Recommendations for a mesh router?

[romanof]

I have a Asus Zen mesh router with just the main and secondary nodes and about two years old. Not ancient but with the cyberwars beginning to get out of hand, I try to keep everything absolutely updated. But, Asus is failing to impress me now. The router will suddenly not update, the firmware page is temporarily inaccessable (for a month?), and the http://www.asusrouter.com website that I have always used is now solid 404. Manual updates have only .exe files or an incomprehensible page of instructions for Ubuntu or Fedora. (First download these hundred libraries...)

So new router time. Preferably one made in USA, of parts certified by the NSA to be clean, and with a million dollar policy for any breaches.

With that pipe dream aside, anybody have a good secure wifi router that they like? Only a basic mesh with two nodes is necessary. Ethernet connected between nodes. Don't need wifi 7 or even 6, as only a single TV Roku stream is used along with basic surf/download activity for one user.

The only real requirement that I won't bend on is easy and frequent updates. Cost not important as long as it doesn't get ridiculous.

???

 

[olavsu1]

You can get this router from your internet service provider.

 

[romanof]

Sorry. I didn't give enough information. I am on a ATT cell link. I have to use their modem for the interface, but the wifi is turned off on it and I put my own router on the inside link. It is too easy to totally lock up the cell link by fooling around inside the ATT box. It is almost as if the tower sees the changes and assumes that someone is hacking. Requires a LONG call to support to get it started again.

Thus, I prefer my own box where screwups stay inside my network.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"the http://www.asusrouter.com website that I have always used is now solid 404"

Have you tried:

WiFi Routers - All Seriesï½ASUS USA

www.asus.com

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Preferably one made in USA... pipe dream

Yeah, not gonna find anything made in USA for sure 🤣

Have you looked at Unifi? I have a Linksys setup here at home but I helped our local theater set up a Unifi system a couple of years ago, and was AMAZED at how easy & configurable it was - and frankly, cheaper than my Linksys! When the Linksys needs to be replaced, it'll be top of my list to look at. https://ui.com/us/en/wifi

 

[transmaster]

I replaced My Airport Extreme with the eero Pro 6E I am extremely pleased with it. Very easy to setup. It is a MESH router but my single Pro 6E has so much range I have not felt I needed to add on to it. It is frequently updated, the extreme being largely unsupported Airport this is very nice. Coming from the Airport Extreme it is a real treat to have a stand-alone app that shows the status of everything on your network. The only shortcoming it has is it has just 2 Ethernet ports, with its excellent wifi coverage it isn't a problem unless you have equipment, like my Ham radio station, that does not have Wifi. I took care of that with an OWC Thunderbolt-powered hub. eero now has Ethernet 7 routers, since nothing I own has that there is no point in updating to one.

The eero routers are made in Vietnam.

 

[seggy]

I much prefer the layout of access points with a wired backhaul for best reliability. As such the recently refreshed wireless part of my main home network is Meraki mGig access points with appropriate backhauls/switches for the wireless - I was aiming for a combo of both high single-device speed and also just as importantly, the ability for multiple devices to sustain high speeds. You could absolutely go mesh with these devices but again, I personally would lean towards having a backhaul.

Products

Learn more about Cisco Meraki's IT product offerings such as our Wireless LAN, Security / SD-WAN, Switches, Smart Cameras, and more. Click to find out more today!

meraki.cisco.com

I can't speak for a million dollar insurance but these are in use at many corporates which may be heavily regulated - you might want to get that insurance separately. There are many cyber-insurance companies out there as long as your entire network, managed IT and physical environment is elegible for insurance.

 

[sgtaylor5]

I much prefer the layout of access points with a wired backhaul for best reliability. As such the recently refreshed wireless part of my main home network is Meraki mGig access points with appropriate backhauls/switches for the wireless - I was aiming for a combo of both high single-device speed and also just as importantly, the ability for multiple devices to sustain high speeds. You could absolutely go mesh with these devices but again, I personally would lean towards having a backhaul.

Products

Learn more about Cisco Meraki's IT product offerings such as our Wireless LAN, Security / SD-WAN, Switches, Smart Cameras, and more. Click to find out more today!

meraki.cisco.com

I can't speak for a million dollar insurance but these are in use at many corporates which may be heavily regulated - you might want to get that insurance separately. There are many cyber-insurance companies out there as long as your entire network, managed IT and physical environment is elegible for insurance.

Speak to us more about the nature and setup of appropriate wired backhaul/switches from the wireless access points.

I thought that an Ethernet cable from the main router was enough.

 

[seggy]

Speak to us more about the nature and setup of appropriate wired backhaul/switches from the wireless access points.

I thought that an Ethernet cable from the main router was enough.

That is exactly it lol

The OP wants a mesh network - i.e. only one wireless ap connected to the primary / ISP router - or maybe they are trying to do it entirely wireless. I (and presumably you) have cables going to each access point.

What I have though is a Meraki mGig PoE switch dedicated to the wireless network (so each access point runs off that), which then feeds into the 10gig switches that are core to the wired part of my main network (and off there, I have both 10G and 1G wired segments).

 

[CtotheP]

I had the Netgear Nighthawk MK83 Wifi 6 mesh running for the last 4-5 years (bought it right before Covid). Unfortunately, Netgear stopped releasing security & firmware updates in January 2023 so I wanted to get something more current with supported updates.

I bought the Eero Pro 6E on Dec 31st, had it up and running in about an hour (had to re-do a number of things), but I used the same SSID/Password and all my devices have connected. On a 1gig fiber connection I consistently get 500-900mbps over the air and everything just works.

Simple and straightforward, but doesn't have some of the more elegant solutions members on this board present (no wired backhaul, no PoE, etc). It all depends on what you want

 

[transmaster]

Simple and straightforward, but doesn't have some of the more elegant solutions members on this board present (no wired backhaul, no PoE, etc). It all depends on what you want

I handled the wired backhaul part with an Netgear 8-Port Gigabit ethernet unmanaged switch. It is not PoE, but everything plugged into it is self-powered.

 

[CharlesShaw]

I helped our local theater set up a Unifi system a couple of years ago, and was AMAZED at how easy & configurable it was - and frankly, cheaper than my Linksys! When the Linksys needs to be replaced, it'll be top of my list to look at. https://ui.com/us/en/wifi

I finally replaced my 4th gen Time Capsule I'd been using Airport-only for years. Small space, don't need mesh, but wanted a small form factor with no protruding antennas which seems to be limited to models that are part of mesh systems.

I was initially intimidated by Unifi, having only seen YT videos promoting new models and the entire system, and assuming an informed audience, "the Unifi interface you're already familiar with" (No! I'm not! Is this the wrong device for me, coming from the Airport Utility App?). Luckily, I found a "friendly" beginners video, link below, which convinced me I would be fine setting up the $199 Express 7.