Is anyone using the ASUS RT-BE58U? I’m thinking it’s time to replace my 5-year-old RT-AX3000, which feels like it’s getting a bit worn out. I’m not ready to tackle my big networking overhaul yet—probably won’t be for at least a year—so I’m looking at the RT-BE58U as an interim upgrade. I like that it can set up three separate networks, especially the IoT one, which really caught my eye since I’ve got some smart devices.
Questions for RT-BE58U Users
If you’re using the RT-BE58U, how do you like it? Were you using an ASUS router before? If so, how does it compare to your previous model? Any major issues or quirks I should be aware of?
General Questions About Switching Routers
Ease of Transition: How tricky is switching routers going to be? I’m wondering if keeping the same network name (SSID) and password could make it seamless for my devices—or is that just wishful thinking? I’m already bracing myself to re-add everything if needed.
Hubs and IP Addresses: I’ve got six hubs connected to my current setup (Hubitat/Home Asistant/Ecowitt). What’s involved in getting them onto the new router? Is there a chance I can keep their existing IP addresses? If not, how much hassle will it be to reconfigure them?
Local IP Pool: My RT-AX3000 uses the IP pool 192.168.50.XXX. Is that the default for all ASUS routers (I did not change it after I set it ut, that was the default it came set to)? Could I just go into the RT-BE58U’s settings and assign the same addresses my devices currently have?
Budget? I'd say go mesh, unless you're only covering a small area.
Orbi is great, not super expensive and has IoT network, Unifi if you can spare the cash
Use the same SSID and Passwords. Your devices will automatically connect to the Router. You will still have to do the DHCP reservations - but that would be true either way.
You can force that in the DHCP reservation functions by AFTER the devices all connect to the Router, go to the DHCP page, select the device, and enter the current IP Address. They should swing along.
Q1: Yes
Q2: Yes. I would actually recommend using the same segment as you currently use.
One prep item on the AX3000, on the View List (device list), assure the names in the left hand column make sense to you. These can be edited to make sense. The export the list for reference while you resetup the IP Addresses.
You could also go the route of a Unifi budget router with the Unifi Express 7(UX7) at 199.
If you were to consider it the I would go the UX7 route. The UX7 will support the 6Ghz band as well It supports vlans and the such. If you later decided to get a more robust Unifi solution like upgrade to a Unifi Cloud Gateway Fiber(UCG Fiber) then the UX7 could be reset and added as a AP to the UCG Fiber.
How do you find the mesh handoff between AP's? Back a few years ago when I did AI mesh with Asus the handoff didn't go so smooth when my phone moved from AP to another AP.
That's with Android devices anyway
Fairly smooth. However, my reason was to reduce number of connections on my main router that was causing wifi devices to be disconnected for short periods (causing errors), NOT for roaming devices. It does work well on my phone when in Kitchen vs Bedroom. So a mesh can be to support roaming devices, more devices, or an area larger than your router is designed to support.
I was looking at the specs on the UX7. I'm glad they've beefed up both the CPU and the RAM relative to the original UX. I'll bet the UX7 will work fine as a gateway - unlike the original UX.
I've been having a lot of instances lately of the wifi dropping off line (wife is still working from home) as of today, everything (except the hub) is wifi. There are no active ethernet ports in the house (thats is the larger project still in planning). When this happens wifi devices, specificially my Roborock Vacuum and Rachio Sprinkler controlers do not com back onlien wheenthe wifi comes back, so I spend alot fo time adding them back into the network. I'm not getting the speed I should be, there has been an increase buffering. When I am on the zoom session form my class the audio repeated drops out during the presnetation, but when I go back and watchthe recordings, it isn't happening there. I am stil trying to decide which way I want to so as far as router, switches, etc once I get into that project (there is some back story there). So I'm basically looking to stabilize the connection for now until I have a better plan in place for the final project.
I have considered Unifi ,and it is still in consideration for the bigger project. I just still need to look at it all some more.
Now that I have slept a little this is on my radar. But, of course I have questions. I have tinkered with the idea of Unifi for a while, but the price tag has been the daunting thing . This (alone) is just a little more than the Asus I am also considering.
Here are my initial questions:
Can I use my existing non-uifi POE switches (one managed, one unmanaged) with it until I can swap them out?
