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Router Upgrade with Wireless VLAN capability

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mustardquail

Occasional Visitor
Hi there,
I've been having some issues with my Asus RT-AC5300 router. I've been thinking about upgrading for a while, so I'm looking at potential devices to upgrade to.

The issues seem to happen with intense lag spikes and disconnects when a heavy network load is happening (two devices at a time on a video conference, and when my Samsung Galaxy S10 phone is connected). Oddly enough, my phone connects perfectly fine to one of the 5GHz connections, but on the other 5GHz connection my phone will frequently get no Internet access (even though it's connected to the network). Additionally, these severe lag spikes tend to happen randomly sometimes when I pull out my phone to check something and there's a device streaming high bandwidth content via Ethernet, or a device is on a video call wirelessly. This appears to happen even though I've tinkered with QoS.

I've been a bit tired of dealing with these issues, as I feel like my router should be able to handle all of the devices on my network. At this point, I've considered looking for another cheap RT-AC5300 to potentially try load balancing on a mesh network setup, but figured I would ask about other routers in the meantime.

Are there any highly recommended routers that would easily handle this sort of traffic? My bandwidth tests generally deliver ~300Mb/s (fiber connection), and my home square footage is ~1500ft.

I would love to get the functionality to enable wireless VLANs if possible, and allow devices to exist in multiple VLANs as well if that's recommended -- ideally, have a guest network, a VLAN for IoT devices, one for work-related devices, miscellaneous devices, etc. and allow my phone to be on both the misc devices & the IoT devices VLAN so it can change my Hue light colors and such.

If this is a bad idea or impossible though, totally understand that though. I guess I'm just hoping to have VLAN functionality, potentially a mesh network setup, and network stability/beefy system resources above all else.
 
Don't add another 7-year-old AC class router to try to fix your issues. Time to upgrade to AX class routers instead.

The RT-AX86U (not the 's' or 'pro' variant) is great for up to 1Gbps ISP speeds. For your area you need to be covered, a single router will be more than enough coverage, depending on where you locate it, of course.

For more 'future proofing', the GT-AX6000 is what I recommend today. Not only will it get 3.00.6.xxxx level firmware with all the features that are expected to be offered by that firmware then, but it is also the most balanced (hardware) router you can get right now with support for ISP speeds of 2.5Gbps for both WAN and LAN (note the RT-AX86U and variants offer only one or the other).

The next level of firmware does support VLANs, and that support will increase as time goes by, I'm sure. The RT-AX86U will be 'stuck' on 3.0.0.4.xxxx level firmware and even though it may stay supported for a while, it won't get any of the newest features coming up.
 
I would love to get the functionality to enable wireless VLANs if possible

You need business class equipment for that - VLAN capable router/firewall and needed number of VLAN capable access points to start with.
 
You can start with something cheap: Mikrotik hEX, Ubiquity EdgeRouter X, TP-Link ER605 etc. Plus APs with VLAN support.
 
I am looking for a new router as well with similar interest. I have a pretty old asus router now and it seriously needs updated.
Is the rt-ax88u pro worth the extra money?
I had thought about going all out with a nice firewall, router, and AP's but I dont need anything too expensive at home.
 
RT-AX86U won't get Pro firmware with VLAN based features.
 
Public beta stage for testing purposes. It won't be released perhaps for many months. Pro models only and few same hardware ROG models.
 
Public beta stage for testing purposes. It won't be released perhaps for many months. Pro models only and few same hardware ROG models.
So the new RT-AX86U Pro should get it as well.... Its 100 dollars cheaper vs the AX88U Pro and similar cpu and memory. Sorry I didnt list pro at first till I edited my post.
 
RT-AX86U Pro is compatible. Wi-Fi range is perhaps about the same.
 
Check the price of GT-AX6000. Hardware equivalent to RT-AX88U Pro. It will also get Pro firmware. The ugly face hugger sometimes comes cheaper. :)
 
Check the price of GT-AX6000. Hardware equivalent to RT-AX88U Pro. It will also get Pro firmware. The ugly face hugger sometimes comes cheaper. :)
Microcenter has the ASUS Rapture GT-AX6000 for $290. So $60 dollars cheaper and I have to go pick it up. hmm
 
It is popular around. Some people don't care about the looks. Check for open box routers. Some people overestimated their acceptance level.
 
It is popular around. Some people don't care about the looks. Check for open box routers. Some people overestimated their acceptance level.
Thanks for your help. I think I will make a trip to Microcenter tomorrow. It looks ok to me.
 
Depending on your intentions you may get the Divorce edition:

1682899287801.png


Some say it reveals the truth about how much your wife loves you.
 
Some say it reveals the truth about how much your wife loves you.
Never, Not Ever, will I tempt The Wife to consider her feelings towards me!

Get the 6000 or the EVA whichever cost less:
- RMerlin supported and works Great.
- can be found for significant savings.
 
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With this router can you have an external dhcp server for the main network and then use the router for dhcp on the guest networks? Do the guest networks try to share the same IP space but have firewall rules to keep them from communicating with each other? I can always have the router run dhcp again I guess but I offloaded on my old router to a PI.
 

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