Upgrading from wifi 5 to wifi 6 and looking for suggestions

[Listedguru2]

I am looking to upgrade from my aging and EOL Netgear Nighthawk AC2100 router to something in the wifi 6 realm. I would possibly be interested in a wifi 7 device if the price was right. Anyway on my shortlist I the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX 6000 which seems to get high marks all around. I've also read good things about the GLi net Flint 2 (MT 6000) which can be had on Amazon for a great price currently (in the US). One other other one that caught my eye in the Asus RT-Be92U which is a Tri-Bank wifi 7 router. I like the fact that all of these have (2) 2.5 ports for a bit of future proofing. On something like the GT-AX6000 should I be worried that it will be EOL quicker that the others I mentioned as it's been out over (2) years already?

My current Netgear Nighthawk AC2100 has enough range for my enviroment it's just time for an upgrade and honestly I would think any of the above routers would be a major? step up from it? I'm also open to other suggestions for a router as well and I'm not really attached to any one brand. I just want something that's going to be reliable and hopefully last at least (5) years.

 

[Listedguru2]

OP here. Just tossing another contender into the mix: Asus RX-AX88U Pro. I think it's very similar to the GT-AX-6000 but not sure if it might be supported longer?

 

[tgl]

Really it's impossible to give useful recommendations with so little information. For starters:

• What's the speed of your internet connection? Do you foresee upgrading it anytime soon?
• How many wifi clients do you have? How many are wifi 6, 6E, or 7 capable? Do you foresee those answers changing significantly anytime soon?
• What's your wifi environment like, that is what sort of competition do you face for airtime? Are you out in the boonies with no near neighbors, or at the opposite extreme do you live in a high-rise with a bunch of tech-savvy wifi-loving neighbors just a few meters away?
• What's your wifi environment like part 2: what country do you live in?
• You said the AC2100 covers your living space adequately, but now is the time to be absolutely sure about that. Have you checked signal strength and performance in every corner where you might want wifi service?

What I'm mainly trying to probe for is whether you'll really be happy with only one AP or whether it's time for more than one, and also whether you should be considering wifi 6E not just 6 so that you can move into the relatively-virgin 6GHz spectrum. (I would not recommend buying wifi 7 gear just yet: too new, too expensive, too many bugs and interoperability issues. If you were doing fine with wifi 5 then you don't need wifi 7 yet. But 6E could be worth the money if you face a lot of competition for 5GHz airtime and are willing to upgrade to 6E-ready clients.)