AX-86U, AX-3000, AC-86U - Configuration recommendations please

[JR Godwin]

Hi, First time poster and less than a year reader.

I'm trying to figure out the optimal configuration for these routers, and whether or not to even utilise all of them concurrently.

I brought some US streaming devices back to New Zealand with me in August (Roku Ultra and an Apple TV 4k) to enable watching US content from NZ.

I've had the 2017 model version of the AC86U for a few years, but was always running stock FW on it, but had become interested in Merlin and DD-WRT as updates to allow for more customisation / control. Because the 86 wasn't on the list of available routers for DD-WRT, and because I was far from home at the time and couldn't play with Merlin, I thought I'd cover my bases and purchased a Netgear router from Flashrouters to be able to look at DD-WRT and to ultimately serve as a router to run VPN for my TV viewing needs.

Once I got home, and installed Merlin and setup the netgear as just another client device in the 86's network, I was horrified at how slow the vpn speed was with it (netgear) and removed it from the environment. At the same time, my ISP was running a special where if I signed up for 2 years, they'd give me an AX-3000.

I set the 3000 up as the main router, and put the AC-86 on VPN running on a different subnet and SSID from my main one (running as a full on router). I enabled the openvpn client with strict so that all traffic through it was VPN'd, and connected the streaming devices to it. Speeds were great, all was good, but had some trouble with one of the streaming devices over wireless due to distance / materials in the way. By this time, both routers were/are running Merlin 384.19.

I also had some IoT bulbs in that remote room that were having trouble connecting / staying connected, and after reading more here, changed up my configuration.

I revamped the AC-86 as the main router and configured it back to main network SSID and IP ranges, made the vpn client exclusive and tagged the 2 streaming devices as the ones to use the VPN, and put the 3000 in the far room and put it in Mesh mode. My reasoning was that the AC-86 with it's chipset would run the VPN better than the 3000 (From what I could tell reading here).

I also run an electrical wire LAN and so have the 3000 linking back via LAN through the electrical wiring. Speeds on that particular circuit average between 350Mbps to 500Mbps. (Devices are TP Link 1200's, in this house the wiring isn't as great in others I've lived in so obviously not the highest speeds it could be)

Lately, I've noticed that the AC-86 has been pushing a fairly high cpu load on both cores (Kids home from school for the holidays, tons more activity, i.e. youtube / gaming)

Decided to purchase an AX-86U (will do very soon) and so I'm wondering a few things:

1. Which router to run as main (I'm assuming the AX-86U, and that's what I was going to do, and setup the VPN client the same way)
2. I could put one of the routers in another room to add another mesh node to the network, but I don't think the coverage where I'd put it is really all that bad, so probably don't need to....so, what would be the downside of putting it there anyway? If not, which 2 routers should stay in the mix of things....I'm assuming the answers would be the 2 AX's to maintain full WiFi6 capability, but also uncertain)
3. I'd read that the odd numbered VPN clients run on core 2 of the AC-86, and the "evens" and all the other main routing on core 1, do we know what the breakdown across the 4 cores is on the AX-86U?
4. Should I have the mesh nodes purely wireless vs running on the electrical network?

I am running scripts on the router too, via amtm primarily for the x3mrouting and scribe, but I've also got skynet and diversion on there, and was running YazFi to recreate the other SSID I had before for VPN, but disabled it to see how that would impact the core utilisation (and it does seem to have lowered, but that's just anecdotal observation with no evidence for correlation)

If/when I do get the AX-86U, my understanding is for that to have Merlin, it'll have to be the 386.1 Beta, and I guess at that time I'll update the other router(s) accordingly. So, please give your recommendations as to topology / configuration and info on the 4 points I asked.

Thanks in advance.
edit- Oh, I have 1 Gig down / 700 M up to the ISP.

 

[L&LD]

@JR Godwin, welcome to the forums. Just a little note. Don't shorten the model names of the routers. Details matter here.

