Find a second high-speed router designed for specific devices and connect it to one PC.
Find a second high-speed router designed for specific devices and connect it to one PC.
Hiya! Sorry if the title isn't clear enough. I don't really know how to title this in a good way. Sorry! I'll do my best to explain what I need here! So, I have a few WiFi 6 and 6E devices, which would very much benefit from faster than gigabit speeds. However, my ISP router doesn't support faster than gigabit speeds and doesn't support any higher than WiFi 5, which is where a second router could come in. (I hope). Mostly I just need the WiFi 6 and 6E devices to communicate with my PC directly as I'm the only one in the house using them, and my PC does support 2.5Gb LAN. So I found this Asus RT-AXE7800 router which supports WiFi 6, 6E and has a 2.5Gb port. Currently I don't have a 2.5Gb switch but that's not too difficult to get. My main question is, how do I set this up? I've never done anything like this before. And before you ask, yes I could technically replace my ISP router with the Asus one but there's only 1 2.5Gb port on it which I'd like my PC to be able to use. And since I'm not in the same room as the router would then be in, I can't make use of the WiFi 6 and 6E it supports anyway. So replacing my ISP router wirh that Asus one would be pointless in my case. It's also really difficult cuz it is also the modem that the fibre comes in and there's no converter box. It's just one device that does it all that I can not replace lol. So that's where I need the help. Because if I were to replace my current switch for a 2.5Gb one, run a suitable cable from my PC to said switch, a suitable cable from the switch to that Asus router and then another cable from the switch to my ISP router, wouldn't that still send all the network traffic through my ISP router even if a wireless device is connected to the Asus router? I'm guessing it would as they would both have my ISP router set as their gateway. So how could I get around that and make sure that a WiFi device connected to that Asus router would go straight to my PC instead of first going through my ISP router? Another thing that might cause a problem is that I do also host game servers on my PC for friends, so I'd need those to still work too but the traffic for that comes in through the ISP router. So let's say I set my PC up to use the Asus router as its gateway, is there a way to configure port forwarding in such a way that it goes from my ISP router to the Asus router and then to my PC so that would all still work too? Or is port forwarding that simple and could I just connect my PC straight to the Asus router, have that be its gateway and then have that Asus router communicate with my ISP router and getting the Internet from that? So it's just kind of a middleman that allows me to both host my game servers AND have any wireless device connected to said Asus router have its data routed straight to my PC instead of going through my ISP router first? Again, I've never done this before but REALLY want WiFi 6/6E, also very much for my VR since that's one of the main reasons I want a WiFi 6/6E capable router. But it's not the only thing either (and yes, for VR I COULD use a cable, but prefer not to if possible. But 5GHz is just barely cutting it). So if anyone can help me set this up I'd be very grateful! (I haven't ordered the router or the switch yet since I want to know how to set this up first) OH! Before I forget, the Asus router only really needs to have WiFi 6 and 6E enabled. The 2.4 and 5GHz channels can be turned off since I'd still have my ISP router which does the job very well. They just don't offer one with anything higher than WiFi 5. Thank you very much in advance!
Set your ISP gateway into bridge mode to turn off all its functions except the modem. This allows it to handle traffic between Ethernet and your ISP seamlessly without additional actions. Connect your new router's WAN port to the gateway and link all devices to it. Once done, the ISP gateway becomes largely irrelevant. Avoid running two routers simultaneously, as it adds unnecessary complexity. Restore the same port forwarding settings from your ISP gateway on your new router.
I mentioned using the 2.5Gb port on the new router mainly for my PC, but I can't keep it in just one room for full house coverage. Running two routers should be okay as long as you only assign IP addresses to one device at a time. This explanation doesn’t fully clarify how it would actually function, since I’m unsure how replacing the ISP router for both placement and speed would work in practice.
You're asking about setting up a network with WiFi 6 and 2.5G capabilities in your space. It sounds like you want to disable routing on your Asus device, use the 2.5G WAN port as a LAN connection, and connect your VR equipment directly for faster speeds between devices and your PC. Also, you're interested in getting a WiFi 6 card for your PC.
You could use the Asus as an access point instead of a router. However, because none of your configuration appears to need 2.5G speeds, a basic 6E AP would suffice.
WiFi will most likely never reach gigabit speeds under normal conditions. Achieving speeds beyond gigabit usually demands perfect circumstances, which isn’t something you should aim for just to improve performance. Which devices are you trying to enhance? If speed is essential, consider hardwiring them. For truly faster connections, a point-to-point setup using fiber can be set up for around $100 across two devices, providing roughly 10 gigabit links—something I’ve already implemented from my PC to my NAS.
This would route the data via your ISP router. As an AP, it would initially send the signal to the router before forwarding it to your device.
In the switch section of the ISP router, the details are irrelevant.
WiFi 7 relies on machine learning optimization, but performance drops quickly outside the router's vicinity. I've reached about 1.7Gbit on WiFi 6 before, though not reliably. Typically I see speeds between 600-800Mbit due to the need for 160Mhz channels, which are mainly PC-friendly and have shorter range than 80Mhz—most devices cap at that. VR doesn't require more than Gigabit; it needs a strong, clean signal, so a dedicated AP on a separate channel might help. Running at 40Mhz or even 20Mhz could work better, making it easier to find less crowded channels and maintain stability.