[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as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for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: Only Buy Routers Released In The Past One or Two Years?

I am considering getting an Asus rt-ax86u router. According to the page at Info depot wiki, this router got FCC approval in February 2020. Should I pass on this, or any router not released in the past one or two years, because a wifi router released nearly five years ago is most likely close to being declared "end-of-life" by its manufacturer, and will no longer receive firmwae updstes?

[Assistant]
As a general rule your thinking is correct. With that said, your choice of an AX86U will probably be OK. The recent issue with Asus routers being attacked seems to have been fixed with Asus releasing a firmware version for the AX86U that appears to have magic healing properties.
To save a bit of money I would buy an AX86U. The AX86U Pro would be a better choice, however. I do have one of each!

kc27 said:
I am considering getting an Asus rt-ax86u router.
From where? While officially not EOL it hasn't been available to buy from main distributers for about a year now (after the old stock was run down). It was effectively replaced by the RT-AX86U Pro.

Second hand. Unlocked by Asus...

I expect many RT-AX86Us to show up on the second hand market.


[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as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for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: Should I Upgrade from ASUS RT-AC68U to RT-BE58U?

Hey everyone,

As you know, the beloved ASUS RT-AC68U has officially reached its end-of-life status. While it's been a fantastic router for a decade, it's time to consider a more modern solution.

I'm eyeing the ASUS RT-BE58U as a potential replacement. I'm curious if anyone here has made the switch or has any insights into performance difference between these two routers.

Firmware Support:
- How is the firmware support for the RT-BE58U compared to the 68U (e.g., Merlin)?
- How long can we expect ASUS to support the RT-BE58U with firmware updates and security patches?

Mesh Support:
- How well does the RT-BE58U integrate with other Asus mesh nodes? Is it a seamless experience?

AI Protection and Security Features:
- How do the AI Protection and other security features of the RT-BE58U compare to the RT-AC68U? Are there any significant enhancements?

Mobile Tethering:
- Has anyone tried using the RT-BE58U as a mobile hotspot with both iOS and Android devices? Are both supported?
- How does it work?

Any other notable differences or drawbacks?

I'd appreciate any firsthand experiences or expert opinions. Thanks in advance!

[Assistant]
Have you searched for that model in the appropriate ASUS subforum ?
Have you read the other countless post asking the same question about support ?
What country are you in ?
As said many times, AiMesh works best with same hardware, same firmware, ethernet backhaul. Sometimes it works acceptably with differences in the above.


[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: GL.iNet GL-MT6000 or Asus RT-AX8800U

Howdy all. I'm at the point of replacing our Asus RT-AC86U due to it being EOLed.

I'm familiar with and run Merlin's Asuswrt on the RT-AC86U. I've used OpenWRT less, but have put it to use on a couple of the GL.iNet mango routers.

The replacement choices for the RT-AC86U have have been narrowed down to one of these: GL.iNet GL-MT6000 or Asus RT-AX8800U.

Details:
* We're on a gigabit fiber connection (doesn't use PPPoE at this time, our previous provider did).
* Maybe 10 wireless connections max at any time.
* I do some IRL streaming and have a server at home for use, so I do need it to handle incoming and outgoing traffic for that with minimal latency and minimal buffer bloat.

Regarding the GL-MT6000:
1) How mature is the the vanilla version of OpenWRT for it (as opposed to the one that GL.iNet offer) ?
2) Will there be more work or hassle using the router with the vanilla version?
3) Are issues of buffer bloat more of a problem with it than say what Asus offers?
4) Any particular standout issues with it that would be good to know?

Other Questions:
1) I've looked up the power consumption figures a bit for both routers, but I'm curious if any of you know better information on how much each might consume at idle and at load?

General

Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
cjake said:
We're on a gigabit fiber connection
cjake said:
Are issues of buffer bloat more of a problem with it than say what Asus offers?
Buffer bloat problem is only in your head.

cjake said:
The replacement choices for the RT-AC86U have have been narrowed down to one of these: GL.iNet GL-MT6000 or Asus RT-AX8800U.

The MT6000 is nice, but if you're comfortable with AsusWRT, the answer is fairly clear...

Piotrek said:
Buffer bloat problem is only in your head.
Fair enough. Mainly I knew it used to be something people discussed as an issue, didn't know how relevant it was or not these days.


[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: Replacement for AC-87U

Hi all,

After a decade of extremely good and reliable service, I believe the time has slowly come to upgrade the router. Whilst from an environmental PoV I don't want to given the fact it still works flawlessly and is speedy enough (600mpbs over 5Ghz), the lack of recent updates is the main issue.

I see a lot of mixed advice online (and even here sometimes) so I thought I'd ask the experts. What would be a wise upgrade? I would prefer 2.5Gbit (at least 2 but 1 would be fine if I just connect the NAS) and maybe WiFi 7. The last one limits the options in my region quite a bit but it might be more future proof and I have some devices capable of using it. From my own research, I see that it is important that the 6Ghz option doesn't come at the expense of good 5ghz. I have a 1gbit internet connection and do quite a bit of selfhosting, but I believe any router is powerful enough for that. It's all tunneled via cloudflare anyway.

Many thanks in advance guys!

[Assistant]
Small bump, despite waiting for BF I do like to do some research in advance

You get no replies because there are perhaps 100 threads in this very same forum section answering this very same question.

Tech9 said:
You get no replies because there are perhaps 100 threads in this very same forum section answering this very same question.
Well sortof, it's a bit more nuanced especially since my choice is a bit more limited here. I have definitely looked around but don't see a similar enough thread.


[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: Best wireless router for reliablity

I need a new wireless router for my mom, and reliability is a priority since I'm hours away. The only other requirements are at least Wifi 6 and 4 LAN ports. Ideas?

[Assistant]
ISP provided gateway. If it breaks you call the ISP and they fix it for her.

Dirk Manderin said:
I need a new wireless router for my mom, and reliability is a priority since I'm hours away. The only other requirements are at least Wifi 6 and 4 LAN ports. Ideas?

Google Nest...


[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: Omada device choice

Hi! As mentioned in an earlier thread (https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-aimesh-vs-eero.90766/), I want to replace my current, temporary Eero 6 I got from my provider with an Omada setup. Earlier I used an Asus RT-AC68U, which is now out of support and showed some problems (I guess a reset might still help). Anyways, reading about Omada and having some small experience in setting up a Ubiquity setup for a previous job, I think Omada might be a great solution for me.

Details:
We live on the ground floor where the main cable entry is, and the router/AP combi. Office is in the basement and has good wifi. In maybe 2-3 years we plan to move all the kids rooms and sleeping rooms downstairs, some areas might need a better connection. Planning on laying at least one wire from ground floor to basement when we do the construction. This would be a good place for an in-wall AP (or a ceiling AP + switch) when its the time.
We share our internet with our tenants upstairs, they are friends. (Actually, just some new ones, also friends moving in). While it was never a problem without, separated VLAN would be cool. If needed, we could add an AP upstairs. For the moment this would be wireless backhaul only, at the moment we wire up the basement it might be a good moment to lay a cable up as well, tbd.
For now we don't have crazy speed requirements (our contract is 120 Mb/s and fine for now. Beside this, within the network is only some music streaming from a Squeezelite/LMS system going on, no heavy NAS copying or whatever). Of course things might change when the kids get older or whatever.
I'm in Canada.
So, my current plan, for the first stage is to get only a router and one AP for the ground floor (checking if coverage is ok for the moment, the one AP in the past was mostly ok). Phase 2 & 3, in whichever order, would be adding AP points upstairs and downstairs (upstairs might happen in a few months or not at all, downstairs in a few years). Optionally, adding an outside AP during the basement renovation to cover better some corners in the garden.

For the controller, of course there is the OC200, but the (newish) free essential cloud service or the self-hosted SW controller on a Raspberry Pi might be ok, I have anyways a RP running which idles most of the time. (Which is your preferred option over the others, and why?)

Different options:
Router ER605 + AP EAP610 or EAP650 (650 is currently cheaper here then the 610, 670 is a bit more and larger and might be too much for what we need)
Alternatively: ER706W (router + AX3000 AP)
I don't find much info/tests on the ER706W (https://www.tp-link.com/ca/business-networking/omada-router-wifi-router/er706w/), how does it compare against ER605+EAP650, especially wifi coverage?
The advantages of the combination device: a bit cheaper (currently CAD $175 vs $210 when going with the separate option), less clutter (and currently I'd place router & AP at the same place). Disadvantage: Upgrading or replacing if things break less flexible, less flexible placement in the future.

Any thoughts?

[Assistant]
Can't talk about the ER605 router (I use MikroTik) but I'm very pleased with my EAP650 APs. Rock solid, plenty of options and regular updates. I manage it with the Omada Software Controller, but you can choose the Web UI of the AP. It has VLAN support if needed. Range and speed are constant and good here.

Since I found in on reddit (
) a comment:

"ER706W is much more powerful than ER605. ..wifi is much better than most EAP access points, very good speed and range."

