RT-AX86U - questions after reading M&M guide

[fusio]

Hi all,

I went through what is called the "M&M guide" (I guess?) from L&LD and followed all the steps to configure the basics of the router.

First of all, big thanks to L&LD for taking the time to write such a post.

Here are my questions:

1. I used a single SSID for both frequencies, is this bad practice?
   Reason is: I have a powerline network adapter with a different SSID to bring the signal to another part of the house, and if I split the SSIDs that would mean 4 different access points to choose from and switch between.. my girlfriend was not very enthusiastic of the idea..
   
   
2. is Smart Connect advisable? I thought it would compensate to the "issue" of having a single SSID, but somehow I am being kept to 2.4 even when I should be on 5..
   
   
3. what Channel bandwidth should I pick for 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz?
   
   
4. what Control Channel for 5 GHz? With 160 Mhz of channel bandwidth I can go up to 128 (not sure how in the guide the suggestion is 161)
   
   
5. any RT-AX86U specific weird thing I should know about?

Thanks!

 

[Hazel]

Pinging Mr. @L&LD

 

[joe scian]

Hi all,

I went through what is called the "M&M guide" (I guess?) from L&LD and followed all the steps to configure the basics of the router.

First of all, big thanks to L&LD for taking the time to write such a post.

Here are my questions:

1. I used a single SSID for both frequencies, is this bad practice?
   Reason is: I have a powerline network adapter with a different SSID to bring the signal to another part of the house, and if I split the SSIDs that would mean 4 different access points to choose from and switch between.. my girlfriend was not very enthusiastic of the idea..
   
   
2. is Smart Connect advisable? I thought it would compensate to the "issue" of having a single SSID, but somehow I am being kept to 2.4 even when I should be on 5..
   
   
3. what Channel bandwidth should I pick for 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz?
   
   
4. what Control Channel for 5 GHz? With 160 Mhz of channel bandwidth I can go up to 128 (not sure how in the guide the suggestion is 161)
   
   
5. any RT-AX86U specific weird thing I should know about?

Thanks!

1. Yes
2. No
3. 20Mhz and 160Mhz
4. Auto
5. No

 

[bbunge]

Hi all,

I went through what is called the "M&M guide" (I guess?) from L&LD and followed all the steps to configure the basics of the router.

First of all, big thanks to L&LD for taking the time to write such a post.

Here are my questions:

1. I used a single SSID for both frequencies, is this bad practice?
   Reason is: I have a powerline network adapter with a different SSID to bring the signal to another part of the house, and if I split the SSIDs that would mean 4 different access points to choose from and switch between.. my girlfriend was not very enthusiastic of the idea..
   
   
2. is Smart Connect advisable? I thought it would compensate to the "issue" of having a single SSID, but somehow I am being kept to 2.4 even when I should be on 5..
   
   
3. what Channel bandwidth should I pick for 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz?
   
   
4. what Control Channel for 5 GHz? With 160 Mhz of channel bandwidth I can go up to 128 (not sure how in the guide the suggestion is 161)
   
   
5. any RT-AX86U specific weird thing I should know about?

Thanks!

Use Dual Band Smart Connect (single SSID) especially if you use 160 Mhz on 5 GHZ. With a single SSID your clients can connect to the 2.4 GHZ in the 3 to 10 minutes the 5 GHZ is clearing for RADAR. In time the 5 GHZ clients will move over.
2.4 GHZ at 20 MHZ on channel 1, 6 or 11
5 GHZ at 160 MHZ on channel 36. You can use higher channels but some clients do not like DFS channels. Starting with channel 36 to 42 will allow 8 consecutive channels for 160 MHz and all your older 5 GHz clients will be happy.
Use WPA2/WPA3. There may be the rare case that older clients will not like this. I set up a "Guest" SSID with just WPA2 for the old iPod that had trouble with WPA2/WPA3.
Weird things? About the only things weird here are the users and their opinions. I have gone back and forth between Asus and Merlin firmware and am back to Asus now (it seems to work better for me). And for the most part the M&M config et. al. is .....
But the AX86U is GREAT!

 

[L&LD]

Here is some more reading for you. Sorry, I can't reply directly right now. I hope this helps though.

L&LD | SmallNetBuilder Forums

Fully Reset Router and Network

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021


Very quickly, I wouldn't recommend a single SSID. I also can't recommend using PLA's (even when they seem to be helping). With a single RT-AX86U, most homes have more throughput and coverage than with any previous router. Reconfigure your network if necessary and optimally place the single 'AX86U by itself (at least as a test).

20MHz bandwidth for 2.5GHz band, 80MHz bandwidth for 5GHz band (for most). You can test the 5GHz band at 40MHz and 20MHz too if your ISP speeds are lower, and if you're in a remote area with few AP's around (and/or they're farther away), you can test with 40MHz bandwidth for the 2.5GHz band.

You can find much more details in the links above.

But for a single bit of advice: with a new RT-AX86U, throw out all your assumptions and start a fresh/new network with new SSID's too to see the improvements that are offered in your specific Wi-Fi environment.

 

[fusio]

Thank you all for the help and the many links (@L&LD).

I have to say a forum is really not the best medium to maintain living documentation.. navigating through all the outdated posts/information is a challenge in and of itself. But anyhow.. I am now playing around with the control channels and everything seems to be working smoothly

AMTM is really cool - installed Diversion and a bunch of other scripts. I had a 32GB USB stick around, I hope it will be enough.. not really sure what would take so much space but I guess I will see.. (or is the write/read speed an important factor?)

I recently moved to a 2 story apartment: my previous router did not support mesh so I could only rely on "range extenders" that never really worked that well.. hence the PLA.. now with the AX86U things might be better, but I will have to see.. I cannot really move it from its corner on the ground floor.