Should I keep my AIMesh router and nodes on same firmware version or upgrade router alone?

[cliver]

Hi,
I currently have

• 1 RT-AX88U as main router
• 1 RT-AC86U as an AIMesh node
• 1 RT-AC68U as an AIMesh node

All are running 386.7_2 firmware.

The AX88U is showing an update to 386.8 is available but it isn't available for either of the nodes.

Is it safe/Should I update the AX88U to the latest fimware and leave the other two as they are or leave them all at 386.7_2?

Any advice/experiences appreciated as I have always belived it best to keep them all in line with firmware versions.

Regards
Clive

 

[DJones]

Hi,
I currently have

• 1 RT-AX88U as main router
• 1 RT-AC86U as an AIMesh node
• 1 RT-AC68U as an AIMesh node

All are running 386.7_2 firmware.

The AX88U is showing an update to 386.8 is available but it isn't available for either of the nodes.

Is it safe/Should I update the AX88U to the latest fimware and leave the other two as they are or leave them all at 386.7_2?

Any advice/experiences appreciated as I have always belived it best to keep them all in line with firmware versions.

Regards
Clive

The nodes don’t have to be the same firmware. It’s safe. Newer firmware is just best practice for bug fixes and security patches in my opinion.

 

[cliver]

The nodes don’t have to be the same firmware. It’s safe. Newer firmware is just best practice for bug fixes and security patches in my opinion.

Thanks for the swift reply. Absolutely agree with keeping up to date for bug fixes and security patches. I'll update over the weekend.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

I don't bother updating nodes unless there's something specific I need to fix. The nodes are not directly exposed to the bad guys over the internet. I don't worry about attacks via wifi since I'm in a very uncongested location. And if a LAN client is compromised, I've got bigger problems than a node firmware.

Not saying anything wrong with updating nodes frequently; just way down on my to-do list. In fact, I'm thinking do doing it to put them (2 RT-AC68U) on newest official ASUS since they are currently on an older Merlin and they are a bear to re-pair if necessary. So that would be my primary motivation, not some security fixes.