router question from a noob

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SanahGrat wrote:

I live and work in China. The internet here has many restrictions. I currently have 2 netgear routers, one is connected to the other via an ethernet cable.

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Does that mean that the second router is in wireless access point mode? (It should be.)

Two routers on your network can cause headaches. For example, you can end up with local address problems. Among other things, the other router can misdirect addresses that the Netgear router usually handles, such as routerlogin.net or the usual IP address for a router, 192.168.1.1.

This explains some of the other drawbacks.

What is Double NAT? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

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SanahGrat wrote:

My older router is a Netgear Nighthawk R7000. (600 +1300 mbps, AC1900, Processor 1GHZ, 256 MB Ram and 128 MB Flash).

Question 1 - Do I need 2 wifi 6 (newer more power routers) in order to benefit from the 1 GIG net speed?

Don't confuse advertised wifi speeds with what you will get in the real world. Your routers can push out wifi at a gazillion miles an hour, but if your wifi clients, the devices that use the wifi, don't have the technology they will travel at walking pace.

You are talking about wifi speeds here?

It might be worth a bit of background reading.

Understand Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11 n/ac/ad/ax)

@duckware knows their stuff and can bust a few myths and cut through marketing hype.

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SanahGrat wrote:

Question 2- Current setup Asus RT AX88U and Netgear R7000 routers. Whiche one should I run the Chinese net as the main one and which one should I use as the VPN router? I plan to flash the Asus with Merlin.

Not really a question for Netgear, It does not support third party firmware which is best doscussed with the people who provide it.