Asus AC5300 or AC88

[PaperFriend]

Don't want to jinx myself but I got the 5300 and it is the best performance out of the box that I have seen from ASUS in the last few years. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[sfx2000]

2.4 GHz is all settled, mainly struggling with over crowded channel usage. 802.11n is the way to go for 2.4 GHz, set to a bandwidth of 20 MHz in crowded areas and select a device with external antenna's for the best performance.

2.4GHz isn't dead just yet, just getting a lot more congested...

5 GHz is struggling with the 802.11ac compliance and DFS. You only get the best out of 802.11ac if both ends, the router and clients do support the same 802.11ac features (that is: bandwidth, number of streams, beamforming, MU-MIMO and more).

Loaded statement...

1) 5GHz is not struggling, not in the slightest - getting a bit more busy perhaps, but 20/40/80MHz channels, not overlapping, and no legacy cruft like 2.4GHz, it's a nicer space to work with - and limited propagation makes things easier in higher density areas...

2) DFS is generally not a problem - depends on where you live, but DFS opens up a lot of channels we otherwise wouldn't have - I run both my AP's in DFS channels, as they're fairly open and quiet...

3) Beamforming - 11ac, it's part of the standard, and better implemented/specified than the trainwreck we saw with 11n - not a big deal...

4) MU-MIMO - ties in with beamforming - e.g. must have Beamforming to have MU, otherwise, everything is SU. In any event, MU traffic doesn't impact SU traffic in the slightest...

Further on 5 GHz struggles with shared channel usage, resulting in the requirement of DFS (google it). DFS can cause data interuptions, and you will struggle to make use of the full bandwidth (requiring more free adjacent channels).

DFS, in some AP configs, might cause disruption, but generally I've found it's fairly friendly with the right gear... AP's that properly support DFS, they opt-in after a period of time, and opt-out if a triggering event occurs - this is all layer 2, and happens very quickly, and Layer 3 and above shouldn't see an outright outage...

I'm not certain where you're coming from with "struggle... make full... more free channels" - please elaborate here?

Keep in mind, I'm wearing my recovering standards engineer and AP developer hat, so be specific...

In my opinion 5 GHz is ending. New (higher) frequencies will become available, dedicated for wireless data communication.

Actually, outside of the 60GHz stuff, most interest these days are in the 900MHz band (for IoT) and 3.5GHz (it's another, less use unlicensed band, at least here in US)...

Oh, by the way, I fixed your spelling - it's "available" not "availble"

 

[fiberboy]

I prefer AC88

 

[TxIceMan]

I'm facing the same dilemma, just upgraded my internet connection to 300Mbps down. I currently have the RT-N66R, looking to upgrade my router to take advantage of the upgraded internet speeds. I think I've narrowed things down between the AC5300 and the AC88u. Do the extra 4 antennas make THAT much of a difference in terms of consistent speed as well as coverage?

 

[RMerlin]

I'm facing the same dilemma, just upgraded my internet connection to 300Mbps down. I currently have the RT-N66R, looking to upgrade my router to take advantage of the upgraded internet speeds. I think I've narrowed things down between the AC5300 and the AC88u. Do the extra 4 antennas make THAT much of a difference in terms of consistent speed as well as coverage?

No. The extra antennas are only because there's a second 5 GHz radio, which will use those four extra antennas.

 

[TxIceMan]

No. The extra antennas are only because there's a second 5 GHz radio, which will use those four extra antennas.

Thanks! So the AC88u would be the better choice then? What criteria would make the AC5300 the better choice?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks! So the AC88u would be the better choice then? What criteria would make the AC5300 the better choice?

AC5300 is an interesting choice if you have a lot of 5 GHz clients, and more than one of them does a lot of transfers, such as video streaming.