Quandry on gear choices

[DHLarson]

Looking to upgrade existing network with AX compatible gear. Existing network is base router of RT-AC86U with two remote gig ethernet attached RT-AC68 APs. Thought about upgrading to GT-AX6000 as primary router with two RT-AX86U Pro as APs behind it using a 2.5g switch to connect 2.5g ethernet connections and Comcast 1.2 gig as WAN. But AX86U Pro's are now $20 more expensive than GT-AX6000. Would I be better off with 3 AX-6000s (cheaper and better?)

Use OpenVpn for NordVPN and remote access to my servers when away from home.

Thoughts welcome

Don

 

[heysoundude]

it looks to me like the '6000 can be daisy chained using the 2.5Gbps ports - is your wired infrastructure up to spec for that?

 

[Tech Junky]

Look into NWA220AXE APs or NWA210AX as they're basically the same other than the 6ghz band. The 220 goes for $180 and 210 for about $150. Great coverage and speed. I get 1.5gbps out of the 210 with an ax411 adapter. With an ax210 I was getting about 1.2gbps.

 

[DHLarson]

it looks to me like the '6000 can be daisy chained using the 2.5Gbps ports - is your wired infrastructure up to spec for that?

Not exactly. I have single runs from the WAN router location to each of the AP locations and will likely run Merlin on at least the WAN router and use AI Mesh (at least try it again) to ASUS firmware APs. Daisy chaining won’t work and I don’t really want to pull new wire.

 

[DHLarson]

Look into NWA220AXE APs or NWA210AX as they're basically the same other than the 6ghz band. The 220 goes for $180 and 210 for about $150. Great coverage and speed. I get 1.5gbps out of the 210 with an ax411 adapter. With an ax210 I was getting about 1.2gbps.

I’m looking to stay in the ASUS line - have had multiple years of experience with Merlin firmware and the experience has been largely good.

Don

 

[Tech Junky]

I’m looking to stay in the ASUS line - have had multiple years of experience with Merlin firmware and the experience has been largely good.

Don

Well, if you want something you just setup once and tune and then forget.... Maybe every 45 days I check for firmware and other than that they're hands off. With all of the threads here for Asus issues and the expense of their equipment it's worth considering. Looking at $900 roughly in 3 devices + the switch. Dropping the AP cost under $300 and then adding a wired router that does 2.5gbps for maybe $200 saves you quite a bit.

It's up to you though om how you spend your money. Just offering options that will perform better for cheaper.