Upgrading from RT-AC68U to newer Router Wifi 6, 6E or wait for 7?

[Galaxysurfer]

I live in a congested wifi zone with (currently around 36 other signals detected) others I am competing for frequency range with. What are my best options? I know my device is now getting long in the tooth. I normally use 3 or 4 vpn channels so having to cut back to 2 doesn't work for me. I isolate pcs from media streamers & cellphones & use guest account along with other AMTM scripts. This seems to be dictating that I move on to a newer more capable hardware.

I compared models listed as supported with what models are available for sale in Canada. Most seem to be covered except for some higher end stuff. Will they be supported if the Router fairy provides Merlin with a test/ development device? I dont know how different they are to other models on list & if he is limiting the number of models covered by the software. (Thinking out loud here.) Please comment Merlin on future plans as far as this goes.

I will most likely gravitate to the Wifi 7 models. Need to save up & prepare for the aging out of trusty AC68U

Galaxysurfer

 

[Tech9]

You can surf the galaxy successfully for few more years with popular around RT-AX86U for 250CAD (BestBuy, sale ends May 25, 2023) and without applying for Wi-Fi 7 first routers beta tester. Not sure how Wi-Fi congested your area is, but I have an apartment in downtown Toronto and 5GHz band is working very well with all the networks around. Your router is >10 years old technology and almost any new router will be an upgrade for you.

 

[drinkingbird]

I live in a congested wifi zone with (currently around 36 other signals detected) others I am competing for frequency range with. What are my best options? I know my device is now getting long in the tooth. I normally use 3 or 4 vpn channels so having to cut back to 2 doesn't work for me. I isolate pcs from media streamers & cellphones & use guest account along with other AMTM scripts. This seems to be dictating that I move on to a newer more capable hardware.

I compared models listed as supported with what models are available for sale in Canada. Most seem to be covered except for some higher end stuff. Will they be supported if the Router fairy provides Merlin with a test/ development device? I dont know how different they are to other models on list & if he is limiting the number of models covered by the software. (Thinking out loud here.) Please comment Merlin on future plans as far as this goes.

I will most likely gravitate to the Wifi 7 models. Need to save up & prepare for the aging out of trusty AC68U

Galaxysurfer

Do you have 6ghz (AXe) capable devices? If not, then upgrading probably won't get you anything, AX uses the same spectrum as AC (a few additional tweaks but nothing that would make a huge difference).

If you are indoors it may be as simple as moving the router somewhere else. 5Ghz will mostly only enter your place through windows and neighboring walls, and even then it will be severely attenuated.

Are you not getting enough throughput or is it just that you're seeing a lot of signals? Low power neighboring 5ghz signals are not necessarily an issue.

 

[drinkingbird]

You can surf the galaxy successfully for few more years with popular around RT-AX86U for 250CAD (BestBuy, sale ends May 25, 2023) and without applying for Wi-Fi 7 first routers beta tester. Not sure how Wi-Fi congested your area is, but I have an apartment in downtown Toronto and 5GHz band is working very well with all the networks around. Your router is >10 years old technology and almost any new router will be an upgrade for you.

Drop a 0 off that I'll buy one. Wait with USD sucking these days even that will be expensive.

 

[Tech9]

Equivalent of 185USD for RT-AX86U is not expensive. The younger brother RT-AX86S is 133USD.

 

[Galaxysurfer]

I don't have the option of relocating the router due to my setup, so looking for other ways to improve it. As you suggested just moving to a AX86 is probably all I need for now, since it has more nvram & faster speeds so don't get streaming freeze up etc. I was hoping for increased channels / frequencies too, to mitigate the crowded usage. The 36 others is based on the the search function in router to see other signals near me fighting over same few channels. Share lots of walls & big windows, so no buffer from neighbours. ;-( The price of model is about what I paid for the ac68.

 

[tgl]

I was hoping for increased channels / frequencies too, to mitigate the crowded usage.