I read through the actual technical specs, and yes, beside the wifi and the one ethernet port more, the throughput of the ER706W seems to be indeed quite a bit higher, and more RAM. Not saying I actually would see a difference in my small setup, but that would be an advantage of the cheaper combi package...

Take a look at this thread:

So Long, Thanks For All The Help
I received a new networking setup today. Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max and 2 U7 Pro Wall APs. I also got table stands for the APs so they can be placed where I want them. First, the packaging was Apple-like. Off to a good start. Build quality and the finish was equally great. Why, they even have a...
www.snbforums.com

For a new system from currently available devices on the market I would go with Ubiquiti instead. The new Cloud Gateway Ultra and Max 3-in-1 devices (Gateway, Controller, Switch) are excellent as price/performance. You only need to add Access Points of choice for a complete UniFi system.


[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: Upgrade suggestions from an RT-AC86U running merlin

Hi all,

I'm have always had very slow internet speeds - 14mb down and 2mb up roughly and have recently moved over to 500mb up and down - happy days.

Previous equipment - RT-AC86U running merlin with three TP-Link TL-PA7017P powerline adaptors (AV2 standard). This used to be sufficient to deliver my crap internet speeds throughout the house.
I have now got the 500mb installed and have two linksys mx5500s connected to the homeplug devices outputs- I now get 500mb directly from wifi at the router connected to the fibre modem and from the wifi or ethernet via the homplugs and linkysys mx5500s around 80mb up and down. I would prefer this obviously to be closer to the 500mb....

Would i be better adding in some mesh devices such as the Asus ZenWiFi XD4 Plus AX1800 or some XD6's or maybe better powerline adaptors or start fresh with ubiquiti? I can do ethernet so far into my house for some backhaul but not in one room which is why i have the powerline adaptors. I do like having the features of merlin but would be happy to sacrifice for some speed.

Thanks

[Assistant]
Do you have unused coax to the room of concern and elsewhere ?

routerbattles said:
or start fresh with ubiquiti?

You need Ethernet cables to eventual AP locations for best performance. UniFi works as wireless mesh, but most APs are dual-band and there is no dedicated uplink radio option. This means you'll have retransmissions and 1/2 throughput at every wireless hop. I have tested wireless mesh between two U6 Mesh APs. With good signal levels (-65dB or better) and on low power (20-22dBm*) they maintain steady 4-stream 2400Mbps link rate at 80MHz wide channel and I could get about 400-480Mbps from the wirelessly adopted AP to AX-class 2-stream client. Seems low compared to the link rate, but don't forget they are using the same available bandwidth on the same channel. In fact the 400-480Mbps throughput to the client takes 2x wireless bandwidth and it's possible only in somewhat quiet Wi-Fi environment. So set some realistic expectations if you decide to go with wireless mesh UniFi.

* - If you go higher on Tx power the roaming will suffer. If you set Fast Roaming devices with no 802.11r support may have issues.

routerbattles said:
Would i be better adding in some mesh devices such as the Asus ZenWiFi XD4 Plus AX1800 or some XD6's

Don't add more AiMesh devices on top of EoL main router. I can't recommend any of the ZenWiFi series devices, but in case you want to test your luck better remove the old RT-AC86U router and use the router the mesh system comes with. The system has to be tri-band for wireless AiMesh.

degrub said:
Do you have unused coax to the room of concern and elsewhere ?
No unfortunately as I could have explored the moca (is it?) route of data over coax - thanks though.


[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: Have a rt ax86s is it better to buy a rt ax86u or the rt ax86u pro

Main router is currently rt ax86us

Someone is selling the rt ax 86u for 90 pounds which is cheap

I want to create a mesh network (might wire backhaul in future)

Or shall i buy rt ax86u pro?

I have 1gb internet at home

But coverage is bad

[Assistant]
RT-AX86U/S run the same firmware, RT-AX86U Pro is a different hardware router and runs different firmware.

If you want both routers on the same firmware - get the cheaper used RT-AX86U and use it as your main router.

Tech9 said:
RT-AX86U/S run the same firmware, RT-AX86U Pro is a different hardware router and runs different firmware.

If you want both routers on the same firmware - get the cheaper used RT-AX86U and use it as your main router.
When you say it works properly how would one check this?

Thelastone said:
When you say it works properly how would one check this?

Second hand device, wipe it clean and configure it, observe the normal and expected operation.


[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: Buyer Beware! Stay away from Asus ExpertWifi EBR63.

I was at a local computer store today and I bought it to try it. Its a nice little router but the firmware is a complete freaking mess. After messing around with the router for half an hour, I put it back in the box and its going back to the store.

Latest firmware came out less than two weeks ago and it has a whole lot of bugs!! I flashed the router with firmware twice, reset the router twice and threw in the towel. I spent most of the time trying to get the 5Ghz band setup. Settings that did get saved, don't show up as what I have selected, and some settings just don't get saved at all. 5Ghz band only has selection for 20 and 40Mhz. I couldn't tell what was working or not. Navigating through GUI is buggy and sluggish.

Since the latest firmware came out only two weeks ago, who knows when Asus will fix all the bugs.... 6months, maybe even longer??
I didn't even bother looking at the rest of the settings in GUI. If you need something small and budget friendly, look elsewhere.

You have been warned.

[Assistant]
KGB7 said:
I was at a local computer store today and I bought it to try it. Its a nice little router but the firmware is a complete freaking mess. After messing around with the router for half an hour, I put it back in the box and its going back to the store.

Latest firmware came out less than two weeks ago and it has a whole lot of bugs!! I flashed the router with firmware twice, reset the router twice and threw in the towel. I spent most of the time trying to get the 5Ghz band setup. Settings that did get saved, don't show up as what I have selected, and some settings just don't get saved at all. 5Ghz band only has selection for 20 and 40Mhz. I couldn't tell what was working or not. Navigating through GUI is buggy and sluggish.

Since the latest firmware came out only two weeks ago, who knows when Asus will fix all the bugs.... 6months, maybe even longer??
I didn't even bother looking at the rest of the settings in GUI. If you need something small and budget friendly, look elsewhere.

You have been warned.
Click to expand...

I have a pair of EBM68s, which I use as APs for OPNsense. The performance has been rock solid, but the GUI can be very sluggish depending on the browser and/or OS. Windows or iOS seem very smooth, e.g. with Firefox. In MacOS it can be very slow. Safari is the worst, leaving changed settings in their original positions, similar to your experience.

These EBMs were also updated a couple of weeks ago, including the web front end. Can't say I've noticed much difference. Performance wise, they're still very strong.

Spud said:
I have a pair of EBM68s, which I use as APs for OPNsense. The performance has been rock solid, but the GUI can be very sluggish depending on the browser and/or OS. Windows or iOS seem very smooth, e.g. with Firefox. In MacOS it can be very slow. Safari is the worst, leaving changed settings in their original positions, similar to your experience.

These EBMs were also updated a couple of weeks ago, including the web front end. Can't say I've noticed much difference. Performance wise, they're still very strong.
Click to expand...

Asus makes great products. Once they get all the bugs worked out in the near future, EBR63 will be an excellent budget device. But in the meantime the firmware and GUI needs a lot of work.


[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: Say NO to ASUS

ASUS AC86U with 2 mesh nodes.

This is my 3rd ASUS router in 6 years, the first mesh. Can't connect to web GUI and nodes lose connection.

After a year of use every router needs to be rebooted at least once a month.

2400 sq ft house, is there a better alternative not ASUS?

[Assistant]
Major Payne said:
2400 sq ft house, is there a better alternative not ASUS?

Wireless mesh is not very reliable. You may want to think about wired infrastructure first. There are better than AiMesh options after. Omada and UniFi are lower cost options. More reliable than AiMesh wireless options - Qualcomm based Google Nest Wi-Fi, Amazon Eero, some of TP-Link Deco models.

Only 3 rooms are wired, also a ADU about 35 feet out, so I'm kinda stuck with using wireless for some devices. But thanks for the info and suggestions. Probably get the Deco AXE5300 at Costco, $250.

I have 2x running UniFi systems now if you guys want I can do a mini review how UniFi does things compared to Asus router running Asuswrt-Merlin and popular scripts for it. I can also share range and speed comparison between U6 Plus and U6 Mesh access points to RT-AX58U and RT-AX86U routers.


[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: [Purchase advice] Access point for Asus Rog Rapture GT-AX11000

My current Asus covers most of the apartment very well, except one room.
I've pulled an ethernet cable to the problematic room, and now wondering what access point to get.

Requirements:

The room is pretty small - 9 sq.m. (100 sq. feet)
There's one desktop connected over WiFi it's pretty far from the RJ45 (I know, I know), plus it has to support a few phones.
I'm connected to the world using 1Gbps link - but it's far from being the only device at home, as long as the AP can do, say, 300 Mbps it's gonna be fine.
WiFi6 is a nice-to-have, but I can think of no extra requirements - just stable connection and the less hassle the better.

What do you think about ASUS ZenWiFi XD4 Plus?

[Assistant]
Access point vs AiMesh node? But my more important question is are you buying a 1-pack or 3-pack? Because at first glance I thought you might as well get an ET9, but further research I saw they typically sell the XD4 Plus in a set of 3...

