[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Looking to buy AX router.

Hi guys,

Looking to change my wrt32 for an AX router to get wifi 6 and wider coverage.

1- Keep current wrt32
----- PROS : Less expensive solution and already flashed with operwrt

2- Asus TUF-AX4200
----- PROS : Openwrt compatible and can get it at a reasonable price

3- Asus RT-AX86U Pro or RT-AX88U Pro
----- PROS : Merlin compatible and wide wifi coverage

4- Netgear RAXE-300
----- CONS : No wireguard support and no opensource firmware

5- Asus ExperrWifi EBR63
----- Amazing dashboard and features, but no opernsource firmware and only ax3000

6- Any other idea? Let me know

Thanks!

[Assistant]
Welcome to the forums @T-Bo4.

Just note that for option #3, those two models are not comparable. The RT-AX88U Pro is the superior model, even for a higher price. Particularly if you want to keep this new router as long as possible, or, get the highest possible price for it when you do decide to sell it for WiFi 7 products in about 18 months to two years from now.

T-Bo4 said:
1- Keep current wrt32
----- PROS : Less expensive solution and already flashed with operwrt

I would keep using the existing OpenWrt router.

T-Bo4 said:
Hi guys,

Looking to change my wrt32 for an AX router to get wifi 6 and wider coverage.

1- Keep current wrt32
----- PROS : Less expensive solution and already flashed with operwrt

2- Asus TUF-AX4200
----- PROS : Openwrt compatible and can get it at a reasonable price

3- Asus RT-AX86U Pro or RT-AX88U Pro
----- PROS : Merlin compatible and wide wifi coverage

4- Netgear RAXE-300
----- CONS : No wireguard support and no opensource firmware

5- Asus ExperrWifi EBR63
----- Amazing dashboard and features, but no opernsource firmware and only ax3000

6- Any other idea? Let me know

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If ASUS, then No. 3 (on sale this week).

Note that arriving next gen 3.0.0.6 firmware will require 'pro' models.

OE


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Mesh router vs regular for mesh

Hello.
I want to add router to my home to extend range. I like the look of the typical mesh zenwifi router nut I am concerned about comparision to regular one like RT-AX55 for example. Is it worse for zenwifi that it doesn't have external big antenas in terms of range and performance? Are mesh models work better as nodes than regular ones? What model do you recommend to get the best range?

[Assistant]
Many routers these days have internal antennas. In fact, some have both internal and external antenna. The AX86U and AX86U Pro have three external antenna and one internal antenna. Does it make a difference? probably not.
Best range? It depends on your environment. Walls, floors and WIFI interference from neighbors.
Recommended routers? RT-AX88U Pro and the RT-AX86U Pro are the most recommended as well as the GT-AX6000. Other Asus AX routers are good as well but it is a good idea to buy a recent release for the main router to hopefully get longer support. Some AX routers are already in End of Life status.

kofii12345 said:
Hello.
I want to add router to my home to extend range. I like the look of the typical mesh zenwifi router nut I am concerned about comparision to regular one like RT-AX55 for example. Is it worse for zenwifi that it doesn't have external big antenas in terms of range and performance? Are mesh models work better as nodes than regular ones? What model do you recommend to get the best range?
Click to expand...

If ASUS, consider the RT-AX88U Pro or the RT-AX86U Pro. Skip the ZEN models. Arriving next gen 3.0.0.6 'pro' firmware will require Pro models.

OE

Thanks. RT-AX88U is super expensive. Is it worth to pay that money to use it as a node instead of ZEN? The main router is AC86U and it will connect wirelessly.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Advice needed on Access Points system (Unifi / Omada / Netgear / Zyxel / Grandstream / Dlink)

Hello everyone!
I use Asus routers with Aimesh for a long time and I was satisfied of their performance.
Nevertheless, I decided to give pfsense a try and use it for 3 months already.
Now I wish to setup new network with HW or VM pfsense, managed switch, local AP controller (no cloud) and 2x APs in a wired mesh. I will have at least 3 VLANs and SSiDs with different access permissions.

After a short investigation of available options for AP mesh-systems, I came to the following conclusions:
1. Grandstream = best option, because no need in additional AP controller
at least two usable models GWN7662 (160Mhz channel for 5Ghz, but 2x2:2 MIMO for 2,4Ghz and 4x4:4 for 5Ghz) and GWN7664 (80 Mhz channel 5Ghz with 4x4:4 MIMO for all bands). Excellent coverage in reviews, wired or wireless mesh and price range of 120-160 Euro.

2. Unifi = second best option, because requires additional AP controller
requires SW or HW controller. Wired and wireless mesh possible. Excellent signal coverage, similar to AX6000, price range about 180 Euro for U6LR wifi 6 AP with 1Gbe POE LAN
The docker option (SW AP controller) means that I need to run the server 24/7 on something like Zima Board.

3. Omada (TP-Link) = not acceptable, because of no wired backhaul.
requires SW or HW controller. Only wireless mesh possible. Average signal coverage, price range about 100 Euro for wifi 6 AP with 1Gbe POE LAN
The docker option (SW AP controller) means that I need to run the server 24/7.

3. Netgear = not acceptable, because of no local AP controller available.
requires cloud AP controller.

4. Zyxel = not acceptable, because of no local AP controller available.
requires cloud (Nebula) AP controller.

5. Dlink = not acceptable, because of no local AP controller available.
requires cloud AP controller. AP cannot even be registered without an app.

could you please let me know if I miss something? I did not consider Cisco or Ruckus because of different price ranges and low availability in the EU.

[Assistant]
I would give you advice to try OPNsense as then you will have access to
https://github.com/mimugmail/opn-repo
what for example has Unifi Controller (os-unifi-maxit)

you can find something similar fo pfSense but it is beta - pfSense do not have so frequent updates. For example wireguard was added to OPNsense years ago and for pfSense in 2023
for me was frustrating if I find same issue like with LAN bridge and pfSense did not correct it in 2y. OPNsense have updates every few weeks and a lot releases
https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/OPNsense_Release_Information

Zyxel doesn't need a controller as each AP has local admin. Most APs work the same but companies like to get more profits with cloud subscriptions.

You can do mesh on the Cisco 150ax wireless APs which do not require a controller as it is built-in. I don't because I believe wire is better.

Cisco has global management if you don't go over several APs more than you would run at home. I don't remember how many right now. I want to say 16.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Advice needed on new router!

Hi all, I have been driving myself mad trying to choose the best router for my needs. I'm looking to replace a Linksys WRT1900ACS that, I think, has been giving me dropouts. I've already replaced my modem with an Arris SB8200 (capable up to 1Gbps). I have a family of four, two kids 6 and 11. We pay for 100Mbs. Our home is two-stories and a basement, around 2400 sq/ft, and I'd like to cover both levels and the basement, preferably with a single router. Our speed seems to be doing us fine for now. We don't game and we stream our TV needs. I work from home with occasional video calls. There are 10-15 devices in the house, more when we host family. And a Ring doorbell. We don't have any wired connection needs for now. Everything is wifi.

I could see us needing faster speeds as the kids get older. Our ISP doesn't offer anything above 1Gbps right now.

The routers I am choosing between:

TP-Link AX3000 (Archer AX55) - $100
Asus RT-AX86S (renewed from Amazon) - $130
TP-Link AXE5400 (Archer AXE75) - $150
Asus RT-X86U Pro - $220
Synology WRX560 - $220

I know the RT-X86U Pro is capable of faster speeds than my modem can pump out. Wirecutter named the TP-Link AX55 the 2024 best router for most homes. I don't want to pay for features I don't need. I would like to be a bit future proofed in terms of speed, but don't know when I'd upgrade. Having adequate coverage in our home is important. I'm thinking the RT-86S might be fine? Unless there's a reason I need to think about the 86U or Synology?

1. Do I need to be concerned with a 2.5Gpbs port?
2. What is the RAM and CPU used for in a router? Do I need to pay for a router with better specs?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Assistant]
RT-AX86S vs RT-AX86U vs RT-AX86U Pro
When you go into the Guest Network Pro there are predefined guest networks, one being labeled IoT. The issue I encountered using this pre defined network is there was no option to disable AP isolation. In the ”normal” guest networks, the option to enable/disable AP isolation is available. I...
www.snbforums.com

None of the routers you indicate above are worth considering today.

How can anything be named 'best' for 2024 when we're only 32 days in...

1. Do you have any wired LAN devices with 2.5GbE capabilities (or may have in the foreseeable future)?

2. Like anything, it is used to perform the functions the product states it will do.

See the link I've already answered this question on. There is nothing 'better specced' that is worth buying today.

L&LD said:
RT-AX86S vs RT-AX86U vs RT-AX86U Pro
When you go into the Guest Network Pro there are predefined guest networks, one being labeled IoT. The issue I encountered using this pre defined network is there was no option to disable AP isolation. In the ”normal” guest networks, the option to enable/disable AP isolation is available. I...
www.snbforums.com

None of the routers you indicate above are worth considering today.

How can anything be named 'best' for 2024 when we're only 32 days in...

1. Do you have any wired LAN devices with 2.5GbE capabilities (or may have in the foreseeable future)?

2. Like anything, it is used to perform the functions the product states it will do.

See the link I've already answered this question on. There is nothing 'better specced' that is worth buying today.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! I do not have any wired devices. I may wire in my television, but seems to be fine enough on wifi right now. Our current plan is 100Mbps, which seems to be ok. I could see going up to 200 or 500 when the kids get older, but our ISP doesn't offer anything over 1Gbps. I honestly don't know how I would ever need that much.

Note that wiring in the TV will probably give you less top speed, but lower latency (most TVs have 100MbE ports).

With a 100Mbps ISP, you may never need more. But usually, higher speed plans offer less latency (for each concurrent user).

