1Gbps Internet connection using a 3925 router

[poulid]

Hello folks. We currently have four 1Gb internet connections coming into our head office, hosting various services, costing us a lot of money. I never really paid much attention to it, but I just realized that the provider is bringing each of the circuits into a fiber media converter, and then into a 3925 router (each circuit has it's own), which we plug our firewalls into. It dawned on me that some of the Internet performance issues we've been experiencing might be due to the fact that the providers Internet facing 3925's can't push 1Gbps of traffic...even unencrypted traffic, even though we're paying for 1Gbps of bandwidth. Am I crazy to question the provider on their choice of equipment?

[Georg Pauwen · Accepted solution]

Hello,

good question actually. According to the data sheet:

The Cisco 3900 Series enables deployment in high-speed WAN environments with concurrent services enabled up to 350 Mbps.

Run a speedtest (http://www.speedtest.net) or have the ISP run a test. I am afraid you won't get close to 1Gig WAN troughput. The ASR1002X would be a better choice...

[poulid]

I ran a speed test from outside the firewall, and the most I can get is 320Mbps down. I've got a call in with the provider.

[Joseph W. Doherty · Accepted solution]

Yes, a 3925 is questionable for supporting a gig connection.

Actually, Cisco's testing shows a 3925 can provide up to 6 Gbps throughput, but that's only in the case with all max size packets and no features being used.

Cisco also recommends a 3925 for only up to 100 Mbps of WAN bandwidth.

All the details can be found in the attached whitepaper.

Although Georg recommends an ASR 1K, the top end 4K would also likely be suitable for a gig link.