personally i feel for home user, you do not need to buy the "higher price" fastest and most powerful router, a mid-range like TUF-BE6500 (from China) would be good enough, with the money saved now, probably you can buy newer mid-range router every year on and on, instead of spending higher (2x more) cost on the most powerful router and wait every 3yrs to upgrade.
what are your views?
If you have deep pockets ok lah. Even if one doesn't need the highest end router, just buy. For me I have a modest 4 devices connected via wired (including a second router used as AI mesh node) and 3-5 devices connected wirelessly (depending on occasion).
Do I need something powerful ike BE98? No. But if I had deep pockets sure I'd get 2 (one as mesh node) cos why not? Realistically I would most likely get one of the following:
- 2 Asus RT-BE88U used with TP-link TL-SM5310-T 10gbase-t transceiver.
- A pair of Asus BQ16 mesh
- A pair of Asus BT10 mesh
BT10 because that's bundled with M1 and I'm currently on M1 but contracted so can't upgrade to 10 gbps. Assuming by the time contract is up and I can upgrade, the bundled router is still BT10, then out of laziness and convenience, BT10 is a no brainer for me. M1 installer comes, does everything & viola. I just edit whatever later after he leaves.
But BT10 has very few ports. A bit risky even for my modest needs cos in future if I add more wired devices it's gonna be an issue. So as far as mesh goes, BQ16 is probably safer even though it is larger i.e. an eye sore. And I'll need to install it myself cos no ISP installer will set up your own router but its paired out of the box, so ok lah not too bad.
BE88U would be the most powerful and future proof out of my 3 options. Costs the most too but still very affordable compared to two BE98 or even a BE98 with a BE96 or BE19000AI (if either ever arrive in SG) used as node. But set up wise obviously the most hassle especially since I plan to use wired backhaul.
Am far from a network expert but I did set up my existing AI mesh comprising AX88U and AX58U. But I did have a MBP back then so it was easy moving it around. Have since sold it for Mac mini. Hopefully having a fixed computer in my bedroom doesn't make setting up AI mesh a headache compared to having a laptop to move around.
As to your question about upgrading every 3 years. Just me nah but I can't bother cos too much hassle setting up. Plus unless some super duper new feature comes out which I really need, I don't see the point. In fact all this time I have never upgraded of the sake of doing so.
Upgrading from wifi 5 to wifi 6 was a no-brainer. Could probably have used the AC88U for a while longer but decided to replace it. Didn't see a need to get wifi 6E router or even a 1 gbps or 2.5 gbps wifi 7 router. Next big step when my M1 contract is up would be 10 gbps wifi 7 router.
Would I replace it with a 10 gbps wifi 8 router when those arrive? Probably not, unless my router is about to conk. Simply cos 10 gbps is more than enough for my needs and whether its wifi 8 or 9, I don't see any real benefits based on my existing usage. But sure. if my wifi 7 router is gonna uplorry and the wifi 8 or wifi 9 router is reasonably priced, why not?
