So I bought an AX86U

[BreakingDad]

I am upgrading from the ever faithful RT-N66U

Did I make a good choice? I was considering an XR1000 netgear because that DUMAOS looks damn cool, but apparently the ASUS is better performing, so I stuck to what I know.

My main concern is this , Is the adaptive QOS good? When my son downloads on the xbox, will I now not get spikes in overwatch ? Overwatch is all I care about

Please advise.

BM formerly BD but I lost my login details

 

[cooloutac]

I am upgrading from the ever faithful RT-N66U

Did I make a good choice? I was considering an XR1000 netgear because that DUMAOS looks damn cool, but apparently the ASUS is better performing, so I stuck to what I know.

My main concern is this , Is the adaptive QOS good? When my son downloads on the xbox, will I now not get spikes in overwatch ? Overwatch is all I care about

Please advise.

BM formerly BD but I lost my login details

Please let us know how it goes when you test.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome back @BreakingMad.

What ISP speeds are you paying for, up/down?

Depending on what they are, you would want to use FlexQoS or CakeQoS after properly setting up a USB drive for amtm + Entware + swap file + scripts. See the link in my signature below for the amtm Step-by-Step Guide.

Before you follow the steps in the link above (and keep in mind you won't need to 'install' amtm on the firmware I'm recommending below), follow these suggestions to get your new router set up to be stable, fast, and reliable.

First, download the RMerlin 386.1 Beta 2 or later firmware for your specific router from the link below.

Download | Asuswrt-Merlin (asuswrt-merlin.net)

Then follow the suggestions in the link below.

New M&M 2020

 

[SoCalReviews]

BreakingMad/BD, The Asus RT-AX86U was one of the best choices you could have made. It was designed for low latency online gaming. I play the C.O.D. Cold War multiplayer game on PS5 via wireless and it works great. On the PS5 game downloads and updates are fast. Gameplay via 5Ghz Wifi (using Wifi 6) doesn't have noticeable lag. I run stock Asus firmware and don't use manual settings for QoS... I let the router auto handle it. I have a few other changes such as SmartConnect OFF. I use separate SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz and use WPA2 (instead of WPA3). You should notice a big difference in performance with your new RT-AX86U compared to your good old RT-N66U.

 

[BreakingDad]

Welcome back @BreakingMad.

What ISP speeds are you paying for, up/down?

Depending on what they are, you would want to use FlexQoS or CakeQoS after properly setting up a USB drive for amtm + Entware + swap file + scripts. See the link in my signature below for the amtm Step-by-Step Guide.

Before you follow the steps in the link above (and keep in mind you won't need to 'install' amtm on the firmware I'm recommending below), follow these suggestions to get your new router set up to be stable, fast, and reliable.

First, download the RMerlin 386.1 Beta 2 or later firmware for your specific router from the link below.

Download | Asuswrt-Merlin (asuswrt-merlin.net)

Then follow the suggestions in the link below.

New M&M 2020

Hey thanks for the reply

I have 200 down 20 up virginmedia, thank you for the QOS addon suggestions, do these run independently of trendmicro?

I've screen shot every page of my rt-n66u so I can copy a lot of it over to the new one.

Thanks also for the setup info. Interesting the USB drive thing. I will get the basics working first before I dive into this and screw the families internet over Christmas.

Why are we all using separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 ? on the rt I always had them the same and it auto picks the best one for the job.

Oh I also bought an AX3000 wifi card

even on the setup I have already, using an N300 card I get 180dl over wifi which is insane for the age of the equipment.

Will miss my rt-n66u, it's been my best friend for many years, and now will get to site next to an even older tplink in the cupboard of old bits.

Socal are you using adaptive QOS ?

 

[SoCalReviews]

BreakingMad, It sounds like you are preparing well for the upgrade to the AX86U... copying the N66U settings down, etc.. You are making the right moves. Make sure you enter your IP address LAN settings that you used for your old router to the new one since the new Asus router will default to 192.168.50.1 (instead of 192.168.1.1). You may not want to transfer all your settings (i.e. see my comments about QoS below) since the new router handles things differently and often better with less intervention than the older Asus routers did.

