Not Another One! But yes, AX or BE Question

[CaptnDanLKW]

I've read a lot but still not sure from a cost perspective. The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $185 on Amazon for an early black Friday deal. The RT-BE86U is still $385. This has piqued my interest.

My RT-AC86U Mesh Pair have done me solid. My Merlin specific needs are light. OpenVPN, router monitor stuff, logging enhancements. I probably won't have any BE/Wifi7 clients for a while.

I do have multiple PCs with 2.5GB LAN, which the BE86U has ports, but a cheap 2.5GB easily outweighs the cost difference for that feature alone.

The big variable is I'm starting a house expansion & remodeling project adding about 1800sq/ft with significant linear distances and will be wiring (as much as I can) Cat6a back to a central location. I would like to re-use my main AC86U in my garage/workshop (cinder block, very wi-fi unfriendly), and my other will remain in my shed on the other side of the property. I will need the Wired VLAN feature for my security system & camera plans.


Main question - how well the legacy AiMesh 2.0 in the last of the 386.14_x firmware works with the AX's 388.8_x code base vs. the newest BE's 102_x codebase. Anyone running one of these configs want to chime in?

Any other thoughts on not getting the AX86U PRO now? Or heck, 2 of them.

Thanks for entertaining the rehashed question, albeit with some very specific questions.

 

[DJones]

I can’t speak on the real world differences since I don’t own a BE router on the 3.0.0.6 codebase. However if you’re running a mixture of older and newer routers for AIMesh how well they work together will be dependent on the radios they use 2.4Ghz, AC/AX/BE, 5/6/Ghz AC/AX/BE the newer standard wireless protocols are backwards compatible to a point, but the drawback if the older routers don’t support the new wireless protocols features the newer router will have to accommodate by using previous generation wireless protocols.

This can have an overall impact on wireless performance not reaching advertised specifications according to the newest or fastest router.

As far as I know It should work but isn’t an ideal solution to mix router generations. Worst case consider not using AIMesh mode.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Any other thoughts on not getting the AX86U PRO now? Or heck, 2 of them.

If possible, this trade-in offer by BestBuy can shave another 15% off the sale price... for example, that brings an AX88U Pro on sale for $220 in the US down to $187.

OE

 

[KevTech]

AX86 pro only has one 2.5 port.

 

[wrink]

I went for the BT10 with the newest BE 102_x codebase from Asus - and running the AX58u with Asus' latest firmware, as an AIMesh node to the BT10 as the main router. So mixed codebase here with AiMesh running just fine - I'm in fact mixing 6 GHz and 5 GHz bands with the same SSID (the BT10 can do 6 GHz, but the node Ax58u can't, obviously).

And its running perfectly with no dropouts and great handoffs of the clients. My net gain - at a minimum 1.7 Gbps bandwidth throughout the house with 5 GHz channels at the farthest corners, and even higher bandwidth of 2.4 Gbps with 6 GHz where possible. So AiMesh works very well between the latest AX and BE codebases from Asus. I don't have BE clients yet either, but my primary use/benefit is with my 6E clients - Apple Macbook Air and similar gear.

I attached a $6 Tenda Gigabit unmanaged switch, to get around the BT10's only 3 ethernet ports - but I avoided the BQ16 that way.

The only thing I'm missing is running Merlin on my main BT10 - for the lower network latency that Merlin's code provides (I measured and compared before and after the change), and the much more capable and robust VPN Director. I could'nt have lived with with the spidery BE98/96's in my living room with their external antenae (suits gamer's basements alone IMHO), so given that the BT10 is available all across the globe, hoping for Merlin adoption.

 

[HorseCalledHorse]

I'm running an RT-AX86U Pro (running Merlin 3004.388.8_4) with a single RT-AC86U (Merlin 3004.386.14_2) as a wired AIMesh node, and for my needs (which are, like yours, relatively simple), it's worked beautifully from the get-go. Big house, all double brick internal walls, with one at each end, running multiple Macs, PCs and other wireless devices without issue.

I had not run an AIMesh network before and, having read many negative posts about it over the years, was a little concerned. But for me, even with "mismatched" hardware and firmware, it runs exactly as it should. So if you want to throw an RT-AX86U Pro on top of your RT-AC86Us, in my experience it'll work just fine.