Improve House Wifi / Keep Existing Router?

[LexLuthor]

So I exchanged the AX86U today for an AX68U at Microcenter. They actually had the AX68U on sale for $160, which is $20 cheaper than everyone else at the moment.

Took me a while to get things configured, but think I'm where I need to be now.

I wasn't sure which firmware to go with. I decided on 386.4.b1 I figured less changes going from that to 386.4 final than from 386.3.2 to 386.4 final. After flashing Merlin, I did a reset both in the router gui and via the button on the router.

Anything I absolutely need to change from the defaults, particularly with any of the wifi settings?

Quick speedtests (very unscientific)
AC68U
backyard/laptop 70/33
backyard/phone 33/24
den/tv 77 (fair)
den/laptop 99/53
den/phone 270/152

AX68U
backyard/laptop 248/99
backyard/phone 259/43
den/tv 75 (fair)
den/laptop 310/197
den/phone 318/68

Little surprised den/tv didn't improve, but that's a low end TCL, so it's probably got crappy wifi in there.

300M/300M FiOS
phone is Samsung Galaxy S21, laptop is Lenovo Yoga C940

Thanks for everyone's comments along the way!

 

[SoCalReviews]

I'm not sure why you would bother downgrading from AX86U to AX68U but either way it should be an upgrade from the AC68U. The AX68U is a different design with different internal components and lower specs. It will be interesting to see how well it's reliability holds up over time. Often with lower end models the manufacturers will use inferior internal components to bring the costs down and improve profit margins for mass production like using a five cent capacitor instead of a ten cent capacitor, etc.. There is also a rolling of the dice with newer models with different engineering and they haven't had time to be owned and tested by the public.

The AX86U hardware has proven to be extremely reliable over the past year. It will be curious to see if that ends up being true for the AX68U.

 

[Tech9]

Quick speedtests (very unscientific)

Do you trust us now newer tech goes faster and reaches further?

 

[LexLuthor]

Do you trust us now newer tech goes faster and reaches further?

View attachment 37858

Yes, makes sense and I can see the numbers in testing, but I'm still not sure it's going to be noticeable in daily use. So far, there are a couple of things where I notice the difference, but it's not stuff I do frequently. Open VPN through the router is so much faster. But, typically, if I needed VPN, I'd just run the client on my laptop, do what I need and then shut it down so still not sure how much I'll use router VPN. Additionally, transferring a file from my laptop to the hard drive connected to the router usb port is much faster now.

Any router settings that I should change from default? I picked static (main) channels for the 2 bands and saw that it was recommended to turn off universal beamforming, so I've done that.
I used this post as a guide

Would appreciate Wireless Professional Setting recommendations of AIMesh with AX88U as the root router

Hi, I am a new user. Great community here, very useful, so much knowledge, at times overwhelming but all around a great place! I have been an ASUS router user for as long as I remember, but only recently I went down the Merlin route. My current set-up is as follows: Root/Main Router: A new...

www.snbforums.com

 

[Tech9]

but I'm still not sure it's going to be noticeable in daily use.

Faster LAN/WLAN will give you better transfer speeds between your devices and to local NAS, if you have one. For daily Internet use anything over 100Mbps feels about the same, except download speeds. I pay for 500Mbps plan only because it comes with faster upload speed. With family of four, work/learn from home, streaming, usual Internet activities, etc. WAN traffic speeds rarely exceed 150Mbps.

Any router settings that I should change from default?

Do you have any issues with clients? If no, don't bother. Everyone will give you his/hers own favorite settings, not necessarily best for you.

 

[avtella]

Yeah putting aside paper specs and benchmarks all of which make things look drastic improvements, in the end it matters if it’s really improving your real world usage and your use case otherwise it may be wasted money.

I learned this lesson when I very recently gave my aunt and uncle a set of an AX router (for use as an AP) and ax access point I had from my beta testing time as an upgrade over their half a dozen or so old Cisco n class (2.4 GHz) access points in their large home, with the only 5 GHz band being from the main router a Linksys E1200 (I think), they could have cared less they noticed no difference in their daily usage from streaming to conferencing, they also don’t do large transfers or have a NAS… so they were like “we notice no difference in our use why do we need them lol”….. Of course the ax units benchmarks wise were night and day better as the n class APs were giving like 50-80 Mbps on their 500-600 Xfinity Internet plan. Plus security issues on a possibly decade plus old router.

