AiMesh or Fastlane 3

[Dragonzay]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. Currently my setup is asus RT-AC5300 on 2nd floor sitting in a corner of the house. I want to extend the 5g signal to the 1st floor. In order to do that I think I will need a strong transmitter near the stairs on the 2nd floor and a strong receiver downstairs. I tried using Netgear EX8000 upstairs and the coverage on the 1st floor is good enough, not perfect but good. Now I don't know what to get next, Asus router with external antennas for longer range upstairs, connected to the main router using AiMesh and use the EX8000 downstairs. Or... Just use couple of EX8000?

AiMesh use dedicated data backbone so that means... I need tri band router just like Netgear Fastlane 3? Or it works differently and I can just use dual band router?

 

[Trip]

To re-purpose current hardware with maximum fronthaul and backhaul throughput, I'd opt for a second AC-class tri-band Asus all-in-one. An RT-AC3200 ($189) or refurb AC5300 ($230). For the sake of consistency, I'd factory-reset both routers and flash the same Merlin version to both units, then reconfigure your AiMesh network from scratch.

 

[Dragonzay]

To re-purpose current hardware with maximum fronthaul and backhaul throughput, I'd opt for a second AC-class tri-band Asus all-in-one. An RT-AC3200 ($189) or refurb AC5300 ($230). For the sake of consistency, I'd factory-reset both routers and flash the same Merlin version to both units, then reconfigure your AiMesh network from scratch.

I saw many people complaining about AC3200 range. Is it that bad ? Or at least it will be better than my EX8000?

 

[Trip]

As you can see by the 3200 vs. 5300 hardware differences, the 5300 uses a different (and I'm guessing more powerful) combo of Skyworks and RFMD amplifiers for 2.4 and 5Ghz chips (versus the Richwave/Skyworks combo in the 3200), plus it's 4x4 spatial streams in both 2.4 and 5Ghz, which contributes to higher receive sensitivity than the 3x3 chips in the 3200. All of that, plus I'd wager the 5300's antenna configuration allows for a bit more decorrelation (ie. broadcast separation for lower co-interference).

All of the above could very well add up to less effective throughput over distance using the 3200. Cost be damned, maybe you just buy another new AC5300 and know that you're giving it a go with the best tri-band AiMesh duo that's also still Merlin-compatible. If you fall short there, it may be time to try and hard-wire the two, or look at another solution altogether.

 

[Dragonzay]

As you can see by the 3200 vs. 5300 hardware differences, the 5300 uses a different (and I'm guessing more powerful) combo of Skyworks and RFMD amplifiers for 2.4 and 5Ghz chips (versus the Richwave/Skyworks combo in the 3200), plus it's 4x4 spatial streams in both 2.4 and 5Ghz, which contributes to higher receive sensitivity than the 3x3 chips in the 3200. All of that, plus I'd wager the 5300's antenna configuration allows for a bit more decorrelation (ie. broadcast separation for lower co-interference).

All of the above could very well add up to less effective throughput over distance using the 3200. Cost be damned, maybe you just buy another new AC5300 and know that you're giving it a go with the best tri-band AiMesh duo that's also still Merlin-compatible. If you fall short there, it may be time to try and hard-wire the two, or look at another solution altogether.

Yeah another 5300 would be overkill I think and really expensive. Just need something more powerful than my EX8000

 

[Trip]

Then I would do an AC3200. The real value here is being able to utilize AiMesh, and that's the cheapest option to stay all tri-band and benefit from that extra radio for backhaul.

Otherwise, IMHO, you might as well just scrap the stack and start fresh with a different, purpose-built mesh product. Eero Pro, etc. Vanilla repeaters certainly aren't worth the hassle, IMHO.

 

[coxhaus]

I say bite the bullet and install drops but it is probably not a good idea right now with C-19 around. I guess you are stuck. Just remember cable is always better than wireless.

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AC3200 is not a supported AiMesh router. Not worth buying any more either with the other available options today. Tri-Band routers are almost always more trouble than they're worth for most users.

 

[Trip]

The RT-AC3200 is not a supported AiMesh router.

Woops. Not sure how I missed that.... then I guess a dual-band AiMesh capable router with decent enough attenuation numbers over distance would probably function well enough.

 

[Dragonzay]

Woops. Not sure how I missed that.... then I guess a dual-band AiMesh capable router with decent enough attenuation numbers over distance would probably function well enough.

Lol I missed that part too. So... Dual bands AiMesh router... How it works? Where is the dedicated data backbone come from? For Netgear Fastlane 3 it uses one of the 5g band but how about AiMesh with dual bands router? Will I get full speed with that? Or there will be speed reduction?