How often should you upgrade you Router?

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MarioBros

MarioBros

Forerunner
Hey guys,

Need suggestion/inputs regarding router upgrade, I am currently using an Asus RT-AC58U WiFi 5 router from the past 5-6 years, this router is bridged with Airtel Huawei modem and the Asus router has been rock solid all these years.

From the past 2 years I have been adding a lot of IoT devices (via Home Assistant) to my home network and have plans to add more devices in the coming days, I have observed few IoT devices are randomly losing connection for few seconds (even though they are local devices & not connected to any 3rd party cloud app), I am suspecting the reason could be Wi-Fi range issues, the received signal strength Indicates some of the devices fluctuates btwn -70dBm to -80dBm.

So now the question - Is it the right time to upgrade to a Wifi 6 router or stick with current one for another year or so? and guys here how often do you change/upgrade your router?

If you guys suggest changing router, which model should I go for ?
 
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MarioBros said:
From the past 2 years I have been adding a lot of IoT devices (via Home Assistant) to my home network and have to add more in the coming days, I have observed some devices losing connection for few seconds randomly (even though they are local devices & not connected to any 3rd party cloud app), the reason could be Wifi range issues, the received signal strength Indicates some of the devices fluctuates btwn -70dBm to -80dBm.
Click to expand...
This was the main reason i upgraded from my Archer C20i (Bought in 2016 ) to Asus AX88U in 2021 , It did solve the problem and overall coverage did improve .

But from my experience , i suggest if you want to upgrade go for a mesh system as it can be modifies according to need .

MarioBros said:
So now the question - Is it the right time to upgrade to a Wifi 6 router or stick with current one for another year or so? and guys here how often do you change/upgrade your router?
Click to expand...
If the current router is not cutting it then that's its the time to upgrade. There is no fix timeframe to a upgrade its networking hardware if its relevant to your needs then its good to go.

And for the WI-FI 6 you do get bidirectional MIMO and better simultaneous device handling , better efficiency but all the devices on the network should support Wi-Fi 6 ,
In my case just my laptop , phone and desktop supports WI-FI 6 other smart IoT devices on the network doesn't have support .
 
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MarioBros said:
Hey guys,

Need suggestion/inputs regarding router upgrade, I am currently using an Asus RT-AC58U WiFi 5 router from the past 5-6 years, this router is bridged with Airtel Huawei modem and the Asus router has been rock solid all these years.

From the past 2 years I have been adding a lot of IoT devices (via Home Assistant) to my home network and have to add more in the coming days, I have observed some devices losing connection for few seconds randomly (even though they are local devices & not connected to any 3rd party cloud app), the reason could be Wifi range issues, the received signal strength Indicates some of the devices fluctuates btwn -70dBm to -80dBm.

So now the question - Is it the right time to upgrade to a Wifi 6 router or stick with current one for another year or so? and guys here how often do you change/upgrade your router?

If you guys suggest to change router, which model should I go for ?
Click to expand...
Do a factory reset once in a while or when updating FW.
 
enthusiast29 said:
Place another access point near the devices which are far. -70dBm is not a good signal strength.
Click to expand...
I did place an old Mi 3C router as repeater, as of now serving the purpose and has increased the coverage range by 15-20%
SkyWreak said:
This was the main reason i upgraded from my Archer C20i (Bought in 2016 ) to Asus AX88U in 2021 , It did solve the problem and overall coverage did improve .

But from my experience , i suggest if you want to upgrade go for a mesh system as it can be modifies according to need .

If the current router is not cutting it then that's its the time to upgrade. There is no fix timeframe to a upgrade its networking hardware if its relevant to your needs then its good to go.

And for the WI-FI 6 you do get bidirectional MIMO and better simultaneous device handling , better efficiency but all the devices on the network should support Wi-Fi 6 ,
In my case just my laptop , phone and desktop supports WI-FI 6 other smart IoT devices on the network doesn't have support .
Click to expand...

I am so used to Asus app & router interface and don't feel like switching to another brand.. and also Asus new routers now support AI Mesh

Tell me one thing, do these WiFi 6 routers improve range when compared to WiFi5 routers?
chetansha said:
Do a factory reset once in a while or when updating FW.
Click to expand...
the current router has stopped receiving FW updates like 2 years ago.
 
MarioBros said:
I am so used to Asus app & router interface and don't feel like switching to another brand.. and also Asus new routers now support AI Mesh
Click to expand...
This is pretty good got to know about it after switching to asus

MarioBros said:
Tell me one thing, do these WiFi 6 routers improve range when compared to WiFi5 routers?
Click to expand...
In my case i was upgrading from a entry level 5ghz router to a kind off flagship WIFI 6 router so yes it did improve the coverage to whole house and beyond.

