160mhz on AC3100 or AC86U?

[Sephula]

I'm looking into upgrading from my AC68U, and have an Intel 9260 with 160mhz support. I'd be satisfied with gigabit speed, since that's what my ISP caps it at, anyway. Instead of buying an expensive Wifi 6 model, I'm looking to save some money on a lower priced unit, or maybe even a used one. The prices on the AC88U tend to run a little higher. The AC86U and AC3100 should perform about the same, and could save me even more money.

I was wondering if someone could help me find out whether the 160mhz option which exists for recent manufactured AC88U with BCM4366E also exists for AC3100 and AC86U which also support the "RANGE BOOST" feature? I know that the AC3100 used to have the same processor as the AC88U (BCM4366). However,I understand there are some newer AC88U units which have the updated BCM4366E, which introduced "RANGE BOOST", as part of its "Wave 2" features. I see where the newer AC86U and AC3100 have the "RANGE BOOST" feature, as well. Does this mean that they have the newer processors which introduce the Wave 2 feature, and 160mhz?

Can any owners confirm whether the 160 mhz option is showing in the settings, please?

Many thanks!

 

[jtjbt20x]

Not exactly what you asked for, but both my AX3000 and my AX58 with Merlin f/w has the 160MHz option.

 

[Tech9]

Can any owners confirm whether the 160 mhz option is showing in the settings, please?

No official 160MHz support on AC86U, US version, Asuswrt RC3-1 beta. It can be done though. I don't know what "Range Boost" you are talking about. AC86U is newer and faster than both AC88U/AC3100. Better get AX58U, if you want 160MHz wide channel. Make sure it works in your country.

 

[Sephula]

Not exactly what you asked for, but both my AX3000 and my AX58 with Merlin f/w has the 160MHz option.

Does this apply to 802.11ac, or ax only? That could work for me, if it does.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I'm looking into upgrading from my AC68U, and have an Intel 9260 with 160mhz support. I'd be satisfied with gigabit speed, since that's what my ISP caps it at, anyway. Instead of buying an expensive Wifi 6 model, I'm looking to save some money on a lower priced unit, or maybe even a used one. The prices on the AC88U tend to run a little higher. The AC86U and AC3100 should perform about the same, and could save me even more money.

I was wondering if someone could help me find out whether the 160mhz option which exists for recent manufactured AC88U with BCM4366E also exists for AC3100 and AC86U which also support the "RANGE BOOST" feature? I know that the AC3100 used to have the same processor as the AC88U (BCM4366). However,I understand there are some newer AC88U units which have the updated BCM4366E, which introduced "RANGE BOOST", as part of its "Wave 2" features. I see where the newer AC86U and AC3100 have the "RANGE BOOST" feature, as well. Does this mean that they have the newer processors which introduce the Wave 2 feature, and 160mhz?

Can any owners confirm whether the 160 mhz option is showing in the settings, please?

Many thanks!

Given 160 MHz on the 5.0 GHz band could span DFS/weather radar frequencies, you may experience WiFi disruptions.

OE

 

[Sephula]

Given 160 MHz on the 5.0 GHz band could span DFS/weather radar frequencies, you may experience WiFi disruptions.

OE

I've read comments about some people having such difficulties. Since, I really only have to penetrate a single interior wall and traverse less than 20 ft (closer to 15), I think it should be fine.

I'm planning on setting up a network file server, and am trying to get as much throughput as possible. I don't feel it's worth upgrading to 802.11ax, since I only have 2 computers which even could be upgraded, and I don't want to spend a lot of money. I was hoping that even if it doesn't work that well with 160mhz well, I could still benefit from the 4x4 MU-MIMO. Plus, the 1024-QAM should help a little.

I'm probably going to auto-mount NFS shares, and host my Home directories on the server so that user profiles are able to roam. Plus, the file server will be openZFS-based, and have automatic snapshots, etc.

 

[Tech9]

Since, I really only have to penetrate a single interior wall and traverse less than 20 ft (closer to 15), I think it should be fine.

What @OzarkEdge is telling you is - you may not be able to use 160MHz at all.

I could still benefit from the 4x4 MU-MIMO

No. MU-MIMO, if it works at all on your network, will drip the speed to single client.

Plus, the 1024-QAM should help a little.

Only if supported by the client. Broadcom non-standard specs, used mostly for marketing purposes.

 

[Tech9]

I'm planning on setting up a network file server, and am trying to get as much throughput as possible.

Better find a way to wire it.

 

[Sephula]

What @OzarkEdge is telling you is - you may not be able to use 160MHz at all.



No. MU-MIMO, if it works at all on your network, will drip the speed to single client.



Only if supported by the client. Broadcom non-standard specs, used mostly for marketing purposes.

So true about the marketing hype! This entire industry is terrible about overblown expectations. Which is why I use SNB!

Honestly, it's probably fine on what gear I've already got, but I worry about family members griping over performance. I may just try to engineer something employing rsync or Syncthing, instead.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Better find a way to wire it.

Long 1/4" drill bit, snake the cable through, and then terminate it. No one will ever notice!

OE

 

[Tech9]

but I worry about family members griping over performance.

I don't know what they have to complain about so much. I have 3x AC68U variants in my Asus router collection (AC68U, AC1900P, AC66U B1) and they are all capable of >50MB/sec transfers 2x2 AC client to wired NAS. This is >400Mbps throughput. 4K compressed video stream is about 40Mbps.

 

[N/A]

I'm looking into upgrading from my AC68U, and have an Intel 9260 with 160mhz support. I'd be satisfied with gigabit speed, since that's what my ISP caps it at, anyway. Instead of buying an expensive Wifi 6 model, I'm looking to save some money on a lower priced unit, or maybe even a used one. The prices on the AC88U tend to run a little higher. The AC86U and AC3100 should perform about the same, and could save me even more money.

I was wondering if someone could help me find out whether the 160mhz option which exists for recent manufactured AC88U with BCM4366E also exists for AC3100 and AC86U which also support the "RANGE BOOST" feature? I know that the AC3100 used to have the same processor as the AC88U (BCM4366). However,I understand there are some newer AC88U units which have the updated BCM4366E, which introduced "RANGE BOOST", as part of its "Wave 2" features. I see where the newer AC86U and AC3100 have the "RANGE BOOST" feature, as well. Does this mean that they have the newer processors which introduce the Wave 2 feature, and 160mhz?

Can any owners confirm whether the 160 mhz option is showing in the settings, please?

Many thanks!

AC86U didn't get 160MHz support likely because adding it required another costly FCC certification. Hardware wise GT-AC2900 (which has 160MHz) and AC86U should be identical. Someone claimed that he used a flash programer to flash GT-AC2900 firmware onto AC86U and unlocked 160MHz.

 

[RMerlin]

There's a lot of requirement for a router to support 160 MHz channels:

1) The hardware has to support it
2) The model needs to be validated and authorized for DFS channel usage in your specific region (originally only EU DFS validation was done, Asus started having it done for US DFS channels only later on)
3) Asus needs to enable both 160 MHz and DFS channels for your region

That's why it's not always clear whether or not you will be able to get 160 MHz channel, as all of these need to be true. Results vary depending on the model, the firmware version, and the region where you are located.