Common Question which is the best Router for Me?

[#1]

Hi Everyone,
I am in my first few weeks of subscription with Plusnet
I have signed up for FTTP 500 Mb/s full fibre broadband
I am looking at replacing the router Hub2
I want to buy a router that can support speeds
of 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet & maybe with WIFI 6
and replace my Netgear 1 Gig unmanaged switches
with 2.5Gig switches
I have 24 Ethernet connections
Comprising of computers, game machines, CCTV system working on P.O.E connections
I also have a boat load of WIFI gadgets
Probably more than 60 items.
All the Ethernet cable installed here is CAT8
I need the internal network to be as fast as possible
I move a lot of video around on the network
It not unusual to be moving 500GB of video on the network.
I live in a rather large household of people you will gather.
I do favour TP-Link and Netgear.
So, I was wondering which Routers would be a good replacement
for the Plusnet Hub2 taking into consideration my needs listed above?

[#2]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved from Full Fibre to My Router

[#3]

@Flourgrader 

Some observations

You may need to be looking at WiFi 7 routers for 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN ports; see TP-Link Archer BE550 BE9300 although there are routers with 2.5 Gbps WAN ports and WiFi 6 the LAN ports are 1 Gbps.

Not sure it's worth the expense changing the CCTV PoE as the fast connection would not be necessary

Currently none of this stuff comes cheap BE550 cost £299-99 on Amazon

[#4]

Thanks Dan for your thoughts,much appreciated.

I don't mind paying a lot within reason for a good solid

router that does what I want!

My worry is paying a lot and been dissatified with my purchase.

That's why I thought I would bounce it around in here and get some other views and advice.

cheers

[#5]

There are a few Wi-Fi 6 options that have multiple 2.5GbE ports (both WAN and LAN), however the majority, will share these with GbE ports i.e. have one for WAN, one for LAN, and the rest GbE.

I would add two additions to your list of considerations. What WI-Fi standard  you are pitching for: -

Wi-Fi 6 - 2.4GHz/5GHz - would suggest this as a minimum
Wi-Fi 6E - 2.4GHz/5GHz/6GHz - would suggest this if you want to use the 6GHz band and have devices that support it
Wi-Fi 7 - may or may not support 6GHz depending on model (most do at the moment) - would suggest this if you want to future-proof. There aren't that many Wi-Fi 7 clients on the market today but that will change over time

Also, whether or not you want something that can operate as a mesh, or if a single device will suffice (the latter gives you more options).

On the cheaper side of unmanaged switches, I have a couple of these that have been trouble free.

Two multigig consumer routers I have a fair bit of experience with are the Asus ET12 (Wi-Fi 6E, 2 x multigig, rest GbE) and the Netgear RS700 (Wi-Fi 7, 2 x multigig, rest GbE); both of these are expensive, the latter probably prohibitively so.

[#6]

Thank you bobpullen that was a good read.

I have taken a quick look at the

Zyxel 8-Port 2.5G Multi-Gigabit Unmanaged Switch for Home

on Amazon.