Upgrade AiMesh from GT-AX6000/XT12 to GT-AXE16000/ET12?

[ndiniwacho]

Due to the layout of my house and where the internet comes into the house in one corner of the basement, I currently have a wired backhaul AiMesh system of 2 x GT-AX6000 (using 2.4 & 5 GHz radios) and 2 x XT12 nodes(5-1 GHz radio only) in AiMesh. The rectangular 2 storey house is wired such that the router and nodes are located in opposite corners of the house from each other and the signals are evenly spread out. It works well for our needs, spreading the 2.4 signal where it's needed, and leaving no gaps for the shorter 5 GHz signal. We have over 100 devices on our network, with stationary equipment mostly hardwired and IoT devices, phones and tablets using WiFi exclusively.

I can get two GT-AXE16000s as well as two ET12s (my wife tolerates this design as they are quite visible), at a nominal expense if I flip my current equipment. I'm tempted to upgrade to WiFi 6e so I can make use of the 5 and 6 Ghz radios and I'm not really interested in Wifi 7 as we have a lot of 2.4Ghz devices and read of possible compatibility issues with older devices. My plan would be to stick with WiFi 6e for the foreseeable future. Would this be a worthwhile upgrade in reality or am I chasing specs? Would appreciate any input.

Thanks

 

[degrub]

Chasing specs. Not likely to notice significant client device - tablet, laptop, phone , etc improvement in experience across the internet. Internet facing servers limit client bandwidth to somewhere in the 100-150 Mbit/s range anyway. Increasing link rates at the local level will not affect that bottleneck. If most of your wifi traffic is IOTs, they certainly will not see any change. 6 GHz bands have even less penetration of building materials than 5 GHz. Basically, same room connections only or no obstacle line of sight.

The main reason to swap out an internet facing router is if it is out of support and not receiving security updates.

By the time WIFI 8 is implemented successfully for a couple years, you may be ready for a change out. At that time, if you have wired infrastructure, i would consider SMB class gear rather than consumer gear as it is usually much more stable and longer supported. i switched over around 10 years ago and have not looked back. i keep the non wifi internet facing router current .

 

[Tech9]

I can get two GT-AXE16000s as well as two ET12s

It's the same generation hardware with the same expected life cycle, extra time and money plus reconfiguring everything from scratch for virtually no user experience improvements. Your future with 4 years old already equipment may not look very bright. With your 100+ current clients better keep what you already have and upgrade in 2-3 years to something better than consumer hardware.