ADVICE: Extend my RT-AC86U to create a mesh

[Pergola Fabio]

Hi,

I have at home an RT-AC86u as main router, verry pleased with it
On the other 2 floors, i have accesspoint from my ISP provider, they are verry limited in config, i can only choose like ssid name / password and channel, thats about it

My accesspoint are configured in 1,6,11 , but i always have issues with my android phones, when i switch floor, they dont change to the other SSID (same name) , i always needs to disable/enable wifi on android, then they connect to strongest SSID

so i want to drop those 2 accesspoints points and buy Asus instead

whats important for me:

- The 2 new accesspoints , i need also the 4 lan ports, so i want to have routers in AP mode or Accesspoint with 5 ports? if they excist?
- aimesh!! I need it to work for my androids
- this would be a plus, if the Accesspoint also has POE ports, but not neccesary

Can anyone advise me?

thnx in advance

 

[L&LD]

Buy additional RT-AC86U's for the best AiMesh experience, today, as required. Anything less is a compromise.

When they are properly connected as wireless AiMesh nodes, move them to the location where they are most effective and useful. You'll be able to use both the Wi-Fi and the LAN ports too.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021

And, also, in the link above (just highlighting it for you here).

How to Connect an AiMesh Node


Consider the following before purchasing more than one more AiMesh router.

What are your ISP speeds today and are they expected to increase in the near future?

How big is your home in SqFt? How many floors/levels do you need coverage on? What are the walls/floors constructed from?

If you're able to wire an AiMesh node, do so. If you do not have Ethernet cables to wire the nodes, perhaps you have Moca connections available?

More nodes do not mean better Wi-Fi. There is such a thing as 'too much Wi-Fi' for smaller areas (even for homes up to 5,000 SqFt and larger).

The links below may help further too when pre-planning this network upgrade project.

AiMesh Ideal Placement


Do you have a budget for this upgrade?

If your budget supports it, your ISP speeds are ~300Mbps (symmetrical) or greater, and you want to maximize the speeds to all your devices, consider running an Ethernet cable to a central location for the AiMesh node.


Read the link below as to why you don't want more wirelessly connected AiMesh nodes than you absolutely need.

Repeater mode = wireless AiMesh


If you can re-purpose the old ISP provided repeaters as Media Bridges, you can reuse them for any wired capable clients.

Media Bridge Mode


The link below gives you a hint of the control you may have with an AiMesh setup.

Demo UI RT-AX88U

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Thnx for answering! Appreciated, gonna have a look later at the links..
It's for home use , on each floor i have UTP cables , do i can connect with utp, my main issue is just the roaming for the smartphones, my floors are like 100m2, they are placed central, so it should cover the floor easily

Maybe i can purchase the older 66u instead of the the 86u ?

 

[L&LD]

Have a look at the link below for the ideal placement of multiple routers in the same network.

AiMesh Ideal Placement

The RT-AC66U does not support AiMesh.

The RT-AC66U_B1 does. I don't think it's a good buy today, vs. the cost to get the much better RT-AC86U (depending on the prices in your area, of course).

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Ok, thx for feedback, didn't know that

 

[noah way]

The AC68U supports AiMesh and is quite a bit less expensive. I bought 2 for a little more than the cost of one 86U.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

And you connected them as extra nodes on your 86u?

 

[noah way]

One is the router, the other is a repeater. In my situation (40 meter separation) I found that to be more reliable than the mesh. They will work seamlessly with the 86U.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

For me the most important feature is that my android smartphones connect to the strongest ssid, without turning off/on wifi on smartphone

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi,

I have at home an RT-AC86u as main router, verry pleased with it
On the other 2 floors, i have accesspoint from my ISP provider, they are verry limited in config, i can only choose like ssid name / password and channel, thats about it

My accesspoint are configured in 1,6,11 , but i always have issues with my android phones, when i switch floor, they dont change to the other SSID (same name) , i always needs to disable/enable wifi on android, then they connect to strongest SSID

so i want to drop those 2 accesspoints points and buy Asus instead

whats important for me:

- The 2 new accesspoints , i need also the 4 lan ports, so i want to have routers in AP mode or Accesspoint with 5 ports? if they excist?
- aimesh!! I need it to work for my androids
- this would be a plus, if the Accesspoint also has POE ports, but not neccesary

Can anyone advise me?

thnx in advance

The AC86U has about 20% more effective WiFi range than the AC68U. This helps coverage, remote node placement, and the strength of a wireless backhaul.

