Sure, I'd like WIFI-7 if I buy a new router, but I'm over the 64 device limit on my RT-AX92U. I also have a problem that even with ALL AI protection etc disable...it will isolate my Fire tablets from local LAN to local LAN traffic. IE - You can ping it from the router but not from ANY other device on the network. They talk to the Internet just fine. A reboot clears it...for a while. Google it and others have the same issue...but not everybody at all. I don't have a separate IT network set up on it...but this NEVER happens with a cheap TP-LINK router...that I moved my tablets to. Anyway...I'm an ex-Cisco router guy...so this works, but I hate needless complexity.
Anyway...I'm out of DHCP space so want to move on....without turning up some other device to handle DHCP. Sub 500 bucks would be nice.
Take this with a grain of whatever. I've tried Eero Pro 7, Netgear RBKE962, and a couple other router/AP combined devices/mesh systems. I finally broke down and listened to the others on the forums here and went with Unifi. Got a Cloud Gateway Ultra and paired it with a couple of APs. If you get the Ultra ($130) and a U7 Pro access point ($190 plus $15-20 for a POE+ injector to power it), you're well under $500. This setup has been more stable for me than anything I've tried in the past several years. The Eero's would crap out at least once a week, usually when on a conference call. The Netgear was great for a while, but then started increasingly having issues (and Netgear's warranty is a joke). I can't comment on fire tablets connectivity directly, but I haven't had any issues yet with any other devices. Anyway, my experience, YMMV and all that.
From your topic title and above statement - do you mean your router limits you to 64 DHCP reservations? Are you sure about that? I've never heard of a baked in IP reservation limit...
Sounds like you may need to go to the dark side of building out your own network infrastructure. I just did a course as a lunch and learn at my workplace and gave away a Protectli 4 port "router" device with OPNSense installed and a switch. The person that won it was able to turn their older router/wifi device into just Wifi AP and the OPNSense did all the heavy lifting since it supports a more robust DHCP implementation.
ASUS has it on all the routers AFAIK. Its somewhat of a UI limitation, but also they used to store the data in NVRAM which only had so much room allocated for the DHCP. I believe they have since moved it to a virtual NVRAM that is on the JFFS so you can pretty much have unlimited until the UI limits you.
With the custom Merlin firmware you can get around it, but it looks like the AX92 is not supported.
Curious, do you have that many Wifi automation devices you assigned IP's or do you just give everything a fixed IP? I started only giving an assigned IP to devices that really need it for some reason. Servers, devices tied to Hubitat, etc... Everything else I just let use DHCP.
Have to second what @applejosh stated. Unifi has a fair amount of decent prosumer gear. Being a ex cisco guy you wil probably appreciate some of the functionality better then me. It can be fairly cheap to get started. Just size the gateway/Router based on your ISP connection. I have a UCG Max so i can run the full stack of Unify apps. but the Unifi Dream 7 and Unifi Express 7 are good options to get into the Wifi 7 gear with wifi built into the unit. If you get a Unifi Cloud Gateway you will need to add a AP to it for wifi at a minimum. All of those can be done for under 500, though it doesn't take long to build it out and go beyond that.
It all depends on how much you want to go down the Unifi rabit hole. The Unifi Express 7, is a good start, but i think it only does Unifi Network. If you wanted to use Unifi Protect for cameras and sensors you would want something like the UCG Max, UCG Fiber, or the Unifi Dream 7. Well or a one of their Rackmounted dream machines. but then we are starting to push the price.
I would atleast suggest before you jump on a product consider thinking about the Unifi Protect, Acces, ect apps to see if you would like to considering one of the other options for the ability to go down that path if desired. One of the reasons i got my UCG Max was to allow me to use Unifi Protect and get away from cloud based cameras like Arlo and Eufy.
Also Unifi devices have limits on the number of devices they are designed to handle and the number of Unifi devices they are able to manage. All of the ones metioned here are designed to handle atleast a few hundred devices, but the Unifi device limit can be as low as 15 or so. Just saying take a moment and review the specs is all
I'm with @applejosh & @mavrrick58 -- do your Research and seriously consider Ubiquiti.
No fees, no "let's stop Firmware updates on this device so everyone has to buy the latest, greatest multi-antenna "gaming/ AI / Rust based" router, switch, random critical network device".
Just solid, reliable networking with a serious amount of features, and, well, all things considered easy to use.
Not cheap though.
Software can be a bit obtuse, and for popular products, obtainability can be tough.
But...for myself, I'm unlikely to switch away any time in the foreseeable future.
You don't have to give every device an assigned IP. Unless they are all being controlled by Hubitat directly with the IP. You can even give devices friendly names in the ASUS UI and leave them to get an IP from the pool.
All in one box solution that doesn't require a laptop or multiple devices. Simple GUI interface....etc. Something anyone who moved into my house if I sell it could easily configure and maintain....that is the goal. I have well over a hundred devices and about as many rules already. Some quite large. That all the complication I want.
