Recommended Router in 2022 Please

[vibez]

Hi all, I have a RT-AC86U and a negear orbi mesh router. I'm looking to upgrade the RT-AC86U and ditch the orbi as it always seems to be dropping connection.

I live in a brick walled house and have limit ability to chain routers via ethernet. What would be the post powerful signalled router supporting asuswrt-merlin?

 

[L&LD]

As you'll see from the links below, a wired node will give the best performance (always).

The place to start would be with the RT-AX68U, but the RT-AX86U should give significantly better performance and be useful long into the future too.

Wireless AiMesh nodes are just Repeaters with a few smarts to them.

Repeater mode = wireless AiMesh



Current Order of Recommended Routers Late 2021

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode

RT-AX86U vs. RT-AX88U

386.1 Final 2x RT-AX86Us 2.5GbE Backhaul

 

[Gary_Dexter]

Hi all, I have a RT-AC86U and a negear orbi mesh router. I'm looking to upgrade the RT-AC86U and ditch the orbi as it always seems to be dropping connection.

I live in a brick walled house and have limit ability to chain routers via ethernet. What would be the post powerful signalled router supporting asuswrt-merlin?

I assume you have the Orbi running in AP/Bridge mode if the ASUS is in router mode. Or vice versa

 

[vibez]

I assume you have the Orbi running in AP/Bridge mode if the ASUS is in router mode. Or vice versa

Yeah I have virgin media super hub (modem mode) > Asus Router (As a router) > Orbi Router (AP Mode) > Various Orbi satellites

 

[bbunge]

The Orbi mesh is a tri-band system. While the AX86U is very highly recommended, something like an XT8 may work better for you. Brick walls are a killer and you should find a way to run some Ethernet cables to connect the mesh nodes. Powerline adapters may be an option or MOCA if the house is wired with coax.

 

[vibez]

The Orbi mesh is a tri-band system. While the AX86U is very highly recommended, something like an XT8 may work better for you. Brick walls are a killer and you should find a way to run some Ethernet cables to connect the mesh nodes. Powerline adapters may be an option or MOCA if the house is wired with coax.

I did try powerline but it was a speed killer - even the newer ones. We don't have any existing coax either.

Do you think the XT8 would perform any better than the orbi? I needed 4 stellates to get a full 5g wireless backhaul mesh across the house

 

[Tech9]

negear orbi mesh router

What model?

I have one RBK50 set and it's excellent in range and signal penetration.

 

[vibez]

What model?

I have one RBK50 set and it's excellent in range and signal penetration.

Mine are the same.

 

[bbunge]

Mine are the same.

I had an RBR/RBS50 set. Was not impressed even with the Voxel firmware. Gave them away.
As for the XT8 set, they may work better because of newer hardware and technology. And you may not need four.

 

[vibez]

I had an RBR/RBS50 set. Was not impressed even with the Voxel firmware. Gave them away.
As for the XT8 set, they may work better because of newer hardware and technology. And you may not need four.

Ah double checked and yes mine RBR/RBS50. I think what is putting me off the XT8 is that i'll still need a router in the mix as I don't think the XT8 can run merlin / openwrt

 

[eightiescalling]

I did try powerline but it was a speed killer - even the newer ones. We don't have any existing coax either.

Any idea if the speed issue was down to the powerline adapter or cabling in the house? Which ones did you try?

A friend of mine is moving to an older house that doesn't lend itself well to running ethernet cables and eyeing up the Devolo Mesh 2 bundles. Just wondering whether he's going to find that those combined with a BT FTTP connection will be a waste of money.

 

[vibez]

Any idea if the speed issue was down to the powerline adapter or cabling in the house? Which ones did you try?

A friend of mine is moving to an older house that doesn't lend itself well to running ethernet cables and eyeing up the Devolo Mesh 2 bundles. Just wondering whether he's going to find that those combined with a BT FTTP connection will be a waste of money.

Yep those were the Devolo adapters I used. Top of the range if I remember correctly. . They were faster than previous netgear ones I had but I was getting 100mb max speeds. Pretty sure you are never going to get blazing fast speed regardless how good the wiring is. If their internet is less than 100mb they could be suitable.

 

[eightiescalling]

Yep those were the Devolo adapters I used. Top of the range if I remember correctly. . They were faster than previous netgear ones I had but I was getting 100mb max speeds. Pretty sure you are never going to get blazing fast speed regardless how good the wiring is. If their internet is less than 100mb they could be suitable.

Thanks for the feedback - it would certain make a mockery of paying for a 500meg or gig FTTP connection!

 

[Tech9]

I would try powerline adapters, if this is the only option. 100Mbps steady connection is better than spotty wireless "mesh". I would not invest in Asus AiMesh AX routers. Wall plate AC Wave 2 access points on low power, if the wall penetration is really bad. One in every area where network is needed. Every wireless backhaul system will suffer from the same low Wi-Fi penetration issues. AC Wave 2 is good for 500Mbps to common 2-stream client.