RT-AX86U to be discontinued?

[iFrogMac]

This is a huge can of worms.

Well, I both agree and disagree with the points made in the above post.

1. I've heard other people report the Airport is slow, but that's never been my personal experience with it.
2. While I was trying figure out what was going on with Asus and my smart lights, I was considering shutting off the 2.4Ghz radio in the Asus and using the Airport as the AP for that band, as well as a gigabit switch.
3. It really depends on the person and the environment as to how critical internet being out is.
4. I've only had 1 bedroom and a Studio apartment to judge coverage in, so large houses don't apply to me currently when judging range. With this said both the AirPort Extreme routers I've owned have had good coverage and speed for the environment they were used in.
5. As far as recycling the Airport, I've considered that, but at the same time, I'd hate losing it just because (as an Apple user), and really for the wireless industry the Airport really revolutionized wireless networking as we know it today, so in some aspects it's a collector's item.

Either way, the RT-AX86U, seems to be stable now, and if I were going to pick a backup router, the Airport would probably be the safest just because of the differences in firmware, and even though it hasn't be updated in a couple years, not having a typical web interface, or typical type of firmware probably excludes it from many of the issues typical routers with outdated firmware would run into.

 

[Tech Junky]

@iFrogMac

I think you missed the point.... backup routers....

 

[iFrogMac]

@iFrogMac

I think you missed the point.... backup routers....

I got that part and I still think it depends on the person. I've been told by other people I've known longer than anyone here that it's a good idea. Even then though, it was a suggestion, not a must.

 

[RMerlin]

This is a huge can of worms.

Agreed. Having a cold standby is critical for some businesses, as they don't necessarily have a tech available to obtain, configure and install a new router the same day the outage happens.

If you are a restaurant processing payments, 3 hours of downtime means 3 hours during which you are unable to server paying customers.

I've had a few select customers over the years who needed a quick failover. That means dual Internet connections, each with their own pre-configured router. In case of an outage, they just have one cable to switch at their network switch.

Before the pandemic, I had a customer who had a flaky DSL, and Bell were unable to definitely track down the problem. When I sat with the manager, she asked me the cost of a second router and Internet connection. I gave her the numbers. Within 2 mins she said: "If my connection goes down for one hour, my 10 employees who will be killing time chatting because they are unable to access their email will cost me far more than that. Let's go for a backup connection."

 

[SAL9K]

This mystery ax86u pro is more exciting than any axe* router I've seen so far.

 

[Tech Junky]

@RMerlin

That's a good example. When it comes to large businesses though it's mandatory to have backup options in most cases. They even go to the extent of making sure the ingress for each ISP is on opposing sides of the building so they don't get knocked out by a digger. When running large DC's we always diversified the entry points for this same reason. then there's always that idiot driver running into something down the street that knocks out a circuit as well. The same goes for picking ISP's not having the same one handling both circuits even though hey have diverse paths into the building.

When you provide internet to millions of people through their phones and it's FCC mandated uptime it factors into the decisions as well. Take out a single market and that's 1000's of people offline or millions of you take out the switch office for say NYC or LA. There's a bit of a cascade effect sometimes as traffic moves over to another path to compensate while doing repairs. This is why provisioning circuits entails never going above 50% of the total bandwidth.

The deeper you go into scenarios though the messier it gets.

 

[iFrogMac]

@RMerlin

That's a good example. When it comes to large businesses though it's mandatory to have backup options in most cases. They even go to the extent of making sure the ingress for each ISP is on opposing sides of the building so they don't get knocked out by a digger. When running large DC's we always diversified the entry points for this same reason. then there's always that idiot driver running into something down the street that knocks out a circuit as well. The same goes for picking ISP's not having the same one handling both circuits even though hey have diverse paths into the building.

When you provide internet to millions of people through their phones and it's FCC mandated uptime it factors into the decisions as well. Take out a single market and that's 1000's of people offline or millions of you take out the switch office for say NYC or LA. There's a bit of a cascade effect sometimes as traffic moves over to another path to compensate while doing repairs. This is why provisioning circuits entails never going above 50% of the total bandwidth.

