ASUS Lyra Home WiFi System - Tri-Band Mesh Networking Wireless AC2200 Routers (MAP-AC2200) 3-Pack $129

Good price. Pity the reviews aren't... great: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireles ... m-reviewed

So what's the best under $200 router one can get in 2021 so far? Does it even make sense to buy one now or wait for 6E?

radeonboy wrote: ↑ So what's the best under $200 router one can get in 2021 so far?

There's no single answer to that question.

How many clients, how much square footage, how many network jacks, what kind of construction, how many neighbors, how fast your internet, etc.

I still prefer Asus for non pro gear, whether a single box or multiple using AIMesh. And if you had said $300, the RT-AX86U (on sale) would check a *lot* of boxes.

As far as 6E is concerned, as with anything in tech, if you can wait, you'll probably get a better price and newer standards. If you need something now, it really doesn't matter what's coming, because something else is always coming.

lyra performance very bad, if u r looking for budget ones id prolly look for a set of deco m5s or the older orbis which should be around $200.

trendless wrote: ↑ Good price. Pity the reviews aren't... great: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireles ... m-reviewed

That review is for the original lyra mesh system in 2017, not for the aimesh feature added in 2018 via firmware update, I can hardly find any aimesh related reviews on this product. Anyway it might be an option for people who has invested in wifi5 aimesh system at home but still have no plan to upgrade to wifi6e

radeonboy wrote: ↑ So what's the best under $200 router one can get in 2021 so far? Does it even make sense to buy one now or wait for 6E?

This one currently on sale for $179.99

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑ This one currently on sale for $179.99

Cool and there's another $10 coupon in the hot deals section for Staples that can be used. Thanks for the suggestion.

radeonboy wrote: ↑ Cool and there's another $10 coupon in the hot deals section for Staples that can be used. Thanks for the suggestion.

No problem anytime, I personally have that Asus router too. Works great, better then the tp link Deco M9 I had before it.

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑ This one currently on sale for $179.99

would be better than using a mesh product? I'm looking into getting something that will support 2 floor 2000 sq ft house.

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑ No problem anytime, I personally have that Asus router too. Works great, better then the tp link Deco M9 I had before it.

That's interesting cause I was getting around 300m on a phone connected to the wireless satellite on the deco m9.
But the deco m9 was running hot, like 45+ hot, so had to return it.

Jafaking wrote: ↑ would be better than using a mesh product? I'm looking into getting something that will support 2 floor 2000 sq ft house.

My house is 2900 sq feet, put it near the middle on the main floor and you should have no problems.

fizz1234 wrote: ↑ That's interesting cause I was getting around 300m on a phone connected to the wireless satellite on the deco m9.
But the deco m9 was running hot, like 45+ hot, so had to return it.

The Asus mentioned in the link is a better product, yes my deco's (M9) ran very hot too. Took them back to Costco after using them for 9 months. Bad design no ventilation holes on the top.

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑ My house is 2900 sq feet, put it near the middle on the main floor and you should have no problems.

Awesome thanks. I'm liking the phone app for simplicity

Jafaking wrote: ↑ Awesome thanks. I'm liking the phone app for simplicity

Yes that reminds me much better app as well.

ogloprfd wrote: ↑ That review is for the original lyra mesh system in 2017, not for the aimesh feature added in 2018 via firmware update, I can hardly find any aimesh related reviews on this product. Anyway it might be an option for people who has invested in wifi5 aimesh system at home but still have no plan to upgrade to wifi6e

The hardware is the hardware and even when wired the performance was garbage.

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑

This one currently on sale for $179.99

radeonboy wrote: ↑ Cool and there's another $10 coupon in the hot deals section for Staples that can be used. Thanks for the suggestion.

Be careful. As noted elsewhere on rfd and snb forums, the AC86U was poorly engineered and has heat problems -- particularly with the latest 386.x firmwares running >90C -- as well as a chip that spontaneously fails. It's a good router (in fact, what I'm currently using), but you'll need to add cooling and it's still a toss up for longevity. For these reasons alone, it's not often recommended anymore.

trendless wrote: ↑ Be careful. As noted elsewhere on rfd and snb forums, the AC86U was poorly engineered and has heat problems -- particularly with the latest 386.x firmwares running >90C -- as well as a chip that spontaneously fails. It's a good router (in fact, what I'm currently using), but you'll need to add cooling and it's still a toss up for longevity. For these reasons alone, it's not often recommended anymore.

I guess time will tell, but it's been out since 2017

"The RT-AC86U router, released in August 2017.

Here's a pic from a US site...

Jafaking wrote: ↑ would be better than using a mesh product? I'm looking into getting something that will support 2 floor 2000 sq ft house.

You sometimes can pick up used ASUS rt-ac68u routers for $50 or less to use as mesh nodes with this router if you find the single router lacking. You can also hack the Netgear r7000 and the Linksys EA6900 routers to run a modified Asus firmware which will also allow you to run them as nodes. The EA6900 often sells for $30 or less used. You will need some skill with installing modified firmware, however. I also think the Linksys EA6700 will also work but I've never personally tried it.

This is why I like Asus. You can buy the router as a standalone, then add in older hardware to support it if needed.

LockedOut7 wrote: ↑ I guess time will tell, but it's been out since 2017

"The RT-AC86U router, released in August 2017.

Here's a pic from a US site...

That's exactly what's happened; over time it's become apparent that there were design flaws. The new AX86U has had the heat dissipation drastically overhauled to combat this. And it's become even more apparent with the newer firmwares which are written with newer hardware in mind and are more demanding / don't really care how well the obsolete AC86U handles them. Like I said, lots of stuff about it all over the forums where this kinda thing is discussed at length. Caveat emptor.