The most cost-effective way to improve my WiFi set up?

[sfx2000]

Eero 6+ is dual-band. It will cut the satellites performance in half. Eero 6 Pro is a different story, but more expensive.

Still likely better than what he has now...

 

[OzarkEdge]

Sorry to be clear that's total across all 3 floors, so maybe 360sqf per floor.
Amazon Prime Day just went live and I can get quite a few good deals from the shortlist I originally had... Doesn't make things easier haha.

Drag the ISP gateway up to your office... if the WiFi covers your devices from there, have the ISP move their cable to the 2nd floor office.

OE

 

[BraXzy]

Eero 6+ is dual-band. It will cut the satellites performance in half. Eero 6 Pro is a different story, but more expensive.

If I went the Eero 6+ route I'd only use 2 nodes for now and both would be hardwired so no band lost to backhaul. But I'm leaning more towards something that's a bit more within my control rather than Amazon's.

 

[Tech9]

Wired is good. Eero is trouble-free most of the time, good hardware and engineering. It's an Easy Button solution. The more you are getting involved in controlling things, the less free time and convenience you'll have. Forget about privacy on-line. Someone always knows what are you doing.

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AX86U, the RT-AX68U, and the GT-AX6000 are all great candidates for a WiFi upgrade over your current setup. I would buy them all, start with the cheapest to open/test with, then move on to another only if needed in your specific environment. Note too that you can use (quality) Cat5e cable with the 2.5GbE capable routers too. I'm successfully using a 100' Cat5e cable run between 2x RT-AX86Us with exceptional results for over 1.5 years now.

The first two listed are compatible with a second (wired) AiMesh unit of the same make/model/firmware. The latter is superior to both when used as a stand-alone solution (and it sounds like it is easily what you need - a single router solution, if possible, is almost always superior). Still, in my experience (so far) it fails when in any combination of AiMesh with other models (or another identical GT-AX6000).

The GT-AX6000 easily has the most throughput of any router I've used on my 1Gbps symmetrical up/down Fibre connection when it is used on its own. I'm sure future firmware will solve the massive speed drops I experienced last month when used with any other router in AiMesh mode.

Current Order of Recommended Routers Late 2021

RT-AX86U vs. RT-AX88U

2x GT-AX6000 Woes

386.1 Final 2x RT-AX86Us 2.5GbE Backhaul

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode
(Note how a single RT-AX68U is superior to 2x RT-AC86Us - yes, AC Class router hardware is dead and absolute).

AiMesh Ideal Placement


Note all the above are real-world experiences. While the 'theory' is nice to talk about, only testing actual models in your specific environment and specific hardware you're using today will give you results you'll actually care about.

The following may also be helpful to get your network to a good/known state right from the beginning.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Fully Reset / Best Practice Setup / More

Almost all L&LD Links

About L&LD

 

[alba666]

Don’t be afraid to run a Cat 5e/Cat 6 patch cable behind furniture to get an wireless Access Point/Router more centrally located. Try to not have it hugging a wall, away from anything made of brick or metal (i.e fireplace) , and as high as possible. The idea is to minimize the number of walls, etc, between the wireless AP/Router and where you actually use devices.
In my experience, 5GHz signals from consumer equipment are good for 1-2 interior walls/floors, 2.4 GHz signals for 2-3.

In the end, think outside the box and test, test, test.

 

[BraXzy]

The RT-AX86U, the RT-AX68U, and the GT-AX6000 are all great candidates for a WiFi upgrade over your current setup. I would buy them all, start with the cheapest to open/test with, then move on to another only if needed in your specific environment. Note too that you can use (quality) Cat5e cable with the 2.5GbE capable routers too. I'm successfully using a 100' Cat5e cable run between 2x RT-AX86Us with exceptional results for over 1.5 years now.

The first two listed are compatible with a second (wired) AiMesh unit of the same make/model/firmware. The latter is superior to both when used as a stand-alone solution (and it sounds like it is easily what you need - a single router solution, if possible, is almost always superior). Still, in my experience (so far) it fails when in any combination of AiMesh with other models (or another identical GT-AX6000).

The GT-AX6000 easily has the most throughput of any router I've used on my 1Gbps symmetrical up/down Fibre connection when it is used on its own. I'm sure future firmware will solve the massive speed drops I experienced last month when used with any other router in AiMesh mode.

Current Order of Recommended Routers Late 2021

RT-AX86U vs. RT-AX88U

2x GT-AX6000 Woes

386.1 Final 2x RT-AX86Us 2.5GbE Backhaul

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode
(Note how a single RT-AX68U is superior to 2x RT-AC86Us - yes, AC Class router hardware is dead and absolute).

