2 routers with wired network between, aimesh or regular?

[mogulman]

I have a AC-1900p and a Netgear AC 1200 router setup at my house currently.

Have the AC1900p connected to the internet. The Netgear router is acting as an AP with gigabit wired connection back to the 1900p. I have 2 SSIDs, 2.4 and 5g. Same SSIDs across both router and AP.

Is there any point to getting a 2nd Asus router rather than Netgear and doing AIMesh?

Can AImesh used a wired connection between routers? Also, would the performance be better or worse than a router and an AP?

What about being able to have separate 5g and 2.4 networks?

 

[maxbraketorque]

AiMesh definitely works with an ethernet cable between the two routers. I think that its the best interconnect method.

I have an RT-AC68U that has served as an AP first for an RT-AC3100, and now most recently with an RT-AC86U, and both combos have worked very seamlessly for my wireless devices on the 5 GHz band. I think it does take a bit of experimentation to get it working optimally though. I experimented with which router is on the lower channels and found that having the main router on the lower channel range seemed to produce the best switching behavior between the two routers. I also eventually concluded that it was best to only have the 2.4 GHz band enabled on the main router. When it was enabled on both routers, it was tough to get the client devices to stay on the 5 GHz band during switches between routers. Do your AC1900P and Netgear router work pretty well as a pair?

I have yet to try AiMesh (will probably try it this weekend), but from what I understand, it will help the devices switch between the more optimal AP, so it may be easier to get it to work well than a simple main router + AP configuration where the transition is controlled primarily by the client device.

 

[mogulman]

In order to have android devices automatically switch networks in my current configuration, I had to install WiFi Manager. It will automatically switch if the signal strength is too low.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Yeah, Android devices are the least likely to switch to the stronger 5 GHz. This mainly happens in one room in my house where there is about a 10 dBm difference in signal strength. For rest of the house, there is a much larger difference in signal strength, so the switch readily occurs, or both signals are strong, and it doesn't matter which router they using. Perhaps this is where AiMesh will help.

 

[mogulman]

Just to follow up on this. I got an Rt-AC86u as my main router with smart connect enabled. Moved my RT-AC1600p to the same place as my AC1200 Netgear. Setup AiMesh over Ethernet.

Signal level is much better throughout the house and outside. Also no need to use Wifi manager on my Android devices. They seem to be automatically switching.

 

[maxbraketorque]

...

Signal level is much better throughout the house and outside. Also no need to use Wifi manager on my Android devices. They seem to be automatically switching.

Good sign for AiMesh.