One RP-AX56/58 extender as AiMesh node will be more than enough. Plugged to the wall, Ethernet cable to the LAN port for wired backhaul, will be almost invisible and will work well for this room and some area around.

[AiMesh] How to set up Range Extender (RP series) as an AiMesh Node? | Official Support | ASUS Global

jzchen said:
Access point vs AiMesh node? But my more important question is are you buying a 1-pack or 3-pack? Because at first glance I thought you might as well get an ET9, but further research I saw they typically sell the XD4 Plus in a set of 3...
I was thinking about buying a single node. They sell XD4 Plus in 1/2/3 nodes configurations.
In fact, I'm not really sure what AiMesh gives me compared to a regular access point - I assumed it would let me manage it from the same UI...


[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: wifi for a two-floor house, ethernet backhaul

I have a two floor house, approximately 100m2 each (or 1100 square feet/floor). Wifi is provided by an aging D-Link router on the ground floor (really bad connection wifi), and an Asus AC68U for the top floor (decent, but aging), they are connected by an ethernet cable.

I would like to upgrade the wifi, to have 4-5 access points in total. I can use the attic to add ethernet cables (and power, though I would prefer PoE if possible), the top floor is separated from the attic by plasterboard and wood. Interior walls are 10cm hollow brick and mortar.

Wifi does not need to be super-fast, just reliable and robust. Main use is browsing, occasional movies. I envision a setup like this:

Code:
          ground floor AP 1 (should cover 6m radius through 2 thin brick walls)
          |
modem -- ground floor switch -- top floor switch --- ethernet cable to a printer
                                      |
                                      |-- AP 2
                                      |-- AP 3
                                      |-- AP 4
                                     (\-- AP 5 if needed)

The ground floor AP needs to be stronger because I can only wire one with ethernet without breaking walls. I have the tools to crimp ethernet cables, done it before.

What system would you recommend? All else equal, I am partial to Asus as I used Asuswrt-Merlin firmware and got frequent updates, but I am open to all suggestions. I also heard about Ubiquity and similar options from Netgear, but I haven't used any of these brands.

Recommendations for concrete models (switches, access points, probably a more capable unit to manage the whole circus) would be appreciated. Modem is provided by my internet company.

[Assistant]
The trouble with ASUS for this use-case is that they don't sell APs per se. They sell all-in-one routers, which are an AP plus a lot more hardware. So if you need four or more APs you're going to be paying for a lot more hardware than you need. You need to look into product lines that include actual APs-and-nothing-but, which generally are more SMB-oriented than consumer-oriented.

I'm currently using UniFi (Ubiquiti) APs and have been mostly pleased with that choice. There is a bit of a learning curve because their documentation is skimpy at best, but they have very active user forums at https://community.ui.com/ that are full of helpful people. I've heard positive things about TP-Link's Omada line (not so much about their TP-Link-branded consumer gear), but have no personal experience there. I can disrecommend Netgear's Orbi line: inflexible, expensive, definitely not better than ASUS. Maybe some other Netgear product lines are better, but again no experience.


[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: Would an ASUS RT-AXE7800 be a good upgrade to from an ASUS RT-AC86U?

The 86U has been a great router, albeit overkill for my use. I don't use any of the advanced features on it besides the VPN server to connect to my network remotely. Still, I'm thinking about replacing it because almost all of my devices are now either ethernet, Wifi 6, or 6e.

I live in a two bedroom 1000sqft apartment in a crowded complex. 2.4ghz is pretty much useless for anything except IoT devices. 5ghz works OK for now on my 300mbps fiber connection, but sometimes it'll dip lower than 200mbps during peak times. My ethernet devices never have an issue. Changing channels only helps for a bit as all my neighbors use auto selection on their own routers. DFS doesn't work in my location, it always kicks me off the DFS channels in less than a day.

I'd like to stick with ASUS as my last two ASUS routers each lasted me 4-5 years. I'm not worried about Merlin because I don't use any of the advanced features other than the VPN server. I'm willing to consider other brands if they are recommended highly enough, though I'd like to spend less than $250. Our primary devices are all either ethernet or 6e capable so I'd also like to take advantage of 6ghz to help with the peak hour wifi congestion if possible.

With all that being said, would the ASUS RT-AXE7800 be a good upgrade choice? It's within my price range and seems to have the basic features I'm looking for.

[Assistant]
No, it's a poorly thought out model that only has a single 2.5 Gbps port and it's only 2x2 on the 6 GHz band, which makes it somewhat pointless imho.

Keep in mind that if it's the 6 GHz band you want, it has shorter range than the 5 GHz band and it might not be able to penetrate your interior walls, depending on the type of walls you have.

Your best options, in no particular order are the RT-BE92U, RT-AX86U Pro, RT-AX88U Pro, GT-AX6000 and maybe the TUF-AX6000, not that any of them supports the 6 GHz band, but most routers that supports the 6 GHz costs a lot more than $250.

Riash said:
5ghz works OK for now on my 300mbps fiber connection

GL.iNet GL-MT6000 is getting popular with OpenWrt base firmware, vanilla OpenWrt support and higher price/performance ratio. It's currently $135 on Amazon US after $25 coupon. Hardware wise it's similar to RT-AX88U Pro with quad-core ARMv8 CPU, 1GB RAM, 2x 2.5GbE ports, etc. In case you are open to Asus alternatives it may be a good option. It will get you full ISP speeded over 5GHz band even in condominium environment.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router
Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.
www.gl-inet.com

If you like to continue with familiar Asus GUI and features - RT-AX86U Pro is a good RT-AC86U upgrade option with the same vertical space saving design.

RT-AX86U Pro｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS Canada
AX5700 Dual Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router, Mobile Game Mode, AiProtection Pro, WPA3, Parental Control, Mesh WiFi support, 2.5G Port, Gaming Port, Adaptive QoS, Port Forwarding
www.asus.com

Given the OP's needs, which really just amount to adding 6GHz support, why not just get an extender? It has to be significantly cheaper than replacing everything.

This reminds me of the recent deal on Slickdeals.

Linksys LN1301 Tri-Band AX4200 WiFi 6 Wireless Router $15 + Free Shipping w/ Prime
Use code 5OFFLINKSYS at checkout Matches the previous FP dealCovers up to 2700 sq. ft. Handles 40+ devices Speed up to 4.2 Gbps WiFi 6 Tri-Band Quad-Core Processor MU-MIMO and OFDMA Ports:One gigabit
slickdeals.net

For just $15-20 a unit, guys have been not only adding 6GHz support, but entire mesh networks! And apparently it can support OpenWRT and DD-WRT. One of the most popular deals I've seen over the past several years. And the deal has come and gone several times.

Granted, that's an exceptional example, but in general, isn't an extender a possibility here? If only to keep the cost down. Esp. if the OP is otherwise still satisfied w/ his current equipment.


[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: Upgrade from AC66U to maximize NAS performance

Considering upgrading my AC66U to improve my NAS setup. At some point I may upgrade the NAS network card to 10 gbps but right now this is not likely to happen.
Most of the time, Ethernet is not heavily used, and my current clients support 2x2 MIMO on Wi-Fi 6 (ax@5 GHz), with a possible future upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E (ax@6 GHz).
I'm currently getting around 600-700 Mbps from my ISP, which is likely to remain the case for the next 2-3 years and the AC66U is currently sitting behind ZTE mc801a (with disabled wifi) as AP.

I'm looking at four routers in different ranges: Tp link AX80, BE550, Asus AX89X and AX88U Pro, but I’m unsure which is the best fit for my case.
• BE550 is Wi-Fi 7, so it could offer future-proofing as new devices come out.
• AX89X has 10 Gbps ports, which might be useful later, and it’s known for its stability and speeds, though it’s Wi-Fi 6.
• AX88U Pro seems like a solid choice for my current situation and is slightly cheaper.
• AX80 well price...

My goal is to have a stable connection, maximize NAS performance with current HDD read/write limits, and achieve the fastest possible local Wi-Fi speeds.
My workstation is only 1-2 meters from the router, so range is not an issue.

Do you have any thoughts on these models or would you recommend another option that I might have missed?

[Assistant]
Hard wire your workstation to the router. Your NAS and clients will rarely saturate a Gbit/s ethernet unless you are doing large file transfers. With wifi6, your clients are basically doing as well as they can for performance. You are not likely to see improvement in range or coverage changing to AX. A 2x2 device is in the 600-800 Mbit/s wifi transfer range, so moving up from AC to AX may not really change things.

If the AC66U is no longer supported with firmware updates, then yes, upgrade to the least expensive and expected longest support AX router. Ignore 10Gbit/s interfaces for now.

This setup is basically in the sweet spot for performance and budget.

You're asking how to "maximize NAS performance" but you provide absolutely no information about the NAS (other than it doesn't have 10GbE), its workload or its clients.

xlid said:
AX89X

Don't know about the NAS performance goals, but this is an old router released about 5 years ago.


[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 vs eero

Hi!

I have a Asus RT-AC68U running since maybe 8 years, and now changing providers I get for free an eero 6.

