Upgrade or not to upgrade

[splatee]

hello,

I have been a long time reader of the forums and decided to register. I have been using a ac87r with the latest RMerlin firmware and have been running solid. I have been recently reading more about the 3100, 3200, 88u and the 5300 and thinking that I may want to upgrade. The reason being is that we have added a lot of wireless clients. Here is bassically what I have on the network. Also having AT&T digital life security system installed so it will have additional wireless clients.

5ghz
3 x Amazon ftv sticks
3 x Apple iPhone 6s
4 x Apple iPads

2.4ghz
2 x laptops
2 x iPads
2 x android tablets
2 x PS3

Wired
1 x raspberry pi
2 x Xbox ones
3 x direct tv boxes

Have 2 x gigabit switches connectected to router for the wired connections.

Now I am wondering if I would be better off going with a 3200 or 5300 because of the two 5ghz channels? My concern though is that they have only 4 Ethernet ports and having the extra 5ghz channel could bog things down? But I am also leaning towards the 88u because of the dual 1.4 cup. We have Verizon fits 50/50 plan but I get almost 60/60 on the speed tests.

I have been reading a lot of the posts on the various routers and still would like to hear some thoughts on this.

Thank you

 

[L&LD]

Don't try to 'fix' a working network.

But if you have money to spend, the RT-AC88U with it's 8 LAN ports along with your existing RT-AC87U as an AP will be the route I would take (in testing mode).

 

[RMerlin]

I see no reason to upgrade from your current router.

 

[splatee]

Ok thanks for the replies. I was just wondering with all the wifi devices and adding a security system that uses wifi if I would be better off upgrading to a tri band router or one of the others with a more powerful processor. I am totally happy with my current router.

Thank you

 

[sfx2000]

I see no reason to upgrade from your current router.

I agree with RMerlin - you're fine where you're at...

I'll add a couple of comments - the AC68U, as an AC1900 class router offers as much as your clients can handle, even with the recent changes... the second comment is that the 68U is reasonable mature and most, if not all, major issues have been solved...

No reason to upgrade from AC1900 class at this time - see how things look next January and what options are available then... for now, I'd suggest you're good to go...

 

[fiberboy]

No need to upgrade/.

 

[Ois]

We're going to see >1Gb ethernet ports on wifi routers soon.... The 5Gbe and 2.5Gbe standards are pretty close to arriving. I was however surprised that nothing was shown at CES however.

I would definitely wait for this nonetheless....

 

[Embattle]

I wouldn't, the 87U is finally reaching a real level of stability and you'll probably have to go through periods of instability with a number of new options.

 

[splatee]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I will be sticking with the 87r. It is working perfectly and no issues. Strong 5ghz throughout the house and even outside.

Thank you

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I will be sticking with the 87r. It is working perfectly and no issues. Strong 5ghz throughout the house and even outside.

Funny thing with the RT-AC87 series - either it works well, or it doesn't - it's a bit of an inverse bell-curve compared to others in Asus' product lineup - and when it doesn't, it's a total nightmare...