Which ax router? (ordering today)

[njhorn]

Hey all! Found this site yesterday and reading through posts I'm impressed with how helpful y'all are . Hoping you can help me make a decision...

My company gave us each $300 to buy something to help enable productive/stable work from home for us for the next however long, and we get to keep the items... I'm good on desk/chair/monitors/laptop/etc so I figured I'd take this chance to upgrade my network... Here is my current config:

-2 story, 2600 square foot house, no basement

-Upstairs office, back left corner of house: Modem (400/25), RT-AC3100 with aimesh
--NAS and plex server in the office hardwired to the 3100

-Downstairs home theater, back right corner of house: RT-AC68u with aimesh
--XBox One and Apple TV hardwired to the 68u

For the aimesh backhaul, I have a pair of MoCA 2.5 adapters running ethernet over coax... This generally has worked well, but I find maybe the house is actually too small for this sort of setup, or the routers are too close to each other, so it never really switches which router a device (phone/laptops) is on when I roam around the house... Also I find that things like Roku in upstairs bedrooms are connecting to the downstairs routers, which just kind of annoys me lol...

Hopefully that's enough info on my setup! I stream a lot of high bitrate 4k across from NAS > 3100 > moca/ethernet > 68u > Apple TV which generally works great, but gaming latency I find could be better now and again from xbox in same location as Apple TV...

So I'm looking at the rt-ax88u as maybe a single router solution, and dumping aimesh and my two current routers... I definitely want to go AX, even though our iPhones are the only AX devices we have now it seems silly to upgrade and not do that... If I do this, I likely would still run MoCA 2.5 to my home theater, but to a gigabit switch instead of a second router, just to have wired connectivity for gaming/tv... Would this give enough coverage for my house with just the one router for both 5ghz and 2.4ghz bands (a lot of IoT devices around the house)?

I'm going to sell my 3100 probably if I do this, but could keep the 68u to add to aimesh with the ax88u still... Either where it is now (instead of replacing it with a gigabit switch), or maybe over wifi backhaul in the front half of my house downstairs to help extend the network... I've never done aimesh over wifi, just over ethernet/moca... I'm fine with devices that are connected to that running slightly slower wifi as it would just be IoT type things probably, and it would give me ethernet in that part of the house off the 68u for things like my arcade cabinet that connects over wifi now (no coax in that area of house to run moca to it)...

What about the 92u 2 pack? Are these inferior to the 88u? The upside would be aimesh over wifi 6 I would think?

Lastly, two 58u's? Is there a big difference between the 88u and 58u? Or maybe get an 88u now, and if I decide I want to expand to aimesh again in the future I pick up a 58u or maybe they have a newer aimesh extender device over wifi 6 in the future

Ton of ?'s I know, appreciate any answers and help!

 

[digits n bits]

I run both 88U and 58U both in mesh and standalone in 2400 sq. ft. The 88U with your moca setup would work well by itself. I’m doing the same setup now, just waiting for the adapters to show up. The 58U probably won’t cover 2600 sq. ft. with a strong signal everywhere but it would work.
For that size house 2 story I’d go with the 88U and the moca setup and forget all the Aimesh. I’ve run into the same issues running Aimesh in my house and it took a ton of tweaks to get it running halfway decent. Too small a space. If you really want a mesh setup I’d get the AX Zen WiFi setup but you’ll be forking over some cash for that and it’s probably overkill.

See if Kal_El chimes in, he’s had a 58U a long while now and knows it well.

 

[njhorn]

Appreciate it! Ya a 58u by itself I think isn’t an option, but I think an 88u plus MoCa to a switch could Do it. I figure I can always add like a 58u or a 92u later down the road to expand WiFi coverage if need be.
You are gonna love the moca. I have 1.x, and then 2.0 bonded, and upgraded to 2.5 just because I found a pair on Craigslist for cheap. Even with the 2.0 I got 800 MB/s file transfers across my network when wired to a computer at each end

 

[EmeraldDeer]

No one can predict what will be enough WiFi coverage so get the RT-AX88U and try it with your existing wired AP's

 

[digits n bits]

I got my 88U on CL for $175, took a couple of weeks of looking but it was worth it. 88U should be good on its own and you can always add to it later on. Let me know how it works, good luck.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hey all! Found this site yesterday and reading through posts I'm impressed with how helpful y'all are . Hoping you can help me make a decision...