We have a 3 stories house which should be covered with wifi: We live downstairs where the router is (and will be) installed pretty central. Upstairs are tenants and we share internet, in the basement will be eventually our sleeping rooms when the kids are older, currently there is a small office and a TV (rarely used these days since the kids are still young and we don't want to be watching too far when they sleep).

With the current Asus router, I have fine connection in the office in the basement, at the location of the TV it is a mixed bag (this TV is also more then 10yrs old and has only Ethernet input, so I use a very old TP-Link router with gargoyle installed as a pure wifi receiver-to-Ethernet bridge). The tenants upstairs use a wifi repeater (not sure which model), which makes it ok, otherwise the room which is their office is a weak spot. Also, our tenant needs from time to time an Ethernet connection and seems to have a hacky solution which works only ok for this.

We are updating our internet connection from 50/10 to 120/20 currently, not really needing more speed but it's a cheaper contract for more. There is no fiber installed in our street yet.
We don't do crazy video gaming where ping speeds matter, so it's down to a stable coverage of the area with decent speed, with the max of 2-3 video streams or calls in parallel. Beside whatever goes on over the internet, there is no crazy data shifting within our network, some local music streaming using LMS/squeezebox and copying files onto this server, but these music files aren't crazy large, so I am not needing 10GB speed through the LAN...

Alright, time for the question: The provider gives us an eero 6, which gives wifi 6 (I guess a few of our devices, mostly the phones, can use it), and is a mesh router (I don't care about the built in Zigbee at the moment). So with this, we could in theory add 1-2 more eero repeaters, or better eero routers, since the routers have 2 Ethernet ports. At the main router only one Ethernet port would be available, so for certain things I would need a switch there (could be a bridged router which I have already).

On the other side: The current Asus has Asus AiMesh capability, so we could also add Asus devices. I guess the Asus router has a better coverage by itself then the eero? The Wifi 5 speed might not be the limiting factor compared to the eero's wifi 6, right? The RT-AC68U got AiMesh only after a FW update years ago, so might not be as good as a dedicated mesh router or a newer Asus AiMesh device? I like the configuration options of the Asus router, e.g. QoS and fixed IP addresses, not sure if eero has these options?
If we'd go this route: Should I get a newer Asus router as a main router and use the current one as an extension, or buy a an extender like the RP-AX56 and keep the router as is?

Or any other alternatives, Linksys etc? The above two options have the advantages I don't have to buy all devices but can build on something.

I have also some experience from a previous job setting up Ubiquity Unify, but the prices for this is quite a bit above the consumer devices.
I totally understand ideally I should wire up all the floors to get each access point wired, and I might do this at least partly when we do renovations in the basement in a few years, but for the moment a wireless solution might be the best.

[Assistant]
All you can do is try with the EEROs. i have seen recent recommendations for the AX88pro ASUS for continued support and not EOL. Use same model/firmware if using AiMesh not over wired backhaul. AX may give a little better performance, but don't expect much change on coverage.

If the house is wired with coax, you could use MOCA2.5 modems for plenty of bandwidth to the other floors. Only issue maybe if you are using a DOCCIS3.1 service on the same coax.

You do accept the legal liability for your tenant's use of the internet ?

Also, unless you have set up VLANs or using the asus Guest vlan, the tenant would have access to all of your devices.

It should be pretty easy to get the ISP to wire a separate service to upstairs, solving the tenant's coverage issues and your liability.

Ant! said:
Alright, time for the question: ...So with this, we could in theory add 1-2 more eero repeaters

Yes, just add eero beacons or routers as needed. This is what you need to do, eero is a good system.

Ant! said:
On the other side: The current Asus has Asus AiMesh capability

Your current Asus router is close to e-waste state. To match the eero you'll need all new Asus routers.

degrub said:
All you can do is try with the EEROs. i have seen recent recommendations for the AX88pro ASUS for continued support and not EOL. Use same model/firmware if using AiMesh not over wired backhaul. AX may give a little better performance, but don't expect much change on coverage.

If the house is wired with coax, you could use MOCA2.5 modems for plenty of bandwidth to the other floors. Only issue maybe if you are using a DOCCIS3.1 service on the same coax.

It should be pretty easy to get the ISP to wire a separate service to upstairs, solving the tenant's coverage issues and your liability.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your answer! Yes, I guess I will do some tests switching back and forward in between the two routers. I read some more about the Eero (very mixed: on one side: easy and reliable, on the other side limited functions, not crazy fast (I don't need crazy fast though with the 120 Mbit/s connection I get), and privacy concerns). Let's see how it performs, but I guess at least adding a second unit would be necessary.

There is no coax throughout the house, so this option is out.

I am reading right now more about AiMesh (https://dongknows.com seems to have a good, detailed overview), but if it needs to be using identical HW, it would mean I can not use my old router as node and I would start from scratch. Have to dive deeper into this. If this (new router + old as node) still works, but with slower speed, it might be still fine given our internet connection speed.

Regarding the legal side: The tenants are friends, we knew them before they moved in 3 yrs ago. I don't use a NAS or any other folders laying open in the network, beside my music server (which could be controlled, but without the SSH password not completely messed with). But sure, if a VLAN is supported, that would be nice. My current router has guest network as an option, are these usually limited in speech or anything, or really just a separate VLAN with the same performance? How about static IP and QoS in a guest network, on Asus routers?


[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: Wifi for a three floor building

Hi, I have constant troubles with my Wifi and need some advice for a better solution.

I’m currently running an RT-AX86U non-pro, a RP-AX58 (wireless backhaul) as a mesh system and a 5G Router in bridge mode. I’ll get optic fibre next year.

I have two floors and a cellar, and I need Wifi everywhere. Every floor has about 70 sqm (750sqf). There are reenforced concrete ceilings and brick walls. I’m planning to use ethernet backhaul in the future.

One day everything works fine the next day some devices can’t connect or connect and don’t get internet. Restarting the router helps but the problem comes back soon. Only resetting and setting up everything new again helps for a few weeks.

There are about 20 devices connected via Wifi, a printer and a USB-Storage.

I guess the RP-AX58 Extender is the bad apple here. I was planning to buy another RT-AX86U but then I read here, that it won’t get any updates soon. I don’t want to buy another one if it’s EOL in the near future.

Can I pair the RT-AX86U Pro with my existing non-pro model for now or do I need a whole new system?

What would be a good future proof setup for my house? I don’t want to spend more than €500.

[Assistant]
i would invest in running ethernet cables from a central location for a wiring closet/rack first .
If you happen to have 75 ohm coax already in place where you need ethernet, you could look at MOCA.

Some IOT and devices cannot deal well with wifi channel changes. So pick channels on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and change from automatic. Set channel width to 20 or 20/40 on 2.4GHz and 80 on 5GHz. It may also help to assign them static addresses (reserved) in the router and manually set the TCP/AP address in the device. i assume you are on TCP/IP v4 and not v6.

Thanks, I wasen't aware of MOCA I have indeed unused coax in some rooms.

I already use fixed channels and 20 MHz on 2.4GHz and 80 on 5GHz.
Yes, I'm on v4. I'll try static IP adresses.

For MOCA, it is best if the cable is isolated from other use - cable TV service or internet service (DOCCIS 3.1).
Also, the coax must have 75 ohm impedence as that is what the moca modems are designed for. Should be printed or embossed on the cable jacket. RG-59 or RG6 are the common US types. Any splitters in the moca signal path usually have to be certified for moca 2 . Satellite and traditional TV splitters usually don't work.


[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 router

As the title states I currently am looking for a new router. I have an ASUS DT-AXE7800. I've had some weird things go on with it but my main thing is the lack of more advanced or open source firmware support. I would like to try and stay in the ASUS eco system but if not that's fine as well. I'm looking for something with a more advanced interface with support for VPNs as well.

[Assistant]
RebelTide said:
As the title states I currently am looking for a new router. I have an ASUS DT-AXE7800. I've had some weird things go on with it but my main thing is the lack of more advanced or open source firmware support. I would like to try and stay in the ASUS eco system but if not that's fine as well. I'm looking for something with a more advanced interface with support for VPNs as well.
Take a look in the merlin section of the Asus forum on here. Support for loads of Asus routers, source code available, though it utilises some closed source code. Supports multiple VPN types in both client and server mode. Very stable, updated regularly. I've been running it for several years on various iterations of Asus hardware.

northumberland said:
Take a look in the merlin section of the Asus forum on here. Support for loads of Asus routers, source code available, though it utilises some closed source code. Supports multiple VPN types in both client and server mode. Very stable, updated regularly. I've been running it for several years on various iterations of Asus hardware.
I'll take a look. I've seen a few things but I'm looking for a better wireless experience, the 6E band is extremely infuriating on this and has no practical use as our internet never touches those speeds.

"better wireless experience"

What does this mean to you ?


[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: Question/s about possibly upgrading Router. Not sure what to upgrade to, or if to upgrade at all right now.

Hi,

So I am currently using an my very old RT-AC68U as I went back to it because my RT-AC86U failed well over a year ago.

