Good WiFi 6 router?

[Harry Voyager]

The WiFi 5 mode on our current wireless router just decided it was time to take a vacation to Gehenna, so I need a new one. I'd been wanting to update my home wireless network to WiFi 6 anyways, so this just steps up the time table. 

 

Does anyone have some recommendations for a good WiFi 6 capable wireless router? It would be good if it could support the WiFi 2 and 5 devices well have on the network as well. I'm not hugely budget constrained, so it there's a really good reason to get an expensive unit, I'll weigh that in, but I'm running a household of power users, not a business here 

 

Note: While this is a large house, the Internet drop is also in the dead center of it. Checking dimensions, the heavy hitters are all within 16ft/5m of the hub, and the ones currently outside of that range are low data devices (SD only Roku). Still, I'm not sure how fast the signal drop off is, so might be worth getting a networked type and setting up the satellite to cover the back yard. 

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, Harry Voyager said:

The WiFi 5 mode on our current wireless router just decided it was time to take a vacation to Gehenna, so I need a new one. I'd been wanting to update my home wireless network to WiFi 6 anyways, so this just steps up the time table. 

 

Does anyone have some recommendations for a good WiFi 6 capable wireless router? It would be good if it could support the WiFi 2 and 5 devices well have on the network as well. I'm not hugely budget constrained, so it there's a really good reason to get an expensive unit, I'll weigh that in, but I'm running a household of power users, not a business here 

 

 

 

WiFi as a whole should be backwards compatible. From what I have read the WiFi 6 spec is still being tinkered with. Such things like 6Ghz could be added. So some of these features won’t be available in current routers. My best advice is to wait a year or two and let the market mature. You will get faster devices available and potentially a lower cost then buying now. 
 

If you don’t want to wait. I’d say check out Asus. I’ve heard good things in general about them. But I haven’t heard anything or have been paying attention to specific WiFi 6 equipment. 

[Chris Pratt]

I bought a Netgear RAX15, which was complete trash and got RMAed. Afterwards, I bought a TP-Link Archer AX50, and haven't had any issues with that.

 

WiFi 6 is backwards compatible with all other versions of WiFi. The only real difference that comes in is that some devices only support 2.4Ghz, so you need to make sure you connect them to that band, and not the 5Ghz, if that's the case. And, not all encryption is supported across all versions. In other words, if you enable WPA2, for example, some older devices might not be able to connect if they only support WEP or WPA. However, both of these will be a mostly non-issue for any relatively modern device.

 

Also, a lot of people don't realize that you should prioritize some devices on 5Ghz and some on 2.4Ghz. The 5Ghz band is where you get the speed, but it's also easily bogged down. Things like IoT and just chatty devices in general should go on your 2.4Ghz band, and 5Ghz should be reserved for the things you actively use and expect excellent performance from: PCs, streaming devices, etc. If you put everything on the 5Ghz band, nothing is going to perform well.

[Harry Voyager]

On 8/7/2020 at 11:17 AM, Donut417 said:

WiFi as a whole should be backwards compatible. From what I have read the WiFi 6 spec is still being tinkered with. Such things like 6Ghz could be added. So some of these features won’t be available in current routers. My best advice is to wait a year or two and let the market mature. You will get faster devices available and potentially a lower cost then buying now. 
 

If you don’t want to wait. I’d say check out Asus. I’ve heard good things in general about them. But I haven’t heard anything or have been paying attention to specific WiFi 6 equipment. 

So would you recommend staying on 2G or getting a 5G router over the current Wifi 6 routers on the market? I mean, I'm already noticing that I can't download while running aultiplayer game without lagging it, so I'm not really keen on staying on the slow bands for another year or two. 

[Donut417]

5 minutes ago, Harry Voyager said:

So would you recommend staying on 2G or getting a 5G router over the current Wifi 6 routers on the market? I mean, I'm already noticing that I can't download while running aultiplayer game without lagging it, so I'm not really keen on staying on the slow bands for another year or two. 

WiFi 6 is just an upgrade of WiFi 5. The only difference is WiFi 6 might see 6 Ghz added to the WiFi spec. Also technically speaking ALL WiFi 5 routers have to be dual band. Technically Wireless AC is a 5Ghz standard. 

