New AiMesh Setup Advice

[bbb27]

Hello everyone,

My main router decided to reach its retirement and therefore i was thinking of getting a new setup.

I was using an RT-AC86U with a pair of Lyra as nodes, and as i have learned in this forum, that was a poor choice of a setup, which i learned the hard way (i had a numerous connection issues).

So now, before spending money on something that its going to cause me headaches, i would rather ask for opinions from people who know this better than i do.

So, the environemnt is this: I live in an apartment, and the internet is shared across 3 of them (we have an agreement between each other), and usually it averages it out around 20-30 devices connected.

I was thinking of using a AX-86U Pro as the main that connects to ISP modem, and this time use a couple of AX53U, only for the dead zones of all apartments (and its price is much cheaper).

Will this setup be better than the previous ones? Considering they are the same 'type' of routers will the issues that i had with the Lyras be gone?

Thanks in advance, and of course any advice/opinion is well appreciated

 

[L&LD]

I don't recommend either of those routers mentioned.

Depending on the sq ft of the apartments, which is the apartment with the internet connection (and its relationship to the other apartments), the ISP speeds, and how close you want to reach those speeds, 3x RT-AX88U Pro's are what I would be looking at for maximum performance. At the other end of the spectrum (ISP speeds and expectations), 3x RT-AX86U's should also provide a better experience than the combination you suggest.

Of course, the prices in your area will determine which hardware you get (and even if your ISP speeds and expectations are lower, for a few dollars the superior hardware will always be the better buy, long term).

 

[bbb27]

Thank you very much for the advice

My ISP, at the moment, only gives me 250Mbps (they MIGHT upgrade to 500 this year, but that's a big maybe), and unfortunately it's the only ISP in my area

The apartments are not 'super' big, but they do have 3 rooms each, so they are a bit spatious. And the people on other apartments said they get a good Wi-Fi signal previously with the RT-AC86U, and when i spread out the Lyras (as AiMesh nodes), they said it got even better, and it suited all of our needs just fine. My main problem, that i eventualy figured out, was mixing different models (the RT- series with the Lyra series). Even though it 'worked', often i would get connection issues, like the RT would 'lock' and had to restart, Wi-Fi would simply lose signal, etc. I troubleshooted at the time, and using ONLY the AC86U or ONLY the Lyras, the issue would not occur, so, obviously it was the mixability that was creating the problem.

As for the 'normal' RT-AX86u its currently sold out in my country (with no date to when they will get new ones), and the RT-AX86S (which is supposed to be 'weaker') it costs even more, which i really don't know why.

For the RT-AX86u-Pro its a bit more expensive but its available (same as the RT-AX53U) and as much as i wanted getting x3 Pro's it gets way out of the budget

I thought about this setup because between the people here that are sharing the internet, only a very few do actual gaming and streaming. Even if they get, maybe 150 instead of the 250 that the ISP gives, they would not mind at all. Saying this, my main concern is really stability, which i was not really getting with the AC86u mixed with the Lyras as AiMesh nodes.

By your experience, using the RT-AX86U as main and RT-AX53u as AiMesh node, do you think that i would have the same 'compatibility' issues that i had previously with the RT-AC86U and the Lyras?

 

[L&LD]

If you can put the main router close to another apartment (you did not answer all the questions asked...), you can probably get away with only two routers.

I still don't recommend your choices at all. But now, I understand that you have all three routers within your apartment, correct?

If that is so, 2x RT-AX68u's or 2x RT-AX88U Pro's will be more than enough WiFi for all.

If you want stability and reliability for your/their networks, forget the RT-AX53U.