[Asus RT-AX88U] Experiences & Discussion

[Erno]

Not all clients support DFS channels.

I tested all channels from 36 to 140 with the original firmware when I bought the router and they worked fine with my clients but WAN connection issue. The router connected to my ISP with 100Mbps. I have a Gigabit connection. I decided to update the firmware to solve the problem. Asus fixed the bug but the wifi started to struggle with my clients.

Could it be the firmware?

I might buy an Asus usb-ac68 or a Netgear A7000 adapter.

Thanks RMerlin

 

[Grisu]

yes, its all their firmware, downgrade (WAN will be same issue as now) but the rest will work again.

 

[riroku]

I'm currently in the market for a new router and was about to get the USG then stumbled on this router for a more ease of use all in one. Has all the kinks been sorted out and Is this router currently worth the pick up?

 

[L&LD]

I don't think the kinks are 100% eliminated yet. But is it worth to pick up?

Depends.

With any 1st generation product, you may enjoy an advantage for a short while, but I feel it would be negated by any 2nd generation or later products that show up for probably much less cost when ax clients are actually available.

If you test fully in your current use against the router(s) you have today, it may show its worth.

I'm in the same position as you currently (I am running an RT-AC3100 with RMerlin firmware), but I haven't seen anything yet to get me to even test the RT-AX88U and seriously consider buying it for my own use.

For a specific customer though? Possibly. It would depend on their network setup, of course. That is why I am planning to test one thoroughly as soon as possible (as work permits).

I'm currently in the market for a new router and was about to get the USG then stumbled on this router for a more ease of use all in one. Has all the kinks been sorted out and Is this router currently worth the pick up?

 

[Nothobranchius]

@RMerlin or anyone!

Please i am OUT OF IDEAS!

I reput my old AC3200 and it runs smooth without any hitches. aargh!
I didnt have time last couple of weeks, but since you released 384.9 i decided to give the RT-AX88U another try.

I reset completely, upload firmware. Set all settings manually.
Wifi set , 5ghz below 52, i tried 44 48 and others.
explicit beamforming off airtime fairness off
QoS off
AiProtection off..

What comes down to is this. I can network and wifi on all devices. But whatever i try, the chromecast AND my plex server are NOT found.
The livingroom has a netgear poe switch with vlan. Default vlan never touched (works on ac3200).
the switch has default connections = tv, chromecast with ethernet, nintendo switch, sony soundsystem.
The network ip from the telenet router has 2 ips. one with 192.x.x.x and the other is 10.x.x.x (they set this only for their network and iptv !)
i set my main switch to 2 vlans, one is vlan 1 with all the ports for internal network 192 , one i created vlan 10 for 10.x.x.x both untagged

the strange thing is, as soon as i plug in the ax88u i get this error in the log and i cant figure it out what it is = i am almost sure it conflicts with something, and i suspect the chromecast.
and my plex server is not found on my ios devices.
But i can see and login on my fixed pc.
do you think it is still the router that is at fault?


see pictures. FYI i tried to disable .ac beamforming and MU-MIMO (linked) also.

 

[EmeraldDeer]

@RMerlin or anyone!

Please i am OUT OF IDEAS!

I reput my old AC3200 and it runs smooth without any hitches. aargh!
I didnt have time last couple of weeks, but since you released 384.9 i decided to give the RT-AX88U another try.

I reset completely, upload firmware. Set all settings manually.
Wifi set , 5ghz below 52, i tried 44 48 and others.
explicit beamforming off airtime fairness off
QoS off
AiProtection off..

What comes down to is this. I can network and wifi on all devices. But whatever i try, the chromecast AND my plex server are NOT found.
The livingroom has a netgear poe switch with vlan. Default vlan never touched (works on ac3200).
the switch has default connections = tv, chromecast with ethernet, nintendo switch, sony soundsystem.
The network ip from the telenet router has 2 ips. one with 192.x.x.x and the other is 10.x.x.x (they set this only for their network and iptv !)
i set my main switch to 2 vlans, one is vlan 1 with all the ports for internal network 192 , one i created vlan 10 for 10.x.x.x both untagged

the strange thing is, as soon as i plug in the ax88u i get this error in the log and i cant figure it out what it is = i am almost sure it conflicts with something, and i suspect the chromecast.
and my plex server is not found on my ios devices.
But i can see and login on my fixed pc.
do you think it is still the router that is at fault?


see pictures. FYI i tried to disable .ac beamforming and MU-MIMO (linked) also.

