Setting up new Ax86u Pro and using current AC68u as Mesh - few questions

[Rizwan]

Hi Please be gentle as I have had a lot of the basic knowlede I used to have knocked out of my head
In a nutshell - currently have the Asus AC68u in front of Hitron CGNV4 on virgin media boradband with static IP addresses. The Asus is set up as 1 of the static IPs
I have previously (ie pre-covid so before before the mists of time) set up port forwarding rules for a couple of devices as well as defined fixed IP IP addresses for a number of my devices on the Asus

I want to make the new AX86u Pro the main router AND use the AC68u as the AI Mesh router (ideally with a wired connection into the network as I have an ethernet socket connected to a 5 port TPLink gigabit switch in the bedroom I want to put the AC68u into to improve the wifi in the house via a Mesh and rid of the failing repeaters

1) How please can I transfer all the settings such as the assigned IP addresses to my devices and the port forwarding rules for the 2 devices etc from the AC68 to the AX86 without having to manually enter them all 1 by 1 as I bet I will miss someting as thats my luck nowadays!

1b) I am assuming part of this process will be include I need to add the AX86u as the static IP assigned to the AC68u by putting its MAC addresss into the Hitron Devices settings otherwise I won't get any internet on the PC anyway?
1c) Will the rest of the static IP settings in the WAN section of the ASUS also be transferred across or will I have to set this manually? Heck I just realised I need to work out out to add this router to the managed devices section of the Hitron to give it a static IP

2) How then with the AX86u now safely in place as the main router how do I turn the AC68u into a MESH? I understand you can do it over wifi with the 2 devices in front of each other or I can connect one to the other by Cat5 (is this directly ot by just plugging the AC68u into the switch I want to plug it into in the other room?

Appreciate all the advice!!

 

[Tech9]

All your questions were answered multiple times here on SNB Forums.

About settings on the new router - do it manually. Your routers are >10-years apart in technology.

About AiMesh wired or wireless - follow Asus guides for setting up AiMesh. Easy to follow instructions.

Don't use your old router if you don't need to. It may negatively impact the performance of your network.

 

[bbunge]

As Tech9 said, don't use your old router. Well, the better answer is to not use the AC68U as an AiMesh node to the AX86U Pro. The reason is the AC68U used as a mesh node will limit the AX86U Pro to WPA2, 80 MHz bandwidth and non-DFS channels. If you need to use the AC68U, use it as an access point. And if you have not noticed the AC68U got a firmware upgrade the other day (not bad for a 10 year old device).

 

[Rizwan]

As Tech9 said, don't use your old router. Well, the better answer is to not use the AC68U as an AiMesh node to the AX86U Pro. The reason is the AC68U used as a mesh node will limit the AX86U Pro to WPA2, 80 MHz bandwidth and non-DFS channels. If you need to use the AC68U, use it as an access point. And if you have not noticed the AC68U got a firmware upgrade the other day (not bad for a 10 year old device).

Thank you both for the responses

1) So - manually set up the AX86u got it
Is there any way I can do this while I am still using the AC68 as my router? Ie access the GUI for both so I can cross check all the settings and enter to AX86 before I make the switch? I need to assign it a static IP from the virgin media modem anyway

2) More noobery. If I do need to use the AC68 as an access point can I give it the same SSID/password as WiFi from the router (AX86u) so devices can pick it up without having to keep switching ?

Thanks

 

[Rizwan]

And yes I just spotted the firmware option when I went in to check the settings

 

[Rizwan]

Point to note about how much of a doofus I am
I have the RT-AC86u NOT the 68u