I’ve had my share of routers over the years from Linksys, Asus, Apple, Netgear, and now Eero. I used to tinker a lot to increase throughput. Now, with Eero, I don’t have to. Eero blankets my multi-level mixed construction home with robust performance. I have had no significant issues, and they continually improve the software. I highly recommend it, especially for music sharing in the home.
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New eero firmware update just released shows which device is hooked up to which eero module. Kind of handy.
Thanks for your personal recommendation. While I’m very happy with my AC88U, based on your recommendation I’m going to soon be replacing my old man’s (dads) ISP standard router with the AC86U, also because it’s newer, so should be well supported (security and firmware updates) for a few years hopefully.
Unlike the AC88U, the AC86U is available very close to his home, so for any warranty returns it’s much easier for him to return it back to base (less hassle for me).
Don’t throw your old Asus router! Asus has launched AiMesh, a feature where you can use your current/old Asus router to build a mesh network. I have a AC68U that I will soon replace with a AC86U. The AC68U will then be placed in the master bed room in a mesh network.
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Edward,
Have you set this stuff up yet? I’m interested in the same, just not sure why I would get a USG router. Looking forward to your findings.
I did get things setup. It’s been rock solid. My only disappointment is that I still can’t get a good enough WiFi signal to my Bluesound Pulse Flex outside on my deck. It’s only about 50’ but I think maybe the exterior wall and glass doors are too much for the signal to penetrate. I wonder if the Ubiquiti LR would have made a difference?
The Ubiquiti app is nice too. One of my two witches is not Ubiquiti, so I can’t get all the detailed traffic info on devices connected to that switch.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Thanks for your quick reply Edward.
You’ve already answered one question; go with Long Range Access Points. The whole reason for me to go with this system is that I can always put another cable in to somewhere else and add another AP but by going the LR AP’s I’m hoping two will do.
Did you really need the USG?
Edit: another question; did you do anything to the configuration or was it just a plug and play affair?
Yes, the USG was necessary (or some other device to serve the router function).
As I recall, all that was necessary was to log into the Ubiquiti app and enable each access point and then I was up and running.
I would say if you’re looking for simplicity, a traditional consumer grade router or mesh network kit like the Orbi might be your best bet. If you want rock stable, scalable, flexibile for a very reasonable cost then consider Ubiquiti.
Thanks mate,
I’m not looking for simplicity. I just want to make sure the network doesn’t become a bottleneck for Roon to operate on. As per Roon’s ‘Networking’ page:
https://kb.roonlabs.com/Networking_Best_Practices
I just want to make sure it stays as ‘unmanaged’ as possible.
I’m going to have to have a look into the difference between how to use a router and a switch. As it stands now, I’ve got the internet provider’s router going to an Airport Express, then hardwired with Cat6A FSTP to my Mac mini and Devialet. It’s 99.9% stable (The 0.1% being a piece of bread stuck in the toaster starting a fire and tripping the safety switch this morning) but I’m losing WIFI signal at the outer regions of our home and I want to expand my hardwired connections to more stereo and TV points. So an 8 port and two Access Points to replace the Express should do the trick. I’ll keep the Express for backup only. I’m just guessing your USG is my internet provider’s router?
My internet provider, Spectrum, provides a cable modem by Cisco that connects to the USG.
So the modem doesn’t do router duties and that’s why you need a USG?
Anyone considering Orbi may be interested to review the past year of profoundly frustrated user feedback on the netgear community forum.
For example, here is one thread about the latest update-
There’s many similar threads, through previous releases.
From a past experience I would steer clear of Asus Lyra too.
fully Ubiquiti here and never looked back
Fwiw I’ve found the WiFi on the Flex pretty poor - when compared side-by-side with an RPi + WiFi dongle the latter seemed to have a far stronger signal. That said, my Flex died recently (most likely an internal PSU issue). Whether coincidence or not I’ve had no WiFi issues with the replacement. I guess it might just be worth comparing the signal with another device and, if there’s a big difference, seeing whether there’s any option for a hardware swap.
That actually reminds me of another thought I had; does long range equipment on one side automatically guarantee better two way communication? The way I see it, if the Access Point has a more powerful amplifier, it could get the signal out further, but for it to receive from say a tablet that’s further away, it needs to either have an antenna that amplifies an incoming signal better (the preferred method but I can’t see that fit inside a little disc) or amplify the weak signal straight after it comes in from the antenna (not a great way but most likely what they do)
Any thoughts / experience anyone?
To be honest, I’m not sure. I suspect that it probably does. But, rightly or wrongly, I’ve been conditioned over the years to assume that any WiFi or routing built into the cable modem is inferior to a standalone unit. 
[quote="dhusky”] I guess it might just be worth comparing the signal with another device and, if there’s a big difference, seeing whether there’s any option for a hardware swap.
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I hadn’t really thought about this. Good suggestion. I’m going to give this a try. Thanks!
Good thing my cable modem is cryogenically treated then…That should fix everything.
It baffles me how you can stream music perfectly through hundreds of meters of simple copper cable into a $10.- modem but that it needs silver Cat 8 cable and an audiophile switch to get to your DAC or it will sound like shit. Beats me.
You can buy Belkin router, I have been using belkin router from last five year and it is doing fine. And also if you face any difficulty then you can contact to Belkin Router Support.
Just replaced my old WiFi setup, consisting of an AirPort Extreme acting as a router and two satellite AirPort Extremes with an Orbi Netgear AC3000 system (one router and two satellites), streaming from my MacBook Pro (Remote controlled by an iPad) to my Devialet two floors downstairs. The former setup with the AirPorts never worked reliably, with all sorts of crackles and dropouts, just about unusable. The first experience with the Orbi AC3000 is very encouraging, I had it running for a few hours absolutely flawlessly! The setup needs further testing, naturally, but so far very encouraging experience!