The AC68u does not support Smart Connect node band steering, so you must use different SSIDs per band.

A second AC86U would provide hardware backup for your router. This is handy for quick disaster recovery, and for swapping nodes around to troubleshoot an issue.

OE

 

[Pergola Fabio]

So actually it's the smart connect feature that helps for roaming devices between access points? And not the aimesh?

 

[Pergola Fabio]

According to this page, is we use smart connect , the wireless band must be set on auto...
What's verry important for me, is that it needs to be sticky on 20mhz , i can't use auto or 40 mhz, my foscams camera drop network if they are connected to 40 , it's a sw bug


So can I use smart connect on a 20mhz band fixed?

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Forgot to copy paste the page :

[Wireless Router] How to configure the Smart Connect in ASUS Router? | Official Support | ASUS USA

 

[noah way]

The AC86U has about 20% more effective WiFi range than the AC68U. This helps coverage, remote node placement, and the strength of a wireless backhaul.

The AC68u does not support Smart Connect node band steering, so you must use different SSIDs per band.

A second AC86U would provide hardware backup for your router. This is handy for quick disaster recovery, and for swapping nodes around to troubleshoot an issue.

OE

Without smart connect on the 68U, I use the same SSID for both bands and my wireless devices (IOS) switch seamlessly. You can set Roaming Assistant to adjust the level at which the connection to a node is disconnected. I have not found this to be necessary.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Ok, cool, thnx

 

[OzarkEdge]

So actually it's the smart connect feature that helps for roaming devices between access points? And not the aimesh?

Smart Connect band steering encourages a wireless client to connect to the better band/signal within a given node. It's on many routers, even non-AiMesh routers.

It's not on AC68Us so you should use different SSIDs per band and manually steer your wireless clients by only connecting them to the desired band/SSID.

Not all clients choose wisely. Given two bands with the same SSID, they may or may not connect to the better band/signal. Smart Connect can help them to choose wisely.

OE

 

[noah way]

Smart Connect band steering encourages a wireless client to connect to the better band/signal within a given node. It's on many routers, even non-AiMesh routers.

It's not on AC68Us so you should use different SSIDs per band and manually steer your wireless clients by only connecting them to the desired band/SSID.

Not all clients choose wisely. Given two bands with the same SSID, they may or may not connect to the better band/signal. Smart Connect can help them to choose wisely.

OE

Good comment about different SSIDs to force connections to different bands.

 

[OzarkEdge]

According to this page, is we use smart connect , the wireless band must be set on auto...
What's verry important for me, is that it needs to be sticky on 20mhz , i can't use auto or 40 mhz, my foscams camera drop network if they are connected to 40 , it's a sw bug


So can I use smart connect on a 20mhz band fixed?

Smart Connect now permits using fixed channels (not Auto channels) for each band.

20 MHz is not a WiFi band. It's a channel bandwidth. You can fix channel bandwidth to 20 MHz.

Typically, you would set the 2.4 GHz WiFi band to use channel 1, 6, or 11 at 20 MHz bandwidth. And the 5.0 GHz WiFi band to use a fixed, non-DFS channel at 20/40/80 MHz. Subject to your own preferences and the country you live in.

OE

 

[MakeItEasy]

Hi,

Great post that interests me a lot

Is it still worth it nowadays to buy a second RT-AC86U to extend the coverage on the second floor of my house ? (my daughters's phones often switch to 4G because WIFI signal is too weak)

Can I place it somewhere without a wired connection (5 meters from the other but behind a wall ie) ?

Thanks for your feedback