Replace RT-AC56U

[zerowalker]

So I got an old RT-AC56U (running Merlin) and is looking to replace it.
I am not that into the router market so unsure what to look for to be honest, but I want something similar.

As long as it has basic Wifi and 4 gbit ports that's good enough I believe.
For VPN Wireguard would be nice to have as an option.

I should be able to handle 1gbit fiber (I got 500mbit atm), RT-AC56U can handle it with "NAT Acceleration" enabled.
I don't care much for QoS as I never use it.

And future proof in the sense of it being supported and also supports stuff like WPA3,
Wifi6 should be quite future proof as it's quite new and a big jump (in release date) from Wi-Fi 5 (2013->2021).

Prefer if it supports custom firmwares, like MerlinWrt, OpenWrt etc (with good support, read that sometimes they can be buggy with some hardware).

Might be missing something but I think that's it.

When trying to find something myself I ended with:

Asus RT-AX5400
and
Asus TUF Gaming AX3000 V2

Not sure if they are overkill or not though.

Sorry for the vague requirements.

Thanks!

 

[bbunge]

RT-AX86U Pro. It is worth the few extra bucks.

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-AX5400 would be the direct successor to the RT-AC56U, if you want to remain within the same price range. If you want to get a bit more, the RT-AX86U (non-Pro) model should be affordable as it's frequently discounted, and much cheaper than the RT-AX86U_PRO.

Since your needs are fairly basic, it will amount to what budget you have allocated for it.

 

[Jawadali]

Appreciate this thread since I am in a similar boat. I have a RT-AC56U (running Merlin) currently serving as a WiFi access point in my living room, with a Verizon G1100 serving as the main router in the utility closet on a different floor (its WiFi radios have been turned off). Currently have 300 Megabit service with Verizon FiOS, and don't plan on upgrading any time soon since it meets our needs.

As we've upgraded phones and other mobile devices over the past several years, I was thinking that it might be worth it to upgrade to take advantage of faster WiFi speeds and potentially WiFi 6/6E. However, we aren't experiencing any issues, so I am not in a rush.

The RT-AC56U used to serve as the router as well in it's current location, but since I wanted to take advantage of the Ethernet ports wired to different floors of my home, I had to put a router in the utility closet where all of the cables meet.

I was also thinking about setting up Diversion on a new router, in which case I would have to replace the G1100 as well.

 

[Tech9]

I wanted to take advantage of the Ethernet ports wired to different floors of my home

If you have good budget for network upgrade you may want to explore SMB options like lower cost UniFi or Omada with wired Router only and PoE powered Access Points where needed. It will give you better reliability, network control and future expandability. The routing and switching devices will be smaller (to fit better in your closet) and the access points may have better appearance if not completely hidden. Wall plate style access points are available with extra LAN ports for local wired devices. Clean invisible setup with no sticking out antennas and hanging off walls power adapters has very high Wife Acceptance Factor as well.

 

[Jawadali]

Thanks! I had done some casual searching for Omaha and UniFi access points on local marketplaces.

For over 8 years, we've been getting by with the single RT-56U in our living room TV stand providing WiFi, so I don't think we'd gain a whole lot by adding an AP for every floor. Just goes to show how great of a router/AP it is - and it's much smaller than most of the new ASUS offerings.

 

[Tech9]

Isolated Guest networks, IoT networks, etc. are popular choice lately and AP Mode on Asus routers is somewhat limited. Make sure you replace this router with something covering your eventual future requirements.

 

[Tech9]

The RT-AC56U used to serve as the router as well in it's current location, but since I wanted to take advantage of the Ethernet ports wired to different floors of my home, I had to put a router in the utility closet where all of the cables meet.

You can actually have the ISP device as Modem only where it is now in the closet, a Router in your living room and still have LAN connections around the house ending to this very same closet. Both WAN and LAN connections can share the same Ethernet cable to your Router and back to the closet. What is needed is 2x managed switches on both ends with VLAN separated WAN and LAN. Not the best setup with extra cost involved, but may allow use of all Asus device features using the existing infrastructure.