Quick disclaimer: I know my setup is extremely niche and probably not relevant to most people, which is likely why there’s so little information about it online. 😅
So here’s my situation:
I’m getting my internet wirelessly from my landlord’s network (long story), and unfortunately, running a physical cable is not an option anytime soon.
Here’s the catch: I want to have my own subnet with separate DHCP, so I can assign my own IP addresses and keep my devices isolated — meaning my landlord shouldn’t be able to access my network.
At first, I used a Fritz!Box 7490, which technically supports this setup (as far as I understand, that would be called WISP mode), but it only supports Wi-Fi 5, which made the connection very unstable.
Then I bought a Fritz!Box 6690, not knowing that all newer Fritz!Boxes no longer support true router mode via Wi-Fi uplink. So I had to return it.
Instead, I went with the Asus RT-AX68U due to its many configuration options. It technically supports using Wi-Fi as the internet source, but only in repeater mode, which is very limited — no DHCP server, and I can’t even disable Wi-Fi if I wanted to.
My current workaround:
I’m running the Asus router in repeater mode, then using its LAN port to connect to my old Fritz!Box, which creates its own subnet. This actually works great and the speed has improved massively (from 50 to 400–500 Mbit/s!) thanks to the Asus router’s better Wi-Fi performance and hardware.
BUT: Since everything still passes through the Fritz!Box 7490, I’m still limited to Wi-Fi 5 speeds on my client devices.
⸻
So here’s what I’m asking:
• Is there a way to configure the Asus RT-AX68U to work as a fully independent router while getting its internet via Wi-Fi uplink?
• Or is there a different router that natively supports this kind of WISP setup with full routing, DHCP, and Wi-Fi 6?
Thanks a lot in advance for any help or recommendations!
If you can wire APs with network cable, that's always the best option. Obviously buy the same type, Ideally with central management, like Unifi for example.
But for many, running the cable is just too tricky.
In a network engineer, but live in an old brick-built house with hardwood floors and plastered walls. So I do use a mesh system in my own house.
My ISP provided a FritzBox AX router, so I bought matching FritzBox mesh repeaters. This means I can make the router Master, and the repeaters all slaves, so I can manage and monitor everything through the router management page.
The mesh repeaters have an Ethernet socket, so in some locations (like my home office) I've got a network switch and some hard-wired networking. Most importantly, to my PC. Gives me a Gigabit connection to my router.
MythicalLars