My company gave us each $300 to buy something to help enable productive/stable work from home for us for the next however long, and we get to keep the items... I'm good on desk/chair/monitors/laptop/etc so I figured I'd take this chance to upgrade my network... Here is my current config:

-2 story, 2600 square foot house, no basement

-Upstairs office, back left corner of house: Modem (400/25), RT-AC3100 with aimesh
--NAS and plex server in the office hardwired to the 3100

-Downstairs home theater, back right corner of house: RT-AC68u with aimesh
--XBox One and Apple TV hardwired to the 68u

For the aimesh backhaul, I have a pair of MoCA 2.5 adapters running ethernet over coax... This generally has worked well, but I find maybe the house is actually too small for this sort of setup, or the routers are too close to each other, so it never really switches which router a device (phone/laptops) is on when I roam around the house... Also I find that things like Roku in upstairs bedrooms are connecting to the downstairs routers, which just kind of annoys me lol...

Hopefully that's enough info on my setup! I stream a lot of high bitrate 4k across from NAS > 3100 > moca/ethernet > 68u > Apple TV which generally works great, but gaming latency I find could be better now and again from xbox in same location as Apple TV...

So I'm looking at the rt-ax88u as maybe a single router solution, and dumping aimesh and my two current routers... I definitely want to go AX, even though our iPhones are the only AX devices we have now it seems silly to upgrade and not do that... If I do this, I likely would still run MoCA 2.5 to my home theater, but to a gigabit switch instead of a second router, just to have wired connectivity for gaming/tv... Would this give enough coverage for my house with just the one router for both 5ghz and 2.4ghz bands (a lot of IoT devices around the house)?

I'm going to sell my 3100 probably if I do this, but could keep the 68u to add to aimesh with the ax88u still... Either where it is now (instead of replacing it with a gigabit switch), or maybe over wifi backhaul in the front half of my house downstairs to help extend the network... I've never done aimesh over wifi, just over ethernet/moca... I'm fine with devices that are connected to that running slightly slower wifi as it would just be IoT type things probably, and it would give me ethernet in that part of the house off the 68u for things like my arcade cabinet that connects over wifi now (no coax in that area of house to run moca to it)...

What about the 92u 2 pack? Are these inferior to the 88u? The upside would be aimesh over wifi 6 I would think?

Lastly, two 58u's? Is there a big difference between the 88u and 58u? Or maybe get an 88u now, and if I decide I want to expand to aimesh again in the future I pick up a 58u or maybe they have a newer aimesh extender device over wifi 6 in the future

Ton of ?'s I know, appreciate any answers and help!

Sounds like you have it figured out. I can't comment on AX... too early for me.

So, router in back upper office wired via MOCA to switch at back lower media center. Next step would be the wireless AiMesh node at front lower room.

I would replace the 68U at the media center with a switch first. Next, try the 68U as a wireless AiMesh node forward on the lower level to the point you still have a -68 RSSI or better 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul signal. I suspect that will do it and without AX for now.

Plan B... flip it. Put the modem/router w/guest networks at the media center. Put a switch in the office with NAS. Put a wireless AiMesh node forward on the upper level. But moving the ISP connection is probably a problem.

OE

 

[njhorn]

The equipment is upstairs mostly to avoid having more crap shoved behind the living room furniture . Yeah gonna go with 88u plus moca to a switch downstairs and then go from there I think. Is there a way to set priority on the routers to prefer the 88u for wireless signal for devices unless it’s really low, and then use the 68u for those devices? If so I can use the 68u as an option later in a different part of downstairs

Sounds like you have it figured out. I can't comment on AX... too early for me.

So, router in back upper office wired via MOCA to switch at back lower media center. Next step would be the wireless AiMesh node at front lower room.

I would replace the 68U at the media center with a switch first. Next, try the 68U as a wireless AiMesh node forward on the lower level to the point you still have a -68 RSSI or better 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul signal. I suspect that will do it and without AX for now.

Plan B... flip it. Put the modem/router w/guest networks at the media center. Put a switch in the office with NAS. Put a wireless AiMesh node forward on the upper level. But moving the ISP connection is probably a problem.