 

[Tech9]

as an upgrade over their half a dozen or so old Cisco n class

I'm using 4x Cisco N AP's in my parents house. No intentions to touch. They provide what's needed there.

 

[LexLuthor]

Yeah putting aside paper specs and benchmarks all of which make things look drastic improvements, in the end it matters if it’s really improving your real world usage and your use case otherwise it may be wasted money.

Yes, and that's why I'm feeling I made the right choice going with the AX68U over the AX86U and saving $100 in the process.

 

[Tech9]

There is something called satisfaction level and it has no price tag. Many folks around upgrade to hardware they don't need just because they want something new or different. At one point I was running 200kg hardware in a server rack for 4 network users. When I reached the satisfaction level it was replaced with 10kg hardware and no one noticed. I have made the right choice in both cases.

 

[sfx2000]

Of course the ax units benchmarks wise were night and day better as the n class APs were giving like 50-80 Mbps on their 500-600 Xfinity Internet plan. Plus security issues on a possibly decade plus old router.

Believe it or not - most folks don't run benchmarks on their networks - as long as Skype, Netflix, and the Facebook are working, they're good to go



Old hardware that the vendor is not updating, that is the real concern...

 

[Tech9]

Believe it or not - most folks don't run benchmarks

True. Most folks use ISP provided routers setup by ISP technicians with default SSID's. Most networks around me are called BELLxxx.

 

[jkxs]

Microcenter just dropped price $20 to $229.99. 30 day price match guarantee gets me $40 back + taxes for two. Get it price matched asap tomorrow morning in-store (not sure if they price match if they are sold out)

Stacking best buy online price match + PayPal $50 off $250 (would have to buy filler) is probably best price overall.
https://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/15523609

 

[Tech9]

@LexLuthor already made his choice. Perhaps Hot Deals forum section is best for this information.

 

[LexLuthor]

@LexLuthor already made his choice. Perhaps Hot Deals forum section is best for this information.

Actually, I had already seen the deal posted and I have changed my mind. I've got an RT-AX86U waiting for me at BestBuy. Also, the paypal credit is $25, not $50 and it's iffy whether it will stick after best buy issues the price match, but I'll go for it anyhow.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Actually, I had already seen the deal posted and I have changed my mind. I've got an RT-AX86U waiting for me at BestBuy. Also, the paypal credit is $25, not $50 and it's iffy whether it will stick after best buy issues the price match, but I'll go for it anyhow.

Ha! Nice double switch @LexLuthor. You're not someone who is afraid to get exactly what you want for the right price and there is nothing wrong with that if you don't mind all that effort. We will see how long this one lasts.

 

[Tech9]

I wouldn't even bother about $50 savings, if I had to exchange routers and set them up again few times. Everyone is different, I guess.

 

[SoCalReviews]

I value my time and energy more than the money... Driving back and forth to do the exchanges, going into the store, waiting in line, waiting for the employee to check in the old equipment, give you credit for the exchange, charge for the new equipment, then the time to set everything up again and test all your equipment to make sure the new one works. Packing up the equipment and dropping it off for return shipment is sometimes easier. I'd probably do a price match or exchange once for fifty or even less if I'm getting the same or better product.

In my book all that effort can be a big hassle especially if you go through it two or three times after the original purchase. But if you don't mind the time and the gas costs and you really want that money then it's understandable. I have friends who would go through it all to save $5 just for the principle of getting the best deal. The most important thing is that you are satisfied with your purchase.

 

[thiggins]

Folks, I've removed the off-topic posts regarding Covid. There is enough opinion and misinformation on this topic in other places on the internet. I don't have the time or inclination to monitor and/or fact-check those posts in SNBForums. So please take those discussions elsewhere.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Folks, I've removed the off-topic posts regarding Covid. There is enough opinion and misinformation on this topic in other places on the internet. I don't have the time or inclination to monitor and/or fact-check those posts in SNBForums. So please take those discussions elsewhere.

Thanks Tim. I was actually going to try to PM you today requesting that they be removed because it had spontaneously and unintentionally evolved into a two person back and forth side discussion completely unrelated to the forum and thread topics.