New AiMesh Setup

[Smokey613]

I am building a new “man cave” out of an existing storage room located at the rear our our home. My router, RT-AC86U, is in the living room on the other end of our home about 60 feet away. There is another new storage room between the router and the man cave. Wood frame home, about 1600 sq ft. We drastically downsized when we retired. I have an Echo Plus Gen2 in the new room and if I place it just right I get a solid 2.4g connection at 144Mbps and -65 dBm. On 5g I get around 350Mbps and -78 dBm. I will be moving all my computers into this new room including my iTunes server with my movies and music. All my devices are connected wirelessly, no ethernet. What additional router in AiMesh setup would provide the best results? My budget is $200 max.

 

[Val D.]

What additional router in AiMesh setup would provide the best results? My budget is $200 max.

You already know RT-AC86U has a good range. One more RT-AC86U sounds like a good fit.

 

[kernol]

Suggest the RT-AX58U or RTAX56U - to join the WiFi 6 brigade . One or other of those will be my next router.
Check on Amazon here - but seeing as you in USA - please support SNB Forum by using the Amazon link [top right of these pages]

 

[OzarkEdge]

What additional router in AiMesh setup would provide the best results? My budget is $200 max.

I suggest a 2xRT-AC86U AiMesh with wireless backhaul. The second 86U will give you a good and matching remote node that can backup the root node/router.

My 77' 2.4 and 5.0 Wireless Log backhaul numbers... pretty good considering there are two brick walls, a few drywalls, and a kitchen in the path:

RSSI PHY PSM SGI STBC MUBF NSS Tx rate Rx rate
-63dBm n No Yes Yes No 3 216.7M 216.7M
-70dBm ac No Yes Yes Yes 4 877.5M 877.5M

I recommend disabling the router USB 3.0 Mode to protect the 2.4 WLAN range.

No AX trial required. And the AiMesh trial seems to be over until the next phase, whatever that might be.

OE

 

[Smokey613]

My first thought was another 86U as mine has been very stable. There is only $10 difference between the ax58U and the 86U so money not an issue. I also considered having a backup in case of primary failure as restoring saved configs to the same router model would be very quick and easy. Thanks for the recommendations. You guys reaffirmed my first choice of another 86U.

 

[Smokey613]

One more question. Do I install Merlin on the node 86U or run stock firmware?

 

[cplay]

One more question. Do I install Merlin on the node 86U or run stock firmware?

I run merlin on both 86u's and 68u in mesh.

 

[Val D.]

You guys reaffirmed my first choice of another 86U.

No problem. It's always a good idea to have a spare RT-AC86U, you never know...

 

[OzarkEdge]

One more question. Do I install Merlin on the node 86U or run stock firmware?

As I understand it, it doesn't matter... I would do what works best for you and what best ensures that the Asuswrt AiMesh code is the same release all around.

Stock firmware will upgrade all nodes to the latest, greatest Asuswrt firmware all at once. I don't know how Asuswrt-Merlin does this with the same or dissimilar firmware across the AiMesh.

OE

 

[Smokey613]

I finally decided on a RT-AC1900P as my AiMesh node. I kept having bandwidth issues using a Netgear PLP1200 powerline set. They work great on any plug inside my home but my new man cave has a separate circuit off the main meter point and does not connect to the house electrical wiring directly. I decided to place the RT-AC1900P in a bedroom close to my new outside room and used the powerline adapters as an ethernet backhaul between it and my RT-AC86U on the other end of the house. This setup is working very well. All my wireless devices in the outside room connect to the node with very strong signals. From my older laptop on it’s built in 2.4g wifi connection, I get a 3ms ping to the main router and full internet bandwith so I am very happy. I do have a question on AiMesh operation. How do clients choose which router to connect to when moving from near the main router to inside my new room? So far my iPad and iPhone Xr will hang on to the wifi connection to the main router. Both the 2.4g and 5g have the same SSID and password. If I disable/enable the wifi on either device while in the new room it connects to the node right away.