If your ISP already offers 1Gbps speeds, buying a router (like the previously suggested RT-AX68U) is not a worthwhile buy for the long term.

My suggestions still stand. Yes, they may be more than what you're currently looking at, but they are also more likely to be usable in a few years too.

The benefits of RMerlin firmware (and select Asus routers) cannot be overstated. This forum is proof enough of that.

PS, I never thought that I would ever need more than DSL (vs. the previous modems that used the phone lines...), but the internet, like everything else, doesn't sit still. It is constantly evolving and changes, baby... they're a'coming.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: RT-ac68 and RT-ac86 expiring, what now? RT-ax86(PRO) and Range Extender or not?

Hello,
I currently have an RT-AC86U as my main router and a bunch of old RT-AC68U that I use as nodes all running merlin. All of these will not be further supported after the end of 2024 and I will be looking into an upgrade. I think the RT-AX86 PRO will do nicely as an upgrade for my current RT-AC86U. I run all my traffic through a VPN and get pretty close to provider suggested speed with the Merlin firmware. Hooray for OpenVPN.

Would it be prudent to upgrade the nodes as well? If so could I use a repeater to replace one? Do these get firmware upgrades? I am aware at least one RT-AC68Us will need upgrading to something with an ethernet port since I use it to connect a wired printer to the whole wifi network.

I prefer to keep using ASUS since it has been pretty intuitive over the years. I however don't want to bankrupt myself on hardware that will expire within a few months.

[Assistant]
The performance of the RT-AC86U has been eclipsed for a few years now.

[ 386.4 alpha Build(s) ] Testing available build(s)
There are some odd regressions being discussed on the dnsmasq-discuss list from the PiHole guy (Dominik). https://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/pipermail/dnsmasq-discuss/2021q3/015598.html https://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/pipermail/dnsmasq-discuss/2021q3/015596.html I see Merlin is testing 2.86 out...
www.snbforums.com

Note that in the link above, a single RT-AX68U (the bare minimum entry-level AX class router at that time) just destroyed 2x RT-AC86Us.

Today, that excellent router has been deemed EOL and the RT-AX86U Pro is not a recommended model.

The best bang-for-the-buck model to buy today is the RT-AX88U Pro.

And more than likely, you will not need any repeaters at all.

Use your current RT-AC86U/RT-AC68Us in Media Bridge mode for any wired-capable devices to free up your WiFi environment and give your WiFi-only devices the least utilized environment to play in.

Dr.B said:
I however don't want to bankrupt myself on hardware that will expire within a few months.
Dr.B said:
I use as nodes all running merlin

RT-AX86U Pro is a good direct replacement model for your older RT-AC86U, but you have 50% chance to continue with Asuswrt-Merlin after the end of 2024 with your new Pro router. It will be moved to Asuswrt 5.0 (3.0.0.6 base firmware) perhaps by the end of 2024 and future existence of Asuswrt-Merlin on 3.0.0.6 is currently unknown. In other words - it may also lose Asuswrt-Merlin support (currently 3.0.0.4 base firmware) by the end of 2024. More information here:

Current plans regarding separate version branches
I thought I'd make a post clarifying the current plans regarding the separate versions (386 and 388), and future plans. 386 branch: This branch is for older models that Asus didn't move to the 388 codebase. This includes three Broadcom SDKs: - SDK 6.x (RT-AC68U) - SDK 7.14 (RT-AC88U...
www.snbforums.com

Good news is current Asuswrt has VPN Fusion for selective routing built-in. Not as configurable as VPN Director in Asuswrt-Merlin, but may work for your needs. OpenVPN speeds on RT-AX86U Pro will be similar to what you have now. No much upgrade on OpenVPN speed, but WireGuard is available option if supported by your VPN provider. You don't need to overpay for more expensive models because no VPN will exceed Gigabit on this hardware no matter what.

L&LD said:
Today, that excellent router has been deemed EOL and the RT-AX86U Pro is not a recommended model.
By whom? On spec they do not differ that much.

L&LD said:
The best bang-for-the-buck model to buy today is the RT-AX88U Pro.
Okay, but this is nearly 2x the price.

L&LD said:
Use your current RT-AC86U/RT-AC68Us in Media Bridge mode for any wired-capable devices to free up your WiFi environment and give your WiFi-only devices the least utilized environment to play in.
Understood, but my question was whether they will need changing since they will not receive firmware updates anymore.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Replacing AC68U to maximise ISP speed.

Hi

I currently have a asus AC68U and it works perfectly fine over the last 6-7 years with my 100mpbs ISP. Recently I upgraded my plan to 670mps and I struggle to get the maximum ISP speed on my house.

I only have one Ethernet port near my entrance of my house and that’s where I place the AC68U router. The maximum download speed is about 600mbp when I run the test near the router. However I only get about 250 mbps in the living room and 200mps in my study on the first floor.

I’m considering buying a AX86 pro route to retire the AC68 but not sure if it will actually increase the speed. I saw reviews saying that the AC and wifi 6 routers have more or less the same range as the signal strength is restricted by local regulations.

Any recommendations? Wound like to have the maximum speed on my study as that’s where my PC is located.

Thanks!

[Assistant]
Bandwidth, also called speed incorrectly, decreases with distance and walls. It is hard to beat a good AC router like the AC68U. But the AX86U Pro is a good router and often recommended with the AX88U Pro leading the charge.
It is worth trying but your mileage may vary.

bbunge said:
Bandwidth, also called speed incorrectly, decreases with distance and walls. It is hard to beat a good AC router like the AC68U. But the AX86U Pro is a good router and often recommended with the AX88U Pro leading the charge.
It is worth trying but your mileage may vary.

Let’s say AC68U has a 5G bandwidth of 1200mbps. It decreases to half after a wall. The maximum download speed would be 600mps.

Also let’s say AX86 pro has a 5G bandwidth of 3000mbps and it also decreases to half after a wall. The maximum download speed would be 1500mps.

Is it ok to make such assumptions to say because Wifi 6 has higher bandwidth so after the same obstruction the end device will get higher download speed?

kevins0625 said:
Is it ok to make such assumptions to say because Wifi 6 has higher bandwidth so after the same obstruction the end device will get higher download speed?
No, because an equal part of the equation is the capabilities of the client. It doesn't matter that the router could theoretically do 3000Mbps if the client is still only capable of 800Mbps.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Looking for a USB modem for 5G speeds, that could handle the heat generated.

So Internet has gotten too expensive everywhere I look in my country, and I'm looking for solutions.

I've already migrated my family households to use modern Asus Routers (so 4 in total), and they all support USB 3.0 (5 Gbps data link).

So I'm thinking, if there's some USB 5G modem hardware that has built-in cooling to be able to handle up to 24/7 loads of several hundreds (or more) Mbps duplex (both ways), I could buy and setup four of these USB modems at each household, and get some unlimited family mobile internet subscription that totals to a lesser monthly cost for all of us in the long run.

Today, a dedicated IP address isn't important to me when internet prices has gone up.

So what 5G USB modems would you recommend to me? We live in Europe.

[Assistant]
domic said:
24/7 loads of several hundreds (or more) Mbps

You need very close if not LOS 5G tower for this speed. Is it available around all four locations?

If you mention what country you live in perhaps someone from the same place may suggest models they have experience with.

Tech9 said:
You need very close if not LOS 5G tower for this speed. Is it available around all four locations?
What speeds should I expect in "not ideal"?
All locations are in city centers, one or two maybe not right next to 5G towers.
I have yet to test 5G speeds on all these locations.

City centers? I would expect 'bad'. Or, at the very least, highly variable and inconsistent. With a bucketful of latency on top too.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Looking for new wifi ap/router

As the title says but here some background. I currently have a Netgear R7000 which has good range but not enough and the 2.4GHz band is slooow. The R7000 needed restarting every few days now, so it was flashed to FreshTomato Version 2024.1 and so far, so good. I preferred the single SSID of the stock firmware. Freshtomato firmware has to many options and reset to defaults doesn't seem to work completely. My current internet connection is a cable 500Mbps down/50Mbps up. I have a 50 TB TrueNAS with a 10 Gb connection connected to a 4 x 2.5Gbps + 2 x 10Gbps switch. The house is 2 stories concert and steal on a 50' x 100' lot of land. All 12 wireless devices are WIFI 6e.

Features I'd like to get:
Wide area coverage. FCC be dammed.
OpenVPN Client for use with a VPN service
OpenVPN server should I want to host a retro style but stay at home lan party
Ability to use my Android phone as a modem if internet goes out.
Some sort of Mesh networking so I can expand to get better coverage later on (preferably vender agnostic) with the ability to use either wired or wireless backhaul.
Ability to use an 3rd party firmware (eg DDWRT) down the road.
Wifi 7 if it's not much more.
Budget is always a concern.

Thanks in advance for you suggestion and help.

[Assistant]
How about the Asus RT-AX86U Pro or the RT-AX88U Pro?
Merlin supports both models.
There's the RT-BE88U Pro coming, but no word on pricing and it lacks the 6 GHz radio, but it's likely to be cheapest WiFi 7 model from Asus for now.
ASUS Unveils RT-BE88U WiFi 7 Dual-Band Router
High-performance router delivers future-proof networking with blazing-fast WiFi 7 speeds up to 7200 Mbps and a massive 34 Gbps of combined wired capacity Dual-band WiFi 7 (802.11be) router enables Multi-Link Operation on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, 4096-QAM, and throughput up to 7200 Mbps 10...
www.snbforums.com

If you are thinking about Wi-Fi 6e you are thinking of being a beta tester. It is too early for that now.

ecktt said:
Thanks in advance for you suggestion and help.

At your location I would just go to the beach more often and forget about Internet distractions.