The main reason I was using the RT-AC86U was OpenVPN client performance, as I had my VPN service running through the Router when I wanted to access geo-restricted streaming content on some of my devices that don't support the installation of a VPN client directly on them.
The OpenVPN performance is abysmal on the AC68U so I don't currently run in through the Router.

Anyway, I've been looking at AX Routers the past few days and have no idea what I should be looking at. I've looked at the RT-AX88U, RT-AX86U, RT-AX86U Pro, but these are out of my price range. I read that the RT-AX88U Pro is good too, but it doesn't look like you can buy that in Australia (I can only find the older RT-AX88U for sale here).

I then looked at mid-range models such as the RT-AX68U and RT-AX58U (not sure if these would have good enough performance via OpenVPN?)? Are any of these mid-range models worth looking at?

I've read about features such as VPN Fusion (not sure if the mid-range models support this, and are any of the mid-range models worth looking at?)

I think my paid for VPN service does support Wireguard through the Router, so maybe that would be a better option? Not sure what speeds these newer AX model support via OpenVPN and Wireguard. I'd only need between 100-200Mbps I'd say.

I was also wanted to ask, are the AC models going to be supported much longer?

Also, I read about AsusWRT 5.0. Which models would be supporting this and is it going to be a worthwhile upgrade, as in, should I be looking at routers that support it?

[Assistant]
RT-AX68U is End-of-Life model, RT-AX58U has weak CPU for VPN (may do ~100Mbps).

RT-AX86U Pro is your starting point for Asuswrt 5.0 firmware support and good ARMv8 CPU.

All AC-class Asus models are End-of-Life now, no more firmware support and development is expected.

Thanks for the reply. So support has already ended for the AC models? There won't be anymore firmware updates going forward? Does that mean also that Merlin will drop those models too?

I assume the older AX models aren't getting AsusWRT 5.0 such as the RT-AX88U and AX86U non-pro versions, right?

I guess I will skip the mid-range models if the CPU is too weak. For VPN, is the CPU demand also high for Wireguard compared to OpenVPN? For example, could the RT-AX58U do faster speeds via Wireguard, or does it not even support Wireguard. I have been looking at Asus' website, but not sure if some models got Wireguard and VPN fusion support via firmware updates after they were released?

Then again, I guess the RT-AX58U or other mid/low range models aren't going to get 5.0 support, so no point in wasting money on those. Is there a list of models somewhere that are likely to support AsusWRT 5.0 sometime soon, or have most of the ones that are going to support it already seen firmware releases for it?

Would there be anything similar price range to the RT-AX86U Pro in 6E or 7, or are all those going to be priced a lot higher? I really don't need those wireless speeds/tech, though, as a wifi 6 router would be more than enough for me, but I mainly just wanted to get a decent overall router.
I was keen/leaning towards the AX86U Pro, but I stumbled across this post a few minutes ago https://www.snbforums.com/threads/should-i-upgrade-to-rt-ax88u-pro.89917/post-905666 mentioning the RT-AX86U Pro isn't that good/crippled compared to the RT-AX88U Pro (not sure what @L&LD means by this). I can't buy the AX88U Pro here (I tried to send Asus an email through their contact us section of their website to ask about it, but not sure if they'll reply), so I am not sure if there is something better than the AX86U Pro that doesn't cost too much more.

Ice9 said:
So support has already ended for the AC models?

Yes.

Ice9 said:
Does that mean also that Merlin will drop those models too?

Yes.

Ice9 said:
I assume the older AX models aren't getting AsusWRT 5.0 such as the RT-AX88U and AX86U non-pro versions, right?

Correct, no Asuswrt 5.0 firmware for older AX models.

Ice9 said:
Would there be anything similar price range to the RT-AX86U Pro in 6E or 7, or are all those going to be priced higher?

Most likely will be priced higher.

Ice9 said:
mentioning the RT-AX86U Pro isn't that good/crippled

It's one of the popular models around. If you don't need 2x 2.5GbE ports - the cheapest Asuswrt 5.0 option.


[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: Thoughts on ASUS ExpertWiFi EBR63?

I would like to replace my Asus AC68U with something newer and budget friendly. Main issue which is not a big deal half the time, but the USB 3.0 port is slow when it comes to writing files to an external USB hard drive. And even slower while simultaneously downloading anything from internet.

Im a single user with a hand full devices; TV, laptop, phone and a tablet. Only review I found is by DonKnows and my main concern is how flimsy the router is. Im not planning to take it with me or move it around all the time, and it will sit inside a tv stand.

I don't need any crazy features, no vlans, no access points or run any scripts, no gaming, no remote access, no cameras.

I was thinking of getting Ubiquiti Dream Router, but that would mean I would need to get a stand alone NAS but, I would like to keep my setup simple and on a budget friendly side.

My home internet is with Xfinity, 50/10, which is more than enough for my use.

Cheers.

[Assistant]
What is the USB stick used for - backups or shared file access ?

A Synology 2 disk NAS in raid 1 redundancy or just a single drive NAS, both options using an external USB3 drive for backup of files, sounds like it would solve your issue and be long term.

If the ASUS is exposed directly to the internet, then yes, replace it with a currently supported equivalent AX router.

degrub said:
What is the USB stick used for - backups or shared file access ?

A Synology 2 disk NAS in raid 1 redundancy or just a single drive NAS, both options using an external USB3 drive for backup of files, sounds like it would solve your issue and be long term.

If the ASUS is exposed directly to the internet, then yes, replace it with a currently supported equivalent AX router.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was also thinking of getting a proper NAS from Synology and connect it via lan cable. Im currently using an external hard drive as NAS but, its connected to USB 3 port, and im constantly copying movies and shows on to it to watch on my TV, but speeds are only an average of 18MB/s and if im downloading another movie at the same time, both speeds are cut in half. If I want to move a movie in to another folder, it has to copy to my computer first and then back to the hard drive, so that's also a lot slower.

I would prefer to get a newer router from Ubiquiti, which I really wanted one since they came out, and later get a proper NAS. But to continue to use USB hard drive, I would have to keep my current AC68 attached to Ubiquiti router, which I don't want to do to be honest.

At the same time, my current AC68 router works fine the rest of the time, and moving 14GB of files at once at 18MB/s doesn't take that long at all..... about 20min? Maybe im just bored and need something new to play with.

I know, its a weird dilemma that im trying to figure out.

Get the NAS now. Get that configured and working the way you want. Then get the Ubiquiti and play with it to learn the config and get it set and working. You can put it on the LAN side of the asus for learning. Then drop it in and remove the asus unless you need it as an AP. .


[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-AX86U Pro (AX5700)

So I'm trying to upgrade my current router RT-AC68U and saw a lot of members mentioning that the RT-AX86U Pro is a good pick. I don't have too many devices connected to the router, but I do heavily torrent. I moderately game on a ps5 and sometimes stream from a couple of firesticks.

I wanted to know if this was a good price for the RT-AX86U Pro and am I getting the right model?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BQ417K47/?tag=snbforums-20

Thanks for the help

[Assistant]
Yup, sure is an AX86U Pro. $200 is the going sale price. I paid $240 for mine a year ago.
The AX86U Pro is one of the most recommended Asus routers. I run 30 clients with no issues on 100/100 FIOS. We do not game but do stream video and shop online a lot.

I see Amazon US has Refurbished for $149. This is relatively new model, perhaps Returned?

Tech9 said:
I see Amazon US has Refurbished for $149. This is relatively new model, perhaps Returned?
I'm always hesitant on refurbished electronics...especially something as important as a 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: Do AC clients benefit from an AX router?

I have AC clients (4 simultaneously active at any given time) and 1 Ethernet device connected to an RT-AC68U. Wi-Fi coverage and performance are mostly acceptable in my 1,200 sq. ft home. Would an AX router give me any wireless benefit? Would Wi-Fi be any more responsive or consistent or anything?

Since the AC clients can still use only AC technology, I don't know if just having new router hardware would make much difference. If it does, I'll consider the RT-AX86U Pro.

[Assistant]
Coming from RT-AC68U - yes. AX-class routers support AC Wave 2. Your router has 10+ years old BCM4360 radios, first Gen AC Wave 1. Coming from RT-AC86U though with BCM4366E radios AC Wave 2, for example - no. It may outperform some entry-level AX-class routers to AC clients.

RT-AX86U Pro will be night and day difference in speed and responsiveness plus about 20-30% better range on 5GHz band, plus it will deal better with interference from nearby networks, plus it will have much longer firmware support. RT-AC68U is approaching End-of-Life like other AC-class routers.

Generally yes - some efficiency on the radio chipsets, and also the main router SoC.

That being said - the AC clients won't be any faster on a single client basis.

sfx2000 said:
That being said - the AC clients won't be any faster on a single client basis.

In the same room common 2-stream AC client will keep 866/866 link speeds and there will be no noticeable difference, but when you move behind 1-2 walls the older AC68U drops the links to 325Mbps and much newer AC86U and AX86U keep going with 520-650Mbps. The difference is quite noticeable at lower signal levels. I had all three AC68U, AC86U and AX86U at some point for direct comparison to the same AC clients. AC68U falls fast behind.


