Guys, maybe you are really trying to help. Maybe AX88U is not the best choice and maybe AX86U is better than AX88U.
But you are forgetting something here. I am an owner of a AC88U and AX88U is unquestionably a good upgrade.
If you check my original post, you will see that I asked for cheaper alternatives like AX56U , AX58U, AX68U and any other models that are Merlin supported.
But then I realized that I should go with AX88U or AX86U.
Then I also realized that I could get AX88U easier, cheaper and faster.
Then I also decided that I need the 8 switch ports.
So, I really don't understand why you are trying to push me towards AX86U which I am not able get easier or cheaper compared to AX88U.
Both AX86U and AX88U are an upgrade to my AC88U.
I have around 50 IP devices at home and Asus ZenWifi AX Mini XD4 which supports AiMesh.
I had the XD4 Aimesh because I need Wifi6 for my Oculus Quest 2 devices.
My uplink is just 100Mbit/s so that is not the main requirement.
But I use the AC88U with many applications. I have my own scripts running on it to get per device stats on my Grafana server.
I also use VPN feature on the router (both as client and server inbound)
So it is already using most of its RAM and CPU power. With the double RAM on AX88U, I believe I will get better performance with less non-responsive states.
If there is no major flaws/problems with AX88U, I will go with it.