If you really insist - what @TheLostSwede suggested above is perhaps more than enough for your needs.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Wireless backhaul/mesh systems recommendation for friend so I don't have to be tech support in the future

Hey all. Helping friend out in a new house... want something reliable that he won't need my support on after we set it up (I use unifi, so that's out - LOL)

Details:
5000 sqft house - 2 stories
2 adults... occasional children
use - web surf, streaming, work from home
MUST play nice with Sonos
Comcast - 500Mbps service (I think)
NO WAY to wire backhaul
$$ not really an object

The Asus XT8 looked great, with two nodes... until i read all the concerns about internet dropping.

the smallnetbuilder system ranker has the Netgear orbi as #1... but that entire list seems very outdated.

Figuring 2-3 router points to get coverage. Would love your thoughts on ease/throughput/reliability.

Also needs to be something he can purchase in next couple of days (e.g. like Amazon).

Thanks for input!

[Assistant]
if money is not an issue, just hire local installer shop that deals with wireless lans all the time.
You can help select the company ;-)

I have installed 2x Deco systems for friends with no networking knowledge whatsoever and they are happy with the phone app control. I'm sure they have never used it after installation. One was Deco M4 2-pack (AC1200 class, 100Mbps ISP, $100) and the other Deco X50 2-pack (AX3000 class, Gigabit ISP, $150). M4 is wireless, X50 is wired. Both systems work with no issues. Tri-band systems with dedicated backhaul are available as well as 3-pack sets. The price is okay, the control is super simple, the "mesh" works well with better roaming than AiMesh. Single SSID, Smart Connect.

Tech9 said:
I have installed 2x Deco systems for friends with no networking knowledge whatsoever and they are happy with the phone app control. I'm sure they have never used it after installation. One was Deco M4 2-pack (AC1200 class, 100Mbps ISP, $100) and the other Deco X50 2-pack (AX3000 class, Gigabit ISP, $150). M4 is wireless, X50 is wired. Both systems work with no issues. Tri-band systems with dedicated backhaul are available as well as 3-pack sets. The price is okay, the control is super simple, the "mesh" works well with better roaming than AiMesh. Single SSID, Smart Connect.
Click to expand...
awesome... thanks. Turns out they do have 1200Mbps down, so I'd like to at least set them up with something that might use that, even though they probably don't need it.

Is there a tri-band system you'd lean towards?

MUCH appreciated!


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Replacing AC68U

Since the RT-AC68U is now EOL, it is finally becoming time to upgrade my router, but could use some input:

I originally picked the RT-AC68U like 8-9 years ago as it was fast enough to support 1gbps Fiber from the WAN. I have been using it with a media converter I bought at the same time. My ISP has actually grandfathered the 1gbps connection, as I could / should now have 10gbps at no extra costs, but I never had them upgrade as I was afraid this wouldn't work with my media converter.

As you can see, I usually like to use my stuff for a good amount of time between upgrades. This is why I was originally hoping to jump directly to WiFi 7 and 10Gbps when the RT-AC68U reached it's EOL. I already have a WiFi 7 phone (ok, that's irrelevant...), but I will also be getting a new tablet and laptop with WiFi 7 soonish.

I have been happy with the RT-AC68U, so I was originally going to get another Asus. But it seems I am blocked. Media converters for 10gbps are not really a thing as far as I can tell (plus I would prefere without one). None of the Asus Wifi7 routers except the newly announced RT-BE88U support SFP+ (and this one doesn't have 6Ghz...). Even on the WiFi 6 side, the only one I see RT-AX89X which is quite old now already.

I see following options:
- Get a TP-Link Archer BE800: It has Wifi7 & SFP+ / 10Base-T and basically fullfils all my requirements. I believe I can use it with a local admin account (no cloud login), but it's a bit neboulus. But I am unsure if TP-Link is good with FW-Updates / LTS as well.
- Try to continue using my media converter for 1gbps WAN and get a RT-AX86u Pro / RT-AX88u Pro: Not super hyped to still be getting a WiFi 6 device now . I could also go Asus WiFi 7, but I dislike the ugly spider routers with ROG branding and it's a waste of money if I cannot get the 10gbps WAN to work because they only have 10Base-T.
- Get some cheap interim router like the RT-AX58U v2 and hope for a decent Asus WiFi 7 router with SFP+ in the future (RT-BE88U Pro perhaps?).

Anyone have and thoughts on this?

[Assistant]
beisat said:
Anyone have and thoughts on this?

Where is the 10GbE WAN going after the router? You can get about Gigabit on Wi-Fi now, perhaps 2Gbps with Wi-Fi 7, some of your wired devices may have 2.5GbE ports... and what about the rest? It's like upgrading your family SUV to a 54-seat coach bus because it comes cheap. What you are going to do with it?

beisat said:
I could / should now have 10gbps at no extra costs

All new equipment comes at no extra cost? You are going to spend thousands chasing the ISP speed with little to no improvement to Internet experience. You are basically investing in occasional fast file transfers and speed tests. No new router will be supported for >4 years. What you had with RT-AC68U was an exception.

Tech9 said:
Where is the 10GbE WAN going after the router? You can get about Gigabit on Wi-Fi now, perhaps 2Gbps with Wi-Fi 7, some of your wired devices may have 2.5GbE ports... and what about the rest? It's like upgrading your family SUV to a 54-seat coach bus because it comes cheap. What you are going to do with it?

All new equipment comes at no extra cost? You are going to spend thousands chasing the ISP speed with little to no improvement to Internet experience. You are basically investing in occasional fast file transfers and speed tests. No new router will be supported for >4 years. What you had with RT-AC68U was an exception.
Click to expand...
Thanks Tech9, I got some of the router suggestions from your posts in other threads actually!

I agree that 10gbps WAN is not really necessary currently, which is why I have deferred the ISP upgrade for multiple years now. It would be going to my gaming PC (currently 2.5GbE) and my future 10GbE NAS. I'm not really chasing 10Gbps WAN, I am aware I hardly can use it. It's more that this is what my ISP would provide via fiber. I don't believe I can easily convert the 10Gpbs signal to a 1Gbps router 1000BASE-T, that's why I wanted SFP+. I figured if I get a new router, it may as well support it. It's not like SFP+ is uncommon, e.g. the TP-Link all seem to have it. And even if I (can) stay with 1GbE WAN, it would be nice to have basic SFP port and not need a (aging and hot) media converter.

What I am more worried about though is your mention of >4 years being an exception. Why would you say is that? Generally I feel routers have gotten more expensive, as they need more hardware I believe (6ghz etc.). I wouldn't want to have to buy one every 3 years just to receive FW updates:/ This is exactly why I would buy a (good, not cheapest) Asus, e.g. a AX88u Pro.

So did you have any further thoughts on the mentioned routers or my situation? I do feel that (unlike perhaps 9 month ago) WiFi 7 is sort of ready now, would you agree?

beisat said:
Why would you say is that?

RT-AC68U was a special case used for promoting AiMesh. It was popular, many people had one, it had to be compatible and supported for marketing reasons. The new models life cycle will be much shorter again for marketing reasons. We already see early AX models on EoL list. You need something compatible with upcoming 3.0.0.6 firmware for a longer support chance. The cheapest model is RT-AX86U Pro. It's popular around along with the newer RT-AX88U Pro.

beisat said:
I don't believe I can easily convert the 10Gpbs signal to a 1Gbps router 1000BASE-T, that's why I wanted SFP+.

You don't need to do that. Your ISP will provide ONT with Ethernet port. Your gaming PC needs low latency, not high bandwidth. You'll be downloading games faster on >Gigabit ISP, but your gaming experience will be exactly the same. If you survived for so long with 10+ years old hardware RT-AC68U - you don't need anything faster than Gigabit ISP and perhaps nothing better than RT-AX86/88U Pro. You can run faster LAN if you want to. To do that you need a switch, not a router.

beisat said:
WiFi 7 is sort of ready now, would you agree?

Still accepting volunteer beta testers. Are you ready?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Portable router for vpn

Hello,
I am looking for a small portable router, where i can install/set vpn, and connect my laptop through choosen gate, and drop all other connections.

Any sugestion for the hardware?

Technology:
I have currently nordvpn, and i intend to use this for now

In the future i can set openVpn

Hardware:
Something i can buy on Amazon

Area:
European Union

Thank you

[Assistant]
Spaghetti_Jack said:
Any sugestion for the hardware?

Yes, see GL.iNet devices:

Homepage
We bring secure network hardwares and softwares to homes, office buildings and industrial facilities, inspiring a smarter lifestyle for the world.
www.gl-inet.com

Go to Products, Travel Router. Exactly what you need.

Spaghetti_Jack said:
I am looking for a small portable router, where i can install/set vpn, and connect my laptop through choosen gate, and drop all other connections.

GL-AXT1800 / Slate AX
Slate AX (GL-AXT1800) is our first Wi-Fi 6 travel router comes with 1800Mbps combined wireless speed. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive latest product update!
www.gl-inet.com

Enough said...

Spaghetti_Jack said:
Hello,
...looking for a small portable router, where i can install/set vpn, and connect my laptop through choosen gate, and drop all other connections...
I've been using the the GLiNet GL-AXT1800 for over a year - supports WISP which is what you're looking for when traveling... great little box for remote use...


