Any recommedations for a cheap AiMesh AX router with good range

[Johno]

My AiMesh setup consists of an RT-AX86U with two RT-AC68Us as nodes. My broadband will at some point be upgraded to full-fibre with 1Gbps download speeds, but the RT-AC68Us are only capable of a max of around 420Mbps download so I wanted to replace them with AX routers so that I get similar speeds to the AX86U's max speed of around 860Mbps which makes better use of the forthcoming full-fibre broadband. I've looked at both the RT-AX59 and RT-AX68 but they're either expensive or not available, so I was wondering what ohers here would recommend as alternatives?

Thanks in advance

 

[L&LD]

I would suggest testing with one or two RT-AX88U Pro's. With wired backhaul.

The models you have are all going EOL in the near future.

 

[Tech9]

I've looked at both the RT-AX59 and RT-AX68

RT-AX68U is End-Of-Life model already. RT-AX59U is a MediaTek device, better don't mix it with your Broadcom main router. The cheapest node is perhaps RT-AX3000 V2, also called RT-AX58U V2. You can continue using whatever you have at the moment. Chasing ISP speed will cost you and this speed may not be needed for every client you have. No benefit for phones/tablets for example, your Internet experience in general won't improve much.

 

[Johno]

You can continue using whatever you have at the moment. Chasing ISP speed will cost you and this speed may not be needed for every client you have. No benefit for phones/tablets for example, your Internet experience in general won't improve much.

That's a very god point. I know the ethernet wired devices at my home are all 100Mbps except for my desktop PC (2.5 Gbps), NAS and laptop (both gigabit) so chasing fast wifi speeds would indeed be a bit fruitless.

 

[Tech9]

In this case you don't really need to upgrade your ISP plan, unless the new offer comes cheaper. Anything above 200Mbps will make difference for speed tests and downloads only. This is valid for most families with 3-4 more actively used devices at a time. Your Internet use and experience will be about the same even if you upgrade your entire system. You may get faster access to your NAS and that's about it.