The news on that is not good: the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands are what they are, namely oversubscribed. The 6GHz band available in wifi 6E or 7 is pretty clear at the moment, but that's because your neighbors don't have any 6GHz gear either. 6GHz is also very short-range, which in this case might be a sort of blessing because it means that even when your neighbors do get 6GHz gear they might not interfere with you too much. But in any case 6GHz won't help you till you replace your client devices along with your router.

I concur with upthread comments that a new-ish AX-grade router is probably what you want for now.

 

[drinkingbird]

I don't have the option of relocating the router due to my setup, so looking for other ways to improve it. As you suggested just moving to a AX86 is probably all I need for now, since it has more nvram & faster speeds so don't get streaming freeze up etc. I was hoping for increased channels / frequencies too, to mitigate the crowded usage. The 36 others is based on the the search function in router to see other signals near me fighting over same few channels. Share lots of walls & big windows, so no buffer from neighbours. ;-( The price of model is about what I paid for the ac68.

If you're getting streaming freeze on AC, AX probably isn't going to help. AC has plenty of bandwidth for even 4k streams. I guess maybe if you're really congested, the coding scheme of AX might squeeze a bit more bandwidth through that little bit of available spectrum, but it is a bit of a long shot.

Additional channels - if you can find a canadian router that supports UNII-4 that would be a reason to upgrade to AX but not sure if that band is allowed up there? Even if so, your devices must support it too which is somewhat unlikely. Otherwise you're using the exact same spectrum for AC and AX.

Have you tried repositioning your router or the antennas? Typically with a 3 antenna router you want the \ | / setup (approx 45 degree angles on the outer ones) but you can also tilt them forward, backward, etc. Can make a big difference. Or who knows, maybe the radio in your AC is burning out. Normally 5ghz should be able to overcome the weak signals from neighbors.

You may even find the latest firmware and factory reset cleans things up. Ensure universal beamforming is disabled, leave explicit/AC beamforming enabled. Can try different channels etc.

 

[Tech9]

If you're getting streaming freeze on AC, AX probably isn't going to help.

There is a big performance difference between the very old BCM4360 used in AC68U and BCM4366 AC Wave 2 radios and newer used in newer routers. Both range and throughput are better - more sensitive radios and own processing units. Even MediaTek MT7762N in TP-Link Archer C80 for $50 has better Wi-Fi than AC68U with higher throughput at the same distances - the reason I said almost any now router will be an upgrade to AC68U.

Typically with a 3 antenna router you want the \ | / setup

In a single floor home you may want straight up | | | antennas. Your neighbors don't need your Wi-Fi. To fight walls or appliances reflections one may find strange positions like _ | / better. Most home routers have the external antennas mostly for show though. Routers with 2dBi antennas are close to sphere pattern regardless of antenna position. AC68U has 3.5dBi antennas and the position may make some difference, but mostly in theory.

 

[heysoundude]

I don't have the option of relocating the router due to my setup, so looking for other ways to improve it. As you suggested just moving to a AX86 is probably all I need for now, since it has more nvram & faster speeds so don't get streaming freeze up etc. I was hoping for increased channels / frequencies too, to mitigate the crowded usage. The 36 others is based on the the search function in router to see other signals near me fighting over same few channels. Share lots of walls & big windows, so no buffer from neighbours. ;-( The price of model is about what I paid for the ac68.

Streaming over wifi in a crowded environment could be THE issue. Night and day difference for my kodi when I went ethernet over wifi (20 feet LOS between it and my router)...you're gibbled if you're watching on tablets/other mobiles. Wire up what you can to your router and see what happens.
Are you sure it's your router causing the "streaming freeze up" and not your VPN(s) or your ISP service? Cable congestion is a thing, as is crowded airwaves...and VPNs with their encryption slow things down too.
As someone else said above, wifi6 is all you need for now and the foreseeable future- until all your client devices support wifi6e+ (unless you're wired, and then who cares. wire it once and you're dooooone: wifi whatnow? lol)

 

[drinkingbird]

There is a big performance difference between the very old BCM4360 used in AC68U and BCM4366 AC Wave 2 radios and newer used in newer routers. Both range and throughput are better - more sensitive radios and own processing units. Even MediaTek MT7762N in TP-Link Archer C80 for $50 has better Wi-Fi than AC68U with higher throughput at the same distances - the reason I said almost any now router will be an upgrade to AC68U.