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Looking for ASUS Router that supports more than two active VPN connections

Hi All,

Any advice on a ASUS Router to purchase that does allow more than two active
VPN connections (Open & Wire) constant 4-6 would be perfect, also may have a 2.5 Wan..
I would imagine have to flash with Merlin.
I have TUF AX 3000 & TUF AX4200 routers at present and of course only two active allowed,
and not supported I believe with Merlin
Any advice appreciated.
Regards

[Assistant]
more said:
that does allow more than two active
VPN connections (Open & Wire) constant 4-6 would be perfect
I don't understand.
Wireguard server:

OpenVPN server:

more said:
TUF AX 3000
GitHub - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng: Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers
Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng
github.com
only TUF-AX3000 v2
hardware_compatibility [FreshTomato Wiki]
wiki.freshtomato.org
more said:
TUF AX4200
[OpenWrt Wiki] ASUS TUF-AX4200
openwrt.org

more said:
Hi All,

Any advice on a ASUS Router to purchase that does allow more than two active
VPN connections (Open & Wire) constant 4-6 would be perfect, also may have a 2.5 Wan..
I would imagine have to flash with Merlin.
I have TUF AX 3000 & TUF AX4200 routers at present and of course only two active allowed,
and not supported I believe with Merlin
Any advice appreciated.
Regards
Click to expand...
Ah, VPN Server or Client?
With VPN server I have OpenVPN, Wireguard and Instant Guard at the same time.
VPN Client? With a SOHO router you will be lucky to get beyond the two you have now and the performance will be lousy. Better to have the VPN Client on your PC's and etc.

Piotrek said:
I don't understand.
Wireguard server:
View attachment 57512
OpenVPN server:
View attachment 57513

GitHub - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng: Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers
only TUF-AX3000 v2

Click to expand...
Piotrek said:
I don't understand.
Wireguard server:
View attachment 57512
OpenVPN server:
View attachment 57513

GitHub - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng: Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers
only TUF-AX3000 v2

Click to expand...

Thank you for info/


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: router upgrade (Mesh?) for plaster/lathe multistory house

I'm ready to upgrade my Netgear R7800/openwrt. I have a fairly large 2-story house with plaster and lathe walls. I also need a ethernet port in the basement for an IoT device, but that doesn't need to be fast and was thinking I'd just put a wifi-extender there.

I have 300Mbps line now, but may upgrade to 1Gbps. don't see myself going to 2.5G. I can run a wired backhaul to one node, if I need to, but if wireless backhaul works, that's great. I'm hoping 2 nodes will do it - certainly should be an improvement. Coverage is weak in parts of the house.

main concerns are range, stability, security. I'm turned off by brands that make you buy a subscription for security features.

I ordered a pair of Asus XT8's on sale that haven't arrived yet, but after looking at some posts here, I'm not sure I want to open the box. I'd like to stay under $300. $250 would be better.

I use 3 hardwired LAN ports now, backhaul would be the 4th, but I've got an unmanaged 4-port switch laying around somewhere, if needed.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
whywhywhy said:
I'd like to stay under $300

Nothing much better than XT8 fits in your budget. Try it and see if it works well for you.

Avoid wireless backhaul if you possibly can. Thick walls already mean a challenging wifi environment; you don't need to double the challenges by having signal propagate through that twice.

Not sure what to tell you about the XT8s as opposed to something else. I had a pair of them for awhile and was not very happy, but maybe the latest firmware versions are more stable; and as @Tech9 says, getting something significantly better will cost you more. (Also, I was running them with wireless backhaul, so wired backhaul might improve matters.)

maybe you have coax in the walls ?
you can use moca for reliable backhaul. Possible conflict/restricitions if you have cable tv / internet service using DOCCIS3.1 .


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Orbi RBR50 Upgrade?

Hi, I am not very technology savvy and went with RBR50 (very first gen orbi I think) when it first came out for my home wifi (stock latest firmware), and been happy with its reliability overall. With a lot more household members and the corresponding devices (connected, wireless devices, home NAS, roku, steam downloads, and etc.,), I feel like I'm getting bottlenecked, even within intranet. Should I upgrade to the newer orbi's (is it worth the $, relatively speaking)? or should I look for another mesh brand? Thank you.

[Assistant]
cutepolarbear said:
happy with its reliability overall

Stay with what you have for now - the first gen Orbi's are still relevant...

There are probably people around here who are better qualified to answer than I am, but seeing that nobody has commented yet, here's my two cents. I bought an RBR850 base + 2x RBS850 satellites back in 2021, and was happy with them for a little while, but soon grew disillusioned. My gripes might not matter much to you though:
As a privacy-paranoid person, I didn't like being forced to create a netgear.com account to use the things at all.
The web configuration GUI was both clunky and not very featureful. (If you're used to/happy with the RBR50, it's unlikely this is a problem for you.)
Performance and stability were a bit erratic, though I can't be sure how much of the blame for that fell on my mostly-Apple client devices.
Forced firmware updates whenever Netgear thinks it's a good idea are not my idea of a good plan. I had auto-update disabled but the units didn't seem to actually honor that.
I got rid of the things within six months; the last straw was when I woke up to find a bricked base station, apparently because of a forced firmware update overnight that hadn't gone quite right. I was able to recover by factory-resetting the base station, but I ordered some ASUS gear the same day.

Having said all that, I'm not sure what else to recommend you in the consumer WiFi space. The ASUS XT8s I bought sucked differently, but not much less. I've been pretty happy since then with Zyxel and now Ubiquiti gear, but those are a significant step up in cost and management complexity from what I think you're looking for, and I don't want to make it sound like they're nirvana because they're not.

You could do worse than jumping to ASUS, for sure. There is a ton of expertise in this website's community about those products. Peruse the threads in the ASUS sub-forums for awhile, and pick some gear that is generally well spoken of.

Thank you both for input. Prior to my Orbi, I remember going through wireless router / hell / reliability (odd) problems with different routers, including Asus, Linksys, Netgear, and etc., I guess newer technology / features (wow..almost 8 years since RBR50 was introduced) and what not brings different (some same) set of problems, with each brand / each revision. Definitely not looking for absolute top of line speed (and feature) in terms of mesh, mainly improved bandwidth (I guess for my intranet, it's backhaul(?)) and same stability. I did a bit browsing, people seem to have a lot more complaints regarding the newer Orbi. Asus router lately seem to have decent feedback overall; maybe I'll forego the Mesh (maybe there's less issues then?) and just go with an updated tri-band router.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Anyone using Asus ROG Rapture GT6?

Anyone using Asus ROG Rapture GT6? I am interested in it but I find almost no threads about it on forums, here or others.
It is not sold by that many stores in Sweden, and even asus.com does not list it when trying to buy routers online from their page.

What is going on? Is the router used? Is is good?

I am looking for a powerful gaming router to connect to using media bridge as well as mesh (but not if it ruins latency for gaming)

[Assistant]
I'm thinking about it also. I see it available in Amazon US but not popular here. Which one are you having right now?
Mine is Ax92U and the coverage is awesome


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Dual WAN and mesh Wifi - what's the best way to increase internet bandwidth and wifi coverage?

I have problems with internet bandwidth and wifi.

My main questions is:

is it better to buy a dual WAN mesh network, or to buy a cheap dual WAN router and connect this to my preferred wifi solution?
-Background-

I live in a 60 year old 2000 sq ft apartment with THICK walls.

There are also no wired internet services available in my area.

I have an unlimited data 5G mobile connection via a ZTE MC888 5G CPE modem (with wifi turned off to avoid interference). This is connected via ethernet cable to a TP Link AX6600 Wi-Fi 6 Tri-Band Gaming Router.

I’ve got an Apple TV connected by ethernet to the TP Link router, all other connections are via wifi. There are three people in the house (each with phones / laptops), plus two 1080p Apple HomeKit security cameras and one 1080p baby monitor running 24/7.

I don’t have any wifi 6E devices, so no need for anything better than wifi 6.

- The Problems -

Issues are twofold:

The internet bandwidth is not enough for all of the devices in the house. Without the 3x cameras, it’s passable, but with the cameras turned on internet is barely useable. Netflix, Youtube, Zoom, etc - all don’t work properly. Sometimes even loading a google search takes multiple tries.
Wifi coverage from my router doesn’t reach all corners of the house
-My thoughts on the problems-

For problem 1 (not enough bandwidth) I can fairly cheaply get a second 5G service with a different mobile network.

Unfortunately all other networks only offer 250gb of data - and I might get slowed down after that depending on the fair use policy.

I would need some kind of Dual WAN system where I can either load balance (in favour of my unlimited data service) or assign certain MACs (like the 3x security cameras) to the unlimited data service - and things like phones which don’t use so much data to the data-limited internet service.

For problem 2, I need a mesh network.

- A solution?-

I am thinking of getting something like the TP Link ER 605 to give Dual WAN capabilities.

For the wifi, I am thinking of trying the TP Link One Mesh RE815X. This seems to have a dedicated backhaul channel and high broadcasting power so (even though an “extender”) seems like a fairly decent and cheap way to expand my current wifi network into the corners of my apartment.

I’m hopeful the One Mesh extender will work - but if it doesn’t, I’ll have to replace the whole wifi system with a proper (and far more expensive) mesh network. Very much hoping to avoid this.

-My questions-

Is it possible to connect a wired dual WAN router (like the ER 605) into a wifi router (like the AX6600)? Can I still assign MACs via the load balancing dual WAN router to one internet connection or the other (even though those devices are connected by wifi to the separate router)? Is this simple to do? Does the ER 605 support this (load balancing options seem very limited in the manual)?
Are there any advantages of having the dual WAN system integrated with the wifi? It seems that there are very few dual WAN mesh wifi systems available (and they’re quite expensive). As above, Im hoping to fix the wifi coverage issue with the relatively cheap One Mesh extender (and not a whole new wifi mesh network). It seems sensible to get the best wifi solution for my house (whether it has dual WAN or not) if it’s easy to add dual WAN capability to a wifi network with a cheap separate device (like the ER 605).
Will 2x 5G connections via dual WAN actually help with the internet usability issues I’m having?
Any other suggestions very much welcome!

Thanks in advance

[Assistant]
Brockwell said:
Is it possible to connect a wired dual WAN router (like the ER 605) into a wifi router (like the AX6600)?

