Should I get tri-band routers?

[Slickone]

My parents have a ranch style home with an RT-N66U at one end, and a TP Link TL-WA855RE (300mbs) extender in the middle. I'm trying to figure out the best way to improve performance. I have an extra Asus RT-AC68U. Should I buy another AC86 and connect as mesh? I also have a Google Wi-Fi 3-piece router set that I bought at a yard sale. The problem is, neither the AC68 nor the Google set are tri-band. The Google WIFI Pro with tri-band is too expensive and gets too many bad reviews. How much difference will tri-band be with it's own backhaul? Should I just buy a couple RT-AC3200 or RT-AX92U tri-band routers, or will dual-band be good enough? This won't be for gaming.

 

[j4y-t]

Can you try out the Google Wifi you bought first and see if it suffices? I think dual band will typically cut your max theoretical throughput in half. If the internet speeds you (or your parents) pay for is high enough, it might not matter to them.

 

[AndreiV]

Should I just buy a couple RT-AC3200 or RT-AX92U tri-band routers, or will dual-band be good enough?

The RT-AC3200 is End of Life so not a good option. RT-AX92U probably wont be around long, it has a poor history and new firmware is a rare event.

I would look at a decent dual band router and access points.

 

[Micgang]

What internet speed does your service provide/do you pay for? Like others have said, if it’s high enough, dual band may be sufficient. If not, a triband router may make sense. I have a pair of the AX 92us in my mesh setup as nodes. They work just fine as nodes now and previously when I used them as router and node too.

 

[tgl]

Can you try out the Google Wifi you bought first and see if it suffices? I think dual band will typically cut your max theoretical throughput in half.

Right, if your extension node is doing wireless backhaul on the same radio that is doing client communication, you take at least a 2X performance hit, because every bit passed to/from the client has to also be passed from/to the base node, hence it takes twice the airtime to move a given amount of data. Counting overhead, it's probably worse than 2X. To avoid this, you need to do the backhaul retransmission on a different radio so that the airtime consumption can be overlapped. That leads to tri-band machines: client 2.4GHz radio, client 5GHz radio, backhaul 5GHz or 6GHz radio. (A dual-radio machine could get airtime overlap when talking to a 2.4GHz client, but since the 2.4GHz band is so bandwidth-limited, this doesn't help much in practice.)

If the internet speeds you (or your parents) pay for is high enough, it might not matter to them.

I'm assuming that @Slickone wouldn't be taking up this project if the wireless speed weren't a bottleneck. Given that it is worth fixing, the bottom line is that wired backhaul is better than wireless backhaul on a dedicated band, which itself is (much) better than wireless backhaul on the client band. You're at the bottom of that hierarchy right now, and substituting different equipment won't move the needle much unless you move up the hierarchy.

 

[tgl]

... Oh, after re-reading the question I realize that your base node (the RT-N66U) is not tri-band either. You'd have to replace that too if you want decent performance with wireless backhaul, unless there are no 5GHz clients that should be connecting directly to the base. Normally the base unit serves clients too, which means it also needs a third radio to handle wireless backhaul duties.

It looks to me like the RT-N66U model is about ten years old, so replacing it is likely to be a good idea anyway. But if you are happy with the performance of clients that connect directly to the base node, you could consider keeping it if you can manage to run wired backhaul to the extension node.

 

[Slickone]

Sorry for the delay.

What internet speed does your service provide/do you pay for? Like others have said, if it’s high enough, dual band may be sufficient. If not, a triband router may make sense. I have a pair of the AX 92us in my mesh setup as nodes. They work just fine as nodes now and previously when I used them as router and node too.

They only have a 75 mbps plan.

 

[Slickone]

... Oh, after re-reading the question I realize that your base node (the RT-N66U) is not tri-band either. You'd have to replace that too if you want decent performance with wireless backhaul, unless there are no 5GHz clients that should be connecting directly to the base. Normally the base unit serves clients too, which means it also needs a third radio to handle wireless backhaul duties.

It looks to me like the RT-N66U model is about ten years old, so replacing it is likely to be a good idea anyway. But if you are happy with the performance of clients that connect directly to the base node, you could consider keeping it if you can manage to run wired backhaul to the extension node.

Sorry, I should have mentioned the RT-N66 wouldn't be used.

 

[Tech9]

They only have a 75 mbps plan.

You don't need 3-band routers. You don't need new hardware. Use the available Google Wi-Fi 3-pack - it has more than enough speed and coverage.

 

[Slickone]

You don't need 3-band routers. You don't need new hardware. Use the available Google Wi-Fi 3-pack - it has more than enough speed and coverage.

Thank you. When I posted, I had no idea what speed they had and it took some work to get that info from my mom.

 

[Tech9]

They just need stable Wi-Fi and enough coverage. Google Wi-Fi is dual-band AC1200-class system and even though the points cut the throughput to clients in half (due to retransmissions - the same radio used for clients and backhaul) they still can provide enough throughput. Just make sure the 2 points are connected to the router and not to each other (router somewhere in the middle of the entire setup). Older tech, but stable and almost invisible. Most importantly - you already have it available. As long as it works properly - you don't need anything else. Test and see how it goes.

 

[Slickone]

They just need stable Wi-Fi and enough coverage. Google Wi-Fi is dual-band AC1200-class system and even though the points cut the throughput to clients in half (due to retransmissions - the same radio used for clients and backhaul) they still can provide enough throughput. Just make sure the 2 points are connected to the router and not to each other (router somewhere in the middle of the entire setup). Older tech, but stable and almost invisible. Most importantly - you already have it available. As long as it works properly - you don't need anything else. Test and see how it goes.

Unfortunately their cable enters at either end of the home, so I don't have the option of having the router in the middle.

 

[Tech9]

Try the router with one point only then. May be enough.

 

[drinkingbird]

I'd hold out for Quad band

 

[Tech9]

I'd hold out for Quad band

2x GT-AXE16000 may work well. And 2x Galaxy S23 Ultra 1TB for speed testing.

 

[drinkingbird]

2x GT-AXE16000 may work well. And 2x Galaxy S23 Ultra 1TB for speed testing.

Brain tumors are fun.