Wifi 5 mesh w. dedicated wireless backhaul

[Tech9]

I mean, I've had it like this for ~3 years now

If it works for you - great. All you need is another router for AiMesh or AP. Wired is better, if possible. 2x AC86U in wireless AiMesh will give you also full ISP speed to clients. I would get 2x AX86S for better reliability, if the budget allows. This model is the closest direct replacement for AC86U.

P.S. There are some links floating around promoting AX68U. Don't get this model, it has issues reported. Not popular model here as well.

 

[Smokey613]

Get some eero pro (2nd gen) off eBay really cheap. Add a Firewalla Blue Plus ( also available less expensive off eBay ).

The 2nd gen eero pro are only wifi 5 but they are tri-band with excellent range and mesh operation. They are also compatible with Firewalla products running in Simple Mode. The Firewalla Blue Plus supports openvpn and wireguard. It will do 70Mbs over openvpn and 280Mbs over wireguard.

I have run this setup and it performs very good.

The only reason I no longer use this setup is the Firewalla units and eero units are all “cloud” managed and require use of an app on a phone, albeit the Firewalla has a very limited web interface but it is basically useless.

If the cloud management is not an issue then I highly recommend the eero Pro and Firewalla Blue Plus solution.

 

[m1nkeh]

If you can get another AC86U with long warranty, it will make good AiMesh with your existing one. The only issue with AC86U is bad reliability history. Otherwise it's a very good performing router. Don't believe "better coverage and throughput" with newer more expensive routers. Most common clients are 2-stream AC and your AC86U is more than enough. It can do >500Mbps on Wi-Fi. The coverage of AX86U, the current forum favorite model, is about the same as AC86U. I have both to compare. Both work exactly the same way to AC clients. Be smart and don't overpay for promises and advertisements.

I picked it up used for €110, so am happy - if there are still challenges, I'll be able to shift it fairly easily I should think

If you can get another AC86U with long warranty, it will make good AiMesh with your existing one. The only issue with AC86U is bad reliability history. Otherwise it's a very good performing router. Don't believe "better coverage and throughput" with newer more expensive routers. Most common clients are 2-stream AC and your AC86U is more than enough. It can do >500Mbps on Wi-Fi. The coverage of AX86U, the current forum favorite model, is about the same as AC86U. I have both to compare. Both work exactly the same way to AC clients. Be smart and don't overpay for promises and advertisements.

yeah, tbh I did consider that, as I note though I got the AX86U for a great used price... no way I was shelling out €250+ for a new one

I think I'm going to do some more reading in the coming months, for now, I will test out this new AiMesh node as it's an easy validation, but a tri-band w. dedicated wireless backhaul would be more than enough from a network speed... some WiFi 5 solution from a non-Asus vendor might do the job... E.g. the Deco in the OP

My interest has been piqued by the whole pfSense situation and running Wireguard on there (also better ad-blocking options I understand too?) - the separation of concerns is attractive, and will, of course, give more flexibility in the long term.
For example, one of the things I wish Asus had was outdoor access points.. this is something that's really made me look towards other solutions for a while now...

What is the least hassle route for pfSense, does it run on a raspberry pi for example?

 

[m1nkeh]

Get some eero pro (2nd gen) off eBay really cheap. Add a Firewalla Blue Plus ( also available less expensive off eBay ).

The 2nd gen eero pro are only wifi 5 but they are tri-band with excellent range and mesh operation. They are also compatible with Firewalla products running in Simple Mode. The Firewalla Blue Plus supports openvpn and wireguard. It will do 70Mbs over openvpn and 280Mbs over wireguard.

I have run this setup and it performs very good.

The only reason I no longer use this setup is the Firewalla units and eero units are all “cloud” managed and require use of an app on a phone, albeit the Firewalla has a very limited web interface but it is basically useless.

If the cloud management is not an issue then I highly recommend the eero Pro and Firewalla Blue Plus solution.

this is nice to know as another option, thank you!