Yes. This is one of the solutions to unreliable Dual WAN in Asus routers, for example.

Brockwell said:
Can I still assign MACs via the load balancing dual WAN router to one internet connection or the other

Yes, but your second All-In-One router with Wi-Fi has to be in Access Point mode.

Brockwell said:
Are there any advantages of having the dual WAN system integrated with the wifi?

No. Asus routers don't have reliable working Dual WAN. Synology is better, but expensive.

Brockwell said:
Will 2x 5G connections via dual WAN actually help with the internet usability issues I’m having?

Unlikely. Both connections at the same location most likely will have exactly the same issues. Mobile network Internet has fluctuating speed and latency depending on cell tower load, weather conditions, RF interference, etc. You may have better luck with 2x connections to different networks using different infrastructure.

Welcome to the forums @Brockwell.

I am thinking of a more direct approach to solve your issues 1) and 2).

Set up a secondary network for just your cameras and other IoT devices with that second (limited data) on your current router.

Buy an RT-AX88U Pro and connect it to your current ISP. I'm sure the results will be surprising. Be sure you play with location, orientation, z-height, and antennae angles, in addition to choosing the best Control Channel possible for your environment.

Brockwell said:
I have an unlimited data 5G mobile connection via a ZTE MC888 5G CPE modem
Just a guess, but I'd think an alternate (primary) source of Internet, even cable if necessary, would be the first place to look. Fiber would be best...

Getting usable wifi throughout your environment is a separate issue from getting usable bandwidth to that network.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: [GUIDE] Troubleshooting wifi issues

Since the same questions about wireless issues come all the time, with people skipping on some very basic troubleshooting steps, here is a list of things to look for when troubleshooting wireless performance.

First important thing to keep in mind: wireless is a two-way thing. When troubleshooting, both the router AND the client device must be looked at. Even if "it worked before", that does not mean that the client (be it a laptop, mobile device or other) must be overlooked.

The first thing to try is to reboot both devices. Sometimes it's all it takes, especially if the router had been running for weeks, or the computer had gone through a couple of sleep/wake cycles since its last reboot.

If you have wireless AND wired performance issues related to your Internet:

Make sure that the cable between the modem and the router is rated Cat5e, Cat6 or higher. Older cables will not be reliable with this router since it has gigabit ports.

Try powering down your modem for 5-10 minutes, then turn it back on. This is especially important with cablemodems.

If you have only wireless issues:

General tips (applies to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

Make sure your computer's wireless driver is up-to-date. Check with the manufacturer's website, as Windows Update does not always carry the latest version (in fact, it rarely does). I've personally seen old Atheros drivers that would refuse to connect to any modern router, but worked fine with some older routers.
Use a tool such as InSSIDer (Windows) or Wifi Analyzer (Android) to determine which channel is the least busy, then set your router to that channel. Keep in mind that a 2.4 GHz wifi channel will interfere with both neighbouring channels. So if you set it to channel 3, it can be affected by anything also using channel 2 and 4. If your neighbour is on channel 1, then he will also interfere with channel 2. That's why it's usually best to stick with channel 1, 6 or 11, as anything between these will most likely interfere with two other used channels.
Try deleting the wireless profile from your device, and reconnecting as if it was a new connection. The device tend to save more technical details than just the SSID and encryption, so sometimes that information can be out of sync with what the router is using.
If you had just upgraded the router firmware, try resetting your router back to factory defaults, and reconfigure it manually. Do NOT load a backup of your saved settings, as this will make the whole procedure pointless - you will just end up reloading the exact same incorrect settings you want to get rid of.
Router (and antennas) positionning can be important. Picture an imaginary direct line of sight between the router and the client device, and observe what obstacles it has to go through. Each obstacle can affect the radio signal.
Going through a wall at a 45 degrees angle will also be worse than at a 90 degrees angle, as it means more surface for the signal to travel through.
Increasing the output power rarely helps, unless you were also able to increase the output power of your client devices. If you really need better coverage, upgrade your antennas. And actually cranking the output power too high can cause more issues than anything if you reach a point where the signal gets distorted by the emitter.
A 300 Mbps link does not translate in 300 Mbps speed. That's the link speed itself. After that, you have to take into account the encryption, other devices sharing the same channel, retransmission of lost/corrupted packets, etc... Anything around half the link speed is considered good.
The link speed can also vary based on power management. It's not unusual for the link speed to drop to a lower value, then rise back up as you are actively transferring data. If evaluating performance, do not look at the link speed alone - do an actual transfer and measure the throughput. Timed file copy or an online speed test with a known good test server are good ways to do so.
Sometimes, some wireless adapters just won't like your router. That can happen with older laptop wireless interfaces, or some specific vendors. If it's practical, consider possibly using a different wireless adapter (USB-based, for example). A 300 Mbps adapter is fairly inexpensive these days - cheaper than switching to a different router (for example, switching to a Ralink-based router instead of a Broadcom-based one).

Issues specific to 2.4 GHz:

The 2.4 GHz band is VERY crowded. You can get interference from a wide variety of devices:
Microwave ovens
Baby monitors
Old cordless phones
Bluetooth devices
All your neighbour's routers

Due to this, you should set channel width to 20 MHz on that band. A 40 MHz connection would require you to overlap no less than 5 channels. Highly unlikely you will get a reliable 40 MHz connection in any urban area with so many channels overlapping. Yes, it will cut your maximum performance in half, but if you want a STABLE connection on the 2.4 GHz band, there is little you can do about this. Otherwise, the 5 GHz band is your only solution.

Issues specific to 5 GHz:

Not every device supports the 5 GHz band. Make sure yours does if you cannot see the 5 GHz SSID at all.
The 5 GHz band has a shorter range due to its higher frequency. It also means you are less likely to have interference from your neighbours since their own 5 GHz won't reach as far either, so it's both a curse and a blessing.
Common misconception: people expect higher speeds from 5 GHz. That is not the case. The higher number does not mean higher speed, it only means the router is using a different radio frequency. The reason to use the 5 GHz band is not to get more speed, it's to have less interference (which CAN translate in performance improvement over your 2.4 GHz connection, mind you, but not for the reason you might think).
On a similar note: simultaneous dual-band means that the router can use both bands at the same time. That does not mean that your computer does - it doesn't.
The 5 GHz band is usually split in low numbered channels, and high numbered channels. Some devices work best with one or the other, so try out channels from both areas to see what works best for you.
MAC users: some Macs have issues with the 5 GHz band (and sometimes the 2.4 Ghz band too) and Asus routers. The solution usually requires you to connect to your router over SSH or Telnet, and issue the following commands:

Code:
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=h
nvram commit
reboot

Asus-specific issues

The RT-N66U went through a lot of up and downs in terms of wireless stability. At the time this guide is being written (September 15th 2013), the latest firmware version (3.0.0.4.374.720) should resolves most of
the connectivity issues. Make sure you do upgrade if you are using an older firmware version, and that you follow the instructions from either this guide or Asus's own changelog. Don't skip on that line that says "revert back to factory default and erase your wireless profile". It's not just meant to make you waste 30 mins of reconfiguring, it's meant to save you fromspending an entire EVENING of troubleshooting, which will often end up in you taking that 30 mins of reconfiguration to resolve the issues.

Final advice: just because "it worked fine with that other router" does not mean that it's the new router's fault. Wireless technology is very complex, and relies on a bunch of manufacturers interoperating together. If you really want a 100% reliable, sure-to-work technology, stick to Ethernet. In my personal opinion, wireless should be considered as an alternative to Ethernet where it's not practical to run cables, not the other way around.

[Assistant]
Payroll

Asus should cut you a big fat check. Monthly.

RedneckBob said:
Asus should cut you a big fat check. Monthly.

And probably small skinny checks from those who enjoy your great work and appreciate you making our equipment better and answering a mind boggling amount of questions on here daily! At least the chances of some small skinny paypals have a better likelihood of coming to fruition.

http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/80

Wow, I dunno if this is an ios 7 thing but clicking on PayPal "donate" buttons actually works now on mobile. I'm gonna beta test it right now.

PrivateJoker said:
And probably small skinny checks from those who enjoy your great work and appreciate you making our equipment better and answering a mind boggling amount of questions on here daily! At least the chances of some small skinny paypals have a better likelihood of coming to fruition.

http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/80

Wow, I dunno if this is an ios 7 thing but clicking on PayPal "donate" buttons actually works now on mobile. I'm gonna beta test it right now.
Click to expand...

Sent a donation via Pay Pal on Aug 25th.

Still irritated at Asus for releasing such a dysfunctional router. They need to be sued.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS AIMESH issues and dual wan

Hi

Welcome to my home networking saga that's been driving a little mad for nearly a year. Im hoping the brainstrust here will be kind enough to help me with several Asus ai mesh issues.

As background we have a three story home, steel, with steel studs and no ethernet cabling. We're still on fttn max load is 61Mbps down, 19Mbps up. Lots of issues getting fttp upgrade, Starlink won't work as we're on a hill that blocks the southern sky and 5G coverage works but latency and jitter cause intermittent drop outs. We have three people wfh / school often on video calls simultaneously - unsurprisingly we're maxxed out on the nbn line, and hence making sure the home network is as good as possible matters.

I have several Asus modem routers accumulated over the past 10 years that took me down the ai mesh path - dsl ax82u (current main modem router) and numerous ai mesh nodes: dsl-ac68u, rt ac68u, rt-ac86u and 3 rp ax58's.

Aside from the fight to get fttp saga, I'm trying to get the kit I have to work as well as possible. The dsl line comes in through 1 rj11 jack on the second floor (no other phone points in the entire 325m2 house, bizarre). I've used several tp link powerline adapters to get 1g lan backhaul to all of the nodes and they all work, except the dsl ac68u which doesn't work with wired backhaul as an ai mesh node. I've actually turned that off now and the wifi set up slightly improved.

