Running Asus AC3200, crazy thought about adding another as a wireless access point?!

[willyburz]

I love, LOVE my AC3200, and it's getting down to almost sub $200 which is a steal at this point to add another. What are my pros/ cons about doing this? I have never run a wireless access point, but may possibly just for the hell of it, and radiation power Please give any input, and or thoughts on this, and the best way to attack this. Right now, my house is hardwired on a switch, and running my AC3200, and have connection points in my downstairs where it's all connected. My xbox Ones, are all hardwired, and other than that nest, chromebooks, tvs, blu ray players, phones, printer, etc. are wi fi. I have my AC3200 upstairs on the one side of the house "With my house hardwired", if I do this, I'd put it downstairs and the opposite side of the house...Again, pros/cons?!

 

[L&LD]

If you like your (older) RT-AC3200 so much, you will be madly head over heels in love with the new generation routers (RT-AC3100, RT-AC88U and RT-AC5300).

Spending $200 to get yourself an 'access point' is a waste of money, imo. Spending more to get better than you have (and use your RT-AC3200 as an access point instead) is a better way to go (if you really, really need to spend some money at all).

The pro's are you get a deal on older tech. The con's are it seems you don't need it and won't have too much benefit no matter how you set up the two identical routers in your environment.

 

[willyburz]

I'm not getting any better speed with any of the three options you gave me, heck I'm surprised with that response that you're not a mu-mimo guy, cause that'll take off in another 10 years. Dude, does any of your equipment even take advantage of those routers, or even routers from two years ago. Do you have a bunch of 4x4 equipment? What does any of those three get me I'm not getting now?

Sorry, I'm off the path, and the 3200 is already overkill... so, yes, I'm looking to add an access point possibly, and I have massive throughput as is, just a fun idea to throw around for the hell of it.

 

[ngerasimatos]

No offense, but I have the 3200 and I entirely hate it. I would much rather have a dual-band router than a tri-band.

 

[L&LD]

If you just want an AP? The RT-AC56U will give you the best bang for the buck and still be useful as a router when you're done with it too ($50 to $100, depending on the sale you hit).

 

[pete y testing]

No offense, but I have the 3200 and I entirely hate it. I would much rather have a dual-band router than a tri-band.

lol so just disable the lower band 5 gig in the advanced menu and you have a dual band router exactly the same as the 88u

 

[ngerasimatos]

It's not the same. It has a slower processor and half the memory.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[willyburz]

I have disabled smart connect, locked in my channels with the least interference, and the router is smoking fast. Heck, I can separate the one 5ghz if I want for demanding hardware I'm using, and use the other two for my standard stuff.... I have never had any problems with the ac3200, and it has amazing distance as well as throughput...It's just a crazy idea I'm thinking about doing. Maybe I should be more clear in my question, by adding an AP, does it slow switching, or drop throughput for any reasons? Never done an ap before.

 

[L&LD]

If you're talking about a wired AP (as opposed to a 'repeater'), then the only slowdown will be if the devices on the AP begin to hog the ISP bandwidth.

Otherwise? It's business as usual.

 

[jerry6]

No offense, but I have the 3200 and I entirely hate it. I would much rather have a dual-band router than a tri-band.

Really , why ? I've been using 2 AC3200 and have not had any problems , no dead spots , great transfer speeds and so far they have been super stable . Only had problems the first month with dropped clients , but that was expected as it was a new router .
I don't use smart connect .

 

[System Error Message]

i have the AC3200 too and i dont use smart connect. Smart connect does work though but not with everything. If you want a router or AP what are you planning to do, expand your wifi network? Handle more clients? your budget for it? If the newer routers are within your budget and its what you intend for than go for it.

 

[ngerasimatos]

Really , why ? I've been using 2 AC3200 and have not had any problems , no dead spots , great transfer speeds and so far they have been super stable . Only had problems the first month with dropped clients , but that was expected as it was a new router .
I don't use smart connect .

Mine has only been stable since I disable 5G-1. I used the same SSID for both 2.4 and 5G.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[willyburz]

i have the AC3200 too and i dont use smart connect. Smart connect does work though but not with everything. If you want a router or AP what are you planning to do, expand your wifi network? Handle more clients? your budget for it? If the newer routers are within your budget and its what you intend for than go for it.

More or less making no signal drop off whatsoever...Other than that not too much, I have great coverage, just a wild thought. I drop to like 55% at my furthest edges in my home, behind metal, and things like that...otherwise it's rock solid. I don't have any problems with smart connect, my main problem is when using smart connect, you can't choose your own damn channels. It always, ALWAYS picks shirtty channels with more interference. I love the TRI Band, at the most simplistic level, because the two 5ghz signal options seem to travel differently at distance...so some devices will switch depending where you are at in the home, I do love that. That and the fact that even with smart connect off, it seems to spread the devices around. It would be simply for the hell of it. I mean, hell, all of these routers are soo far ahead of the hardware game, I have a couple years before seeing leaps and bounds outside of custom pc cards to take advantage of some of this stuff, and I'd hardwire that anyway.