BE-98 Pro - best Node? - issues with BE86U

[stilessm]

I posted this on the buying advice forum but think that it should probably transition here.

House is 2700sq-ft across two floors. Wood frame. Detached garage with a nest cam. About 30 devices. Occasionally up to 3 streams going at once with meetings and video.

I just upgraded my old trusty GT-AX11000 with a. GT-BE98 Pro this weekend. I was nervous about the upgrade given all of the issues I've been hearing about. The GT-AX11000 was paired with a AI Mesh connected RT-AX86U. I was getting reliable 250Mb / 30mb throughout the house on a 500/40 service. If I sat very close to the router I could get 400/35-40.

With just the BE98 Pro I'm seeing near 600/45 in standard config. It was a little flaky yesterday, dropping my phone frequently and I was seeing frequent outages with my Nest Cams. I changed one thing -- turning off Wifi7 Mode -- and gave it some time and it seems far more stable today.

I also experimented with adding the RT-AX86U to the mix as the upstairs AI Mesh node because my daughter's room (farthest and upstairs) was only getting 60/20. That upgraded her to 250/30. So, cool. But, the RT-AX started taking over many of the connections and I was feeling like I wasn't getting the most of what I was paying for with the new 98 Pro. So, my question is: what would be a great modern AI Mesh node to pair with the 98 Pro? My goal is full speeds throughout the house.

Note: we have very few wifi6 devices in the house. Basically my iPhone 16 and my spare Android phone. Everything else seems to be wifi5 or downleveling to 2.4. I can only do wireless backhaul. The main reason I disconnected the AI Mesh node last night was because I couldn't figure out how (which radio) it was doing the mesh backhaul and I was suspecting it was using the already heavily used wifi5 band.

I need something "small footprint" like the AX86 U.

That got me looking at:
AX86U Pro or
RT-BE86U. This one seems to be the best match. Wifi6E and 7. I'm guessing it's going to use Wifi6 for backhaul?

I was surprised that the new 98 Pro only has one wifi5 radio and two wifi6. This is a bit of a bummer as the previous base router I had had 2 wifi5 and given wifi5 is 95% of my devices... It feels like I may have jumped the gun a bit

Update:
- Using just the base GT-BE98 Pro this morning I was having a hell of a time staying connected to a Teams meeting. Even though the connection quality was OK and speed test was giving me ~100/20. Never had that problem with the old setup. Laptop for Teams is a Surface Laptop 5.
- Plugged the trusty old AX86U in and AI Meshed it and Teams is now rock solid. Hmmm.
- Decided last night to find a mesh node that is the most "equivalent" to my BE98 Pro and ended up ordering the RT-BE86U this morning (I don't have room for another BE98 upstairs

Why am I posting? First to gripe about how flaky the BE98 seems to be at the "edge" of 6ghz coverage.
Second to keep folks updated and see if the new Mesh node is going to give me full speed upstairs and high reliability and
Third to share any stories about "how" the BE98 Pro handles Wireless Backhaul in hopes of helping me and others who might be struggling with this.

I wanted to throw the best Asus had to offer at this. I'm worried that I'm actually taking a step back from my 4 year old setup after throwing $1k at the problem. We'll see.

 

[stilessm]

Bumping this with an update. my BE86U showed up yesterday and I've been working on getting it configured. So far it seems to be "about as solid as the old AX86" and gives my newer devices more of the speed I'm paying for throughout the house. Cautiously optimistic. I'm still seeing some hiccups on Teams calls that I didn't have with my old system but I've also sensed that the new system is in "learning/adaptation" mode. Will keep folks posted.

Net: the system is:
Base: BE98 Pro
2nd Floor AI Mesh (currently wifi): BE86U

Everything currently running on the same SSID allowing the Asus to "steer" between bands. I think the next steps are:
- 2.4Ghz band for my nest cams and thermostat and a few iOT bits
- Maybe splitting out the 6hz band into a separate SSID, but honestly I kind of like it auto steering from 5ghz to 6

 

[stilessm]

Well, the story continues. Last night I noticed that when I walked up the stairs (near the new upstairs BE86U the leds went off. Thought it was a fluke. Today the router started just shutting itself off. I tried power cycling, resetting. Turns out that wiggling the power plug (male end into the router) would cut power. I tried plugging in an power supply from my AX (higher quality cable, angled plug end) and it was nice and snug, no issues. The new unit's power supply cable male-end was "straight" which made backing it up to the wall tough. But, regardless, I couldn't use it with my old power supply indefinitely because the new one is 12v vs the old one that was 19v output? Forget the amperage but that didn't seem like a good idea. So, the new ones have a cheapened plug. Returned it this evening. Disappointed. Plugged the good old AX86U in and away we go.