I have a few key questions that I'm hoping someone can help answer as I can't find answers online

1) I'm using the 4/5g usb tethering function which works sometimes for failover, however, there's better 5g reception upstairs. Unfortunately there's no way to usb tether back to the dsl ax82u. Can the second WAN usb tethered phone be attached to one of the other router nodes? There doesn't appear to be a way of doing this via the node usb application part of the asus router log in for ai mesh? I tried with the ac86u but it 4g tethering didn't show as an option?

2) At present there's lots of overlap in the 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi signals across some nodes as they're all using the same channels - if i switch to access points rather than ai mesh will i then be able to separate out the channels for each node to 1,6, 11 for 2.4ghz? I think I'm correct that there's no way to stop the ai mesh set up pushing all the nodes onto the same channels?

3) I had a bunch of issues when I enabled wifi 6 on the main router and ax nodes with lots of drop outs. I'm presuming lowest denominator wins hence wifi 6 doesn't work when there's several wifi 5 nodes in the network?

4) I've also had numerous iot device issues, I went down the path of a guest network, but that caused more issues with repeated drop outs, no connection pairing issues hence I've disabled it. I'm pretty tempted by the smart home master functionality of the asus wifi 7 stuff, and was contemplating a few different options, however, I'm concerned about wifi 7 wifi 6 equipment compatibility given the previous issues. Are these likely if I add a wifi 7 router and use that to run the network? None of my current devices have firmware that gives guest network pro or smart home master

5) No doubt a daft question, but if I rationalise all the network kit; get rid of the ac stuff and add on wifi 7 router to set up the iot network (that i gather is really just an iot vlan) then will that work across all the nodes or if I switch to access points then all of the ax nodes aswell?

I now realise that I probably should have gone for access points rather than ai mesh nodes in the first place, the only good thing about these issues is the learning journey! I also realise that I'd ultimately be better off dumping everything, installing cat 6a and building a unifi network from scratch, however, given we already have lots of asus gear I'd ideally use it, in part to avoid the ewaste.

Anyway, if you've made it this far I already owe you a coffee, thoughts on the key questions above would much appreciated, particularly about dual wan inputs being split between the dsl router and usb tether into a seperate node.

Cheers

[Assistant]
On number 2, with Mesh WiFi settings on the router get pushed to the nodes, thats what it does and part of its charm. That said my Router and Nodes do use the same channels and other settings, 3 SSID's (two which are Guest Networks) and as a result I can roam freely between them, some of that charm. Setting them up as AP's would give you more control of that but I believe roaming between them would not be as seamless as it is now, but I haven't set mine as AP's for awhile now, so can't say for sure.

But mixing AC and AX routers/nodes is likely a big part of your issues with drop outs. When I had my AC5300's with my AX88u I had similar issues as you describe. As for tethering, that's a Router function. Think of the Nodes, or APs as an extension or as a way to extend the range of your LAN (Wired or Wifi), they do not act as Routers.

Under AiMesh, select a Node, Management, USB application here are your choices,and as you noted Tethering is not among them

Assuming you could tether, you'd have to find a way to route your internet bound traffic from the router to the node to use the tethered USB that's going to require some fancy work to get all the router functions to work correctly over to a node on a link failure and back when its operational. Thinking about it more, that doesn't sound very feasible

Dual WAN on ASUS equipment is known to be problematic.
AiMesh is more likely to work with the master and all nodes the same hardware and firmware version. Other combinations can work . My understanding is the least capable node device ( wifi version, # of radios, bands, etc) sets the limits for the AiMesh.

For the DSL question - is the cable dedicated from the demarcation box to the router location or is it the existing inbound cable to a punchdown matrix somewhere in the house ? If the latter and all the phone cables terminate there, then it is a matter of figuring out which 2 pair they used to provide the DSL signal and moving that punch down to another outlet on the ring. If it is a dedicated cable, then it is a matter of running a new cable and terminating it in the desired upstairs location.

4G/5G is always going to be choppy and intermittent and low bandwidth generally. Does any ISP offer microwave or dedicated UHF radio service back to a tower with line of sight to your roof ? That would be stable at least.

aex.perez said:
On number 2, with Mesh WiFi settings on the router get pushed to the nodes, thats what it does and part of its charm. That said my Router and Nodes do use the same channels and other settings, 3 SSID's (two which are Guest Networks) and as a result I can roam freely between them, some of that charm. Setting them up as AP's would give you more control of that but I believe roaming between them would not be as seamless as it is now, but I haven't set mine as AP's for awhile now, so can't say for sure.

But mixing AC and AX routers/nodes is likely a big part of your issues with drop outs. When I had my AC5300's with my AX88u I had similar issues as you describe. As for tethering, that's a Router function. Think of the Nodes, or APs as an extension or as a way to extend the range of your LAN (Wired or Wifi), they do not act as Routers.

Under AiMesh, select a Node, Management, USB application here are your choices,and as you noted Tethering is not among them

Assuming you could tether, you'd have to find a way to route your internet bound traffic from the router to the node to use the tethered USB that's going to require some fancy work to get all the router functions to work correctly over to a node on a link failure and back when its operational. Thinking about it more, that doesn't sound very feasible
Click to expand...
Thank you,

I suspected as much re: mixing ac and ax kit, I'm thinking of turning off all of the ac nodes to see what happens.

Re: usb tethering. I'm not sure whether the settings stay the usb application options stay the same when in access point mode. I might reset on of the ax58's and see. That will also let me see if I can manually adjust the channel in ap mode.

Much appreciated


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS ExpertWiFi EBG15

Wired Router
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBG15
$89.00
5 Gigabit Ports
1 x WAN Port, 4 x LAN Ports (2 x WAN/LAN Ports)
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBG19P
$180+
9 Gigabit Ports
1 x WAN Port, 8 x LAN Ports (2 x WAN/LAN Ports) with PoE+ - 123W power budget
Wireless Routers
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBR63
$149.00
WiFi 6
AX3000, 2.4GHz AX: 2x2 + 5GHz AX: 2x2
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBM68
$299.00
WiFi 6
AX7800, 2.4GHz AX:2X2+5GHz-1:2X2+5GHz-2:4X4
Wireless PoE Access Point
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBA63
$129.00
WiFi 6
1x PoE LAN port - AX3000, 2.4GHz AX:2x2+5GHz AX:2x2
Managed PoE Switch
ASUS
ExpertWiFi
EBP15
$89.00
Managed Switch
1 x LAN port + 4 PoE+ Port - 60W power budget

ASUS ExpertWiFi - All Models｜Business Network Solutions｜ASUS Global
In ASUS 「ASUS ExpertWiFi - All Models」 - Networking / IoT / Servers , you could find most appropriate Networking / IoT / Servers based on product features, specification or price. And you also could get product's detail information and comparsion, even add it into the wish list in buy page.
www.asus.com

All vlan aware and AiMesh compatible.

Firmware: Version 3.0.0.6

Setup

expertwifi.net or asusrouter.com or default 192.168.50.1

"Asus ExpertWifi" app via google play store or apple store can also config this via BT (didn't test this).

AiMesh
100% working
VLAN aware AiMesh node required for VLAN over SSID

All AiMesh bands get put under one, single SSID. You can hide this SSID, but not disable it.

Five SSID's possible.

VLAN

A. Create VLAN without DHCP

1. Settings -> Lan -> Vlan -> Profile = create VLAN
2. "Self-defined network" -> select vlan -> advanced settings = choose the network here

B. Create VLAN with DHCP

1. "Self-defined network" -> Customized Network ->
WiFi Band = None
"SSID" = name for VLAN ID
Intranet - access or deny
Same subnet or not
2. "Self-defined network" -> select vlan -> advanced settings = choose the network here.
Change VLAN ID and network to what you want
Trend Micro

Declining is possible and has no affect on usage.

ExpertWiFi Demo WebUI

ExpertWiFi Demo WebUI | Official Support | ASUS USA

EBG Router/Firewall/Controller + EBP Switch + EBA Access Point: Link 1
EBM Router/Firewall/Controller + EBR Access Point: Link 2

[Assistant]
Welcome to the forums @tiddlywink.

Buyer beware (always). Buy, test, and evaluate well within the return period.

Myself? I wouldn't buy this if the decimal point was moved over to the left two times.

Bluetooth setup for a wired router? Give me a break.

This sounds like fairie dust snake oil at its finest. I sincerely hope it fails hard, so that real products are produced instead.

There is also EBG19P model with 8x PoE ports and 123W power budget.

ASUS ExpertWiFi EBG19P｜Business Network Solutions｜ASUS Global
Gigabit PoE VPN Router, customized guest portal, 9 Port Wired Router, with 8 PoE+ Port, 123w supports, free commercial-grade network security and easy management app
www.asus.com

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this stuff outright.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS RT-AX58U temp check gone?

Now with this RT-AX58U the ability to check temperature is gone.

[Assistant]
Ronb55 said:
Now with this RT-AX58U the ability to check temperature is gone.
It never had that ability because you're running stock Asus firmware. It's only Merlin's firmware that shows the temperatures.

I thought it was still using gnuton firmware...and used to check the temps all the time..The update started flashing the other day and I updated it,,so now its on Ausus firmware?

Ronb55 said:
so now its on Ausus firmware?
That's what it says at the top of your screenshot.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS PCE-AC56 & Windows 10 driver issues.....

Product in question.

