And So It Begins... Asus Announces First 802.11ax Router

[pete y testing]

and AX isnt really designed for the home user right , its designed for higher scale connections where many many wifi devices connect

 

[thiggins]

and AX isnt really designed for the home user right , its designed for higher scale connections where many many wifi devices connect

AX is designed to improve Wi-Fi efficiency/capacity. This applies both to home and business.

Whether or not it is intended for home, AX will first appear in consumer routers, like all previous 802.11 technologies. You don't think businesses are going to risk network stability to be guinea pigs, do you?

 

[maxbraketorque]

This and all other AX routers announced so far are nowhere near ready.
You can assume they will test to see if they can get more than the $500 levels that have already been proven to work.

Yeah, for sure it will be at least as expensive as the AC88U. I was hoping for a $300 price point, but will probably be $350+ as you are guessing.

 

[thiggins]

Yeah, for sure it will be at least as expensive as the AC88U. I was hoping for a $300 price point, but will probably be $350+ as you are guessing.

No, I'm guessing $500+ for tri-band AX

 

[maxbraketorque]

No, I'm guessing $500+ for tri-band AX

But this won't be a tri-band. The info I've seen shows only two radios, presumably covering 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

 

[thiggins]

But this won't be a tri-band. The info I've seen shows only two radios, presumably covering 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Correct. But D-Link's tri-band will probably be. And ASUS will test the price ceiling.

 

[WiFiNemesis]

No, I'm guessing $500+ for tri-band AX

So maybe the real question here is "What will be the price when it's ready for those of us who prefer not to be unpaid beta testers?"

If you prefer to buy a router based on an approved standard, and assuming the IEEE gets the job done as scheduled in Dec. 2019, then you'll be good to go sometime in 2020. (As Tim noted, the draft failed its second vote in September, so good luck with that schedule.)

If you don't care about the finality of the underlying standard, but do give credence to Tim's advice about waiting for products to stabilize...

...I never recommend jumping on new Wi-Fi products when they first come out. They are too buggy and the cost/benefit calculation doesn't make sense. Wait at least 6 months to a year before buying to give vendors time to find real world bugs and issue firmware updates. ...

... and assuming AX products start shipping mid-year, then you'll be ready to go around mid-2019, maybe.

So, the price for the joy of playing with the latest gadget may well be around $500, but I'm thinking the discount for delayed gratification will be pretty steep.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Its finally on the ASUS website:

https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AX88U/

 

[Dave in NM]

Any news on ETA besides "1H 2018"?

 

[thiggins]

Read https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/other/ces/ces-2018/33181-ces-2018-wrapup-waiting-for-11ax

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-AX95U (?) just hit the FCC:

https://fccid.io/MSQ-RTHR00

 

[doc octopus]

AX triband... LOL

 

[maxbraketorque]

I didn't see any documents with photos. Sad.

 

[RMerlin]

Missed it - a second 802.11ax model hit FCC, the RT-AX88U:

https://fccid.io/MSQ-RTAXHP00

 

[maxbraketorque]

Missed it - a second 802.11ax model hit FCC, the RT-AX88U:

https://fccid.io/MSQ-RTAXHP00

The label says RT-AX88U, and the FCC ID matches the original. I wonder why they are submitting it again. I've never followed this FCC submission cycle before, so maybe there is a common reason?

 

[RMerlin]

The label says RT-AX88U, and the FCC ID matches the original. I wonder why they are submitting it again. I've never followed this FCC submission cycle before, so maybe there is a common reason?

Dunno, not really an expert on the process either. Didn't seem to be a permissive change submission, so maybe they resubmitted it as a new device following some changes?

 

[Odkrys]

The RT-AX95U (?) just hit the FCC:

https://fccid.io/MSQ-RTHR00

Tri-band and Dual band ?

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AX95U

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AX88U

They are broadcom based and not ROG.
So I think they will be the next Merlin firmware supported routers
Its a future story o _o

 

[RMerlin]

So I think they will be the next Merlin firmware supported routers

Way too early to tell.

 

[Odkrys]

ASUS RT-AX95U / ASUS RT-AX88U

They all are stick at dual core.
Asus save the BCM4908 for ROG AX?
no idea...

 

[Internet Man]

ASUS RT-AX95U / ASUS RT-AX88U

They all are stick at dual core.
Asus save the BCM4908 for ROG AX?
no idea...

The next ROG AX router seems likely to use a Qualcomm quad-core. https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_GT-AX6000