Which Router for <10 users?

[Steven Tolzmann]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering what the best IOS Router would be for remote sites with under 10 users?

Our remote sites need to connect to 1 central site (Hub+Spoke Topology), and right now we have about 4 remote sites. Most of the sites use Comcast Business Service (up to 50down/10up). We do not want to use ASA's, we'd rather have Routers for the integrated services.

We want to connect them all via IPSEC L2L Tunnels, and have every spoke be able to communicate fully, as well as with RA VPN Clients. Our current Hub is an ASA5505 Sec+ Bundle, but we may be switching it out in the near future for a Cisco 2901 Router. We are looking for rock solid reliability, so if the internet ever goes out, the VPN will come back up when the internet is back (a problem we've had in the past).

I need as many suggestions as possible for our Remote Site routers, so we can look over the options for our network's needs!

Thanks in advance!!!

[Leo Laohoo]

I'd be recommending either the 860, 880 or 890.

www.cisco.com/go/800

[Steven Tolzmann]

The 860 looks like an older model... We have 871s and they are kind of just meh.

Is the 890 just basically more throughput than the 880?

Are the 800 series the only routers designed for this implementation?

Thanks!

[Leo Laohoo]

The 860 looks like an older model

The 860 is the newer model to the 870.  The 860 replaces the 850.

 Is the 890 just basically more throughput than the 880?

The 890 has an 8-port, layer 2 switch at the back while the 860/880 has a 4-port switch.  The 890 has a higher support on the number of VLANs.  And yes, the 890 can support up to 51.20 Mbps of un-encrypted traffic and the value of 51.20 Mbps is expressed in HALF duplex.  If you want the value to be include encryption and full duplex then divide this value by a factor of 4.

[Steven Tolzmann]

Thanks for the information... The duplex/encryption information was really useful...

So is the 800 series the only line of IOS routers that would be ideal for my application? The 890 sounds like a good fit, but I want to know what other options are

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

L2TP and IPSec is bread-and-butter for Cisco.  All you need to remember that for IPSec to work you need to download the IOS that will allow encryption.  Also you also be faced with an option as to the amount of DRAM you want.  It's better, in my opinion, to load the maximum amount of DRAM to a router.

You can get the 1900 router but this, in my opinion, would be an overkill.

[Steven Tolzmann]

Ok thanks.

[Leo Laohoo]

You can get the 1900 router but this, in my opinion, would be an overkill.

Overkill for <10 users.  Besides, the 1900 doesn't come with a switchport.

If you have <10 users, the 890 would be a better fit because it has an 8-port 10/100 BaseTx switch.  If you need more than 8-port then you can also get an 8-port switch from the 2960C or the 3560C range.

The 860/880/890 also comes with an optional PoE Daughter Board (sold separately) and a PoE power brick/module (sold seperately).

You may also notice that there's an option to get the built-in wireless AP but unless the router will be located in a central location, I would get the wireless AP separately.

Thanks for the ratings.