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Networking/PCEAC56/

Current Router is an ASUS RT AC68U

Long time SNB creeper. Thought I would finally make an account to discuss a long-running issue I have been having with this card and solved in case anyone else has the same issue. Ever since I switched to Windows 10 I have been having nothing but issues with reception/signal strength and transfer speeds over the network to my media server. ASUS has no drivers on their website and instead provides you with this for the PCE AC56.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/PCE-AC56/Windows_10_Plug_and_Play_Support.pdf

The driver included with windows 10 is absolutely useless. Transferring to my server over either 2.4 or 5ghz never crack about 26 Mbps. BEYOND frustrating. The same can be said with any internet downloads. my 50 Mbps connection all of a sudden became a 26 Mbps.

I tried every Broadcom chipset driver under the sun and nothing worked. Router positioning, different channels, antenna positioning, I even plugged my Netgear R6300v2 back in and experimented with that as well. It all ended up in a similiar result. I was about to give up and just go back to a Linksys USB dongle I had laying around until out of desperation I tried a Windows 8.1 driver. Driver version 6.30.223.245 to be specific.

Well......

Voila ! problem solved! Transfer speeds are at about 49MB/s at 12 meters from the router with 3 beefy walls in between us on the 5GHZ band and the 2.4GHZ band is back to normal as well. Signal strength and overall stability are great as well.

Hope this helps anyone having issues with this card! I have talked to Asus tech support and they have no current Windows 10 drivers in development.

[Assistant]
Where did you find the Windows 8.1 driver, I have been looking and I can´t seem to find it. Do you have a link to it?

dafalck said:
Where did you find the Windows 8.1 driver, I have been looking and I can´t seem to find it. Do you have a link to it?

They just released a wireless utility which should have a driver with it. A customer support rep from Asus finally answered a customer support complaint I filed months ago and said this should now work with the utility. (Replaced all drivers across Windows 7 to 10.)

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/PCE-AC56/UT_PCE_AC56_v2138.zip

If that newer file they supplied does not work for you then I need to need to hook up my DVD drive and grab the file off a disk I burned it to*

Hi,

I'm facing the same issue. I tried everything, even installing the drivers/utility from ASUS website, but it makes my card unstable and it can't connect to any network.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Guest Network Pro bug? Device config'd for main network connects to GNP on its own.

For background, I am running three AX86U Pro mesh in AP mode, behind a dedicated firewall/router. 3006.102.4 Merlin. I have my dedicated firewall/router and managed switches figured for the same VLAN ID on the Asus. DHCP is served up by the firewall/router. The GNP works fine.

As soon as I enabled a GNP profile, even before the firewall and switch configs, I noticed that a few devices that were configured for the main network (with the main network SSID and credential) would randomly connect to the GNP network. After I set up the DHCP, I confirmed that they also received an IP address on the VLAN subnet. Mind you, these devices do not have the GNP's SSID name nor credential. It looked like the AX86UP somehow moved the devices from the main network to the GNP network.

Has anyone seen this issue? Thanks.

[Assistant] It is likely a client issue. You had the client connected to both networks and forgot to forget one of them.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: GT-BE98 - Merlin or Official

So I've got a GT-BE98 (not the pro version) so I'm supported using Gnutons version of Merlin and I've been using it for a while now

Unfortunately though it seems like he's got some things going on and there hasn't been any updates from him since mid January (I'm not complaining or moaning about his work, I am grateful and hope all is well for him)

This leads to the question should I continue with the Gnuton firmware or move over to official Asus firmware as there seems to be regular updates?

What are your opinions? Honestly don't believe I use any of the advanced Merlin features and lately I've been having issues with WiFi dropouts so wondering if official may be more stable for me but would love some feedback from other users...

[Assistant]
liamstears2 said:
Honestly don't believe I use any of the advanced Merlin features

Use stock Asuswrt then.

Tech9 said:
Use stock Asuswrt then.
Is the latest firmware actually better/more stable?

I certainly prefer the alternative "skin" that the merlin firmware provides, really don't like the look of the official one for this router lol

If the router doesn’t work as advertised with original firmware - send it back.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus AiMesh Maximum Smart Devices

Hello everyone,

I have over 70+ devices including 50+ smart devices operating on 2.4 and 20 odd devices such as phones, ipads, laptops, on the 5ghz band.

There are three Asus wireless devices configured in my AiMesh.

GT-AX11000 Pro connected to the internet with GT-AX11000 and RT-AC68U hardwired and connected to the mesh. I also have an RP-AC68U hardwired and connected in an access point mode.
Wireless 2.4 and 5GHz are only switched on in the GT-AX11000 Pro, GT-AX11000 and the RT-AC68U. The RP-AC68u only has hardwired clients.

In the AiMesh, if I switch off the wireless network on the AX11000 and the AC68U, most of the devices connect to the AX11000 Pro on 2.4 and 5ghz bands. The client count keeps going up to 50 or 60 devices. This technically means that the single device can support 50+ clients. The same happens when I switch off the wireless on the AX11000 Pro and AC68U and only leave the wireless operating on the AX11000. The client count keeps going up to 50 or 60 devices and similarly behaviour is repeated when only the AC68U wireless is turned on.

This would mean that collectively between the three devices they should support 100+ devices at least. However when wireless is turned on for 2 or even 3 of the ASUS routers, only a maximum of 64 clients are able to connect at any one time. Most of the time the client count stays between 50-60 devices.

The DHCP pool has 150+ IP addresses in the DHCP range and that is not the limitation.

Has anyone found out a way to get around this limitation? I'm not adding any more smart devices since the AiMesh does not seem to be supporting more than ¬60 devices.

Thank you in advance and have a good one!!

Cheers
Allen

[Assistant]
Are you using a Guest WIFI?
Are you using Dual Band SmartConnect and if not why not? If any of those 50+ "smart" clients are dual band it will be better to let them and the router/nodes figure out which band is best.
The RP-AC69U and RT-AC68U may be slowing your network down as mesh nodes they will limit the bandwidth and channels of the AX router/node. If you are not using the WIFI in the RP-AC68U replace it with an inexpensive switch.

bbunge said:
Are you using a Guest WIFI?
Are you using Dual Band SmartConnect and if not why not? If any of those 50+ "smart" clients are dual band it will be better to let them and the router/nodes figure out which band is best.
The RP-AC69U and RT-AC68U may be slowing your network down as mesh nodes they will limit the bandwidth and channels of the AX router/node. If you are not using the WIFI in the RP-AC68U replace it with an inexpensive switch.
Click to expand...
Hey bud!! Thank you for your reply.

Not using guest WIFI.

Also these smart devices (and most smart devices) mostly operate in 2.4ghz. So having smart connect and dual band on does not help these smart devices in any way.

The RP68U Wireless is turned out and its pretty much operating as a switch.

I have tried turning off the Wireless on the AC68U and the devices just connect to the AX11000s. So that doesn't help either.

Cheers
Allen

Allen4all said:
Hello everyone,

I have over 70+ devices including 50+ smart devices operating on 2.4 and 20 odd devices such as phones, ipads, laptops, on the 5ghz band.

There are three Asus wireless devices configured in my AiMesh.

GT-AX11000 Pro connected to the internet with GT-AX11000 and RT-AC68U hardwired and connected to the mesh. I also have an RP-AC68U hardwired and connected in an access point mode.
Wireless 2.4 and 5GHz are only switched on in the GT-AX11000 Pro, GT-AX11000 and the RT-AC68U. The RP-AC68u only has hardwired clients.

In the AiMesh, if I switch off the wireless network on the AX11000 and the AC68U, most of the devices connect to the AX11000 Pro on 2.4 and 5ghz bands. The client count keeps going up to 50 or 60 devices. This technically means that the single device can support 50+ clients. The same happens when I switch off the wireless on the AX11000 Pro and AC68U and only leave the wireless operating on the AX11000. The client count keeps going up to 50 or 60 devices and similarly behaviour is repeated when only the AC68U wireless is turned on.

This would mean that collectively between the three devices they should support 100+ devices at least. However when wireless is turned on for 2 or even 3 of the ASUS routers, only a maximum of 64 clients are able to connect at any one time. Most of the time the client count stays between 50-60 devices.

The DHCP pool has 150+ IP addresses in the DHCP range and that is not the limitation.

Has anyone found out a way to get around this limitation? I'm not adding any more smart devices since the AiMesh does not seem to be supporting more than ¬60 devices.

Thank you in advance and have a good one!!

Cheers
Allen
Click to expand...
Is your LAN subnet mask set to 255.255.255.0


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus RT-BE88U SFP instability problem

I have a problem with the instability of the SFP unit, as it does not stabilize at a speed of 2500 Mbps. There is an explanatory video for the problem.

Jan 1 01:12:46 kernel: SFP Module at Address 7 Core 0 is Unplugged
Jan 1 01:12:47 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link DOWN.
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Opticaldet Unknown Transceiver
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Module Form Factor: SFP/SFP+
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Module Type : UNKNOWN
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Vendor Name : ODI
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Part Number : DFP-34X-2CY2
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: Part REV : 000
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: ************************************************************************
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: * Opticaldet: Unknown optical module - using default configuration *
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: * Please make sure the optical module is correct for your connection *
Jan 1 01:12:52 kernel: ************************************************************************
Jan 1 01:12:53 kernel: SFP Module is Plugged in at Serdes address 7 core 0 lane 0
Jan 1 01:13:03 pppd[4406]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Jan 1 01:14:18 pppd[4406]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Jan 1 01:14:20 kernel: Serdes 7 False Link Up with Error Symbols 0x0000 at 3.c466h at speed 1000Mbps mode USXGMII
Jan 1 01:14:25 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex AN: Off
Jan 1 01:14:39 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link DOWN.
Jan 1 01:14:44 kernel: Serdes 7 False Link Up with Error Symbols 0x0000 at 3.c466h at speed 2500Mbps mode USXGMII
Jan 1 01:14:47 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link Up at 2500 mbps full duplex AN: Off
Jan 1 01:15:01 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link DOWN.
Jan 1 01:15:07 kernel: Serdes 7 False Link Up with Error Symbols 0x0000 at 3.c466h at speed 1000Mbps mode USXGMII
Jan 1 01:15:12 kernel: eth9 (Int switch port: 6) (Logical Port: 6) (phyId: 7) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex AN: Off
Jan 1 01:15:33 pppd[4406]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets

[Assistant]
Is this module on the compatible devices list? Seems it's not.