My reasoning behind using separate SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz is to allow me to configure the client devices to use one or the other and for them not drop the Wifi connection and switch on it's own. I don't want the client using 2.4Ghz just because the signal is slightly stronger on the other side of my home.

You will find that the 5Ghz band on the newer Asus routers is much more stable and has better range than the older Asus routers and you will want your client devices that benefit from enhanced Wifi performance to use it rather than 2.4Ghz. I still configure some clients to use 2.4Ghz but those are mostly legacy devices in remote locations that may not need the throughput performance... wireless printers, remote monitoring cameras, Wifi thermostats, etc..

I do not configure my AX86U for adaptive QoS. I leave it those router settings to their default settings or off. You can enable and adjust those settings and experiment if you want but I have found that with the default setup settings the AX86U does a great job of automatically detecting and adjusting QoS. It just seems to work better now with these new routers than the older Asus routers where you would want to tinker with them. I would recommend trying and testing basic default settings first and then make those QoS adjustments later if you choose to.

 

[KevTech]

Make sure you enter your IP address LAN settings that you used for your old router to the new one since the new Asus router will default to 192.168.50.1

I find that to be more of a pain as if you reset the router to defaults it goes back to 192.168.50.1 so then you have to change everything again.
I do not use any QoS at all.
I found channel 149 to be the best in terms of how fast clients connect and lowest RSSI.

 

[SoCalReviews]

I find that to be more of a pain as if you reset the router to defaults it goes back to 192.168.50.1 so then you have to change everything again.
I do not use any QoS at all.
I found channel 149 to be the best in terms of how fast clients connect and lowest RSSI.

I seldom need to reset my routers so changing the IP to my preference is a non-factor. Some people like to use the same range of IP addresses that they have been used to for years.

I don't use QoS either... it's just not necessary with these newer routers.

There are more channels coming to 5Ghz!

 

[L&LD]

It makes little sense to use settings from an N class router on an AX class router! Not if you want at least most of the benefits that the AX router upgrade will provide.

Take screenshots, write down, and otherwise backup your settings as you prefer on your old router. Download the firmware your old router is now running and put all those in a safe place. Now, forgot about them.

Flash the latest RMerlin firmware available (386.1 Beta 2 or later) and follow the suggestions below.

New M&M 2020

If (that's a big if) a few older clients cannot connect to the new router, continue finishing setting it up as suggested and then put in the old router as an AP to support them until they're upgraded too.

New hardware isn't all that provides more capabilities and performance. The software/firmware is also an integral part. The above ensures that the firmware is set up for maximum performance (i.e. AX mode). Do not cripple the new hardware from the word go.

 

[BreakingDad]

It makes little sense to use settings from an N class router on an AX class router! Not if you want at least most of the benefits that the AX router upgrade will provide.

Take screenshots, write down, and otherwise backup your settings as you prefer on your old router. Download the firmware your old router is now running and put all those in a safe place. Now, forgot about them.

Flash the latest RMerlin firmware available (386.1 Beta 2 or later) and follow the suggestions below.

New M&M 2020

If (that's a big if) a few older clients cannot connect to the new router, continue finishing setting it up as suggested and then put in the old router as an AP to support them until they're upgraded too.

New hardware isn't all that provides more capabilities and performance. The software/firmware is also an integral part. The above ensures that the firmware is set up for maximum performance (i.e. AX mode). Do not cripple the new hardware from the word go.

Thank you for the reply, don't get me wrong, when I say settings I am not going to disable all the new features, I mean I have screen shots of all the manual DHCP address of some 50 devices, port forwarding for a minecraft server I run. Nat filtering, URL blocking, samba share and optimised 5ghz and 2.4ghz settings.

Exciting it's arriving today. I will probably connect it up to this PC offline and set it up before going live on the network. I have 3 children and a dragon to work around, who do not appreciate my network skills !! All they see is the downtime.

I think I will be changing the IP range back to the 192.168.1.1-55 as it is what I know. I will save all the settings as I go so I can revert if any issues etc.

 

[L&LD]

I would still suggest the link above be tried first.

I would also suggest that you do not 'marry' into a particular IP range. For each of my customers, I use a different one.