[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: Move away from ASUS Routers / Mesh

Hi all!

I'm having issues with my ASUS mesh system (and previous ASUS router), so I'm thinking of switching brands entirely. I tested tons of different settings (many off of this forum), but couldn't find a way to make the system stable. It would work impeccably for maybe a few months, then would randomly start to disconnect devices from the internet (WiFi still available and connected) or slow down to a crawl. If I factory reset everything, re-add the nodes, manually put my settings in - it will work fine again for a while. I had the same issues when I only had the ASUS Blue Cave.

This mainly happens with my Apple products, in particular and most often with my MBPs, Apple TV, sometimes with the iPhones, not very often with the iPads - but also with the PS5 and a Harman Kardon Aura speaker. I say mainly Apple, because I could be on my MBP having issues, while my girlfriend works just fine on her HP laptop.

The symptoms are that it will connect to WiFi, internet would work for a few minutes (or seconds), then have no access to anything (including admin page). Sometimes it does it with a correctly assigned IP, other times it reconnects and assigns a weird IP (even after trying to renew the DHCP lease) and sometimes it just won't connect.

I live in a 100 sqm (about 1000 sqf) apartment (that oversees my yard, about 20m away from the kitchen window), with thick brick walls (between 40cm for exterior and 25cm for interior ones) and concrete pillars (with metal bars in them), with my 8x5m living room in the middle of the other rooms. Unfortunately, I can't place the main router centrally, so it sits close to the living room window (apartment's edge), where the optic fiber comes in. Another issue is that it's flanked by two large mirrors, and those block the path directly to the office (PCs, laptops, etc.) and media room (PS5, Apple TV). I've added a quick rough sketch of the apartment layout and current node placement - getting good coverage in this layout. The top and lower left side are covered by other building walls.

The devices are:
- ASUS XT9 - main router (right now it sits on the window sill, so about 1m from the ground - not good, so thinking of mounting it higher, on shelves that are in either of the adjacent corners - but closer to the mirrors)
- ASUS XT9 - bedroom node (high up on a dresser)
- ASUS RT-AX57Go - kitchen node (placed in the window, so it diagonally provides yard access)
- ASUS RT-AX1800U - office node (higher up, needed because laptops would loose connection)
- ASUS Blue Cave - not pictured, in the basement right under the kitchen one (I have some 3D printers and a laptop there)

10G fiber goes into the main router via a converter, and the connection is PPPoE.

All wireless backhaul. I could place one of the routers in the hallway corner close to the kitchen, up in the corner (I have eth and power there).

There are about 30-40 devices connected (laptops, iPads, smartphones, smart devices).

So.. I'm at my wits' end and frustrated that they won't just continue working after being properly set up and left untouched. (But hey, if you have a magic solution to what I described, do tell!)

Now I'm not sure what to get: either start with a good main router to cover my office and media room and add nodes after, or directy get a mid-tier 3 piece mesh system.

I was looking at the Netgear RAX300 - but it unfortunately doesn't support mesh at all, and the extenders that would work with it aren't in stock anywhere around me.

Then I was looking at the TP-Link BE800 (which I'd then supplement with two more nodes - bedroom and kitchen) - but it seems a bit overkill (my fastest device is an M3 Max MBP on 6E, the rest are on 5 at most). It would be "future proof", hopefully, but then again, it's not exactly a proven workhorse right now and has some firmware bugs as far as I read.

I then saw the TP-Link AX95 (but it doesn't yet support EasyMesh, like the BE800 above).

I was also considering getting a TP-Link Deco AX75 Pro set of three nodes or a TP-Link Deco AX95 set of two.

And for the future, I'm also thinking of using an older router as an AP (outside of the mesh system) to connect smart home devices on 2.4, instead of using the main system.

My current budget is around 600€, with the intent of putting in another 300€ (max) in the near future.

Help?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

[Assistant]
4 APs in 100 sq m does seem like a lot. I wonder if your problems reduce to clients connecting to some other AP than the closest one. Have you experimented with fewer APs? Have you experimented with turning down their transmit power?

As @tiddlywink says, you'd be way better off if there's a way to run ethernet to all the nodes. But I recognize that with brick interior walls that's going to be a problem, especially if you don't own the place.

What I'd try given the no-holes-in-walls constraint is to make the node-to-node connections not require max Tx power. A possible sketch is (1) locate the main node on the living room south wall, opposite the hallway entrance; (2) place a node in the hallway, with clear line-of-sight to the main node, and rely on that one to cover kitchen and office; (3) place bedroom node near NE corner, not much more than wall-width away from main node; (4) place the node you freed up in step 2 in the media room NW corner, again within a meter or so of the main node; (5) turn all the nodes' Tx power down as far as possible while keeping the backhaul links stable.

As far as equipment replacement goes, I agree with the thought that ASUS gear works best when all the nodes in the mesh are the same type. I'm not sure that moving to another brand will help you much. There are brands I prefer to ASUS, but they are designed for wired-backhaul situations and are unlikely to beat ASUS as long as you're stuck using wireless backhaul. Your simplest answer may be to standardize on the XT9 and replace your other nodes with XT9s. If you do choose to jump to something else, do not buy something that wants to do its wireless backhaul on the 6GHz band, because I bet you'll find that that band doesn't go through brick walls for squat. I suspect that that lets out the BE800, though I didn't study its specs in detail.

tiddlywink said:
1. You're mixing models.
2. You're mixing broadcom and mediatek
3. You are 100% mesh.
4. "thick brick walls" - 4 AP's and 1 router to cover 1000 sqf??????

I would invest in ethernet to wire up the nodes. You can pick the color, choose thin, and non-destructively (glue/tape?) attach it to the brick walls.
Click to expand...
This....

Mesh works better with exclusive Ethernet backhaul...

And using many mesh points can have a detrimental effect

Hi all!

First off, thank you all for taking the time to read my short novel and reply, it's much appreciated!

@tiddlywink - it never even crossed my mind that mixing same brand models or even going as far as WiFi chips had any influence. In my mind, it was "hey, they're made by the same brand and share the same features, so they should work together". So I learned something new, thank you! I was also a "victim" of promo materials - if you read product pages and paid reviews, they all seem to magically work perfectly over wireless.

@tgl - it's not that devices are roaming or connecting to a distant node, because I even bound some of them (the static ones) to the closest node and disabled "quick roaming". And while what you suggested as a schematic isn't really doable in my case because of some constraints I have, it does give me a better idea on how to work with what I have. Thank you so much for taking the time to analyze the layout! And also, the main reason I posted here was exactly because I was afraid I'd run into the same issues with a different brand as well.

@kuki68ster - yeah, I figured as well that adding too many might actually not help, but the ones that I added were one for specific purposes, like getting yard acces, another for having a stable office connection, and the last one for getting basement access.

I was trying to avoid ethernet - I do own the place, but it's an older building and holes through walls are a complicated and destructive process, so I'm trying to avoid that. But it seems that it's necessary, so here's my new plan (given my limitations):

The two XT9 are now in blue, and will be wired together for ethernet backhaul: those two rooms are the most critical for fast and reliable access. I will connect the PCs / laptops in the office wired via a docking station, and the PS5 and Apple TV in the media room will also be wired.

The yellow one in the living room window will be an older b/g/n TP-Link that will be wired into one of the two XT9 as a separate AP with its own SSID on 2.4 exclusively (will select channels as far apart as possible), to be used for IoT devices, so it'll take them off the main WiFi.

The green ones will remain on wireless backhaul (it's very inconvenient to cross cables to that side of the apartment, either way I look at it), but they are less critical: the one in the living room will need to cover a couple of phones browsing news while in bed or on the loo, the one in the kitchen will provide yard WiFi, and the one in the basement has about three devices connected to it.

For now I'll still use the ones I have (RT-AX57Go in the kitchen, RT-AX1800U moves from the office to the W of the living room, Blue Cave stays well, in the "cave"), but I'll wait for some Black Friday or local used deals to get a couple more XT9 and replace them.

What's your opinion on this type of setup? Specifically about mixing wired and wireless backhaul (critical on wired, less important on wireless), as well about separating IoT on a dedicated AP & SSID?

I'm also considering getting a better / faster "main" router (that would sit in the media room), something that would have a 10Gb WAN, for instance. What would work best with my existing XT9s, in this case?

EDIT: also, if there are too many nodes, I'm thinking of removing the wireless one in the living room, replacing the kitchen one with another XT9 (or even a dedicated exterior one) in order to get yard access, and wiring another AP just for the basement devices.

Thanks again for all the great advice,
Raz


[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: Wi-FI 7 Antennae for desktop PC

Can you suggest me a Wi-Fi antenna to couple with Intel BE200 in my desktop PC?

I really don't know what to pick. Are the one with a cable better then the ones directly attached to the board?

[Assistant]
Before you spend any money, what's the issue that you are seeing, and what router is the PC connecting to? Also, what's the signal path from the PC to the router like?

I just have BE200 on a desktop and need to connect BE router. 10 feet apart but separated by couple of walls.

