An alternative to the RT-AX86U

[TheMegaMan]

My RT-AX86U is possibly on it's way out. It's approaching 2 years old, and seems to have started resetting itself every hour or so.

I've had Asus routers in the past - was very pleased with my RT-AC68U until it died (possibly having been running hot for so long), and replaced it with a RT-AC86U (which wasn't so good), before the RT-AX86U. It pretty much does what I want, but I'm thinking Asus have a reliability issue and I'm considering trying someone else as an alternative.

How do Netgear Nighthawks (such as the RAX200) compare? I've used a TP-Link router many years ago and it wasn't at all stable, but are they better these days? Anyone else worth seriously considering?

Main features I need are:
- 1 WAN and at least 5 LAN ports (not all needs to be >= 1Gbps)
- Wifi 6 capable
- Supports OpenVPN Server
- Useful traffic monitoring
- At least 35 reserved/manual DHCP IP address reservations
- Guest isolated wifi SSID(s)
- USB port for external storage....
- ....support for Apple Time Machine backup

I think that's the main things I need these days. Parental controls are a thing of the past!

Cheers,
Adam

-

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, since you're on the verge of spending anyway it might be time to bifurcate the setup into a wired "router" / switch / APs.

The benefit is not having to spend $300 on a new router every time it ages out. APs are only ~$150 for whatever is current at the time. Wired router ~$50-$100 / switch depends on speed anywhere from $15 for a gig switch to hundreds for 10GE speeds. Depends on how fast you need to move packets.

If you want to get your hands a bit dirtier you could DIY your network using Linux for the OS and multi port NICs that tie things together. Advantage here is if your house is prewired or you use APs with 2.5/5GE ports you can pick up quad port cards for $200 or less per card. Rolling a DIY setup could also allow you to roll in drives for a NAS setup that performs better than a NAS due to their limitations on HW. Putting the drives into this sort of setup unleashes their speed to full potential. HDDs can hit 250MB/s which hit 2GE for speed which means you want at least 2.5GE for the port speed to not kill your other devices while moving data at full speed.

Back to your original Q though about Netgear... I would use on over Asus any day if I didn't make my own. About the only thing I keep up with though at this point is AP tech as most of my setup is wireless at this point.

 

[TheMegaMan]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, @Tech Junky . Hmmm. Food for thought. In years gone by, I did have separate AP, router, etc, but these days integrated units seem to rule for domestic products.

Homebrew also has a lot of appeal (I do like to fiddle!), but I also want it to 'just work'. I worry that a solution I would hack together myself would end up being less reliable, and I'd also need to use bits of software that might not play well together with upgrades, etc. Right now, good old Merlin takes care of all that for me.

OK, so that's one vote for Netgear over Asus, anyway. I *want* to like Asus, but I just wonder whether they've lost their way a bit recently.

Adam.

 

[Tech Junky]

The only issue I have with upgrades is sometimes my NIC doesn't like the new kernel version. I went through s period of rollbacks but, for quite awhile not it's been flawless on a weekly update schedule. Now, I'm a bit more aggressive in my maintenance than what's required but, each kernel patch keeps things secure. If I left it alone it would have significant uptime until either a power outage hit or.... well I can't think of another cause as everything has been stable.

The other perk is using Linux allows for line speed if you're using a VPN w/ Wire Guard. Whereas OVPN profiles stall out at 600mbps no matter the HW being used.

Since you're not bound to a closed firmware like a router off the shelf you can do whatever you can think of, want or need. Running multiple profiles of VPN for remote access in vs VPN for overall network traffic. Want VLANs you can do that as well. Firewall can be a simple 5-10 lines or as complicated as you might need. Monitoring is simple with some small apps that provide GUI access or run SSH sessions.

Peeling away the onion layers though allows for more functionality than a single use box. Being able to start small with a SFF PC and grow from there if you want to add more things to the mix like storage. Adding functions to the box is fairly simple as moving the drive to a new case or cloning it to a new drive while getting the new box put together. Then swap the box out with the new one to be up an running in the time it takes to boot / move the cables.

For my original setup I had an internal WIFI AC card that I used as the AP function using hostapd. Worked fine but, I wanted more speed of AX so split that off into an external AP since no one is making AX cards that are worthwhile. Originally I had a couple of quad 1GE cards for multiple devices but, since trimming back wired needs pulled it back to a quad 5GE. I also had it setup for OTA recordings / Plex with an internal tuner card but, for some reason upgrading to ADL CPU it didn't agree with it for some reason and switched it out for an external ATSC3 box. Of course ATSC3 adds more issues with audio transcoding due to Dolby licensing and most DVR software not offering the codec due to costs.

 

[L&LD]

My RT-AX86U is possibly on it's way out. It's approaching 2 years old, and seems to have started resetting itself every hour or so.

