Is wireless AX technology backward compatible?

[paulri]

I had a blue linksys WRGT or whatever it was, that just ran for years and years. Our current linksys was so-so, but I bought the cheapest thing I could find at BestBuy, and I got what I paid for. But linksys forum has given me excellent support for the issues, so that is a plus. I'm happy with the purchase today. We'll see how it shapes up in a week or so.

At least yours started doing that within the warranty period unlike mine. The Linksys should serve you well. OpenWRT is available for that if you’re interested in that kind of thing, I’m running Merlin on my Asus because it has better QoS than the stock Asus QoS.

EDIT: Since you mentioned OpenWRT, can I ask what the advantage of that would be--why you would choose that over the stock OS? Does it give a faster signal, or fewer drops, or????

 

[alarmguy]

Well looks like you two (Panda & alarmguy) liked too soon. I decided to return it this afternoon.

Kept on dropping the connection for my laptop--sometimes it would go back on in a minute, other times it would require rebooting the router. Downgraded the firmware, tried troubleshooting with chat tech support on netgear, but to no avail.

Netgear forums did have a few folks complaining of this, with other netgear router models, repeatedly over months & many firmware updates, so I decided not to push my luck rebooting and reinstalling firmware updates and what not, past the 90 day return window.

At any rate, I went back to Linksys and found that when buying from the linksys site, they would give you 90 days to return a new router bought directly from them. With finicky electronic parts like routers, I definitely want the extra time. So I got this, it is AC (and not AX) but it will still be an upgrade over my current Linksys E1200 (n wireless).

Yeah, well maybe I should say I was happy you were happy with your choice and it was working out for you!

At the same time I recommended dozens of times in this forum, one router to the average person who wants great range and rock solid service, that is the Motorola MR2600 (ac2600) Plug it in, your set for the next few years, the price is a bargain and the range just as good to way better then anything at any price. I do understand its more then you wanted to spend so was glad you felt you made a good choice.

Without question you should not be hung up on the AC vs AX thing, its a matter of choosing the best performing router not if it is AC or AX. The deals are with getting a mature well made bug free AC router.

 

[paulri]

I read your earlier recommendation of that Motorola router. Amazon has it for $100, which is only about 10-20 bucks more than the netgear that I'm returning. If I also have to return the one I just ordered, I'll go with the Motorola. I had great luck with two Motorola modems, the surfboard 5100 and what else--5150? for years and years, although I realize that the modem isn't doing as much work as the router.

As far as ac vs. ax, famous last words here, but we probably won't be maxing out the capabilities of the ac router, so I think we'll be ok with ac. It is in the same price range as the ax netgear that I'm returning, and its original list price was considerably more, so I think it will be a good piece of equipment. As you might tell from the cars in my sig, I like to cheap out and go with lowest cost. With cars that has gotten me incredible value & savings. With computer equipment it has gotten me headaches, so I've learned to pay more than the cheapest units cost.

Yeah, well maybe I should say I was happy you were happy with your choice and it was working out for you!

At the same time I recommended dozens of times in this forum, one router to the average person who wants great range and rock solid service, that is the Motorola MR2600 (ac2600) Plug it in, your set for the next few years, the price is a bargain and the range just as good to way better then anything at any price. I do understand its more then you wanted to spend so was glad you felt you made a good choice.

Without question you should not be hung up on the AC vs AX thing, its a matter of choosing the best performing router not if it is AC or AX. The deals are with getting a mature well made bug free AC router.

 

[Skippy722]

I had a blue linksys WRGT or whatever it was, that just ran for years and years. Our current linksys was so-so, but I bought the cheapest thing I could find at BestBuy, and I got what I paid for. But linksys forum has given me excellent support for the issues, so that is a plus. I'm happy with the purchase today. We'll see how it shapes up in a week or so.



EDIT: Since you mentioned OpenWRT, can I ask what the advantage of that would be--why you would choose that over the stock OS? Does it give a faster signal, or fewer drops, or????

I just saw your edit, sorry about that! I play Call of Duty with my little sister who currently lives out in San Diego, on the Netgear RAX35 I would get random lag spikes due to bufferbloat that were infuriating to deal with while playing and no amount of tweaking would help. The standard Asus firmware QoS was better, but still not perfect.

Running fq_codel QoS with Merlin my loaded latency went from a F/D rating on dslreports speed test to a B/A rating. All the aftermarket firmware really does is allow you to tweak your settings a little further/add some nice graphical touches like charts and graphs to the interface.

 

[paulri]

OK, I am not a gamer at all, but if I do notice lags, I'll investigate that option further. Thanks for the info.

I just saw your edit, sorry about that! I play Call of Duty with my little sister who currently lives out in San Diego, on the Netgear RAX35 I would get random lag spikes due to bufferbloat that were infuriating to deal with while playing and no amount of tweaking would help. The standard Asus firmware QoS was better, but still not perfect.

Running fq_codel QoS with Merlin my loaded latency went from a F/D rating on dslreports speed test to a B/A rating. All the aftermarket firmware really does is allow you to tweak your settings a little further/add some nice graphical touches like charts and graphs to the interface.

 

[PandaBear]

I used to run DDWRT for about 10 years on 3 WRT160N in 1 home.

The reason I run them that way is I need it to be used as a client mode repeater bridge. I bridged from my neighbor's wifi into my home and then repeat them further away to share internet with them and split the bill. It was great and back then nobody provide these features on "routers", nor were there mesh.

In 2020 at least most routers can be used as mesh, repeaters, access points, and client bridges. There really isn't any advantage for me in going DDWRT anymore, and I read some of the routing and QoS features would slow down the router vs its native firmware. In my new router I no longer run DDWRT or any other open source firmware, it is no longer needed for what I do. I also didn't look for particular router based on open source firmware availability.

 

[alarmguy]

I read your earlier recommendation of that Motorola router. Amazon has it for $100, which is only about 10-20 bucks more than the netgear that I'm returning. If I also have to return the one I just ordered, I'll go with the Motorola. I had great luck with two Motorola modems, the surfboard 5100 and what else--5150? for years and years, although I realize that the modem isn't doing as much work as the router.

As far as ac vs. ax, famous last words here, but we probably won't be maxing out the capabilities of the ac router, so I think we'll be ok with ac. It is in the same price range as the ax netgear that I'm returning, and its original list price was considerably more, so I think it will be a good piece of equipment. As you might tell from the cars in my sig, I like to cheap out and go with lowest cost. With cars that has gotten me incredible value & savings. With computer equipment it has gotten me headaches, so I've learned to pay more than the cheapest units cost.

That would be cool, would love to hear feedback, best part is, as you know, you can return it if you dont like it but I know you will be impressed.
Im sure you know we have 18 wifi our of 28 running at any time and have noticed the increased responsiveness and range of the Motorola over my other much loved router TPLINK AC 1700 C7 which I retired.
We have 4 security cameras running constantly plus a doorbell camera, this is where we were able to confirm the faster response time, video come up with the snap of a finger, TPLink was still great, its just the Motorola is faster enough that you can notice it. I can tell the range is better based on the cameras as well since I can monitor signal strength, its also noticeable in one small area of our home which had a weak signal.
I think I gave you in the past all he devices running in our home, again, 18 at any given time out of a total of 28 all on a 200/10 Mbps internet connection.