After seeing if/how your new network is working, you can always use your comfort zone settings at any time.

Have a blast with your new router!

 

[BreakingDad]

I would still suggest the link above be tried first.

I would also suggest that you do not 'marry' into a particular IP range. For each of my customers, I use a different one.

After seeing if/how your new network is working, you can always use your comfort zone settings at any time.

Have a blast with your new router!

I have it, it is working, I have latest Merlin beta on it, I am using some settings from your link, some from my screenshots, I am now entering 50 DHCP Mac addresses manually. This last part I am not enjoying. Apart from the ability to set a DNS to a device, that feature is very cool It means I can give the kids the filtered ISP address and the adults can have 9.9.9.9 so we can look at , umm, adult things I realise I don't have to do this, I could let it all auto assign, however it's a one time chore, and gives me more control over every device on my network.

Much to your disgust I have set it to my prefered IPs. I know most of these by memory I am that sad and nerdy.

If you could assist with setting up the JFFS USB drive I would be grateful, is it essentially plug one in and format on next boot? Is this where I run cakewalk from ? Will it totally wipe the USB drive and does it have to be a dedicated drive for just the scripts? Once loaded I assume I can remove the drive?

 

[L&LD]

Make sure you watch for an expected announcement from @Jack Yaz (soon), that last part may soon be a single click.

 

[BreakingDad]

Make sure you watch for an expected announcement from @Jack Yaz (soon), that last part may soon be a single click.

ooo u tease

 

[ColinTaylor]

If you could assist with setting up the JFFS USB drive I would be grateful, is it essentially plug one in and format on next boot?

There is no such thing as a "JFFS USB drive". jffs is the router's internal flash storage, a USB drive is... a USB drive.

 

[BreakingDad]

Yeh thanks, I started this process, ive made a stick with ext2, made windoze so it can read it, copied over entware and cake. All good, finally got putty working and connecting. Now I've hit a snag with the time not being synched (cos im not online with it yet) I guess I'll have to finish off the entware and cake installtion when its all connected up properly.

Learning all the time, I wont format jffs then

 

[L&LD]

Look at the link in my signature below for the amtm Step-by-Step Guide.

I would be starting over...

Just skip the parts about installing amtm.

 

[BreakingDad]

Look at the link in my signature below for the amtm Step-by-Step Guide.

I would be starting over...

Just skip the parts about installing amtm.

May I ask if Cake QOS has a settings page on the actual router, or is it all done via script? (If anyone has a screen shot of cake settings page that would be nice)

I really like the idea of cake, as it avoids using trendmicro.

May I also ask if I need to keep the USB plugged in after it is all installed?

I just reread this thread, apparently I dont need to "install" amtm on the latest merlin beta? Assume I can run the cake installer then straight off?

 

[L&LD]

You need to leave the USB drive inserted into the router. amtm hasn't needed to be installed on RMerlin firmware since version 384.15_0, that is why I suggested skipping those steps. The rest of them are still important and pertinent to do though.

amtm Step-by-Step https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/#post-483421

CakeQOS - CakeQOS-Merlin

I am pleased to announce the release of CakeQOS-Merlin! Discussions (due to thread closure): https://github.com/ttgapers/cakeqos-merlin/discussions Current Version: 1.0.7 (Changelog) CakeQOS-Merlin is a custom add-on for supported Asus routers with Merlin firmware that introduces CAKE QoS as...

www.snbforums.com

 

[BreakingDad]

@L&LD , so I connected up my new router to the network this morning, thoroughly uneventful, everything pretty much worked perfectly first time, added the occulus to the network.

I was hoping for three hours of tinkering, but it all just WORKS !! how boring. I hate modern devices and operating systems. The most fun I have is fixing the issues, perhaps I should go and adjust the "settings" to try and break something. GOD DAMN! I have no trend micro stuff enabled, and have not installed Cake yet either, going to give it a few weeks to see if it's required.

I love the features on this router, the port forwarding for open NAT on games, the individual DNS assignment, The network traffic view. I'm in router heaven. I gave my RT-N66U a hug, it was still nice and warm. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend. At least it will have the TP link to talk to when I put it in the cupboard of old tech.