Is there a guide so I can educate myself?

Here's what I was thinking of getting

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJDWDNL1/?tag=snbforums-20


[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: Recommend a replacement for an eero gen 1 setup

Hi,

I have a 3 eero gen1 setup that has been working great for 7 years, but it's n longer supported and one of the APs is having issues lately.

I am looking either for routers that can be setup as a mesh network (ie. Asus AiMesh, TP Link OneMesh...) or a 3 AP out of the box mesh system. Ideally, this would be something that I would keep at least 5-6 years and that costs under 500 $/€.

I'll have 2 of the 3 APs connected with ethernet and it'll be used in a typical home environment with 30-40 devices and a 750/350 Mbps cable connection (that might be upgraded to 1Gbps in the near future). Wifi 6E would be nice, 7 is definitely not a must have at this stage.

I am located in Norway, so a newer eero setup is unfortunately not possible (not sold locally).

Any recommendations?
Thanks

[Assistant]
Can you get eero from one of the other nearby countries where Amazon has a presence ? Or will Amazon ship to Norway ?

TP-Link Omada, but it has a bit of a learning curve. TP-Link DECO may be close to what you have.


[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 on buying new router

Hi Im sure this is asked all the time but its 9/24 and interested in 9/24 answers!
After waiting since last Feb. full 10gb fibre is going active and i have an install date fir oct4.
So whats the best least expensive purchase with 10gb wan port and at least 2 10gb outputs. I’ve used and installed all the brands over a lifetime career in IT but retired and not up on the latest. Im partial to ASUS, running an obsolete rt ac5300 now.
With that said, i’ll start looking around!

Thanks
Ross

[Assistant]
All series｜WiFi 7｜ASUS Global
In ASUS ãAll seriesã - 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

Looks to be the latest and closest from asus.

You will likely have to go with a different company to get what you are asking for AND have it be able to handle 10G WAN-LAN , LAN-LAN and do anything else. WIFI 7 is a work in progress from what i read. So expect unstable firmware.

If you want high-end hardware like that, I think you'd be nuts to get an AIO router. Get a wired-only router and some wifi APs. The router will be good for years if not decades; the APs not so much.

Thanks for the info! Hi end routers would be nice but $400-$800 is way more than I can or want to spend on a new router! My old rt 5300 was in that price range but a customer gave it to me years ago and don’t have clients anymore to impress or be knowledgeable for! Retirement is a great thing!
Wifi 7 is unimportant for me, it’s been many years since I was a game player!
Wifi 6 will be just fine and this will be the first time I have ever used it! Our two recent Macs, iPhones, will be as happy as clams in the sand on wifi6.
Our 77” 4K LG OLED will connect via ethernet and thats about it. I have an awesome stereo but it’s all old analogue gear featuring a dolby 5.2 preamp with no need for networking there.
There’s a real old Apple TV which I will probably update now and that’s it!
Looks like I’ll go with last years routers with 2.5gb wan ports unless I see a real deal or something open box etc.


[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 recommendation

I have an AX86U pro at home and been ask to recommend a router for the new Virgin Media install here at work. Aparently its coming from a BT exchange rather than virgin directly and terminates to a switch?
Small/medium compuany with 20+ macs/pcs. approx 8 networked printers. approx 15 networked phones.

Speed will be 200mb. Do you guys think a AX86U Pro would handle it all fine?

[Assistant]
Using consumer gear for a business is asking for trouble. They are engineered for two different purposes. Find a local pro networking company that does small business installs and support.

gffmac said:
Do you guys think a AX86U Pro would handle it all fine?

Wrong hardware for the intended 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: Longtime ASUS user looking for relief from RT-AXE7800

Hi there, SNB users—

I currently have an ASUS router, and after years of running on the platform and with my most recent router (RT-AXE7800) having a host of issues, I feel like it's time to reach out for help and fix my home network. I'll give you my network's history, then setup, then the issues that have cropped up with the recent router. Hopefully someone will be able to assist and make some good suggestions.

So, to start, here's the history of the network. These are the routers that I've had, and why I've gotten rid of them:
ASUS RT-AC68W — Good workhorse router, and was pretty good when I bought it a decade ago. I ended up getting a hybrid modem/router to replace this to prevent having to pay a premium for a modem from Xfinity. It was still running at a middling level of mediocrity in my parents' house now a decade later.
ASUS CM-32 — What I thought was a good router/modem combo, but seemingly gave me no end of trouble. It had issues with remembering its firmware settings and would wipe out its port forwarding with no notice, necessitating reprovisioning it all the time. Also, for as much as it touted that it worked well with Xfinity, they wouldn't allow me to get the highest speeds possible because (I'm guessing) Xfinity would throttle it since it wasn't owned by them. It also prevented me from getting a deal on the data cap that Xfinity tries to extort out of us (because we all know that data is a non-renewable resource... ::eye roll:: ). Eventually, a major crash while I was out of town caused me to want to drop it and get very frustrated with ASUS' products.
TP-Link AX6000 — As a middle finger to ASUS, I ordered this during the pandemic as I started to WFH and needed something that was robust and would function properly. I also was making more money, so to dodge the data cap extortion, I rented Xfinity's XB7-T Gateway and set it into bridge mode. The TP-Link router was almost as bad as the last ASUS in terms of issues: wouldn't allow me to login to the cloud dashboard and I had to constantly reset the login credentials; when I would get to login, the router would occasionally not show up; it'd reboot on its own, for seemingly no reason; the mesh network with a repeater in less than 600 sq ft didn't function right, if at all; It would lose its memory on it's Port Forwarding settings... and I didn't know what to do as this was an expensive router, but would never get the speeds advertised and managing it was a headache.
ASUS RT-AXE7800 — The most recent router that I bought last February. It has a nasty penchant for simply halting connection for a reason that I can't determine, which throws everything on the network offline. You can tell how "great" it is by the screams coming from my condo when my wife and I need to rush to manually reboot the router when we're in the middle of a video call meeting for our jobs. I can't determine why it does this, as it's not at any specific interval or for a recognizable apparent reason. I've made sure the firmware is up-to-date and have reset it twice now. But it persists in seemingly crashing, and then not logging the reason why. This disappointing as hell router is less than a year old.
That's the history of my network's routing management devices.

Currently, so everyone can understand my current network map, the basic setup is this:
Hard-line LAN network: Xfinity XB7-T Gateway (Bridge Mode) > CAT8 > RT-AXE7800 > CAT8 > TP-Link 8 Port Gigabyte Switch
Mesh Network: RT-AXE7800 > Wi-Fi (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) > RP-AX56 (range extender) > Bedroom Devices (TV; AppleTV)
How I use my network: I run a Plex Server, so my out-of-town family members (5 people) can have access to my Mac media center remotely; my wife and I occasionally game on our PS5's (though rarely together, as they are in different rooms); we both have iPad's/iPhones; and, we both Work From Home. In total, we have about 27 devices on the network running on both wired and wireless connections.

The Xfinity plan's speed registers that it should be 1200 up, 350 down. The Xfinity Modem is in Bridge Mode, and the RT-AXE7800 (being a Tri-band router) is pushing out 3 different Wi-Fi networks, however we mainly use the 5GHz network, sometimes the 2.4GHz if a device automatically chooses. I've used a third-party Wi-Fi utility to make sure there isn't any channel interference (we live in a condo complex, and I don't want others' routers interfering), everything that can be on a hard-line LAN connection pretty much is. None of it seems to help— it all seems like it's truckin' along fine, and then suddenly the bandwidth will dip, and my security camera base station online indicator will go red, then inevitably the meeting will halt, or the TV show will start spinning its wheel.

The layout of our condo is basically 3 rooms over 660 Sq Ft: The long family room/kitchen hybrid room, the bathroom, and (down a long hallway past the kitchen and bathroom) the bedroom. The RT-AXE78000 stays in the family room, connected to the modem via the CAT8 LAN cable, and then breaks out with the TP-Link hub at the TV/Server setup to connect everything by a hard-line. The Bedroom has an RP-AX56 range extender setup on the ASUS mesh network, and has a hard-line connection to the Apple TV in the bedroom, but is wireless for everything else. I do not have any cable pulled through the walls, or any ports that I can plug into to ferry the network all over the apartment, so a hard-line to the bedroom unfortunately is a non-starter. The Wi-Fi signal isn't as strong as it should be in the bedroom, being less than 300 ft away from the main router, and 5 ft away from the range extender. I'm not too pleased with the crawling network speeds in there, but I understand that's a byproduct of using a range extender.

Conclusion
I've done some research on this for a couple of months and the closest that I could find as a reasoning for this occurring (or at least an argument against keeping this current ASUS router) is that its internal processor either has an issue/wasn't very good/was outdated at manufacture, and that buying the RT-AXE7800 was essentially purchasing outdated/underperforming hardware comparatively to other units released around the same time— this comment came from another SNB Forums thread complaining about the RT-AXE7800.

So seeing as this will be my 5th router in a decade if I purchase something else, I'd like something that'd last a little bit longer and is easy to manage with robust firmware and good hardware. Someone in another thread here suggested that the better purchase would have been a GT-AX6000, but I also have been seeing some people frustrated with that model as well.

