ASUS RT-AC86U AC2900 WiFi Dual-band Gigabit Wireless Router (used-very good amazon warehouse) $114.80+Tax. Shipping is free

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02-14-2020 at 01:01 PM #2

I have a 3500 sq house. Tried Google Wifi Mesh (3 units) and now I'm using Amplifi wireless mesh 1 + 2 adapters. I'm still getting weak signals in one of the areas. Are there better coverage wireless routers that I need to look into? Thanks.

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02-14-2020 at 01:12 PM #3

Quote from rugby1111 :

I have a 3500 sq house. Tried Google Wifi Mesh (3 units) and now I'm using Amplifi wireless mesh 1 + 2 adapters. I'm still getting weak signals in one of the areas. Are there better coverage wireless routers that I need to look into? Thanks.

I heard good things about Deco M9 Plus

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02-14-2020 at 01:13 PM #4

A lot of the reviews say the 2.4ghz side dies in a couple months or is dead out of the box. FYI

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02-14-2020 at 01:13 PM #5

Quote from rugby1111 :

I have a 3500 sq house. Tried Google Wifi Mesh (3 units) and now I'm using Amplifi wireless mesh 1 + 2 adapters. I'm still getting weak signals in one of the areas. Are there better coverage wireless routers that I need to look into? Thanks.

In my professional experience, ASUS AiMesh is one of the best mesh systems (and the RT-AC86U is an excellent main wireless router), but any wireless extension can be problematic. If you can't run Ethernet cable (the best way to go), I recommend you try powerline networking to connect wireless access points in poor signal areas to your main wireless router; e.g., Netgear PowerLINE 1000 + WiFi Essentials Edition [netgear.com].

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02-14-2020 at 01:33 PM #6

Why not get the ac3100 for $13 more

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02-14-2020 at 01:47 PM #7

I got the 3100 from Amazon Warehouse a couple of months ago on one of these sales. First one was DoA, none of the eight ethernet ports worked and it had Merlin firmware installed. The replacement was DoA with the 2.4GHz band non-functional. Yes the 2.4GHz band is very problematic on these new Asus routers. Obviously Amazon does not check these in any way for functionality, they are often selling garbage. I am sure there are some deals to be had, but I gave up on Asus and I gave up on Amazon Warehouse. Hopefully your experience will be different from mine.

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02-14-2020 at 01:49 PM #8

Quote from BaoHouston :

Why not get the ac3100 for $13 more

Yes, saw that they had the 20% off on that model as well, but it is actually older than the ac2900 and regarded as the weaker performer of the two. If you have sometime, checkout snbforums where they have quite a few discussions on the subject. Even Merlin weighs in from time to time on this as he has done extensive testing with the ASUS routers running his custom firmware.

Here is one such thread where a user poses a similar question:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads...88u.44951/

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02-14-2020 at 01:51 PM #9

Quote from dextersl :

Yes, saw that they had the 20% off on that model as well, but it is actually older than the ac2900 and regarded as the weaker performer of the two. If you have sometime, checkout snbforums where they have quite a few discussions on the subject. Even Merlin weighs in from time to time on this as he has done extensive testing with the ASUS routers running his custom firmware.

Here is one such thread where a user poses a similar question:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads...88u.44951/

Weird ! I might have to cancel my order than. In paper ac3100 is supposed to be better speed. Looking at the price comparison , the ac3100 is $200+ everywhere else

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02-14-2020 at 02:01 PM #10

They have the same model numbers as netgear and look very similar?

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02-14-2020 at 02:22 PM #11

Quote from sagrr :

They have the same model numbers as netgear and look very similar?

So for these two asus routers thier official model names are:

RT-AC86U (for AC2900):
-the AC2900 designation means it supports the 802.11ac network standard and has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 2900Mb/s

RT-AC88U (for AC3100):
-the AC3100 designation means it supports the 802.11ac network standard and has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 3100Mb/s

Netgear has its own model numbers for their AC2x00/AC3x00 designations.

I agree though that some of their models do look very similar in design which I found curious, as I do like the look/design of the Netgear routers as well.

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Last edited by dextersl February 14, 2020 at 02:25 PM.

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02-14-2020 at 02:25 PM #12

I have this router. It's rock solid, no issues for more than a year. Fast CPU for router-based VPN.

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02-14-2020 at 02:45 PM #13

I have 3 of these in AiMesh mode with wired gigabit backend, works well to cover 5000sqft house with about 40 devices.

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02-14-2020 at 05:03 PM #14

Quote from JNavas :

In my professional experience, ASUS AiMesh is one of the best mesh systems (and the RT-AC86U is an excellent main wireless router), but any wireless extension can be problematic. If you can't run Ethernet cable (the best way to go), I recommend you try powerline networking to connect wireless access points in poor signal areas to your main wireless router; e.g., Netgear PowerLINE 1000 + WiFi Essentials Edition [netgear.com].

Thanks. I'm going to give the PowerLine 1000 a try.

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02-14-2020 at 05:50 PM #15

Quote from rugby1111 :

Thanks. I'm going to give the PowerLine 1000 a try.

I used and loved Powerline back in its day, but even the fastest ones are slow by today's standards. They are OK if you don't expect to stream HD video over them or want fast downloads.

Another technology to consider (if your house is coax-wired for cable TV) is MoCA. MoCA 1.1 is probably as slow as Powerline. MoCA 2.0 adapters might be expensive though. I have no personal experience with MoCA.

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ASUS RT-AC86U AC2900 WiFi Dual-band Gigabit Wireless Router (used-very good amazon warehouse) $114.80+Tax. Shipping is free

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