Wifi Coverage - Asus AX86U v UniFi U7 Pro

[MJW75]

Hi All. Is the new UniFi U7 Pro likely to have better coverage through my house or is the Asus RT-AX86U already tough to beat?

Context: I currently have an AX86U which Is great, but there is one room in the house (my son's bedroom) that gets circa -75dBm signal, which results in the wifi in that room being very unreliable. The house is in the UK and over 100 years old, so many walls are solid brick. Wifi wasn't an issue when my son was young, but now he plays on his switch and iPad in his room and gets constant problems. It is a difficult room to get an Ethernet cable to and I don't really want to do an access point with a wireless backhaul (ping times for Fortnite!).

I'm considering getting a Unifi U7 Pro to connect to the AX86U with the AX86U's wifi radios turned off and mounting the U7 Pro in the same location (wall mounted). But the U7 Pro needs to be able to have better coverage and reach the room where there is an issue. I'm aware I'll only have 1GbE to the U7 Pro, but that isn't an issue for the short term as it will future proof things - I'm already using the 2.5GbE port on my AX86U for the 1.2Gb internet connection. I'll probably get a router with more than one 2.5GbE port down the line.

Thanks.

 

[Tech9]

Most likely no single router or AP will solve your problem. Anything on 6GHz band will have even shorter range with worse wall penetration.

You need 2x APs in right places and I would suggest UniFi U6 LR instead, if you want Ubiquiti. Too early for Wi-Fi 7 products, expensive, no clients, shorter range.

 

[L&LD]

I don't use or recommend Unifi products. But the router I would test in your location is the RT-AX88U Pro. ~20% better throughput at the same range as the RT-AX86U and the GT-AX6000, IME.

Whether that translates to a longer range in your environment is up for the testing to decide.

 

[Tech9]

but there is one room in the house

You can use an RP-AX58 extender as a temporary solution. Folks around say it works well as AiMesh node.

Choice of router/mesh point

I've ordered an ASUS RT-AX5400 to replace the woeful THG3000 Vodafone landed on me when I changed broadband provider. I'm on the Fibre 900 package and use my broadband mainly for media streaming and home automation with 40-50 clients connected at any time. I have also bought an ASUS TUF Gaming...

www.snbforums.com

@BreakingDad is also in the UK, with the same RT-AX86U main router like yours. It works well for the needs.

 

[Crimliar]

Sited in the right place an RP-AX58 should do just fine. Point to remember: In your old house you'll have far better signal penetration through the wooden floors and ceilings than through the solid brick walls!