AiMesh Ideal Placement


Note all the above are real-world experiences. While the 'theory' is nice to talk about, only testing actual models in your specific environment and specific hardware you're using today will give you results you'll actually care about.

The following may also be helpful to get your network to a good/known state right from the beginning.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Fully Reset / Best Practice Setup / More

Almost all L&LD Links

About L&LD

Thanks for the suggestions and the extra info, some useful reading! Do you have anything against the AX-86S as an alternative to the U? Since I only have up to single gbit speeds, and I don't plan on running scripts / VPNs on the router itself.

Don’t be afraid to run a Cat 5e/Cat 6 patch cable behind furniture to get an wireless Access Point/Router more centrally located. Try to not have it hugging a wall, away from anything made of brick or metal (i.e fireplace) , and as high as possible. The idea is to minimize the number of walls, etc, between the wireless AP/Router and where you actually use devices.
In my experience, 5GHz signals from consumer equipment are good for 1-2 interior walls/floors, 2.4 GHz signals for 2-3.

In the end, think outside the box and test, test, test.

Tricky as both the original connection downstairs and the wiring up to my office are both on one side of the house. It's not massive so I doubt that matters much but to get it more central would mean trailing wires through doorways etc. without a whole lot of work / cost. Annoyingly the person who bought this house originally didn't opt for ethernet ports in any rooms besides the original and it would've barely cost anything.

 

[L&LD]

No, nothing against it from what I've read here and the obvious differences (which you seem to have taken into account already).

The key thing is that I haven't used that model myself (yet), so I can't justify recommending it.

 

[Tech9]

Thanks for the suggestions and the extra info

Keep in mind your experience in UK with the same model routers may be different than what we see here in North America due to different region settings. Your routers in UK will have different channels available in GUI. There is no way to know what works better, if you don't test it yourself in your specific Wi-Fi environment. With some time and patience you'll find your best solution.

 

[BraXzy]

Keep in mind your experience in UK with the same model routers may be different than what we see here in North America due to different region settings. Your routers in UK will have different channels available in GUI. There is no way to know what works better, if you don't test it yourself in your specific Wi-Fi environment. With some time and patience you'll find your best solution.

I decided to start off with trying the AX86U and AX86S (installed downstairs). I guess there's no better way to know what's best than testing like you say!

The S isn't due for a week due to stock issues, but I've got a U and will set it up tonight. Can someone point me towards a best practice guide for installing merlin or other initial set up stuff?

This is my current thinking for testing, any thoughts on the methodology?

 

[alba666]

Look back a few posts for L&LD’s setup links

 

[noah way]

I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned high-gain antennas. I've used these to connect routers 200’ apart in a failry congested are at 400 mbps.

This is a very effective and inexpensive upgrade if your router has replaceble antennas.

 

[Tech9]

I would suggest keeping the original design antennas. High-gain antennas, if not fake ones from eBay/Amazon, will change the radiation pattern. Usable for a link between routers, but not for clients in multi-floor house.

 

[Tech9]

Can someone point me towards a best practice guide for installing merlin or other initial set up stuff?

Use stock Asuswrt. Latest Asuswrt-Merlin is based on older Asuswrt base and has Wi-Fi issues. Many people reverted back to previous Asuswrt-Merlin release. If you plan using wireless AiMesh, stay on stock Asuswrt. It works better and as described by Asus. With Asuswrt-Merlin you have to perform some tricks to make it work. Do your research and don’t trust blindly someone else’s opinion what’s best for you.

 

[BraXzy]

So I've been testing the AX86U out for a little while now, and I'm really struggling to get consistent results. At first when I tested it out I got much higher speeds with direct line of sight (up to 700Mbps instead of 550 ish on my ISP router). But at the same time I'd only get up to 90Mbps on the top floor where previously I got 300Mbps.

I've since tinkered with things like control channels, but with limited understanding it's hard to make sense of what I'm doing and how it's impacting things. Right now I'm getting pretty much the same speeds and signal strength on devices as I did with my ISP router on both stock firmware and merlin. So I'm wondering if there's any point in it at all...

 

[Tech9]

Send it back, if you don’t need Asuswrt features and you see no signal or speed improvement over your ISP router.

 

[BraXzy]

Send it back, if you don’t need Asuswrt features and you see no signal or speed improvement over your ISP router.

Having given it some more time, there's definitely speed and overall connection improvements with the new router. Even though they're not quite as major as I hoped.

I quite like having more control over my home WiFi anywhere and the option to expand my network in the future. I was thinking the ASUS XD4 mini wired backhaul might be a good option for my AP node on the middle floor?

 

[Tech9]

If you go AiMesh way, stay with stock Asuswrt and wired. This is what makes it more stable. I don’t know if XD4 is a good choice. You have to research user feedback. In my experience two identical routers running the same firmware and getting updates at the same time work best.