Pro II Hub LAN Ethernet Connections

[swinbob72]

I've just been upgraded to Pro II, and Voda have sent me the new Pro II Hub and booster pack. 

At the moment I'm not using them, as I have my own WiFi 6 router, that I have been using with my Voda Fibre since I had it connected 2 years ago. Before I got the upgrade I had been looking into upgrading my router to something WiFi 6E (or maybe even 7), but now Voda have given me a 6E upgrade for free, I'm considering using it, but I have some issues/questions that I hope someone may be able to help or answer.

I have wired ethernet for all my devices (well except the mobile ones like tablets/phones) and I have a bunch of 2.5G devices. These are currently hooked up to a 2.5/10gb switch that has 5 2.5GB ports, and a 10Gb port. Now at the moment this switch just connects to my router via gigabit, but if I go to WiFi 6E I want to be able to take full advantage of faster wlan speeds, so would want to connect to router via at least 2.5Gb. 

Now, looking at the Pro II Hub, it has only 3 ethernet ports. 1 2.5gb (labelled LAN/WAN) and 2 1Gb's. Now my fibre is currently only 900mb, so the first question is, could I connect my fibre ONT to one of the 1Gb ports instead of the 2.5gb port, and then have my LAN connected to the 2.5GB port? is it configurable in the Pro II Hub on which port is used for wan?

If this is not possible, I noticed the hub also has a 10Gb(??) SFP port, is this enabled? and if so would I be able to use a SFP->ethernet transceiver (like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sodola-10GBase-T-Transceiver-Ethernet-Pluggable/dp/B0CQ4V96LM/ref=sr_1_3?sr... ) to connect my D-Link hub to the Pro II Hub via it's 10Gb connection?

Or am I just wasting my time, and should go back to my original plan of just upgrading my own router, and avoiding the Pro II Hub?

Thanks in advance for any help

Oh yes, just btw a little rant, why on earth would you design a WiFi 6E hub, that I believe can connect to City Fibres new 2Gb fibre, but only put 1Gb ethernet ports on it? I know the average user just uses WiFi for everything, but anyone who actually cares about performance will be using wired as much as they can, and Gigabit ethernet is just going to result in them not being able to use their connection to it's full potential. If you can only budget for 3 ports on the thing (really should be at least 5 imo though) at least make them all 2.5Gb!!!!

[billhinge]

This is similar to my original thinking. Afaik you must use the wan port to connect from to the ONT but I haven't tried it. I have tried the SFP port to a 10Gb capable Mikrotik router/switch with SFP+ with no success so had to resort to a 1gb Lan connection into a 2.5gb ethernet port.

A generic SFP+ module doesn't pass traffic, it recognises that its plugged. in. A Broadcom SFP+ module is detected but caused the UltraHub to go haywire knocking out all the network configurations at once. Several reboots didn't fix it so I had to do a factory reset. So I don't think you can get better than 1 gb out of it other than by wifi (2.4 gb on my macbook). If you do get SFP working let me know

[olporr]

so i wont do the usual thing and ##~## at you like most of Reddit will. If and when possible, Intel NICs for everything, PCI, PCI-E internal. THis USB thing is going to be a realtek NIC, those work, but cant do half the stuff a real NIC can, they get hot, they can get overloaded by queued requests.

id use it for a management port at a maximum. never anything moving big data, or where readability is key.

This is HomeServer, not HomeDesktop

[Ripshod]

I've reported the above post by @olporr for a dodgy spam link. 

[swinbob72]

A quick update for anyone who is thinking about how/if this SFP port works. After a lot of back and forth with a number of tech support guys at Voda, and them throwing it up the chain a few times, I finally got an official Voda answer.

Official line is that the SFP port is "not supported in any way", and it is there for "possible future use only".

I couldn't get them to elaborate any further than that, so it appears if you want to actually take advantage of the full speed of a 1G+ connection (that Voda now provide by the way) you can only do so via wireless, as the equipment Voda provide only supports wired speeds of 1Gb.

I still think it's a joke that you can sell a 1.6Gb internet service, but only provide a router with 1Gb ports on it, but they just assume everyone uses wireless these days, when anyone who knows anything about networking knows wireless is terrible, and should be the last option for devices that don't need to move around like TV's, PC's, Games Consoles etc..

Looks like I'm buying a new router if I want to get better wired speeds, shame.

[billhinge]

Thanks for the SFP update

Yes its totally dumb, why pay £66 or more (?) for 2.2GB (advertised on voda site) when you can't use it except maybe at short range over 6Ghz wifi if it works for you, may as well stick to 900Mb!. If you want 1+ Gb you'll need your own router, but it appears they will charge you for the UltraHub anyway. The advertising is disingenuous in that it claims the UltraHub can handle these speeds, it may support them at the WAN port but if you can't access the data  via LAN its not much use without your own kit

If you do use your own kit then they don't make it easy to use digital voice for landline. Someone in product design didn't think this through 😂

[mountain-goat]

Hi, I've just seen this hence the long period since it was posted. I agree it's a shame the hub has no 2.5Gb output and why not? The SFP would not support 2.5Gb as it's not SFP+. I'm told it's for future fibre input, but why as it's only 1Gb! I have a similar switch to you and was planning to do the same as you, but was disappointed! I assumed the SFP, without checking, would be a 2.5Gb output when I placed the order and even bought an adapter in advance!!

However, you do get up to 3 boosters free with this hub and the booster has a 2.5Gb output. If you have the space to connect a booster far enough away from the hub and then hard wire it to the hub you can get the 2..5Gb connection to your switch. It's not perfect or pretty but you get the WiFi speed which in my case is pretty good.

I am told Vodafone are to bring out a hub with 2.5Gb output but no details as to spec or timing.