Question about ASUS RP-AC68U

[RogerSC]

I'm wondering if the ASUS RP-AC68U has a mode similar to Netgear's "fastlane" mode? That's where the connection between the main router and the repeater/extender is on one wireless band, like 2.4GHz., and then the wireless clients connect to the other wireless band, 5GHz. What that means, in theory, is that it should do better than 1/2 the speed of the main router, since the radio connected to the clients doesn't have to listen to the main router then retransmit. In this example, the extender's 2.4GHz. radio would be talking with the main router, and the 5GHz. radio on the extender would be free to transmit "concurrently".

Anyways, I'm wondering if anyone knows if the ASUS RP-AC68U has this capability? I've been looking around, hard to find a definitive answer.

Thanks!

 

[pete y testing]

ASUS RP-AC68U

ASUS ExpressWay boosts performance

ASUS ExpressWay uses the dual-band capability of RP-AC68U to create a super-efficient connection with improved performance and reliability. In normal mode, RP-AC68U uses the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously for connecting to devices, giving the widest compatibility with devices and routers. As long as at least one device — or your router — supports 5GHz operation, ExpressWay can dedicate one band for connecting to the router and the other band for connecting to the device. This gives you a great performance boost for data-intensive tasks such as HD video streaming or online gaming, and also reduces the chance of losing the connection due to interference.

see

https://www.asus.com/Networking/RP-AC68U/

this may remove one of the hurdles that repeaters and extenders are crippled by but it still leaves the as the last choice solution when it comes to extending lan / wlan no matter how glossy the advertising is

 

[RogerSC]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for, not sure how I missed it...may just have not gotten that far down on the page *smile*. Yes, this isn't my first choice, but powerline networking doesn't work well in this house, and don't have the cable outlets in the right place for this particular spot to be able to use MoCA. So I'm kinda stuck if I want to boost the wireless in my living room. Strictly speaking, I don't need stronger wireless, but want to have as reliable wireless as possible for media streaming.

 

[RogerSC]

Now that I have one of these repeaters, I see that when I configure it in "Expressway" mode the 5GHz. client channel is in "Auto" mode. I can't set to channel 161, which is where my main router is set. It picks a channel starting at the bottom. I've seen it on Channel 40, 44, and 48 so far.

Plan to open a ticket with Asus about this, no reason why I shouldn't be able to set the channel on 5GHz. for the client connections. Or if not that, that it could use the same channel as the router that it's connected to is using.

Anyways, seems to work fine other than the 5GHz. channel wandering around wherever it wants to go *smile*.