The deeper you go into scenarios though the messier it gets.

@Tech Junky What about someone like myself who has a few different physical disabilities. I have a cell phone, but in an emergency where I couldn't get to it, with Internet, I have the option of asking Alexa to call. On the same token, having the internet makes doing certain things easier for me over someone who can just get in a car and drive to go get something or take care of something without needing to think twice. Sure, I have the option of Uber, or calling someone, if they are free to help, but sometimes it's better to do as much without asking for help as possible. I did my best on another thread to explain that one of my reasons for investing in smart home tech such as Alexa was to see how much it could replace a person for people with special needs when they don't have anyone else around that can help.

It's come a long way, but still has a ways to go before those types of tasks are reliable and can fully be depended upon.
Another reason why I've been hesitant to spend a lot of money on a high end router.I"m willing to if I really need to, or there isn't a cheaper option that wouldn't work just as good but I just don't have a lot to put into things. With that said, I think the RT-AX86U turned out to be a good investment, however only time will tell.

I've always been someone who has done their best to keep what I have for as long as possible, unless there is a real need to replace, or upgrade, or if I have a little extra to try something new.

 

[Tech Junky]

@iFrogMac

This has nothing to do with your abilities at this point in which you're responding to.

 

[iFrogMac]

@iFrogMac

This has nothing to do with your abilities at this point in which you're responding to.

I'm a bit lost here, we were talking about having a backup router to not be without internet. It seemed like this would be a good personal example to give along with Merlin's corporate one.

 

[Tech Junky]

@iFrogMac

Your use case doesn't indicate a need for a 2nd router sitting somewhere ready to be plugged in. Your phone would suffice in the time it takes to order a replacement from Amazon arriving the next day or even same day if you order early enough in the day.

I picked my phone for this exact reason of being bale to turn on the hot spot feature to act as a backup internet connection for multiple devices. I use it in the car primarily to stream data to the MMI for maps / music / app updates since the OEM shutdown the SIM / modem built into the system for use with Google Maps. In the right spots around town the phone gets more speed than most people subscribe to at home. I can hit 600/100 speeds using T-Mobile's network through the phone which is better than the TMHI gateway that is on their network and only comes in @ 400/90 w/ some modifications to the antennas being used.

Back to the can of worms.

 

[SAL9K]

It's more likely that you'll lose internet due to the ISP going down, then a router failing (at least on Cox, which goes down pretty regularly), for which having a backup router will do you no good. Perhaps a dual-WAN configured for failover would be a better solution? I have the ax86u, and it allows a USB modem as the failover WAN, which I presume can be a cellular modem. Unfortunately, I have no experience with this, but a cellular failover would be pretty sweet (and might cost a pretty penny for a separate plan, that you'll likely never use). But, if you're life depended on it...

 

[iFrogMac]

@iFrogMac

Your use case doesn't indicate a need for a 2nd router sitting somewhere ready to be plugged in. Your phone would suffice in the time it takes to order a replacement from Amazon arriving the next day or even same day if you order early enough in the day.

I picked my phone for this exact reason of being bale to turn on the hot spot feature to act as a backup internet connection for multiple devices. I use it in the car primarily to stream data to the MMI for maps / music / app updates since the OEM shutdown the SIM / modem built into the system for use with Google Maps. In the right spots around town the phone gets more speed than most people subscribe to at home. I can hit 600/100 speeds using T-Mobile's network through the phone which is better than the TMHI gateway that is on their network and only comes in @ 400/90 w/ some modifications to the antennas being used.

Back to the can of worms.

I understand what you're saying here. You missed the point I made "in the event of Emergency, I couldn't get to the phone" an active internet connection would bee needed to ask Alexa to call for me. If I was able to get to the phone, yes, then I could call, or order a new router from amazon.