I've had Asus routers in the past - was very pleased with my RT-AC68U until it died (possibly having been running hot for so long), and replaced it with a RT-AC86U (which wasn't so good), before the RT-AX86U. It pretty much does what I want, but I'm thinking Asus have a reliability issue and I'm considering trying someone else as an alternative.

How do Netgear Nighthawks (such as the RAX200) compare? I've used a TP-Link router many years ago and it wasn't at all stable, but are they better these days? Anyone else worth seriously considering?

Main features I need are:
- 1 WAN and at least 5 LAN ports (not all needs to be >= 1Gbps)
- Wifi 6 capable
- Supports OpenVPN Server
- Useful traffic monitoring
- At least 35 reserved/manual DHCP IP address reservations
- Guest isolated wifi SSID(s)
- USB port for external storage....
- ....support for Apple Time Machine backup

I think that's the main things I need these days. Parental controls are a thing of the past!

Cheers,
Adam

-

From your main features:

A $20 switch solves this with any router you buy. Don't be stuck on this 'feature'.
Last two points: very device/firmware and software (client side) dependent. Again, don't hold your breath here.

Your environment seems very unfriendly to routers. What are the specifics here? What have you tried to resolve the issues?

Is it the heat that is bringing all your newer routers down so quickly? Dampness?

I would guess the last two 'main features' you want are what is causing the issues. A NAS is highly recommended here.

Until you identify and correct the core issues, new hardware doesn't stand too much of a chance either.

 

[TheMegaMan]

From your main features:

A $20 switch solves this with any router you buy. Don't be stuck on this 'feature'.
Last two points: very device/firmware and software (client side) dependent. Again, don't hold your breath here.

Your environment seems very unfriendly to routers. What are the specifics here? What have you tried to resolve the issues?

Is it the heat that is bringing all your newer routers down so quickly? Dampness?

I would guess the last two 'main features' you want are what is causing the issues. A NAS is highly recommended here.

Until you identify and correct the core issues, new hardware doesn't stand too much of a chance either.

Fair points. I said 'features I need', when I guess I really meant 'features I want'. There seem to be so many routers out there with very similar specs that just seem to differ by the number of ports, etc, that it seemed worthwhile giving my ideal spec, rather than just saying I wanted a new router.

Yup, I could certainly run a separate switch, but most routers seem to have 4 ports, and if I can get that one extra port, it just makes the power wiring a bit more simple and tidier (keeps the other half happier).

The RT-AX86U is Time Machine compatible, so I figured others could well offer it, too. If they don't, it's not necessarily a deal breaker, but it's a significant factor for me to consider.

I don't think my environment is harsh or unusual in any way for home use. It's just in a room in my house. No aircon (I'm in the UK!), but usually between 20C and 25C ambient. Not damp. It's well known that the RT-AC68U used to run with a CPU temperature around 80C. That's hot when most commercial ICs are only rated to 70C. It seems to me that Asus cut corners in terms of heat management in their boxes...at least they used to. The RT-AX86U seems to run just under 70C, but it's still hotter than most products would run at a moderate ambient.

Do other routers run just as hot, or have other manufacturers got a better handle on thermal management than Asus seem to?

I actually have a number of NASs, used for archive/backups so I leave them switched off most of the time. What I'm looking for is a small amount of storage that's just always available without having to have a NAS running all the time.

 

[gommm]

The benefit is not having to spend $300 on a new router every time it ages out. APs are only ~$150 for whatever is current at the time. Wired router ~$50-$100 / switch depends on speed anywhere from $15 for a gig switch to hundreds for 10GE speeds. Depends on how fast you need to move packets.

I'm currently switching from an all in one to using a wired router (RB5009UG+S+IN), switches and APs. What APs do you use?
I was looking at Ubiquiti given that they seem cheaper than a lot of the more professional APs for wifi 6e (I even posted asking for benchmarks compared to the Asus equivalent) but I'm curious what people use/recommend..

 

[Tech Junky]

What APs do you use?

Zyxel. Currently a nwa210ax and get 1.5gbps for single client using an ax411 wifi card which combines 2.4/5 bands.

They have a 6e model now for $150 and a triband for a bit more. They're more of a smb class device which provide a good balance between price and performance.

The 6e though makes you choose between 5&6 though and not both at the same time.

 

[coxhaus]

I'm currently switching from an all in one to using a wired router (RB5009UG+S+IN), switches and APs. What APs do you use?
I was looking at Ubiquiti given that they seem cheaper than a lot of the more professional APs for wifi 6e (I even posted asking for benchmarks compared to the Asus equivalent) but I'm curious what people use/recommend..

You may want Wi-Fi 6 as I have a lot of ax devices but no 6GHz devices. I use Cisco 150ax APs. They are cheap at $102 each. No controller card is needed as it is built in. I recommend you install one in every heavily used room for the snappiest Wi-Fi. Yes, you can get by with less, but the Wi-Fi is slower. Walls degrade high performance Wi-Fi.