Anyone itching to get the new AX88 just for more power to run scripts?

[JaimeZX]

Why does my 3200 only have 256MB of RAM?

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AX88U is more than 'twice' as good than the 512MB RT-AC3100 and the RT-AC86U too (at least with regards to RAM).

 

[K-2SO]

Why does my 3200 only have 256MB of RAM?

Because they couldn't find 192MB chip at the time.

 

[madfusker]

It's not exactly new (Sept 2018), but I did pick one up last October. Mostly to get more power over the 86U to run high speed VPN. The 88U doesnt even flinch the CPU pulling 250 Meg down with 256 bit encryption. Love it, especially on merlin.


Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk

 

[cmkelley]

Why does my 3200 only have 256MB of RAM?

I really wish ASUS had ported AiMesh to the 3200, it would have made a really good mesh node, I think. I suppose it can still make a decent access point if you can hard wire it. Right now mine is being used as a very expensive 4-port switch. :-(

 

[K-2SO]

Mostly to get more power over the 86U to run high speed VPN.

The two have identical CPU cores. OpenVPN uses single core. AC86U can also do 250Mbps.

 

[madfusker]

I never could get mine to do more than about 50 down no matter what I tried using open VPN.

 

[K-2SO]

I never could get mine to do more than about 50 down no matter what I tried using open VPN.

Not the best server perhaps. With 1-2 clients the performance is the same.

 

[madfusker]

Ahh, yeah, you are correct! I was mixed up and thinking of my 68U I had 3 generations back.

So main X88U advantage is new wifi standards and you could run VPN on different cores if needed. This thing still costs a dang fortune however I was lucky enough to get mine for $220 shipped. Otherwise it still seems like the 86 is the way to go. X88U is basically like a full computer power wise and you could seriously script trick it out to run a lot of stuff. Especially when you think about external storage.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Anyone itching to get the new AX88 just for more power to run scripts?

No, not at all.

 

[brummygit]

Yes, been trying for more than a week but out of stock everywhere even remotely decent on price. My RT-AC68U isn't cutting it on the memory or CPU front anymore, so the memory and 8 ethernet ports wins for me.

 

[K-2SO]

X88U is basically like a full computer power wise and you could seriously script trick it out to run a lot of stuff.

Common scripts in AMTM are not CPU hungry. I wouldn't upgrade the router just because of the scripts.

 

[Makaveli]

The two have identical CPU cores. OpenVPN uses single core. AC86U can also do 250Mbps.

This is correct but on the 86U you only have 1 core left for routing while the other one is pegged 100%.

On the 88U you still have 3 core available after loading 1 fully.

 

[K-2SO]

On the 88U you still have 3 core available after loading 1 fully.

How many cores are used for routing in AX88U? I'm guessing, one.
AX88U has advantage with multiple OVPN clients on different cores.

 

[Makaveli]

How many cores are used for routing in AX88U? I'm guessing, one.
AX88U has advantage with multiple OVPN clients on different cores.

Even with 1 client you still have more resources available and running other things while that is going will bog down the router faster when its Dual cores vs quad and 512ram vs 1GB

 

[admiral2145]

Went from a rt-ac68u to a rt-ax88u... Phenomenal upgrade! I don't care about 6e not ready yet ect... This router is a beast and when they make upgraded 6e version I'll have that as well! Not having a wifi 6 device my wifi 5/ac devices have easy better service and speed.

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[K-2SO]

Even with 1 client you still have more resources available

Agree on more resources part. Especially on more RAM part. For the same price you can get 2 AC86U routers though. What AMTM scripts run faster on AX88U? AMTM is what most people use. This is the question - Would you consider AX88U for more power to run scripts? The only right advice above is provided by @ColinTaylor, IMHO.

 

[Makaveli]

Agree on more resources part. Especially on more RAM part. For the same price you can get 2 AC86U routers though. What AMTM scripts run faster on AX88U? AMTM is what most people use. This is the question - Would you consider AX88U for more power to run scripts? The only right advice above is provided by @ColinTaylor, IMHO.

I would choose the AX88U over the AC86U because it will last longer without even looking at the script question. When I buy routers they need to last 5 years before I cycle it out for a newer model. That is just me though I cannot speak for others.

 

[cmkelley]

If you want to do scripting for non-router related tasks, or run a fileserver on the absolute cheapest hardware, get yourself a $35 Raspberry Pi 4 with 1 Gb of memory and go to town. SSH into the RPi is no different from SSH into the router, you can set it up without ever connecting a monitor or keyboard to it. You can even VNC into it and have a full remote desktop with a pretty GUI interface to set up samba. Don't go buy a $300 router to do tasks you can do equally well on RPi setup costing well under $100 with case, USB power supply, and SDHC card.

<soapbox>
My personal opinion is, use routers for routing, not fileserving or any other tasks that aren't related to routing, unless they use a very small amount of resources (e.g. ntp). And speaking of NTP, while I really appreciate the fine work @Jack Yaz has done with ntpMerlin, given the number of problems people have due to not being able to reach an external NTP server on bootup, having another computer (with a battery-backed clock!) on your network acting as an NTP server takes care of that problem straight away. With an ntp server internal to your network, you'll virtually always be able to reach it on bootup, and if you can't, you have much bigger problems. Also, I think the LAN comes up before the WAN, so you'll be able to reach it sooner.
</soapbox>

 

[GHammer]

My personal opinion is, use routers for routing, not fileserving or any other tasks that aren't related to routing

Hear, hear!