ASUS RT- AC5300Set up help.

[JOE.G]

Hi, I am new at this I usually just use what ever my ISP Provides. I just purchased the above router and I would like to know how I should set it up, What should I leave as default what should I turn on or off or change. I live in the country and don't have to worry about a lot of interference.

I Have some older devices that only work on the 2.4 and I would like to split up the 5 between the devices in the home, There are 6 of us in the home and most people have there own, Laptop,Smart TV, I pad, Throw in some PS4,PS3 and some other odds and ends. Everything is wireless.

I also Have a Nano station I think it is only 2.4 that shoots about a 100 Ft to my Shop which then goes to another Nano station then to a Netgear Router ( I think a 4600 series ) .
I would love to Have AIMESH reach to shop as I would buy another ASUS Router. Current speeds are pretty slow in the shop.

What Security setting should I choose? I am guessing there will be different choices.

Thanks a lot

P.S hope I made the right choice I was going to buy the 86U.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Just go with the defaults to begin with. If you encounter problems you might need to change some setting, but don't preempt a problem that doesn't exist. Security setting? - Do you mean the wireless "Authentication Method"? WPA2-Personal is the only realistic choice (unless you want to setup a Radius server ).

 

[JOE.G]

Okay, I am new at setting my own stuff up and just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something, I want the wifi to run as smooth as possible, I am already second guessing my choice as the 86 U seems to be a popular choice. I am thinking of getting the 86 U in the near future and use it in my shop or in my home.

 

[Marin]

See this thread:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac5300-performance-security-guide.45710/#post-413431

 

[JOE.G]

Thanks I will read it in a little bit.

 

[JOE.G]

Well that totally confused me lol

 

[HuskyHerder]

When I purchased the 5300, I thought about it and was second guessing myself, mainly due to the expense. Turns out its one of the best I have ever owned. Give yourself a bit, I think you'll really come to love the 5300.

I just purchased 2 - RT-AC68u, as AP's or nodes in my setup. (Old house plaster walls, with wire mesh backing = no good wifi).

I would also agree with the others here, leave most of it alone for now. Setup the basic stuff like WiFi security etc.. I have to agree that I see less 5300 users here than I would have initially expected. However I am seeing more and more when looking around.

 

[JOE.G]

Well that makes me feel a bit better about my choice. I still haven't hooked it up as I am trying to finish a bathroom remodel and just dont have teh time to sit down and do it.

 

[JOE.G]

Okay so I set it up tonight, Changed name and passwords, Left smart connect off. Only thing I did besides that was turn on aiprotection and and then under sub's I turned on 2 way ips, infected devices prevention and blocking and I left off malicious site blocking .

I left everything else in the router set to default.

Anything else I should do?

Thanks

 

[HuskyHerder]

I swear, I already replied to your post days ago ? ? ?

Not that I can think of.

 

[JOE.G]

Well I have a ASUS AC 3100 that I bought as a Node and I have that set upstairs now and 5300 is on first floor. I tried the 3100 out at my shop which is about 120 FT away and it works as a Node so I will be adding another AC3100 out there. I don't seem to see any negative affects, I do wish I was able to choose which router I was connected to and be able to see on the device which I was hooked to.

I was going to use the 68's as nodes but I found the 3100 pretty cheap used and I guess they are a touch faster.

By setting the Node in the shop I can get rid of the nano stations, which will just clean things up a bit.

 

[pod3545]

I'm quite curious to your experience w/ the aimesh. There's quite a bit of problems with it discussed (including mine) on the rog.asus.com forum. Here's my story:

...I recently purchased the GT5300 and have had some annoyances with it. Firstly, the documentation you find online, or what tech support refers to when helping you will be for the RT and not the GT. Another odd instance I've found is that I've tried to run mesh with my AC68U and I find it constantly dropping, going offline and eventually reconnecting. Yes all FWs are current and it worked fine before I "meshed it" with the 5300. also the signal strength b/t the 5300 & the 68U is at the max so there's plenty there. Another issue is support not supporting things. I called in b/c I had questions about port forwarding and firewall other than the "select your game you use" option and they would only refer me to a basic online page about port forwarding. When I asked more questions, they simply said we don't give any more support or say anything other than what you read here https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/114093

Background, I'm not a gamer and I bought the GT because it has twice the ram, double the cores, 2 USB3 ports instead of just 1, and double the lan ports than the RT. https://www.asus.com/us/Product-Comp...fJIFZVICcx&b=0 Don't think I'm knocking on gamers or gaming in general. I actually am jealous as I don't have the time.

I just don't understand why Asus would make their most powerful and capable router targeted to gaming without (1) making the support docs follow the console and (2) maybe make a FW you can put on it that would give you an option of a "gaming skin" with all the game options and also a skin with all of the standard, traditional options..