Yeah, that's why I said it *probably won't help. If it is simply too much saturation and noise it isn't going to make much difference even with the better radios and better technology. But like I said, it may squeeze enough out. My AC1900/AC68 pushes around 500 megs over 5G wifi and 60 to 80 depending on the day on 2.4 with plenty of neighboring networks and no issues streaming, so guess its a "YMMV" thing.

In a single floor home you may want straight up | | | antennas. Your neighbors don't need your Wi-Fi. To fight walls or appliances reflections one may find strange positions like _ | / better. Most home routers have the external antennas mostly for show though. Routers with 2dBi antennas are close to sphere pattern regardless of antenna position. AC68U has 3.5dBi antennas and the position may make some difference, but mostly in theory.

I wouldn't want opposite polarization ( _ | / ) with N/AC/AX and up, only ever used that with the "diversity" setup of A/B/G. I suppose with 2-stream clients it may be ok but the 3 antennas are supposed to be a system with N and up, and opposite polarization could interfere and actually make things worse. Even on a single floor the \ | / shape can help a lot as the 68U as far as I recall uses 5dbi antennas and that's around 40 to 45 degree beamwidth, so 45 degree offsets makes sense to create multiple paths/patterns. Been running that way for years (and also have the middle straight up antenna angled a tad forward vs the others to get it out of the same plane) and coverage has always been solid and reliable, but of course, it all depends on your environment (both RF and physical). Worth a try, as is changing the orientation of the entire router. May or may not make a difference.

Obviously if you have the money to jump on the AX bandwagon, go for it, newer router, newer radios, more powerful CPUs, etc most certainly isn't going to hurt anything, and should in theory help (how much it helps is not predictable though).

 

[Tech9]

If it is simply too much saturation and noise it isn't going to make much difference

The newer radios deal with interference much better making a huge difference.

as the 68U as far as I recall uses 5dbi antennas

AC68U antennas are 3.5dBi

 

[drinkingbird]

The newer radios deal with interference much better making a huge difference.



AC68U antennas are 3.5dBi

Still not a sphere so varying the angles is beneficial.

 

[Tech9]

varying the angles is beneficial

Upgrading the 10-years old router stuck on 386 firmware base and with NVRAM limitations is going to be more beneficial.

other signals near me fighting over same few channels

They don't fight, but share the bandwidth. Many other networks around are not causing your video buffering problem. UHD video stream is 40Mbps or less. I can easily get >300Mbps over Wi-Fi on channel 36 in the same multiple networks around situation in peak Internet traffic hours.

 

[drinkingbird]

Upgrading the 10-years old router stuck on 386 firmware base and with NVRAM limitations is going to be more beneficial.



They don't fight, but share the bandwidth. Many other networks around are not causing your video buffering problem. UHD video stream is 40Mbps or less. I can easily get >300Mbps over Wi-Fi on channel 36 in the same multiple networks around situation in peak Internet traffic hours.

I can get over 300 as well on my AC1900/AC68 in a similar environment which is why I'm suggesting if OP can't even stream a video, simply upgrading from AC to AX may not be a slam dunk solution and looking at other factors is worthwhile. Of course if the 68s hardware is dying, any replacement will be a major improvement.

Neighbors of mine had all kinds of issues, turning their ISP router with internal antennas 90 degrees made a world of difference for them.

 

[Galaxysurfer]

My main issue is interference from neighbours signal. I live in multi floor townhouse with shared walls. The only other fix is move or get home wired for ethernet ports instead of wifi use. I was hoping increased channels & freq bands would help my cause. Thanx for all the feedback guys.. Will tough it out for now till new series matures a bit.

 

[sfx2000]

I would suggest any WiFi6 router...

Upgrading from the venerable RT-AC68U is an upside - it was a great device, but that ship has sailed...

 

[Galaxysurfer]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wi-fi-7-explained I found this helpful to understand the differences in capabilities.