Re: Router Recommendations

[Mike Hammett via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

Others I had talked to pitched a two-box solution, but not as eloquently as you did. I'll look that way a bit more.



-----
Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions
http://www.ics-il.com

Midwest-IX
http://www.midwest-ix.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Beecher" <beecher () beecher cc>
To: "North American Network Operators Group" <nanog () lists nanog org>
Cc: "Mike Hammett" <nanog () ics-il net>
Sent: Monday, February 9, 2026 12:57:49 PM
Subject: Re: Router Recommendations




• Has at least 6x 100G ports 
• Has a smattering of 10G/25G ports 
• Has meaningful packet buffers 
• Routes in hardware at least 2m routes combined of IPv4 and IPv6, more is better 


Kinda want a pony here. :) 


Put all your 100G ports on a device up top , you can do small buffers with lots of RIB. 


100G downlink to an agg device that consolidates all your 10/25s , has deeper buffers to handle the speed mismatches, 
and needs almost nothing for RIB. 


You'll be better off. 


On Mon, Feb 9, 2026 at 12:11 PM Mike Hammett via NANOG < nanog () lists nanog org > wrote: 


I'm looking for new BGP routers. I'm currently running Mikrotik, which has served me well so far, but looking at 
interface speed, count, FIB size, etc. and they just aren't going to cut it. 

I'm looking for: 
• Has at least 6x 100G ports 
• Has a smattering of 10G/25G ports 
• Has meaningful packet buffers 
• Routes in hardware at least 2m routes combined of IPv4 and IPv6, more is better 
• Has reasonably low power usage, I don't need 1 kw going to a router 
• Is cost-effective 
• Used is fine 


I like how the MX301 looks, but it's way more than I'd want to spend, primarily because there really isn't a used 
market for them yet. 
Arista and Cisco NCS are close, but to check all of the boxes, you're up to about $15k - $20k. To get to $5k or less, 
you're compromising on at least two of the things I'm looking for. 
EdgeCore and UfiSpace may have some models that are in the $5k - $8k range, once you purchase OcNOS. 


I'd have no problem with the EdgeCore and UfiSpace direction, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving anything out 
of consideration. 



----- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 
http://www.ics-il.com 

Midwest-IX 
http://www.midwest-ix.com 

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