Business grade routers provide a robust, reliable and secure connectivity platform optimized for the needs of enterprise networks. Investing in advanced business routers pays dividends for organizations through enhanced network performance, efficient centralized management, strong security capabilities and support for new services. With careful planning and selection of features, businesses can build a high-performance WAN edge that cost-effectively meets their connectivity needs today while offering scalability for the future.
