Considering adding an RT-AC5300 to a TWO node AiMesh

[redline122]

Currently...
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER with 4 ports used with house patch panel for wired connections (but NONE to wireless nodes)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

Considering...
A new RT-AC5300 running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER and attach a 5 or 8 port managed switch to (expand wired connections that I would lose from moving the AC88U to the AC5300 in the router role)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

If I add an RT-AC5300 as the ROUTER, will I gain greater performance throughput gain with my endpoints that join the wifi mesh network? I understand that I am currently NOT running with dedicated wireless backhaul with two 88U's...by adding the 5300...would I have gains...by setting up the three devices where... What other benefits? Are there any issues with having THREE AiMesh devices in the confines of a house of approximately 3500 sf?

 

[netmik3]

Are they all triband? This has lots of info https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-overview/

 

[redline122]

The AC88Us are not TRIBAND...they run a single 2.4 and a single 5. The AC5300 runs a single 2.4 and two 5 bands.

 

[drabisan]

Both RT-AC5300 and RT-AC88U are using the same CPU and have the same amount of RAM. So no difference in NAT performance.
Before AiMesh2 Asus "reserves" 2nd 5GHz radio for dedicated backhaul even if you are not using a wireless backhaul. I don't know if Merlin changed this behavior in his release. In AiMesh2 you can use the 2nd radio.
If you can use 2nd 5GHz radio you may be able to use DFS channels and slightly better coverage (less congested, in some parts of the world higher power). But that would be about any improvements you may get.
Worth the investment?
- if you're looking for performance improvements the answer is no.
- if your house doesn't have enough coverage, adding a new device in the AiMesh setup will definitely help. Can't say if worth investing into a 3 band router only for this. A 2 band will serve the purpose just fine at a lower price point.

 

[COBOL-Coder]

Currently...
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER with 4 ports used with house patch panel for wired connections (but NONE to wireless nodes)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

Considering...
A new RT-AC5300 running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER and attach a 5 or 8 port managed switch to (expand wired connections that I would lose from moving the AC88U to the AC5300 in the router role)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

If I add an RT-AC5300 as the ROUTER, will I gain greater performance throughput gain with my endpoints that join the wifi mesh network? I understand that I am currently NOT running with dedicated wireless backhaul with two 88U's...by adding the 5300...would I have gains...by setting up the three devices where... What other benefits? Are there any issues with having THREE AiMesh devices in the confines of a house of approximately 3500 sf?

 

[COBOL-Coder]

As a FYI, I'm running an RT-AC5300 as router with an RT-AC86U as a node in an AiMesh configuration utilizing the latest Merlin firmware. In addition, I added 2 4 port gigabit unattended switches, 1 at both ends for a reasonably fast, stable network that doesn't crash. You should know that AiMesh will grab one of your 5ghz channels for a wireless backhaul assuming you don’t go the ethernet route. I went with the wireless backhaul however I ran ethernet from the node to the switch giving me 3 additional gigabit ports. As a sidenote, unless things changed recently, you will not be able to use the "Guest" network if that might be important to you, however, there are reasonable work arounds.

Currently...
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER with 4 ports used with house patch panel for wired connections (but NONE to wireless nodes)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

Considering...
A new RT-AC5300 running Merlin 384.19 running as ROUTER and attach a 5 or 8 port managed switch to (expand wired connections that I would lose from moving the AC88U to the AC5300 in the router role)
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE
RT-AC88U running Merlin 384.19 running as WIRELESS NODE

If I add an RT-AC5300 as the ROUTER, will I gain greater performance throughput gain with my endpoints that join the wifi mesh network? I understand that I am currently NOT running with dedicated wireless backhaul with two 88U's...by adding the 5300...would I have gains...by setting up the three devices where... What other benefits? Are there any issues with having THREE AiMesh devices in the confines of a house of approximately 3500 sf?

 

[OzarkEdge]

As a FYI, I'm running an RT-AC5300 as router with an RT-AC86U as a node in an AiMesh configuration utilizing the latest Merlin firmware. In addition, I added 2 4 port gigabit unattended switches, 1 at both ends for a reasonably fast, stable network that doesn't crash. You should know that AiMesh will grab one of your 5ghz channels for a wireless backhaul assuming you don’t go the ethernet route. I went with the wireless backhaul however I ran ethernet from the node to the switch giving me 3 additional gigabit ports. As a sidenote, unless things changed recently, you will not be able to use the "Guest" network if that might be important to you, however, there are reasonable work arounds.

AiMesh 2.0 RC2-6 supports guest WLANs across all nodes.

OE

 

[redline122]

First of all, thanks to all of you for your thoughtful responses. If the processing power of the AC5300 is the same as the AC88U...Should I consider the AC3200 tri-band as the router instead of the AC5300?

 

[redline122]

First of all, thanks to all of you for your thoughtful responses. If the processing power of the AC5300 is the same as the AC88U...Should I consider the AC3200 tri-band as the router instead of the AC5300?

Scratch that...it seems the AC5300 uses a faster processor than the AC3200... 1.4GHz versus 1.0Ghz