 

[iFrogMac]

It's more likely that you'll lose internet due to the ISP going down, then a router failing (at least on Cox, which goes down pretty regularly), for which having a backup router will do you no good. Perhaps a dual-WAN configured for failover would be a better solution? I have the ax86u, and it allows a USB modem as the failover WAN, which I presume can be a cellular modem. Unfortunately, I have no experience with this, but a cellular failover would be pretty sweet (and might cost a pretty penny for a separate plan, that you'll only use during a blackout, which might be never). But, if you're life depended on it...

I have the AX86U as well, and I can also use my phone has a hotspot. Not sure if Asus can use an iPhone's cell connection lightning to USB.

 

[SAL9K]

I have the AX86U as well, and I can also use my phone has a hotspot. Not sure if Asus can use an iPhone's cell connection lightning to USB.

That would be cool, but it doesn't address @iFrogMac concern about being unable to even get to a phone, and relying on a verbal "alexa call 911" to dial for help, and with Murphy's law would occur right as the ISP goes down. I wonder how VoIP phones get around this, what if the power/internet goes down, and someone needs to call 911?

 

[iFrogMac]

That would be cool, but it doesn't address @iFrogMac concern about being unable to even get to a phone, and relying on a verbal "alexa call 911" to dial for help.

Right, and I don't think I'd ever be in the above mentioned situation, but it's always good to be prepared.
I was mentioning thing I could potentially deal with, but for the most part it's more likely to be something like you said, the ISP has issues, and I'd have to use my cell data.
Because I don't know anyone here, and no one here knows me, I'm just trying to avoid how personal I go into giving examples of what I could potentially deal with that would make an always on internet connection at times critical in my case.

 

[Tech Junky]

Once again.... can of worms.

Every situation is different. If you need redundancy other than a phone that's usually in reach then that's an issue.

The other things mentioned just now being VOIP / dual WAN.... VOIP tends to employ a battery backup since voice service is FCC regulated and incurs fines on the companies running them if they go down. On the cable side it's a battery in the modem that keeps the connection up in the event of an outage of power. now that doesn't do anything if the cable IP service goes down due to maintenance or a break in the line.

dual WAN means you pay double the fees but, potentially don't worry about outages. Now, if you pick 2 ISP's that use the same ingress into your home you're screwed by the idiot with the shovel that cuts the lines. So, if you're serious about this sort of scenario it's costly and overkill in the home unless it's vital to have 100% connectivity at all times.

 

[SAL9K]

Can an Apple iWatch be a solution for @iFrogMac? I think some models have cell modems in them (which is amazing in such a small device), "Siri, call 911"

 

[bbunge]

I understand what you're saying here. You missed the point I made "in the event of Emergency, I couldn't get to the phone" an active internet connection would bee needed to ask Alexa to call for me. If I was able to get to the phone, yes, then I could call, or order a new router from amazon.

I agree with the Frog Man ( Iknow ifrogmac but...). Having "standby" electronics on hand may just save a life. There once was a time when the local telco, phone company for some, was required by law to provide dial tone service for a period of time after the power failed. That was in the days of the good old two wire service up to and including DSL. Now I do not even have copper coms wire into my house! My telco did install an ONT that I connect the two wire phone to and my Ethernet for internet access. The ONT came with a small battery backup that works for about 15 minutes. So, without a cell phone I am sunk.
Since I replace my WRT54G I have not been without a "spare" router I could fall back to. And I've had to do that a couple of times with Belkin and Netgear routers I had before I bought the RT-N66U. I am not physically handicapped (but Arthur is getting worse) and for now do not have the need for smart speakers and home automation. Security cams are about it for now. I do appreciate what ifrogmac is trying to do with home automation. I just hope he has a good power source and an emergency back up power source. And someone who can get there in a hurry if help is needed.

 

[Tech Junky]

Apple iWatch

Certainly an option with WIFI and Cellular options it's a good fit. The only issue is charging it daily.

 

[bbunge]

VOIP tends to employ a battery backup since voice service is FCC regulated and incurs fines on the companies running them if they go down.

Wrong! The requirement to provide dial tone is/was a state requirement in the US. WIth fiber and cable that requirement does not apply. The old POTS was powered from the main frame switchboard or a remote hut which had battery backup.