RT-AC87R replacement (no longer supported)

[PennaJoe]

We have a RT-AC87R with 384.13_2 firmware. It works OK but I am concerned as it no longer gets firmware upgrades. We are retired, older adults and use wi-fi daily and prefer something as good or better than the RT-AC87R. The most ideal would be one I could save my settings and load them into a new router. I read one comment about buying a GT-AX6000 in another thread. It is a bit more than I care to spend but if it will be well supported and considered reliable it will be worth the higher costs. We are not high speed game players and live in a old (late 1800s) 3 story house with thick lath and plaster walls, tin roof etc.

Thanks for your time

 

[jata]

A GT-AX6000 is a great router but I doubt you need something as powerful or expensive.

I use a RT-AX86S and it works great and will be supported for many years. You might also consider the RT-AX86U if you want something a little more powerful but I don't think you need it.

With a new router, you should never restore settings from an old router so don't even try that. I suggest you just get the router connected to your modem/ISP and leave everything as default. Update to latest stock firmware and all will be good.

The main thing you will need are the settings for how the router connects to the modem/ISP. You can ask your ISP this or have a look at the WAN config in the settings page for your current/old router.

Good luck and post back here if you have any issues.

 

[PennaJoe]

Thanks for the information, I am looking at the 3 models you suggested on Amazon, probably purchase it today.

 

[jata]

All good. One other thing when setting up the new router is to create the same wifi name (SSID) and password for both the 2.4g and 5g bands. This will allow all of your devices to reconnect as if nothing has changed.

 

[PennaJoe]

Thanks for the advice, I installed the Merlin firmware, set up mac spoofing, assigned a few ip address to mac addresses along with wi-fi name and passwords (as you suggested) before swapping it with our RT-AC87R and everything seems OK! Our home network was down less than 5 minutes.

 

[jata]

Good work. Sounds like you knew what you were doing all along. Enjoy the new router. What model did you get?

 

[PennaJoe]

Thanks again, although our home network was down less than 5 minutes, it took a good hour or two of trial and error to get everything ready and I need to add our Pi-hole setup into the new router. My memory is not as good as it was but I remember having a much harder time on earlier Asus routers, this was the easiest Merlin firmware installation I ever did.

It may not have been the most practical choice, but I had a gift card to cover much of the cost so I got with the GT-AX6000 and installed the regular 3004_388.4_beta2 firmware.

 

[jata]

Great choice. That will do the job for many years, I’m sure.

I recently dropped 3k Aussie $ on a really nice MacBook Air. Not that practical either given work gives me a top end laptop. But my last MacBook lasted me 10 years so a good investment I think.

Enjoy!