Asus 4G-AC86u VS Asus 4G-AX56u

[SeaGoat]

Hello.

I am currently using the Asus 4G-AC53u (so pretty basic model) with NordVPN (OpenVPN) installed at the router level and performance is not great with high jitter and lost packets, so I am planning to upgrade to either 4G-AC86u or the latest 4G-AX56u, but I am getting mixed opinions online, the AX86 has slower CPU (I guess this is important for encryption) but higher category, and AX56 is equipped with much quicker CPU but seems to offer less performance. Could I ask for your recommendation?

Ideally I would like to move to a 5G router but Asus isn't yet offering any :-(

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @SeaGoat.

The information I can find in a quick search indicates the 4G-AC86U as the highest spec'd model here. But I don't see the CPUs used in any of them. The 4G-AC53U is the lowest-performing one, rated at just an AC750 Class (for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz combined).

Do you have the CPU information handy on these models? You want AES capabilities on the SoC to have the fastest OpenVPN speeds possible.

What are your ISP paid for speeds? What are your performance expectations over VPN?

 

[SeaGoat]

Welcome to the forums @SeaGoat.

The information I can find in a quick search indicates the 4G-AC86U as the highest spec'd model here. But I don't see the CPUs used in any of them. The 4G-AC53U is the lowest-performing one, rated at just an AC750 Class (for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz combined).

Do you have the CPU information handy on these models? You want AES capabilities on the SoC to have the fastest OpenVPN speeds possible.

What are your ISP paid for speeds? What are your performance expectations over VPN?

Hi, can't seem to find the sources now but I have spent a lot of time on this in the past and made notes with clock speeds:

CPU info:
4G-AC53u - 500 mhz, 256 MB RAM
4G-AC86u - 1.36 Ghz (64-bit dual core) 512 MB RAM
4G-AX56u - 2 Ghz 512 MB RAM

I tend to use prepaid sim cards from different providers so don't have specific speeds I pay for.
As for expectations: low jitter is the most important one, speeds of around 10 to 15 mbps would be perfectly fine.

 

[L&LD]

I find that hard to believe that 4G-AX56U is sporting a 2GHz processor. Particularly with the inferior antennae/streams 2x2:2 vs. 4x4:4 of the 4G-AC86U.

 

[SeaGoat]

Its difficult to find but check this site: Link
It mentions a quad core CPU at 2 Ghz, Broadcom BCM4912

 

[Tech9]

It mentions a quad core CPU at 2 Ghz, Broadcom BCM4912

No way. This router has no Adaptive QoS, no AiMesh and firmware on 382 code base. More likely entry-level Qualcomm or MediaTek SoC with built-in 2x2 2.4GHz and 2x2 5GHz Wi-Fi, AX1800 class. The CPU is dual-core, if you look at the pictures in User Manual.

 

[SeaGoat]

No way. This router has no Adaptive QoS, no AiMesh and firmware on 382 code base. More likely entry-level Qualcomm or MediaTek SoC with built-in 2x2 2.4GHz and 2x2 5GHz Wi-Fi, AX1800 class. The CPU is dual-core, if you look at the pictures in User Manual.

Hm... so you think 4G-AC86u would be the better choice in terms of performance?

 

[sfx2000]

Hm... so you think 4G-AC86u would be the better choice in terms of performance?

The 4G-AC86U has a CAT12 LTe modem, if I recall the 4G-AX56 is CAT6 - the 86U is up to twice as fast on both the uplink and downlink on the WAN side.

 

[Tech9]

Hm... so you think 4G-AC86u would be the better choice in terms of performance?

No idea. Never had such integrated LTE + Router device. It also has firmware on code base 382, dual-core CPU, this time with full TrendMicro components package. None of those routers is a high performance model for sure. Perhaps not needed when WAN is an LTE modem.

 

[Krakadil]

I bought the 4G-AX56U few weeks ago.
Looks like quad core and 512MB RAM



Before update > trash
(lose connection, drops, etc)
After update > perfect (
no issue at all)

4G-AX56U
LTE: Downlink 300 Mbps / Uplink 50 Mbps
4G FDD-LTE: 1 /3 /5 /7 /8 /20 /28
4G TDD-LTE: 38 /40 /41

4G-AC86U
LTE: Downlink 600 Mbps / Uplink 150 Mbps
4G FDD-LTE: 1 /3 /5 /7 /8 /20 /28 /32
4G TDD-LTE: 38 /40 /41

Here we get 300 Mbit/s over LTE only at the Airport or in the center of the city, rest is up to 200 Mbit/s. The AX56U is lighter and smaller than the 4G-AC86U.