Cyber Monday - Upgrade to AX88U PRO?

[digi91]

I currently have an RT-AX86S running Merlin and honestly it has been fine for the most part. I see that the AX-88U PRO is on sale on Amazon currently and am considering the upgrade.

Here is my use case.

• 3 story townhouse (built in 06')
• "Office" is on the main floor (that's where the modem / router are.)
• AppleTV, XSX, PS5, Switch, etc are on the 2nd floor and ethernet is unfortunately not an option.
• Smart TV on the 3rd floor in the Master bedroom.
• We pay for Gigabit speed from Xfinity

As of right now wireless speeds are pretty good and overall but could always be better and coverage hasn't really been an issue (Reaches the 3rd floor without any issues as of now)

Would there be any benefits at all for upgrading to an AX-88U PRO from our current device?

Edit: I came from a 3 eero mesh system and this has been leaps and bounds better!

 

[L&LD]

Unless you need a 2.5GbE connection to a wired PC, stick to what you have.

Or, consider upgrading (to just) the superior RT-AX88U Pro, if you can sell the RT-AX86s at a fair price.

If you don't have a wired backhaul use case, don't clutter up the spectrum with wireless backhaul AiMesh (which is just a repeater, and halves your speeds, after all).

 

[digi91]

Unless you need a 2.5GbE connection to a wired PC, stick to what you have. Or, consider upgrading (to just) the superior RT-AX88U Pro, if you can sell the RT-AX86s at a fair price. If you don't have a wired backhaul use case, don't clutter up the spectrum with AiMesh (which is just a repeater, and halves your speeds, after all).

That's what I figured, so this is probably as good as it's going to get at this point?

 

[L&LD]

Next jump: WiFi 7 (circa late 2024, early 2025).

 

[digi91]

Next jump: WiFi 7 (circa late 2024, early 2025).

Got it! This might be a stupid question, but I do experience occasional hiccups when gaming, is there any settings I should be looking at to "optimize" for gaming? Typically my ping is around 23ms and 0% packet loss.

Edit: I should note I am still running 386.5_2 after I had issues with later firmware a while ago.

 

[L&LD]

No, all questions are good!

I would suggest you test the latest 388.5 Beta 1 to see if that issue persists for you.

First, follow the link below to get a good backup of your current environment.

Is it a good idea to keep up with Firmware updates?

I have had issues in the past when updating firmware and Internet speed, But it may have just been a fluke, Should I keep up with the updates? If so On all routers or the nodes as well? What about ones acting as access points? Thanks

www.snbforums.com

Once you have the above steps completed, flash the 388.5 Beta 1.

If the issue persists after flashing the Beta, I would suggest performing a full reset to factory defaults and then configuring the router minimally and manually to test if a previous setting/variable is interfering with your network when you update the firmware to the latest.

Depending on what you find with the above process, you can enjoy the latest firmware and security available, or, you can get back to the state your network is at right now in less than 10 minutes.


The following may also be helpful for you.

[Wireless Router] When Standard Reset Isn’t Working: Hard Factory Reset - Models list | Official Support | ASUS USA

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I have an ASUS AX86U and contemplating the installation of Merlin firmware. The DDNS settings on the AX86U are limited to select dns providers. If I install Merlin, will I have more flexability (choices) with the DDNS Settings? Thanks in advance!

www.snbforums.com

Am I all set to start fresh with the latest stable release? And a request for L&LD...

After creating the checklists two weeks ago to save the pages with settings, I've made all the screenshots (I think at least) of all the relevant guides written by @L&LD and the very useful tip by @netware5. The only thing is, those guides are great, except when you'll be offline at least for a...

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L&LD

www.snbforums.com

 

[digi91]

Thank you, I will give the beta a try later on today! This thing has been rock solid and that's the reason I never upgraded again lol

 

[Tech9]

I should note I am still running 386.5_2 after I had issues with later firmware a while ago.

Best working 386 base firmware for this router.

 

[digi91]

Best working 386 base firmware for this router.

Are you saying I should stay put? haha

 

[Tech9]

Experiment and see what works better for you. If this router is behind ISP device firewall I would keep it on 386.5_2 perhaps forever. Save a backup for easy going back if you need to. I believe this was the last firmware on the previous SDK and newer is not always better. Even Client List works on 386.5_2 and recognizes correctly wired and wireless devices.

 

[digi91]

Experiment and see what works better for you. If this router is behind ISP device firewall I would keep it on 386.5_2 perhaps forever. Save a backup for easy going back if you need to. I believe this was the last firmware on the previous SDK and newer is not always better. Even Client List works on 386.5_2 and recognizes correctly wired and wireless devices.

Gotcha, thank you for the insight If I do decide to try out the newer firmware I probably won't be testing today. Both the wife and I WFH and have far too much going on today!

 

[Tech9]

No rush, take your time. Just make sure you can revert and restore the configuration to what you know is working.