Ripshod said:
Is this module on the compatible devices list? Seems it's not.
odi dfp 34x 2cy2

Since the RT-BE88U doesn’t recognize the ODI module as a known SFP, it applies a generic profile to it. As a result, the router only establishes a 1 Gbps link, even though the module is capable of 2.5 Gbps.

From what I’ve gathered in various forums, the only reliable fix appears to be modifying the Vendor ID and Part Number of the ODI (EEPROM) module to match those of the Huawei MA5671A. This allows the router to apply the Linux kernel’s SFP quirk patches, which unlock the full capabilities of the module, including 2.5 Gbps connectivity. (You need external Tools)

There’s another workaround—setting the LAN SDS mode to 4—but (according to other users), this can lead to frequent connection instability or complete loss of link, especially since the vendor ID isn’t recognized by the Asus firmware. So I’d consider this option risky.

The last option is to wait for Asus (or Asuswrt-Merlin) to officially recognize the ODI module and treat it like the MA5671A by applying the same kernel quirk patches. If this happens, the module should work out of the box at 2.5 Gbps without any manual modifications.

For reference, I’m using the DFP-34X-2C3 model (which is essentially the same as the 2C2, just with an APC connector), and I’ve observed the same behavior.

One more thing I noticed: when the generic profile is used, my Wi-Fi upload speeds drop significantly—on 160 MHz channels, I can only reach around 450 Mbps, whereas I’d normally expect 800–940 Mbps. This seems to be another side effect of the module not being properly initialized.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus BE96U slowness (< 150mbps)

I am using an ASUS BE96U as an access point and on the latest firmware. After a reboot I see good speeds 800mbps on wifi6 and 1300-1500mbps on wifi7. However, after some amount of time days(?) when I run a local Speedtest I only see around 100mbps up and down (this is on a 10GbE Linux machine). If I reboot the router or switch to my older RT-AX86U I see good speeds again. Has anyone seen this issue before and know what it may be?

[Assistant]
Please post under the asus subforum for BE class wireless routers for better responses. There are also threads there discussing similar issues. What protocol is the ISP using for the connection - PPPoe ? What is the ISP bandwidth ? How are you testing - local only (LAN) or LAN to WAN ? bandwidth testing should be first over a LAN connection instead of wireless to eliminate many variables of wireless. And should be from a capable LAN client through the router to the WAN.

I will post there, thank you-- this is local speed testing between the Access Point (BE 96U) an a 10GbE server (Acess Point <->LAN).

Posted here:
Asus RT-BE96U limited to ~100mbps after 3-5+ days (local area network testing only, no Internet)
I have been using an Asus RT-BE96U router since they came out a year ago or so-- as an access point. With some recent firmware updates I have noticed after 3-5+ days the performance drops from 800mbps+ to 100mbps up/down this is on the local area network only (excluding the Internet as a...
www.snbforums.com


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: More on asd...

About two years ago I was having problems with my Entware installation on an RT-AC86U.
Files on the Entware distribution that started with "cr" (either case) were disappearing at 07:39 or 13:39.
This stopped gcc working....

I eventually tracked it down to asd.

1654907969[remove_file_in_dir]Delete harmful file,/tmp/opt/lib/gcc/aarch64-openwrt-linux-gnu/7.4.0/crt1.o
1654907969[blockfile] /tmp/opt/lib/gcc/aarch64-openwrt-linux-gnu/7.4.0/crt1.o is binary.
Turns out it as also removing this, but I've only just noticed that in the log file I kept:

1654907972[remove_file_in_dir]Delete harmful directory,/tmp/opt/include/boost/regex/pending
1654907972[blockfile] dump unicode_iterator.hpp.
Odd that files are being tested by name, as that it hardly a marker for harmfullness.

I reported this to Asus, but heard nothing at all in response. But some time later it did stop happening.

I've now got an RT-BE92U and that has a similar problem, in that files are disappearing.

It now seems to be deleting all files/directories containing "zone", "link" or "pending" in their name. As well as deleting those starting with "cr" again.

Now, I know from the close thread https://www.snbforums.com/threads/what-is-asd-process.76242/ that this is an Asus issue, but what is teh best eway about getting this nonsense to stop?
Why is anything deleting entries by name rather than by content?
And why do I not have the option to switch this off?

[Assistant]
Oh yes, I forgot to add that at some point in the last 18 months the asd log has become encode. (previously it was just text).

It now looks like this:
TyRRlXW0QfotcN1FQ2XE3UvrmhVLLollaDL/zlWwqpr5AuoMReOLWREWiV7+QbooP0hg+6ZbTcfxnByWvdrHcw==
WCHoOGh2k4rcnGa4sGfTa+qsb4+0VmyNTL+N7y3ZTNvsauTLcm7BR7ZdWU7lLhshD4pCmxkVyKS5ENpVhl27Dg==
i4qRkyUZIwfZwBX7glL2m6TY47VPnUoRWcuXKO1aVYo4+FDeFdDIzUKLuow4r6c9NLki+UUYp7rO4ECacWzeZQ==
WJATAhtZJuiXkPCHShLVwhW5UGYOVSDyWIu9jo1OdOVNgqPn/MfM5pYLZPWvJTm+IE/0/jrAaOe/V+JcVLpLRg==
MvbYeQIF7AnwFM+QquD+NuIIUina8GPpSGKl4ps7B9K/iZZ/K8ddKVvSRYg3lB81/7oS1lGyb4NYivDQ/zMQkKxoBLlsDM0HaqSaMPY3+cY=
cMDJOddGkphkXpoYKHvDwR8Ey2sXitlIe84oK2OoPntsRbLL384FzFLe78SggQEg4dRj8Fx73ogp+ijMh5yeFQ==
loI1ScB4m9ZWFNFvkRhbNx8Ey2sXitlIe84oK2OoPnvjWU7tVZUxm6Bzdl5jsr6/6Fyn7fSzmuHIcsHrEfMj2g==
lmXIjATT5pqnYMuBd8FMoh8Ey2sXitlIe84oK2OoPnuqPcyvCBzUpJ4PsoalONUsKqrLitiQfC9+VoNhRYQ9sQ==
muEwTbw2fBHgS/nM1OZClh8Ey2sXitlIe84oK2OoPnvR9uX+Cq3Rj4LL+s1JZYP8I9sAkSvdgsRgqCVX0vQ6RA==
CCgIgISWTAtOWwEOwbW4bHsejcplyREXsIkXkGD9uoHYnNpAdf27gC27svglVprH
eKgrum1B91/NjmnUSt6qTdNJCNYOxuSW0JprpnB/V6p8Qqx/NR9feiEYgerrqzRetG6IVBQn074a7eiaFlVC8w==
....
Click to expand...
The config files under /jffs/asd/ are similar.
So no idea what it is actually doing at all.

More that I forgot.
The original problem with the RT-AC86U was on stock Asus firmware, but I now use Merlin, as Asus stopped allowing you to get Entware mounted at boot time.

original-birdman said:
Why is anything deleting entries by name rather than by content?
Ask Asus.
original-birdman said:
And why do I not have the option to switch this off?
Government instance that home router manufacturers protect their devices from malware (e.g. being taken over as botnets using zero-day exploits).


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: RT-BE88U - USB Storage speed

Hi All,

Hoping someone can help with this.
I recently bought an ASUS RT-BE88U currently running FW: 3.0.0.6.102_38152-g83e0a43_1214-g12729_BB0B

I have been using a SATA SSD via the USB port on the router and dropping backups of my PCs into it.

While the write speed isn't great - I am getting approx 900mbps to 1100mbps - I put this down to the drive being SATA and the USB to SATA connection being USB 3.0 - Crystal disk mark scores below when connected to the router USB:

With that, I have started testing with an NVME drive rated at 5+GB per second write in a 10gbps rated enclosure/USB cable the write speed isn't much better but I am not anywhere near saturating the rated USB speed of port/or enclosure

Crystal disk mark scores below when connected to the router USB:

When connected to my PC's 5gbps USB port i get much better speed:

Would anyone have any idea how to get the most out of the USB port?
Just to note my pc has a 10gb ethernet connection back to the router.

Could the issue be with the smb version? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
You do realize you are expecting a lowly router CPU to perform like your PC's CPU while handling routing duties ?
USB was for convenience and marketing of the router. IF you need a NAS for convenient dumping of backup images, please don't torture your router. Otherwise, direct connected via USB at the PC will be faster.

ThatTaytoGuy said:
I am not anywhere near saturating the rated USB speed

You'll never get there on this device. Don't waste your time.

degrub said:
You do realize you are expecting a lowly router CPU to perform like your PC's CPU while handling routing duties ?
USB was for convenience and marketing of the router. IF you need a NAS for convenient dumping of backup images, please don't torture your router. Otherwise, direct connected via USB at the PC will be faster.
I know I'm asking a lot from it and honestly not expecting it to perform like my PC. Just a little disappointed in the USB performance being between 20% - 25% of the rated port speed and was hoping to eek just a bit more out of it. I should add that the CPU on the router isn't maxed out and has spiked to 100% on a single core during the process.

I'm not overly disappointed in it considering it still runs faster than every backup I manage at work but would be delighted if I could push it to 30+ percent of its rated speed. I am in the process of getting a NAS built and will have 10gbe this is just a stop-gap for now and potentially a detachable disk should any of my PCs or the eventual NAS pop and need a rebuild.