Your network seems too complicated for anyone to comment on. Perhaps you could focus on the errors.
Do they seem wireless related or Ethernet/VLAN related?
From the Ethernet perspective, don't the errors suggest some kind of loop? Check for obvious connection issues. BR interfaces are LAN and eth interfaces are WAN. The WAN port is receiving a packet that it sent? LAN ports one and two can be aggregated. Make sure this is not enabled if you are not using it. WAN port and LAN port 4 can be aggregated with a beta firmware. Make sure you do not enable this if not using it.
From the VLAN perspective, the RT-AX88U supports VLANs but only under the covers, so I do not want a VLAN tagged other than one arriving at it. I have a guest VLAN on a level 3 switch, but the trunk port out of the switch and into the RT-AX88U LAN port is tagged with a PVID of one.

 

[MestasDeejay]

ok. after 3 months... im returning my 2 ax88u to amazon. i dont think they worht the money atm. maybe in 2 years they are ok but for now i dont think so.

 

[compaddict]

Just setup my new AX and went right to Merlin. After not being able to see my 5GHZ network I went to the latest Asus FW. All works well now and with 160 enabled I get 500mbps through two walls and a glass door. About forty percent faster than my old AC68U. It might have more headroom but my GB from wavecable only gets 500.
More later!
Vince

 

[vdemarco]

So on the AX is it best to use the latest Asus FW or the Merlin version?
About to install my newly purchased AX latter today.

 

[compaddict]

Asus FW worked while the latest Merlin didn't work so well for me. I'm sure that will change. You can try them both easy enough.

 

[RMerlin]

Avoid DFS channels, many clients will fail to connect to these.

 

[eclp]

If you currently want to buy an RT-AX88U via the German Amazon site, you will come across the following hint:

At the moment this item is not available.

This item is available from various Marketplace sellers, but not currently directly through Amazon.com. Customers have warned us that the items stored and sent by us may be inappropriate or deviate from the description on the website.

We are already working on a quick solution. This article may be ordered through a third party.

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07HRBC23B/

There remains the question back to which device revisions is exactly.

Edit:
Also, Amazon has apparently removed already written recessions. Until last week, there were about eight requests to speak from buyers.

 

[Grisu]

6 recensions are still there, one telling about the problem, that the router fails daily after IP change from ISP with no access to router, sometimes even power off necessary to get it working again.

 

[Aforeman78]

Have had RT-AX88U for about a month now. Have latest Merlin installed. Happy with overall range and speed BUT 5G connection drops (perhaps like 2-3 time/day). Tried to deselect 160Mhz and disable AX. If I do that, 5G is not visible anymore on any device. Only if I tick back 160Mhz it shows up again. Wondering if anyone has any idea what could cause that? Roaming assistant is disabled too.

 

[Aforeman78]

forgot to mention that DFS is disabled too

 

[Dave in NM]

Hey i've had my AX88U for a few weeks now. Seems to be working fine. I added my AC1900 as a mesh node, and it was fairly painless. I noted the both Wifi on AX88U were deactivated recently (but not on AC1900) dont' know if i did it accidentally or was a result of last firmware update or just random. Beyond that one incident, no WiFi drops to note or any other issues. Seems stable to me. I do not see an option in GUI to set the accelerated NAT passthru off-chip vs CPU but i assume its considered.

Update -- looks like "I" caused WiFi go off, didn't realize there was a WiFi button (on Front-Right) next to the LED button I was pushing (thought was a WPS button).

 

[RMerlin]

Update -- looks like "I" caused WiFi go off, didn't realize there was a WiFi button (on Front-Right) next to the LED button I was pushing (thought was a WPS button).

Must be the latest security feature from Asus - people wanting to use WPS will actually disable their wifi, making it really secure

 

[Dave in NM]

Must be the latest security feature from Asus - people wanting to use WPS will actually disable their wifi, making it really secure

Yeah i did not notice the main WIFI (5ghz and 2.4 ghz) was off for 3 days (even though i thought it was weird there were less indicator lights on), because the Mesh router was picking up all the wifi from the house.

 

[WiFiSeeder]

Hi guys,

Sorry to bother. Anyone using this router with 1 Gbps or more WAN speed?
Just wondering what kind of speeds you are getting on 5Ghz AC - 80 / 160 MHz at close range (i.e., up to 3 meters / no walls).

Kind regards,

 

[Adamm]

Hi guys,

Sorry to bother. Anyone using this router with 1 Gbps or more WAN speed?
Just wondering what kind of speeds you are getting on 5Ghz AC - 80 / 160 MHz at close range (i.e., up to 3 meters / no walls).

Kind regards,

You can refer to this post about expected "real world" speeds. 1.24 Gbits/sec was the best I was able to achieve under ideal conditions on a 2 stream AC client w/ 160MHz channels.