After upgrade i am getting -45 dBm to -68 dBm (In the furthest corner of house) signal strength on 5Ghz 160 MHz band . My house is about 850 sqft. and router is placed in the centre of house.
 
since you already have an old asus router, and are used to/ comfortable with the app and features
i would get a new Asus router and use the old one as a mesh node (win win)

which new one is solely based on you budget tho
 
So the V2 had 16 mb flash and the V3 had 32MB flash

The Asus app would also show the router name with Version

My ac59u node shows as V2 in the app router list

Also the box sticker may show the Version
 
Check maximum concurrent connected user limit for your router.
Sometimes, devices those are above this limit get dropped, then added again once other device is free.
Have seen this happening with Linksys routers.
 
Update - I purchased a new Asus RT-AX53U Wifi 6 router (my current router is Asus RT-AC58U WiFi 5)

Completed the new router setup and to my disappointment the new router hardly made any difference, especially range coverage, just got a minimal 3-5% improvement.
So I reached out to Amazon and luckily they accepted return and refunded.

the other options where to buy a much expensive router which can increase range... or go for a Access point mode extending my current setup.
I decided to go for the AP option since I had few spare routers lying around and setup AP mode using a Tenda Ac10 router (with Asus router being the upstream router)
This setup did the trick and the range coverage improved by over 40% across my home.

The only confusion I had was to use same SSID as my upstream router or create different SSIDs on the AP
currently I am using different SSID and the setup is working fine..

so should I stick to different SSIDs or use the same ?
 
MarioBros said:
Update - I purchased a new Asus RT-AX53U Wifi 6 router (my current router is Asus RT-AC58U WiFi 5)

Completed the new router setup and to my disappointment the new router hardly made any difference, especially range coverage, just got a minimal 3-5% improvement.
So I reached out to Amazon and luckily they accepted return and refunded.

the other options where to buy a much expensive router which can increase range... or go for a Access point mode extending my current setup.
I decided to go for the AP option since I had few spare routers lying around and setup AP mode using a Tenda Ac10 router (with Asus router being the upstream router)
This setup did the trick and the range coverage improved by over 40% across my home.

The only confusion I had was to use same SSID as my upstream router or create different SSIDs on the AP
currently I am using different SSID and the setup is working fine..

so should I stick to different SSIDs or use the same ?
Click to expand...
Use different SSIDs as devices don't switch seamlessly between the same SSIDs, sometimes even clinging to the weaker signal.

Also, the repeated signal is always going to be worse with higher latency and less throughput, so sticking to the primary router as much as possible is preferable.
 
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MarioBros said:
Completed the new router setup and to my disappointment the new router hardly made any difference, especially range coverage, just got a minimal 3-5% improvement.
So I reached out to Amazon and luckily they accepted return and refunded.

I decided to go for the AP option since I had few spare routers lying around and setup AP mode using a Tenda Ac10 router (with Asus router being the upstream router)
This setup did the trick and the range coverage improved by over 40% across my home.
Click to expand...
Well... You got lucky you bought it from amazon. Range is mostly same on all routers and it really depends on what kind of layout your home has, how thick are the walls and what material. In 90% cases a new router at the same place will not help to increase range and that is why I immediately without any thoughts suggested you to place an AP near your devices where signal strength is low.

Keep SSID different as suggested. Devices tend to cling to the same network even if signal strength is low so they won't switch to a new AP with same SSID.
t3chg33k said:
Also, the repeated signal is always going to be worse with higher latency and less throughput, so sticking to the primary router as much as possible is preferable.
Click to expand...
Agreed but it's still fine for streaming media and IoT devices. I have a wireless repeater router in my home since 2 years and 2 TVs are connected to it which stream live TV and other media from OTT platforms just fine.
Additionally, some smart appliances are also connected. I'm connecting the routers via 5Ghz band.
 
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enthusiast29 said:
Well... You got lucky you bought it from amazon. Range is mostly same on all routers and it really depends on what kind of layout your home has, how thick are the walls and what material. In 90% cases a new router at the same place will not help to increase range and that is why I immediately without any thoughts suggested you to place an AP near your devices where signal strength is low.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately my main router placement is at one corner of the house and not able to reposition it due to multiple reasons.

my Access point (repeater) is mainly for the IoT devices connectivity on 2.4ghz, except one laptop all the other devices at home (Phone, Laptops, TV, iPad & watches) are connected to the main router..

so my new setup has been working very well..
 
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