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

The equipment is upstairs mostly to avoid having more crap shoved behind the living room furniture . Yeah gonna go with 88u plus moca to a switch downstairs and then go from there I think. Is there a way to set priority on the routers to prefer the 88u for wireless signal for devices unless it’s really low, and then use the 68u for those devices? If so I can use the 68u as an option later in a different part of downstairs

Wireless clients decide where to connect. AiMesh is said to influence that decision... Roaming Assistant node steering looks at RSSI signal strength... Smart Connect node band steering (if used) looks at the best signal/band. The setting for RA is simply band RSSI threshold... and router WiFi range overlap subject to backhaul distance and signal path and perhaps radio power but nobody wants to reduce their WiFi power. The settings for SC are many and never discussed here... I prefer to disable SC and use separate SSIDs per band and then band steer clients manually by simply connecting them to the preferred band. This works for my clients in my environment on a 2-acre lot. That leaves RA... defaults seem to work here with a 2xRT-AC86U wireless AiMesh. I think it helps for a wireless backhaul to be toward its distance limit so that clients have a clear choice of best node to connect to.

There is rumor that Asus is adding standard roaming protocols support to future firmware. This may benefit clients that support same.

OE

 

[njhorn]

very helpful thanks! I do separate ssids per band now and prefer that as well. Mainly iot on 2.4 and usage devices like computers and streaming on 5ghz or wired

Wireless clients decide where to connect. AiMesh is said to influence that decision... Roaming Assistant node steering looks at RSSI signal strength... Smart Connect node band steering (if used) looks at the best signal/band. The setting for RA is simply band RSSI threshold... and router WiFi range overlap subject to backhaul distance and signal path and perhaps radio power but nobody wants to reduce their WiFi power. The settings for SC are many and never discussed here... I prefer to disable SC and use separate SSIDs per band and then band steer clients manually by simply connecting them to the preferred band. This works for my clients in my environment on a 2-acre lot. That leaves RA... defaults seem to work here with a 2xRT-AC86U wireless AiMesh. I think it helps for a wireless backhaul to be toward its distance limit so that clients have a clear choice of best node to connect to.

There is rumor that Asus is adding standard roaming protocols support to future firmware. This may benefit clients that support same.

OE

 

[sanke1]

RT-AX88U is the obvious choice. People recommending just by name 88U, what if he gets the RT-AC88U by mistake? That one is quite horrible in all departments.

 

[digits n bits]

No one can predict what will be enough WiFi coverage so get the RT-AX88U and try it with your existing wired AP's[/QUOTE

RT-AX88U is the obvious choice. People recommending just by name 88U, what if he gets the RT-AC88U by mistake? That one is quite horrible in all departments.

We went through this before. The OP knew exactly what everyone was referring to. There was no mention of any AC routers except from other users. This isint what the OP was asking about he wanted an AX router not AC.

 

[njhorn]

RT-AX88U is the obvious choice. People recommending just by name 88U, what if he gets the RT-AC88U by mistake? That one is quite horrible in all departments.

lol yeah we good. I ordered the ax88u today. What are the issues with the ac88? I have the ac3100 which I think is nearly identical to that. My main issue is likely a hardware fault where lan port 1 if I have anything plugged into it the whole router (lan and WiFi) goes to like a max of 1Mbps. Going to submit it for an rma replacement/repair before I sell this thing.

well that and I often seem to have to turn WiFi off and on again on my phone as the connection suddenly stops. But I assumed that’s some issue with aimesh and having two nodes maybe too close to each other. But that is one of the main reasons I’m doing this upgrade

 

[L&LD]

The issue isn't that the op will be possibly misled, but rather a future reader of these last few posts.

 

[OrenjiO]

2600 sq. ft isn't that big of a problem for a single AP. If you can place it well, almost any AP can do a good job. I'd vote for AX88U for a simple setup and ultilize your AC88U for a better use, like a AP switch for your Office for instance. Anything after a AC87U is a well done ASUS made.

 

[njhorn]

2600 sq. ft isn't that big of a problem for a single AP. If you can place it well, almost any AP can do a good job. I'd vote for AX88U for a simple setup and ultilize your AC88U for a better use, like a AP switch for your Office for instance. Anything after a AC87U is a well done ASUS made.

Thanks! I ordered the ax88u and it will be here later in the week. I atarted having a ton of connection issues with my aimesh setup this week and last night removed the 68u and replaced it with a switch (connected over moca 2.5 to my ac3100) for Xbox and ps4 and appletv. It fixed every problem. I have a couple spots in the house now where my normal 400+ or so speed test drops down to 100 or so over ac, but not anywhere where I would normally use a device. So since the 3100 can cover the whole house I’m sure the higher powered ax88u can now. Yay!