1. The RT-AX86U is by far the better router. 2nd Gen AX level hardware, Quad-core, 1GB RAM, and much more responsive (less latency) than the Dual-core, 512MB RAM and 'AC' speed only RT-AC86U.
2. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/aimesh-2nd-node-recommendation.68584/post-643431
3. On a Quad-core router, RMerlin firmware and OpenVPN Clients 1, 2, and 3 run on cores 2, 3, and 4 and wrap around to core 1 on the 4th OpenVPN client and start again.
4. Ideally, a wired AX class AiMesh router/node setup will work the best for performance. In your case, you will have to test which is faster, PLA's or wireless AiMesh, but I suspect the wireless AiMesh may win (at least for more stable connection rates than what the PLA's you have now can offer).


I would flash the new RT-AX86U with RMerlin 386.1 Beta 2 or later. Then follow the steps below to create your new network. Do not plug in any USB drive used for amtm + Entware + swap file + scripts unless you format it first on a PC to NTFS format first. Do not use a saved config file. Do not 'blindly' put in settings that worked previously. Get the main router working first before plugging in any other routers.

New M&M 2020

For the remaining routers, you want to add as AiMesh nodes, follow the steps below, after flashing the same level of firmware as your main router has.

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 Beta is now available

I recently factory reset my AX88U and currently on Beta 2. After manually setting up everything up again (painfully) my router ALWAYS "crashes" if I make changes now. well I just loses internet and I have to end up rebooting it even though some of the changes made by default doesn't require a...

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With the ISP speeds you have, I would look awfully hard at running an actual Ethernet cable (Cat5e) to use as an AiMesh backhaul connection to the second router's connection. If you want to have that available throughout most areas of the home as possible.

How large is your home in SqFt? How many levels? I would suspect that with 1 RT-AX86U's optimally placed (centrally) in the home, you may not need a second or third AP at all.

Why do we need to connect one of the mesh pods to the router via ethernet cable?

Hi guys, I've been searching for mesh wifi systems and decided to add ASUS Lyra to my AC68U but for setup, you need to connect 1 of the 3 Lyras to your router (AC68U) via ethernet cable and the other 2 pods can be setup without it. I wonder why do we need to connect 1 of the 3 Lyras to the...

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[JR Godwin]

@JR Godwin

With the ISP speeds you have, I would look awfully hard at running an actual Ethernet cable (Cat5e) to use as an AiMesh backhaul connection to the second router's connection. If you want to have that available throughout most areas of the home as possible.

How large is your home in SqFt? How many levels? I would suspect that with 1 RT-AX86U's optimally placed (centrally) in the home, you may not need a second or third AP at all.

Thanks for the response L&LD. The house isn't that large in terms of area, and the main router is in a fairly central location. Part of the house has a second floor, and the main router is transmitting through drywall, several layers of it actually, to reach the room upstairs that had the issue with the IoT bulbs.

When the AX-3000 was the main router, most of my other devices were fine in that space, and it was mainly just one or 2 of the 6 bulbs I had there that would lose connection to the network, so I don't know if when the AX-86U is the main router if that will be still be the case. I can certainly do some testing with it and those devices before I start adding in the mesh nodes again. I also have a little bit of leeway where the main router sits in the room it's in, so I can play around with a few different placements as well to see if there's any differences. If I have the AX-86U with it's profile of antennas, what's the angle of placement that will give the strongest signal to the area that has the weakest signal through the drywall? Perpendicular or parallel or between? I know the antennas in their natural rest state face towards the back like on the AC-86, and there's a slight angular spread....so point the back of the router towards the area....or the side?

Finally, given the layout, floor differences and that it's a rental where I can't run any additional wiring through the walls, it's just not feasible for me to run any ethernet cables directly between the routers for the backhaul

 

[L&LD]

As I and many others have found out, you too may be pleasantly surprised with the increased performance the RT-AX86U will offer. The best approach with any new hardware is to treat the network as if you're setting it up for the first time. Go slow, methodically, and testing at each step. 'Blindly' doing what worked before rarely gives us the benefits of newer hardware. At least not in the long-term.

Have a look at the link below for more info on router and antennae placement.

Wireless direction relative to house

And while all this theoretical information is handy to understand at some fundamental level, the orientation of the router does make a difference in specific real-world environments I've seen.How about some more details on those "specific real-world environments"?

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