Has the issue with POE not working so well with Unifi been resolved? POE is essential in my set up. If there are still issues, it would be a deal breaker.
Is this strong enough to cover a 2300' home, or do I need to add access points, and if so can they be wireless mesh, or do they need to be hard wired (I dont have the networking done yet.
Can I use other cameras (I'm looking at Reolink using Scrypted or Blue Irs) .
Need more info as to what specific issues you are referring to. My device that require POE work perfectly with my UniFi gear.
LIkely you'll need another access point for that amount of coverage. Yes, you can wireless mesh APs. The UniFi U6 Mesh is one AP offered that is specifically designed for meshing.
Yes. There has been an update to the Protect app that allows for third party camera usage. However, I am not sure the UX7 can run Protect.
It can be kind of a rabbit hole. The UX7 is the cheapest option to get a router and wifi 7 right now. Another option is to start to look at maybe the Unifi Cloud Gateway(UCG) Ultra/Max/Fiber. Those are controllers/routers that can do multigig internet with all but the Ultra being able to run other Unifi Apps. The UX7 is nice because if you decide you outgrew it you can shift it's role from a Network controller to an AP instead. The Unifi Express line are designed to be a option with Mesh connectivity as well.
You can run any companies network gear with them, they just won't be managed by the unifi network app.
Not sure what you mean by this. So far it has worked well for me. You are kind of forced to use POE as many of there devices are powered that way only.
I think this is subjective a bit. You probably won't find a wifi router that supports that size home on 5ghz or 6ghz with a single unit. I have 2 U7 Pro Walls I am impressed with their range, but there is no way one would cover my whole house with 5 or 6ghz. The 2.4 Ghz would probably be able to, but you loose so much speed if you depend on that. You really should probably expect to run at least 2, and possibly 3 AP's to cover a house that size with 5ghz. On 2.4 it probably wouldn't be a problem though. As Aaiyar pointed out though you can just add another UX7 in mesh mode to expand it if needed.
Some of these really large routers with a ton of antennas seem to be able to cover a larger space, but that would be with shear transmit power. The problem is that can lead to a loopsided network were you can receive to your device well, but it can hardly communicate to the route/AP. I have learned allot now that i have shifted to Unifi.
The Unifi Express is simply acting as a Network controller and wifi router. It wouldn't impact your camera devices. If you go with a UCG Max or UCG Fiber they can also run Unifi Protect. That would provide you a NVR similar to Blue Iris. Unifi Protect can talk to any camera that supports ONVIF which many do.
This is actually a heavily debated discussed topic on the Unifi forums. Simply put a High transmit power will likely help your devices see the router, but it won't help it get better speed, or improve connection reliability perse. Communication is a two way street and you need to balance power output from your AP with the likely connection speed from your client. In many cases lowering the transmit power has a better effect if you have more then one AP to help you device choose a better AP.
A nice thing about Unifi is that the Wifi Analyzer app WifiMan also integrates with it. you can see how well your device is seeing the signal as well. Then from the Unifi UI you can see how well your device is seen from the Unifi network. Working with both of those numbers can really help you tweak your transmit power for your environment.
Some of the higher end gear also provides a dedicated radio for to do spectrum analysis. That is pretty cool if you don't mind the extra $$ to get it.
Currently, I have no issue with POE, hence why I am cautious. When the C8's first came out there seemed to be an issue that affected POE using Unifi gear. I think as think as things unfolded it became a more generalized thing, but unifi still seemed (at the time) to be at the center of the issues PoE and the C8 (with extensive testing)
I believe the yare both upto date, neother is showing a update available.
Where is this setting at? I can't seem to find it. Though I am not sure it matters , i have a pretty solid wifi heat map across the house (the router is located in the front of that Flex Space/office off the garage).
The control Channel is 6, My Zigbee (that little I have, only 4 devices) Zigbee is channel 25. Im working on retiring the last few Zigbee devices in the next few months.
Just be careful with ASUS. Some models and OS version automatically block device to device traffic on the LOCAL LAN
I found this to be exceptionally true of things like fire tablets. I had to add a TP Link router for those devices. It solve the problem instantly. Moving them back failed. They never stop talking to the Internet...thing like Sharptools kept updating. Trying to do something like dim the screen on the tablet locally from Hubitat failed. This would come it go...with things like reboots. It was really hard to hunt down...Google it.
