Yes, its another "Which should I buy, RT-BE86U or RT-BE92U?" question

[treefu]

Hello.

I have a very trusty RT-AX86U as my main router, providing WAN connectivity over Powerline adaptors to an old RT-AC56U. It gives mixed results, mostly due to the Powerline tech I suspect.

My house has old cavity walls (UK, 1905 built) and my son needs gaming connectivity up in his room. There's currently at least two inner walls between the AX86U and his room and unsurprisingly, ping rates are high.

I'm looking to buy either the BE86U or the BE92U as my main router and then mesh the AX86U, include the AC56U somewhere, or perhaps even ethernet everything up with flat profile CAT6.

We have Wifi6 clients, but no Wifi7 clients currently.

Any advice or thoughts welcome.

Many thanks and season's best wishes

 

[treefu]

ChatGPT 5.2 Auto thinks the following:

"In your scenario (1905 UK walls + 2 internal walls + gaming latency), the limiting factor is propagation and backhaul, not peak Wi-Fi spec, and 6 GHz (the BE92U’s headline advantage) is the worst band for punching through old walls—and you also have no Wi-Fi 7 clients yet. Only pick the RT-BE92U if you explicitly want to future-proof for upcoming Wi-Fi 6E/7 clients and a later 6 GHz-capable mesh node (so you can run a cleaner tri-band design). The BE92U is tri-band (2.4/5/6 GHz) and is positioned for that."

Did it get the right answer?

 

[Tech9]

I'm looking to buy either the BE86U or the BE92U

Read the last few pages of this thread first:

ASUS RT-BE92U

New ASUS RT-BE92U. https://dongknows.com/asus-wi-fi-7-hardware-expanded-significantly/ This is a BE9700 router, somewhat of a replacement for the RT-AX92U, though it shares the same design as the RT-AX86U. Cost: $329...

www.snbforums.com

"Only pick the RT-BE92U"... if you have time and money to waste.

 

[treefu]

Yikes. Looks like I have an answer. Many thanks again.

 

[Tech9]

perhaps even ethernet everything up

This is going to be the best upgrade. The PLAs are slow and unreliable. Your existing RT-AX86U is a good performer and still supported by ASUS and RMerlin. The old RT-AC56U is good enough for range extension in AP Mode.

 

[degrub]

ChatGPT 5.2 Auto thinks the following:

"In your scenario (1905 UK walls + 2 internal walls + gaming latency), the limiting factor is propagation and backhaul, not peak Wi-Fi spec, and 6 GHz (the BE92U’s headline advantage) is the worst band for punching through old walls—and you also have no Wi-Fi 7 clients yet. Only pick the RT-BE92U if you explicitly want to future-proof for upcoming Wi-Fi 6E/7 clients and a later 6 GHz-capable mesh node (so you can run a cleaner tri-band design). The BE92U is tri-band (2.4/5/6 GHz) and is positioned for that."

Did it get the right answer?

The "correct" answer for a gaming setup is to "get a drill bit".
Alarm installers may offer economical rates and have the tools to get through difficult locations.