 

[JOE.G]

So Far mine has been fine, there are a few things in teh software Id like them to tweak to add a few options but otherwise all is well. I just picked up another RT5300 like new for cheap so I am going to add that to the network and then I should have coverage in my shop as well.

 

[Markboz]

When I purchased the 5300, I thought about it and was second guessing myself, mainly due to the expense. Turns out its one of the best I have ever owned. Give yourself a bit, I think you'll really come to love the 5300.

I just purchased 2 - RT-AC68u, as AP's or nodes in my setup. (Old house plaster walls, with wire mesh backing = no good wifi).

I would also agree with the others here, leave most of it alone for now. Setup the basic stuff like WiFi security etc.. I have to agree that I see less 5300 users here than I would have initially expected. However I am seeing more and more when looking around.

If I may ask what are your settings on your AC 5300?

I have the AC5300 as my main router and a 1900p as a node.

Thank you very much for all of your help!

 

[Marin]

If I may ask what are your settings on your AC 5300?

I have the AC5300 as my main router and a 1900p as a node.

Thank you very much for all of your help!

Do you or anyone else use VPN with your AC5300? Was curious if anyone had been successful in getting good speeds with Merlin FW installed in it? If yes, would you mind sharing your setup configuration? I use NordVPN. What is interesting is that when I use the same setup configuration on AC86U I get almost full speeds as my ISP but with the AC5300 I only get 1/3 of speeds. Thank you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HuskyHerder]

I never received what I would call great speeds. If I had to guess I would say approx 1/3 maybe slightly less when I was running Merlin.
That’s a guess though. I only measured it on 2 occasions and during that time Charter was doing upgrades in the area. I was also connecting from a rather pitiful DSL line.
So I can’t be of much help.

Currently, I am back on stock tinkering around w mesh. I need to give it a try. I haven’t re set up my VPN in last few weeks.

 

[HuskyHerder]

If I may ask what are your settings on your AC 5300?

I have the AC5300 as my main router and a 1900p as a node.

Thank you very much for all of your help!

I have nothing substantially changed from stock values currently. Roaming assist on and adjusted the value for my setup.

Current running stock w/ 2 nodes in Mesh and 2 AP non mesh.

For me the current f/w on the 5300 is still a little buggy. Way more than than any issues I ever experienced on Merlin in my opinion. I set DCHP reservations and the go poof. Custom icons do not stay set.
I need to do a clean slate install again to give it a proper eval. I’ve just been to busy to do it lately. I did one a few weeks back when going back to stock, for my trial of Mesh.
I am not changing a lot at the moment. I am contemplating going back to Merlin and all AP’s

I also find my speeds have diminished slightly from when I was running Merlin. It could be Spectrum as work is being done in my area. So I’m not able to say for certain.
I am really curious to re install Merlin and try my speedtests again. Just finding the time at the moment.

 

[JOE.G]

Hows the roaming assist work? Sometimes I think I am connecting to the Node when i should be on the Main router.

 

[Marin]

I have nothing substantially changed from stock values currently. Roaming assist on and adjusted the value for my setup.

Current running stock w/ 2 nodes in Mesh and 2 AP non mesh.

For me the current f/w on the 5300 is still a little buggy. Way more than than any issues I ever experienced on Merlin in my opinion. I set DCHP reservations and the go poof. Custom icons do not stay set.
I need to do a clean slate install again to give it a proper eval. I’ve just been to busy to do it lately. I did one a few weeks back when going back to stock, for my trial of Mesh.
I am not changing a lot at the moment. I am contemplating going back to Merlin and all AP’s

I also find my speeds have diminished slightly from when I was running Merlin. It could be Spectrum as work is being done in my area. So I’m not able to say for certain.
I am really curious to re install Merlin and try my speedtests again. Just finding the time at the moment.

Thank you @HuskyHerder! I had a feeling others had similar experiences as I have tried multiple configurations but for some reason couldn’t get better speeds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Markboz]

I have nothing substantially changed from stock values currently. Roaming assist on and adjusted the value for my setup.

Current running stock w/ 2 nodes in Mesh and 2 AP non mesh.

For me the current f/w on the 5300 is still a little buggy. Way more than than any issues I ever experienced on Merlin in my opinion. I set DCHP reservations and the go poof. Custom icons do not stay set.
I need to do a clean slate install again to give it a proper eval. I’ve just been to busy to do it lately. I did one a few weeks back when going back to stock, for my trial of Mesh.
I am not changing a lot at the moment. I am contemplating going back to Merlin and all AP’s

I also find my speeds have diminished slightly from when I was running Merlin. It could be Spectrum as work is being done in my area. So I’m not able to say for certain.
I am really curious to re install Merlin and try my speedtests again. Just finding the time at the moment.

Where is roaming assist at? And what values did you change?