My router lost it's WAN port and LAN port 4 and I want to buy a new one, after buying this one earlier this year 
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So I have liked the RT-BE86U for the most part, but I still had some deadzone issues that I had with my prior router in a location that seems like it probably isn't a range or obstruction issue. I'm pretty sure the issue is interference either from my neighbor on the other side of the wall, my refrigerator or a combination of both and/or other interferences. I don't think there's a router out there that would resolve this issue. I made a little awful diagram to explain what I mean:
I'm also the only one on the network and this happens even with minimal connections. For example when I've got my phone in that dead zone I'm not using anything else via wifi (with the eception of whatever the 2 smart speakers I have are doing on the IOT 2.4 network just sitting there). Somehow I have buffering issues in this location. It did improve switching to this router but it never fully resolved. Seems like wherever else in the house I go I don't have the issue, which is another reason I think it's related to some kind of interference.
Anyway, the only features I've found that I am using on my current router are:
- I have 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands split into separate networks and I have a "GUEST NETWORK PRO" as an IOT 2.4 network. I really need this because I wasn't able to get my stuff working properly without creating it. I believe it was 1 specific device that had issues, and it was due to WiFi 7 being enabled, but I ended up putting my smart speakers, garage door opener, and some other things on it.
- Adaptive QOS prioritizing games (even though I don't really game anymore, when/if I do I want it prioritized and I don't seem to notice any downside to having it set this way). Though, I'm not sure how beneficial this could be even in theory because of how much throughput I have vs what games would actually demand and the fact nobody else is using my network but myself.
- For same reason I had the "Game" thing on recently after having it off for a long time, and I don't see any real difference with it of course but I was curious and turned it on at some point. Obviously since there was no difference I forgot about it.
- "Open NAT" is enabled.
- MLO is enabled.
- Until recently when my LAN port 4 was damaged I had LACP enabled and manually assigned two IPs for my NAS to use.
- I've defined a default DNS server in router settings.
- DNS over TLS enabled and defined.
- Port forwarding for Plex is enabled/defined.
- I do need to be able to disable SIP Passthrough, no matter what.
- IPv6 disabled.
- Router set to drop packets under "DoS protection" though I have little faith in what a little router like this can do. It would have to be a seemingly basic and small attack and even then it would probably not fair well from my experience in other areas.
I tried setting up an AiMesh to resolve things like this, as well as allow me to go out to the mailbox without losing connection. I found that it is supposed to SWITCH instead of be seamless.. and my phone doesn't seem to work well with it. I ended up selling my old router as a result.
So other than that I just care about having the best range and speeds on WiFi and the best experience on ethernet possible. I'd prefer to avoid using switches. I would love to be able to continue to use link aggregation on my NAS, in which case I'd love to have enough 2.5 Gbps ports just like this router does.
I'm pretty much in the situation where the one I already have is likely the best option for a replacement, or the ASUS RT-BE88U because I like how it has 8 ports so I won't really need a switch in my use cases probably ever. I had someone stay over for a week a few months ago and I had to buy a switch to run a long ethernet cable to the living room so they can use a computer in there. My ISP is getting everyone over to fiber. They'll supply an ONT and we just hook it up to our router. Right now the ISP offers up to 2 Gbps down and 100 Mbps up, but they told me that on fiber it will be full speed both directions. Not sure what's going on with their site since they have people on it already, but they have been growing rapidly in the last decade or so and I forsee a future where they will possibly be offering even higher speeds once they successfully get people switched over. From my understanding, with a situation like mine, the only benefits I'd see from using SFP+ is lower heat, latency, and power consumption. I don't know much about those, though.
As far as price I'd like to keep it around the same price as the RT-BE86U or lower. So that RT-BE88U is not much more and seems acceptable in terms of price. Is there some unit I'm missing out on that is much cheaper based on my use-case? I'd just want it to at least have 4 2.5 GbE ports for LAN.
.So I have liked the RT-BE86U for the most part, but I still had some deadzone issues that I had with my prior router in a location that seems like it probably isn't a range or obstruction issue. I'm pretty sure the issue is interference either from my neighbor on the other side of the wall, my refrigerator or a combination of both and/or other interferences. I don't think there's a router out there that would resolve this issue. I made a little awful diagram to explain what I mean:
I'm also the only one on the network and this happens even with minimal connections. For example when I've got my phone in that dead zone I'm not using anything else via wifi (with the eception of whatever the 2 smart speakers I have are doing on the IOT 2.4 network just sitting there). Somehow I have buffering issues in this location. It did improve switching to this router but it never fully resolved. Seems like wherever else in the house I go I don't have the issue, which is another reason I think it's related to some kind of interference.
Anyway, the only features I've found that I am using on my current router are:
- I have 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands split into separate networks and I have a "GUEST NETWORK PRO" as an IOT 2.4 network. I really need this because I wasn't able to get my stuff working properly without creating it. I believe it was 1 specific device that had issues, and it was due to WiFi 7 being enabled, but I ended up putting my smart speakers, garage door opener, and some other things on it.
- Adaptive QOS prioritizing games (even though I don't really game anymore, when/if I do I want it prioritized and I don't seem to notice any downside to having it set this way). Though, I'm not sure how beneficial this could be even in theory because of how much throughput I have vs what games would actually demand and the fact nobody else is using my network but myself.
- For same reason I had the "Game" thing on recently after having it off for a long time, and I don't see any real difference with it of course but I was curious and turned it on at some point. Obviously since there was no difference I forgot about it.
- "Open NAT" is enabled.
- MLO is enabled.
- Until recently when my LAN port 4 was damaged I had LACP enabled and manually assigned two IPs for my NAS to use.
- I've defined a default DNS server in router settings.
- DNS over TLS enabled and defined.
- Port forwarding for Plex is enabled/defined.
- I do need to be able to disable SIP Passthrough, no matter what.
- IPv6 disabled.
- Router set to drop packets under "DoS protection" though I have little faith in what a little router like this can do. It would have to be a seemingly basic and small attack and even then it would probably not fair well from my experience in other areas.
I tried setting up an AiMesh to resolve things like this, as well as allow me to go out to the mailbox without losing connection. I found that it is supposed to SWITCH instead of be seamless.. and my phone doesn't seem to work well with it. I ended up selling my old router as a result.
So other than that I just care about having the best range and speeds on WiFi and the best experience on ethernet possible. I'd prefer to avoid using switches. I would love to be able to continue to use link aggregation on my NAS, in which case I'd love to have enough 2.5 Gbps ports just like this router does.
I'm pretty much in the situation where the one I already have is likely the best option for a replacement, or the ASUS RT-BE88U because I like how it has 8 ports so I won't really need a switch in my use cases probably ever. I had someone stay over for a week a few months ago and I had to buy a switch to run a long ethernet cable to the living room so they can use a computer in there. My ISP is getting everyone over to fiber. They'll supply an ONT and we just hook it up to our router. Right now the ISP offers up to 2 Gbps down and 100 Mbps up, but they told me that on fiber it will be full speed both directions. Not sure what's going on with their site since they have people on it already, but they have been growing rapidly in the last decade or so and I forsee a future where they will possibly be offering even higher speeds once they successfully get people switched over. From my understanding, with a situation like mine, the only benefits I'd see from using SFP+ is lower heat, latency, and power consumption. I don't know much about those, though.
As far as price I'd like to keep it around the same price as the RT-BE86U or lower. So that RT-BE88U is not much more and seems acceptable in terms of price. Is there some unit I'm missing out on that is much cheaper based on my use-case? I'd just want it to at least have 4 2.5 GbE ports for LAN.
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