Asus RT-AX3000 Dual-Band WiFi 6 Router w/ AiMesh Support EXPIRED

If you want to build a mesh system, wouldn't it be better to use a tri-band router?

Quote from LicensedToDeal : If you want to build a mesh system, wouldn't it be better to use a tri-band router?

Depends on how you're building the mesh system. I use this one as an AiMesh node with ethernet backhaul.

I'm looking to build a two-node mesh system. Dual-band doesn't super impress me, but I'm not sure I need more than that. Will I regret it if I buy this to use as the satellite? Or should I use this for the main node and the satellite?

Four of us working from home, Dad's office will pay for home office improvements. We pay for 200mbps (the highest with where we live from our provider), so I guess AX is kind of lost on us. Three smart TVs, seven Google Home minis, four cell phones. Is this probably what we need for a household with simple needs?

Any recommendations on additional nodes to cover other parts of the house? We probably only need one or two for our layout.

Quote from jeffreyabr : Four of us working from home, Dad's office will pay for home office improvements. We pay for 200mbps (the highest with where we live from our provider), so I guess AX is kind of lost on us. Three smart TVs, seven Google Home minis, four cell phones. Is this probably what we need for a household with simple needs? Any recommendations on additional nodes to cover other parts of the house? We probably only need one or two for our layout.

It could still be useful if you were ever moving a lot of data across the local network and didn't have an ethernet connection for anything, assuming the devices supported wifi 6. But yeah short of that not really needed.

How are you guys getting speeds over 100 mbps from service providers? I just upgraded to 100 mbps from Comcast and they're charging an arm and a leg of near $80 per month. Just wondering if that's the case every else? 200 mbps and over they are asking nearly $120 or more. That's just for cable internet service. Just checked and it's the same for at&t and wow cable which are the only other reliable service providers near me.

Quote from jeffreyabr : Four of us working from home, Dad's office will pay for home office improvements. We pay for 200mbps (the highest with where we live from our provider), so I guess AX is kind of lost on us. Three smart TVs, seven Google Home minis, four cell phones. Is this probably what we need for a household with simple needs? Any recommendations on additional nodes to cover other parts of the house? We probably only need one or two for our layout.

Honestly, this router is over kill for some for a few reasons. First, even if the router is capable of AX technology, how many of your devices have the capability. Many will leave the default settings on routers, which by default it will use the 5Ghz band to be backwards compatible, if by any reason you have a device that is N on that band, your router will adjust it self to work best with all devices, so it will actually run on a backwards compatibility mode. Best practice, leave legacy devices on 2.5Ghz band and newer devices on 5Ghz band, so have 2 Wi-Fis. Second, you don't need to have a dual-band or tri-band if your backhaul is ethernet. I for example, actually run 2 x Asus RT-AC68U, one as Ai-Mesh node using the ethernet as backbone hauling. I have 1 place downstairs and 1 upstairs in my room. I get excellent coverage in the house (1,500 sq ft). My walls are all pretty much drywall, so that also helps a lot. My ISP is giving me a full 200Mbps and I get max WAN speeds on all devices in the house.

In other words, you don't need this router. Since I already have RT-AC68U that allows to be in Ai-Mesh, I would buy this, even if I don't have a single AX device and make it my primary and the AC68's my nodes. This would ultimately improve my coverage all the way into the detach garage in the property. And the AC68's can be had for around $60 in ebay. I would start there, if you do not have a single AX device that would actually benefit anything from this router.

Quote from aaqamar : How are you guys getting speeds over 100 mbps from service providers? I just upgraded to 100 mbps from Comcast and they're charging an arm and a leg of near $80 per month. Just wondering if that's the case every else? 200 mbps and over they are asking nearly $120 or more. That's just for cable internet service. Just checked and it's the same for at&t and wow cable which are the only other reliable service providers near me.

Have a roommate or significant other or whomever you live with sign up as a new customer at your address to get a new customer deal. When that year is up, switch back to yourself as a new signup. Rinse and repeat. Their pricing varies wildly but in my area you can get 600mbps for $60/month for two years because they're trying to compete with the rollout of municipal fiber.