 

WiFi 5 should be enough for gaming. If you're having issues it could be your internet service. 

[RMerlin]

And note that 6 GHz wifi is actually branded "Wifi 6E".  Not every future Wifi 6 router will be Wifi 6E, as this generally involves adding a third radio dedicated to the 6 GHz band (that is at least the path that most manufacturers are going with at this point).  Because of this, I expect Wifi 6e to be a niche platform, and the majority of mid-range wifi routers will still be only 2.4 and 5 GHz.

 

BTW, by your use of the labels "Wifi 2 and Wifi 5", I believe you are mixing up bands and classes.

 

Wifi 5 = 802.11ac, which supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band

Wifi 6 = 802.11ax, which also supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but also has a few extra optional features such as OFDMA, supports more streams, etc...

Wifi 6e = 802.11ax, which again supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but also adds support for the 6 GHz band

 

Yes, you should definitely use the 5 GHz band whenever possible, as it will be much faster and less congested than the 2.4 GHz band.  Ideally, 2.4 GHz should only be used for devices that require less bandwidth, like an IoT device.

Edited August 10, 2020 by RMerlin
Added clarification about band usage

[Harry Voyager]

@RMerlin

@Donut417

Probably. The main issue is the 5Ghz band on the router won't connect to anything anymore, so right now everything is hooked onto the 2.4 Ghz band. 

 

So the question is not "should I" replace the current router; it's broken and needs to be replaced by something, but rather what to replace it with. I've already got three WiFi 6 capable devices, including my desktop where I do most of my gaming on, so is there really so little difference between 5 and 6 that its preferable to just get a WiFi 5 replacement router over one that supports 6?

[Izineth]

I have an Asus RT-AX3000 and I love it. I feel like Asus's firmware is the best of any stock router firmware I've used.

It also supports Asus-Merlin firmware if you're into that.

 

The RT-AX3000 is around $179 USD or $239 Maple Syrups if you're in Canada.

 

Edit: I just noticed the Merlin firmware dev posted in this thread, Hi

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Harry Voyager said:

@RMerlin

@Donut417

Probably. The main issue is the 5Ghz band on the router won't connect to anything anymore, so right now everything is hooked onto the 2.4 Ghz band. 

 

So the question is not "should I" replace the current router; it's broken and needs to be replaced by something, but rather what to replace it with. I've already got three WiFi 6 capable devices, including my desktop where I do most of my gaming on, so is there really so little difference between 5 and 6 that its preferable to just get a WiFi 5 replacement router over one that supports 6?

If you have devices that support it then it would be more worth it to go WiFi 6. I’m just the type of person who believes in letting standards mature before investing in them. AC routers got better over time, so did Wireless N. 

[RMerlin]

5 hours ago, Harry Voyager said:

@RMerlin

@Donut417

Probably. The main issue is the 5Ghz band on the router won't connect to anything anymore, so right now everything is hooked onto the 2.4 Ghz band. 

 

So the question is not "should I" replace the current router; it's broken and needs to be replaced by something, but rather what to replace it with. I've already got three WiFi 6 capable devices, including my desktop where I do most of my gaming on, so is there really so little difference between 5 and 6 that its preferable to just get a WiFi 5 replacement router over one that supports 6?

If you already have Wifi 6 devices (that is devices with 802.11ax support), then it's definitely worth it, especially as Wifi 6 improvements start bringing actual benefits when you have two or more of them connected at the same time (more efficient bandwidth allocation).  It might then be a matter of budget.  Mid-range AX routers have started to appear on the market now, like the Asus RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000, so these would be good candidates.  I'm having a hard time recommending to overpay for a high-end Wifi 6 router however (like the Asus RT-AX88U), as the improvements over Wifi 5 rarely justify the current price premium these routers carry.

[Harry Voyager]

@RMerlin Just to follow up, we did end up getting the RT-AX3000 you'd recommended, and it went in good. I was initially a bit worried by reports that it had shorter range, but it has at least asuch range as the unit that was in there before, and now we're getting ~450mbps+ on all of the devices very hooked onto it so far. 

 

Thank you very much. Its looking like it's going to be a very nice upgrade.