At this point, I'm willing to switch to another brand, but I'm also willing to stick with ASUS if it still is the best hardware to utilize for my home network.

Please let me know if you have additional questions, or need additional information to help troubleshoot or to make new hardware suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

[Assistant]
"
The layout of our condo is basically 3 rooms over 660 Sq Ft: The long family room/kitchen hybrid room, the bathroom, and (down a long hallway past the kitchen and bathroom) the bedroom. The RT-AXE78000 stays in the family room, connected to the modem via the CAT8 LAN cable, and then breaks out with the TP-Link hub at the TV/Server setup to connect everything by a hard-line. The Bedroom has an RP-AX56 range extender setup on the ASUS mesh network, and has a hard-line connection to the Apple TV in the bedroom, but is wireless for everything else. I do not have any cable pulled through the walls, or any ports that I can plug into to ferry the network all over the apartment, so a hard-line to the bedroom unfortunately is a non-starter. The Wi-Fi signal isn't as strong as it should be in the bedroom, being less than 300 ft away from the main router, and 5 ft away from the range extender. I'm not too pleased with the crawling network speeds in there, but I understand that's a byproduct of using a range extender.
"
Something doesn't make sense with your described condo plot plan. Is the total area 660 sqr ft ? Can you provide a sketch with rough dimensions and locations of network infrastructure, please ?
What is the wall construction ? reinforced concrete ? 2x4 wood with gypsum board ?

What are the channel widths for wireless ? particularly the 2.4 GHz band , but also the 5 GHz ?

Try replacing your "cat8" cables with known good cat6 cables. No real advantage for this use case and may be an issue if not actually up to spec.

degrub said:
Something doesn't make sense with your described condo plot plan. Is the total area 660 sqr ft ? Can you provide a sketch with rough dimensions and locations of network infrastructure, please ?
What is the wall construction ? reinforced concrete ? 2x4 wood with gypsum board ?

What are the channel widths for wireless ? particularly the 2.4 GHz band , but also the 5 GHz ?

Try replacing your "cat8" cables with known good cat6 cables. No real advantage for this use case and may be an issue if not actually up to spec.
Click to expand...

Sure, here's a rough layout of how the condo is setup with all the networking equipment:

As you can see, it's not a huge area, and there are some things that may interfere with wireless signals, namely:
Long hallway that is surrounded by walls to get to bedroom
Washer and Dryer in alcove in front of where RP-AX56 is
RT-AXE7800 is not in the most central location for the entire condo
Considering the wall's construction, I think it's just sheet rock/drywall (it was built in 1970), so I don't believe any concrete is involved.

The channel widths are as follows:
2.4GHz Network (20/40 MHz)
5GHz (20/40/80/160 MHz, Enable 160 MHz is checked)
6GHz (20/40/80/160 MHz)
( I think this is what you were asking for, please let me know if this is the incorrect information)

With regard to the LAN cabling, I got the CAT8 from Monoprice (as that's where I usually get inexpensive but quality cables for my IT work), but I can get a different cable from a different distributor if you have a recommendation. The current main CAT8 cables are 20' cables (the patch cables from the TP-Link Hub to the TV/Server are only 10' CAT8), so length may also be a factor on those CAT8 cables if the quality isn't there.

Hopefully that helps clarify things, but I'm mainly concerned with the RT-AXE7800 doing its random restarts (less than I am frustrated about any truncated speeds in the bedroom from the repeater), so that's the main thing I'm looking to replace/upgrade/fix. But I think it's a good first step to replace the LAN cabling to ensure a good connection, if that has anything to do with it.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions, I'll do my best to answer.

Thanks!

@HashMaster9K

for 660sq ft you shouldn't need a repeater at all unless it's for a hardwire connection for those devices due to lack of wifi.

I'm running a single AP - NWA210AX that covers ~1300sq ft corner to corner and hits 1.7gbps on the internal network.

First thing I would do is unbridge the modem and test w/o the Asus -- this proves the connection from Comcast is providing the paid for speeds. If you hit the 1200/35 speeds then you move to the cable to the Asus and defaulting the router of any changes you have made.

If the RT passes the test then turn off the RP and try w/o conflicting RF between the RT/RP and see if you maintain the speeds to the BR.

Another handy thing is a WIFI analyzer app for your phone to see what's around you to allow you to specify which channels to configure on the devices instead of allowing them to scan and change all of the time. 6ghz should mostly be free and clear though but, if you're devices don't support it then that's another issue to deal with.


[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: Is the TP-Link BE6500 WiFi 7 Router An Upgrade From The Asus RT-AX58U?

I currently have an Asus RT-AX58U, and I’m thinking of replacing it with a WiFi 7 router. I’m considering the TP-Link BE6500. Is the TP-Link BE6500 an upgrade from my Asus RT-AX58U, or should I look into another WiFi 7 router? If not, what WiFi 7 router would you recommend under $250?

[Assistant] TP-Link BE6500 is a lower end model dual-band router, has newer radios and 2x 2.5GbE ports. If your clients can take advantage of Wi-Fi 7 - sure. If you have mostly IoTs (N), common 5GHz clients (AC/AX) and just a new phone with AXE/BE - save your money. Your overall experience won't change much.


[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: WiFi Router or switch to Mesh?

I'm not sure what I should do. The laptop, printer, and the Roku that's over in the yellow area are able to maintain a stable connection but the WiFi coverage could use an improvement. Also, the wall that divides them to where the router is, is an outside brick wall. I'm unable to hard wire those devices, that would mean drilling through cement. The only option to hard wire them is to use the coax that's running to the TV by adding a MoCa adapter. The only reason why I'm planning to change the router is because it looks like my RT-1900P is reaching the EOL stage. (learned that with the Merlin changelog.) Now, could I use the mesh network and add a WiFi router to it? Only thing in the basement is my modem.

[Assistant]
Is this a Plan (birds eye ) view or Elevation (side view) sketch ?

cement block/brick or poured, reinforced concrete wall ?
The first is easy. The second requires a rental hammer drill, 3/4 inch bit, and time. Dust mask also.

degrub said:
Is this a Plan (birds eye ) view or Elevation (side view) sketch ?

cement block/brick or poured, reinforced concrete wall ?
The first is easy. The second requires a rental hammer drill, 3/4 inch bit, and time. Dust mask also.
Well, the modem is located in the basement up against the south wall because that's where the coax comes in to the house from the street.
The desktop is in the room upstairs and above from where the modem is.
Between the desktop and the router which is located in a bedroom, there's a hallway.
As for the laptop, printer, and Roku, now that's slightly lower (3 steps down) and it's what used to be the garage. I don't plan to make any holes though.
The WiFi signal on the north side of the house is really impressive considering it has to go through that outside wall. I actually have no idea if it's block, poured, or reinforced. The signal can reach out to 2 properties down from me. I've tested that with using the 2.4 GHz connection on my phone.

What I could do is put a second router against the wall that's closest to the main router, or have a mesh node near the wall so the signal isn't too weak coming from the main router.

Rob Q said:
the WiFi coverage could use an improvement. Also, the wall that divides them to where the router is, is an outside brick wall.
Are you using 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz WiFi? If 5Ghz, change to 2.4Ghz WiFi. 2.4 goes through walls easier.

Also, move your router and antenna orientation slightly.
Turn your router 90 degrees.
move 1-3 feet in all directions.
Make sure your antenna (if external) is tangential to you hard-to-reach devices.

Even small changes can make big differences.


[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: Which router to buy? Newbie

I have a house of 200 square meters over 2 floors and would like to have good wifi both outside and inside. There is a garage approx. 5-6 meters from the house which also needs wifi for the use of the garage smart function.
For several years I have used Ubiquiti Amplifi HD with 2 repeaters. I have 500/500 Mbps speed and a number of clients which cause the speed to decrease and I therefore have to restart the router. I want to upgrade to a better Mesh system with maybe more repeaters if needed so that I can also get good coverage throughout the house, outside and in the garage. The outside is not that big.
Can you recommend what is new and easy to use with multiple extenders? I have been recommended Asus but I don't understand the model numbers. Will ASUS RT-AX92U 2PK be good enough or what do you recommend of the simple plug and play type? Thank you

[Assistant]
RT-AX92U is an old End-of-Life model. Amplifi to AiMesh is not really an upgrade. Replacing one set of issues for another. Go UniFi or Omada as low cost SMB options. Not as easy to setup, but better. You have to choose between easy and better. Best - someone does it for you professionally with best fit for your requirements and environment equipment. Do it once and forget about it.

I would also get rid of the repeaters as they halve the bandwidth due to constant need back and forth to be in connection with the main router.

+1 for seperate APs like the Omada's. They have a very nice software Controller to easily manage them.

microchip said:
I would also get rid of the repeaters as they halve the bandwidth due to constant need back and forth to be in connection with the main router.

+1 for seperate APs like the Omada's. They have a very nice software Controller to easily manage them.
Thank you. So TP-Link is easier to manage? I did have several unifi earlier but it was difficult to set them up. A