Looking to upgrade from RT-AC66U for my situation and router location

[kantonburg]

I had this router for years now. It's located in my daughters room downstairs in the bottom corner of the house. Due to circumstances it can't be moved anywhere else. Our house is 2300 sq/ft including the basement.

We've never had any real trouble until recently. I'm not sure if it's age and flaking out or just finally taxed. I'm running the most current Merlin firmware for that particular router. I've spent the day looking through threads at different models. I'd really like to keep it $200 or below. I've looked at the RT-AX3000, RT-AX58U (which I believe is the same as the 3000 except has an internal amplifier vs. the 3000s external), and the RT-AX82U (no Merlin support)

If I'm correct
RT-AX58U/AX3000 - 2x2
RT-AX82U - 4x4

Then there is the RT-AX86U which is a beast and a bit out of my price range right now. It may be my best option I don't know.

Here are the devices connected
3 phones (soon to be 4)
2 laptops
1 wired PC
1 wireless PC
1 Roku TV
2 Roku's
2 Xfinity devices (DVR & secondary box)
1 security camera
2 Alexas
4 Alexa plugins
2 iPads
2 Xbox
Plex Media Server

My wife watches Discovery+ and Netflix a good bit. My son and daughter watch YouTube seeming all the time. If I'm on my computer I'll watch YouTube or Netflix if I'm not browsing. The kids don't game a ton of the Xbox. I've played with QoS some, but not a ton. I've had to restart the router more in the past month than I have in the past 2 years. I installed Vistumbler today to see who around me was using what channels. Adjusted that for now.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[L&LD]

Anything you upgrade to will be a huge upgrade from the 'original' RT-AC66U.

The currently suggested routers are RT-AC86U, RT-AX68U, RT-AX88U, RT-AX86U. I cannot really recommend the RT-AX58U when there are two routers much better (overall) than what it offers, even if there are many customers that are still using this as their main router (successfully).

How much is a 'bit out of the price range'?

What are your ISP speeds? What are you expecting to upgrade to in the next couple of years?

Maybe keep a close watch on that RT-AX68U in the next few weeks for a price drop that makes it within your budget.

I don't know about the RT-AX82U, but the RT-AX58U is a 'weird' 4x4:2 design (antennae:streams). And the network feels more sluggish to me with that router than with any of the models suggested above.

 

[bbunge]

AX68U $175.00

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1622915-REG/asus_rt_ax68u_ax2700_dual_band.html?ap=y&smp=y

 

[kantonburg]

AX68U $175.00

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1622915-REG/asus_rt_ax68u_ax2700_dual_band.html?ap=y&smp=y

Dangit I messed up the model numbers. I meant to type 86U. I'll edit my post above.

 

[kantonburg]

Anything you upgrade to will be a huge upgrade from the 'original' RT-AC66U.

Just the information I found today suggests the upgrade is worth it even if my current router was fine.

Maybe keep a close watch on that RT-AX68U in the next few weeks for a price drop that makes it within your budget.

The 68U is currently under $200. I fixed my original post. I meant to say AX86U. That's currently $279. I'm not sure if that's overkill or just future proof. Maybe it'll be a black friday deal. They're OOS at a few places so I'm not sure.

What are your ISP speeds? What are you expecting to upgrade to in the next couple of years?

I have Comcast 250 down / 6 up. Upgrade as far as?

I don't know about the RT-AX82U, but the RT-AX58U is a 'weird' 4x4:2 design (antennae:streams). And the network feels more sluggish to me with that router than with any of the models suggested above.

Yeah from what I can gather from today the AX58U is out. I only included it for anyone searching in the future. I forgot to mention that. I included the AX82U because it's currently $199.

 

[sbsnb]

The 68U is currently under $200. I fixed my original post. I meant to say AX86U. That's currently $279. I'm not sure if that's overkill or just future proof. Maybe it'll be a black friday deal. They're OOS at a few places so I'm not sure.

What's the matter? It's only 12% more expensive than it was when I bought it in July. What's wrong with an annualized 41% rate of inflation?

 

[kantonburg]

What's the matter? It's only 12% more expensive than it was when I bought it in July. What's wrong with an annualized 41% rate of inflation?

Maybe we'll all get lucky and inflation will drop

Either way I hope the AX68U drops in price.