Recommended router for AiMesh and VPN?

[dougruns]

Moving into a new home and planning out the network. I have wired ethernet to 3 floors from the basement utility room in one corner. I want to use AiMesh to coordinate the wireless across the house. What is the best Asus router to put in the basement and connect in 2-3 wireless APs?

I want something robust enough to run a VPN for the whole network. However, I think I want the AiMesh primary node to be on the main floor above ground in the center of the house to give the best coverage. Can I separate the network router from the AiMesh primary node?

I have an existing Asus RT-AC1900 that has support for AiMesh. I'm planning to use that as a mesh node in the attic. I was looking at the Asus ZenWifi ET8 for the main floor and the AiMesh primary node, but I'm not sure if that then also needs to be the router for the network which means I'd have to connect the other nodes to it if I want to use wired backhaul.

The simple answer is probably to suck it up and buy two of the ZenWifi ET8s one for the basement and one for the main floor. It just wastes half its coverage in the corner of the basement. I'm wondering if I can find a cheaper Asus product that is a competent router, but less powerful wifi to use in the basement, then put the Zen on the main floor and make it the AiMesh primary node.

 

[SoFluffy]

If you have wired to all floors, don't bother with a triband. I'd suggest the AX86U as the main then try using your existing AC1900 as a wired AIMesh node in the basement.

The other main reason I suggest the AX86U over the ET8 is that you mentioned robust VPN. The AX86U has AES-NI which dramatically speeds up VPN, and can run Merlin software's new VPN Director. (I have tested VPN on AX86U and the XT8, and the AX86U blows the XT8 away. The specs on the XT8 are nearly identical to the ET8 so I'd expect similar VPN performance.)

Lastly, read here in the forums to see how much pain you will suffer for being an early adopter of the ET8. I don't think there is a stable build yet, and the builds have been unstable on the XT8 for months now.

 

[dougruns]

@SoFluffy thanks for the reply. This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll check out the AX86U. I have Merlin running on my existing Asus devices (which are all in a moving truck so I can't explore much just yet).

I only have one cable from my utility room where the ONT is up to the main floor. I think I need to use that cable to get from the ONT to the WAN port of the AX86 main node on the main floor. That gets my internet to my router. However, then I don't have a way to get internal network traffic (and AiMesh control traffic) from other nodes (including the AC1900 in the basement) to the router. I think I have to put the AX86U main node in the basement to get the ISP into the WAN port directly, then plug in the rest of the house ethernet to that. Is there another way to use the cable from utility room to main floor to get the main node up there AND also use it for internal traffic? I have plenty of switches and other devices I can put in the utility room if it helps (including a Protectli box which can do LOTS of things that I don't quite know how to manage).