Quote from aaqamar : How are you guys getting speeds over 100 mbps from service providers? I just upgraded to 100 mbps from Comcast and they're charging an arm and a leg of near $80 per month. Just wondering if that's the case every else? 200 mbps and over they are asking nearly $120 or more. That's just for cable internet service. Just checked and it's the same for at&t and wow cable which are the only other reliable service providers near me.

Area dependent probably. I just renewed our Comcast internet-only contract 2 weeks ago and got a 2 year 600 Mbps plan (which surprised me since they stopped offering 2 year contracts in our area a while back. Must be covid related) for $60 a month (1 Gbps was $70 for 2 years). I then added an additional $10 to remove data caps.

Quote from master_o_trunks : Honestly, this router is over kill for some for a few reasons. First, even if the router is capable of AX technology, how many of your devices have the capability. Many will leave the default settings on routers, which by default it will use the 5Ghz band to be backwards compatible, if by any reason you have a device that is N on that band, your router will adjust it self to work best with all devices, so it will actually run on a backwards compatibility mode. Best practice, leave legacy devices on 2.5Ghz band and newer devices on 5Ghz band, so have 2 Wi-Fis. Second, you don't need to have a dual-band or tri-band if your backhaul is ethernet. I for example, actually run 2 x Asus RT-AC68U, one as Ai-Mesh node using the ethernet as backbone hauling. I have 1 place downstairs and 1 upstairs in my room. I get excellent coverage in the house (1,500 sq ft). My walls are all pretty much drywall, so that also helps a lot. My ISP is giving me a full 200Mbps and I get max WAN speeds on all devices in the house. In other words, you don't need this router. Since I already have RT-AC68U that allows to be in Ai-Mesh, I would buy this, even if I don't have a single AX device and make it my primary and the AC68's my nodes. This would ultimately improve my coverage all the way into the detach garage in the property. And the AC68's can be had for around $60 in ebay. I would start there, if you do not have a single AX device that would actually benefit anything from this router.

I don't think I even have a single device here that can hit wireless speeds past 300 Mbps. I also use an AC68u (2 actually, the other is set as an additional AP, wired) and they seem to be more than enough for my needs.

Quote from aaqamar : How are you guys getting speeds over 100 mbps from service providers? I just upgraded to 100 mbps from Comcast and they're charging an arm and a leg of near $80 per month. Just wondering if that's the case every else? 200 mbps and over they are asking nearly $120 or more. That's just for cable internet service. Just checked and it's the same for at&t and wow cable which are the only other reliable service providers near me.

I pay comcast $70 for 1 gig down in the bay area.

I don't know why people need 1G or 300M+bps Internet?
Have 20+ people watching Netflix 4K all day long?
I don't think any single service will provide you more than 100Mbps service unless doing P2P with many peers sending to you.
Even I'm running BT 24/7, doing 300M all day long will overflow my HDs in no time.

Quote from someones1 : Have a roommate or significant other or whomever you live with sign up as a new customer at your address to get a new customer deal. When that year is up, switch back to yourself as a new signup. Rinse and repeat. Their pricing varies wildly but in my area you can get 600mbps for $60/month for two years because they're trying to compete with the rollout of municipal fiber.

Wow 600 mbps for $60. That's a darn good deal. No matter how may times I try to haggle them they won't get me a decent deal for more than 100 mbps. I own my own modem to avoid the extra modem fee bs costs.

Quote from GeoraldG : Area dependent probably. I just renewed our Comcast internet-only contract 2 weeks ago and got a 2 year 600 Mbps plan (which surprised me since they stopped offering 2 year contracts in our area a while back. Must be covid related) for $60 a month (1 Gbps was $70 for 2 years). I then added an additional $10 to remove data caps. I don't think I even have a single device here that can hit wireless speeds past 300 Mbps. I also use an AC68u (2 actually, the other is set as an additional AP, wired) and they seem to be more than enough for my needs.

Hmm seems like everyone is getting 600 mbps for $60. Thanks for the info.