Looking for a RT-AC56U substitute

[Giuse1977]

Hi all
I'm looking for a substitute for my 5 years old AC56U. I had no big problems so far with it, but I now begin to see it's limit with my increasing (30 devices so far, 25 static DHCP entries, 5 port forwardings,2 guest networks, AB Solution ad-blocker, NTP server,VLANs) home network. I really love it's interface (and I'm using Merlin firmware since the beginning) so I'd like to buy another one from Asus, possibly supported by Merlin.
I don't have any AX device so far, but I plan to keep my new router for at least 5 years. I do need to have VLANs, due to my network configuration: at the moment WAN is trunked with VLAN2 untagged and VLAN1 tagged. I make a sporadic use of OpenVPN and I will connect a USB HD to the USB3 port for network camera recordings. My VDSL is managed by an AVM Fritz!Box7530 and is a 200/20. My budget is around 200€.
I found that both RT-AC86U (223€) and RT-AX92U (210€) could suit my needs:
The 86U would be the choice, but is now more expensive than the probably more future-proof 92U; it seems to have a very good network coverage and its supported by Merlin.
The 92U is cheaper (now) but seems that the wireless performance on the N/AC are the same as my old 56u, and most of the "6100" are in the 5 only Ghz AX band. I'm not sure about its network coverage and has no Merlin support so far.

Can anybody advise me on them? Is there a way to have VLANs working with stock firmware in case I would buy the 92U (I mean, without using another VLAN capable switch and may be using IPTV feature?)

Regards

Giuseppe

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AX92U is not supported by RMerlin firmware.

The RT-AX58U and the RT-AX88U are. Don't know what the prices would be like for you.

The RT-AX88U is easily a 'next five years with RMerlin' router though.

Asus and most other consumer routers don't offer VLAN support though.

 

[Giuse1977]

Thanks for answering. Ax88 is out of my reach at 325€ and is way too big! ax58 cpu seems two steps below the 1.8ghz dual core of both ac86u and ax92u. Sadly you are right about VLANs and consumer router.. I was just wondering if playing with IPTV VLAN settings I could reach my goal.
I would try, but I cannot access IPTV settings (not sure if due to the double nat or due to having already set a tagged VLAN on WAN port via shell).
By the way in those crazy times prices do not reflect the product level at all..
On Amazon Italy ac88 is sold for ~230€, ax58 ~195€, ac68 ~140€, ac86 ~220€, ax92 ~210€,all clearly overpriced due to the zero stock!

 

[Trip]

For native VLAN capability and as many services as you'd like to run, I'd leave the consumer stuff behind and migrate to discrete components, small-business grade or better. For point-and-click control via a GUI, I'd look at pFsense or OpenWRT (with the LuCi web GUI) on low-power x86 hardware as your wired router, plus managed switching and a controller-based wireless system. Sounds complicated and excessive, but it's less daunting and expensive than you might assume, and the result you'll get from the sum of the parts will be worth it.

 

[Giuse1977]

That’s a good idea for sure. Actually my setup would require a small business like equipment, but so far I was able to keep it in consumer grade stuff area (mostly thanks to Merlin firmware). Using discrete components is feasible, I still have some knowledge left from my 15 years old networking experience, but I think would be an overkill..and I really have almost no place where to install them (very small flat with a garden, devices are scattered between one closet under tv and a small corridor...the 56u sits behind the PC monitor and has to be moved back and forth..crazy, isn’t it ) so... at the moment just looking for a small improvement in network performance and area coverage.. garden has become the living center of the house since COVID lockdown here in Italy.
I really appreciate your advise, and I will for sure go deeper with pFsense, but still looking for an all in one Asus router