Upgrading my router setup

[EVOsalto]

Hello,

So I currently have 2 asus routers working with AiMesh. The main router is RT-AC88U on 0 Floor and the AiMesh Node is RT-AC66U_B1 on 1 Floor. Now I've noticed how old both of my devices are getting and even tho AC-88U is older then AC66U_B1, AC-88U is way better router compared to AC66U_B1, so I was looking to upgrade my system.
My current idea is getting a RT-AX86U or RT-AX86S as my main router, and then putting my RT-AC88U as a AiMesh node. The RT-AC66U_B1 would be put away since I want to replace it.
Now I have some questions, one of them is, I currently have 1 device that is Wifi 6, a VR Headset Quest 2. Will I be able to enjoy the Wifi 6 experience using RT-AX86U or S as main router? To inform more on my current situation, I would be playing closer to the node instead of the main router because my play area is on 1 Floor, where the node is located at.
Another question is, using a Wifi 6 Main Router and a Wifi 5 Node, will the AiMesh system be better in terms or latency and speeds even tho one of the routers doesn't support Wifi 6 technology?
And the last one is, if anyone has suggestions please fell free to give them.

 

[Tech9]

So I currently have 2 asus routers working with AiMesh.

Wired or wireless AiMesh? The performance difference is significant.

even tho AC-88U is older then AC66U_B1

AC66U_B1 was a remake of 2013 AC68U. Your AC88U is newer hardware.

 

[EVOsalto]

Wired or wireless AiMesh? The performance difference is significant.



AC66U_B1 was a remake of 2013 AC68U. Your AC88U is newer hardware.

Wireless AiMesh. I wanted to go wired, but the house isn't mine to go drill walls in the places needed to pass a network cable.

 

[Tech9]

In wireless AiMesh the node is a Repeater cutting the throughput to node connected clients in half. You can have mixed AX and AC AiMesh, but in your case full speed and AX will be available on the main router only, the node will be offering AC up to 1/2 throughput because of dual-band routers retransmission (single radio serving connected clients and the backhaul at the same time). Your VR headset may not be happy when connected to the node (the Repeater). You have to test and see of it works well enough. If you want better AiMesh experience go for 2x identical Asus routers.

If you are not bound to Asus and AiMesh - eero and Deco offer better "mesh" with easier setup and virtually no management needs. If you need higher performance look at tri-band models with dedicated wireless backhaul. Both systems have them available, but as expected at higher price.

 

[EVOsalto]

In wireless AiMesh the node is a Repeater cutting the throughput to node connected clients in half. You can have mixed AX and AC AiMesh, but in your case full speed and AX will be available on the main router only, the node will be offering AC up to 1/2 throughput because of dual-band routers retransmission (single radio serving connected clients and the backhaul at the same time). Your VR headset may not be happy when connected to the node (the Repeater). You have to test and see of it works well enough. If you want better AiMesh experience go for 2x identical Asus routers.

If you are not bound to Asus and AiMesh - eero and Deco offer better "mesh" with easier setup and virtually no management needs. If you need higher performance look at tri-band models with dedicated wireless backhaul. Both systems have them available, but as expected at higher price.

I actually like to manage and change stuff on my setup and see what's the impact on my network. I will stick with Asus because at this point I am used to their Web Interface and some of its settings and I have been doing research to understand better the Professional Tab and all its features because networking is... a big world, many technologies and stuff to learn + their brand hasn't let me down so far.
What do you think of the upcoming sales RT-AX86U Pro? At this point if I am going to upgrade, makes sense to go for the pro version.

 

[Tech9]

What do you think of the upcoming sales RT-AX86U Pro?

If you like to play with settings this router will have even more available. It's a completely different hardware model running different firmware and similar to what GT-AX6000 model is, but in more compact form and with single 2.5GbE WAN/LAN port (like RT-AX86U). GT-AX6000 has two 2.5GbE ports.

See this thread here:

Router upgrade

Currently have rt-ac86u that’s having 5ghz radio issues. It takes around 10x rebooting the router before any Wi-Fi devices will connect to it. It has been progressively getting worse and taking more reboots. I have latest Merlin firmware installed but it has been doing it on previous versions...

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