AC86U, 7800, Blue Cave? Looking for the best sub $200 router that's mostly plug and play.

[verbatim]

I don't want to break the bank but I want something that will last at least two years and be optimized for gaming and my current house hold.

I currently have an 1800 sqft ranch but we're looking at moving into a 2400-3200sqft 2 story in the next year or two. The router will currently be in the middle of the house in a bedroom/office, possibly in a closet.

We have a lot of wireless devices; smoke detector, thermostat, 4 Google homes, fire sticks, several gaming consoles to name a few. Biggest useage is PC gaming and a Nvidia shield TV that I will hard wire to cast/stream my PC games to a TV. I've done some research and the AC86U and Netgear 7800 seem to be a little pricey but just on the tip top end of my budget since I have to run a new cable from the modem in the garage across the house.

Are either of these my best option or should I consider something else like the Blue Cave? I don't use a VPN as of now and I'm really looking for something that's plug and play and great out of the box, although I have no problem running a different firmware if that's all I need to do. Between our Google homes playing music, casting to tvs with Chromecasts and fire sticks, I really just want something stable and with a solid 5ghz that actually stays on. I'm so sick of my current 2.4ghz and 5ghz bouncing in and out and back and fourth.

Thanks.

 

[John Navas]

From your list my recommendation is the RT-AC86U. It's the wireless router I deploy for high-end business clients where rock solid performance is the top priority.

A good alternative at less cost is the RT-AC68U. Most home and small business users would be hard pressed to tell the difference versus the RT-AC86U.

Excellent ASUS GUI and smartphone apps make management a breeze, part of why I prefer ASUS to Netgear.

 

[Klueless]

It'd be interesting to know what you currently use, what/how many SSIDs you use, what speed your Internet service is and if you achieve those speeds anywhere?

I assume you've run a WiFi analyzer and/or speed tests (on both bands) from various test points around the house such that you know where your strong points and your weak points are.

I'm so sick of my current 2.4ghz and 5ghz bouncing in and out and back and fourth.

Should I assume the "bouncing" only occurs in the "weak" areas of your house?

While I like what I've read about the Blue Cave what I've read about the 86U suggests it has better WiFi range/performance. If you weren't already having problems the Blue Cave would be a good looking replacement. Because you are having problems I would look at the better rated router.

I tend to lean towards Asus because I like their built-in traffic analyzer. It's been real useful to me for better understanding my network usage and performance.

 

[doczenith1]

I don't use a VPN as of now and I'm really looking for something that's plug and play and great out of the box, although I have no problem running a different firmware if that's all I need to do.

If there is a remote chance that you might use a VPN in the future then the 86U is hands down the router you want. I don't know much about the 7800 but the 86U will do 200+ Mbps over the VPN. I saw a thread recently where it was reported that the Blue Cave struggles to get 30 Mbps (don't quote me on that but it was near that value) over the VPN.