Asus Flagship?

[Michael James]

I am struggling between Netgear Nighthawk x10 and ASUS, maybe the RT-AC88U. I have used ASUS for a long time and know the product. But I dont think they have release a flagship product since end of 2015? I may be wrong. I think the 88U was in Dec 2015. (so its almost 2 years old now)

I want to buy the very best and have money to spend. I will be going to COMCAST XFINITY 1000 mbps (gigabit) by the end of the year. I just installed the Netgear CM1000 CAble modem. I am not a gamer.
Streaming video though may be an option. I currently am using the RT-AC66U

What is the latest greatest high end ASUS router? or what are your thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I think there new flag ship router is the RT-AC86.

 

[Michael James]

I thought that was a mid level product?

 

[Revelstone77]

I am struggling between Netgear Nighthawk x10 and ASUS, maybe the RT-AC88U. I have used ASUS for a long time and know the product. But I dont think they have release a flagship product since end of 2015? I may be wrong. I think the 88U was in Dec 2015. (so its almost 2 years old now)

I want to buy the very best and have money to spend. I will be going to COMCAST XFINITY 1000 mbps (gigabit) by the end of the year. I just installed the Netgear CM1000 CAble modem. I am not a gamer.
Streaming video though may be an option. I currently am using the RT-AC66U

What is the latest greatest high end ASUS router? or what are your thoughts?

I thought this was their flagship https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DPCKQ6/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[Michael James]

Is the RT-AC86U better than the RT-AC88U?

 

[Trentors]

Is the RT-AC86U better than the RT-AC88U?

In what way? CPU-wise: Yes.

 

[Trentors]

It is a good question. Their flagship should be GT-AC5300 but they ruined with all their "cool" gamer stuff. It requires so many GUI changes to AsusWRT that it is just a waste. And RMerlin is not supporting either.

If I had to choose a new router the GT-AC5300 would have been obvious since it is triband (that works unlike MU-MIMO). But they whole ROG GUI is really preventing this. I also predict issues with the firmware updates for this model since it is so radical different from the other AsusWRT models.

 

[thiggins]

I thought that was a mid level product?

What do you think the difference is between mid-level and top-end?

 

[Michael James]

What do you think the difference is between mid-level and top-end?

Good question Tim. Im just one of those guys that typically buy the highest level performer a company offers. ive been pretty Asus driven in the past 5 years buying their laptops and routers exclusively. Now, Im not a gamer but Im running 8 high def cameras for home security and just want the fastest speeds I can get for movie downloads and the such.

 

[thiggins]

How has buying the most expensive router been working for you?

Triband routers can help if you have a lot of dualband devices and if you are willing to manually assign them to radios. Otherwise you are wasting money vs. just buying a two radio 4x4 router.

 

[RMerlin]

Personally, I think you can't label a single product as the flagship, as different products will cover different needs. The Lyra is their flagship for Mesh networking for example.

Currently, I consider the RT-AC86U and GT-AC5300 the two flagships (dual and tri bands). I put the RT-AC86U ahead of the RT-AC88U despite its lower price because the hardware in it is just vastly superior in many ways to the RT-AC88U. SMB performance is almost double, VPN performance is triple, etc...

 

[Trentors]

Personally, I think you can't label a single product as the flagship, as different products will cover different needs. The Lyra is their flagship for Mesh networking for example.

Currently, I consider the RT-AC86U and GT-AC5300 the two flagships (dual and tri bands). I put the RT-AC86U ahead of the RT-AC88U despite its lower price because the hardware in it is just vastly superior in many ways to the RT-AC88U. SMB performance is almost double, VPN performance is triple, etc...

How do you feel about the GT-AC5300? Is it a dead end with all its flashy unnecessary modifications to AsusWRT (and I assume that is why you will not support it)?

 

[RMerlin]

How do you feel about the GT-AC5300? Is it a dead end with all its flashy unnecessary modifications to AsusWRT (and I assume that is why you will not support it)?

Too expensive just to get a third band. The other differences don't justify the price difference with the RT-AC86U.

 

[thiggins]

Personally, I think you can't label a single product as the flagship, as different products will cover different needs

I suppose I should also plead mea culpa by describing the 86U as "mainstream midrange".

What I was trying to say was it's the best choice for most people looking for an ASUS router.

 

[RMerlin]

I suppose I should also plead mea culpa by describing the 86U as "mainstream midrange".

What I was trying to say was it's the best choice for most people looking for an ASUS router.

Labeling something as a flagship is a matter of perspective. Calling the RT-AC86U "mainstream midrange" isn't a bad label either, if you compare it to the GT-AC5300 based on number of streams and the price. For some people, higher price = better. Ask any audiophile

Personally I label the RT-AC86U as a flagship model based on the fact that I don't see it competing with the GT-AC5300 - I consider tri-band routers to be a complete separate product line. Same reason I considered the RT-AC87U the flagship of its time and not the RT-AC3200.

 

[RMerlin]

My general recommendation for the Asus product line is something like this.

El cheapo, so dad can go on Facebook: RT-N300 (former RT-N12)
Good performance/price: RT-AC66U_B1 and RT-AC68U
High-end: RT-AC86U
Tri-band (if you really need it): RT-AC5300

I dismiss the RT-AC88U/RT-AC3100 now that the RT-AC86U is on the market, as they are slightly more expensive. I dismiss the GT-AC5300 because its price is way too high, and so far firmware updates are rather infrequent despite the current issues still affecting that model.

 

[Phoenix]

Labeling something as a flagship is a matter of perspective. Calling the RT-AC86U "mainstream midrange" isn't a bad label either, if you compare it to the GT-AC5300 based on number of streams and the price. For some people, higher price = better. Ask any audiophile

Personally I label the RT-AC86U as a flagship model based on the fact that I don't see it competing with the GT-AC5300 - I consider tri-band routers to be a complete separate product line. Same reason I considered the RT-AC87U the flagship of its time and not the RT-AC3200.

how about range, does the AC86U have better, worse, or the same Wireless range as the AC88U?

 

[RMerlin]

how about range, does the AC86U have better, worse, or the same Wireless range as the AC88U?

I don't know, check Tim's router ranker, he's tested both models.

At this point, I expect all high-end models to be pretty much the same, within some error margin.

 

[thiggins]

The AC88U was not retested with the Revision 10 process. So you can't directly compare it with the AC86U.

 

[maxbraketorque]

The AC88U was not retested with the Revision 10 process. So you can't directly compare it with the AC86U.

If you can find the time, it would be nice to see one or two of the common ASUS routers (e.g., an RT-AC68U or RT-AC88U) run through rev 10 to provide perspective on the newer ASUS products.