Asus RT-AX88U Pro vs Asus GT-AXE16000

[DeMon]

Hello everybody,

I have a pretty old Asus router (RT-AC87U). I upgraded my Internet to 2Gb a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm ready to upgrade the router.
Amazon has pretty nice deals for RT-AX88U Pro and GT-AXE16000. The first one is possible to buy for $230 and the second for $440.
Of course, even with such a good deal, they still have a two-times price difference.
Therefore, I wanted to ask our valued community whether it is worth overpaying for AXE16000 and, if so, in which case.

Almost 98% of home devices are connected via Wi-Fi.
I still have very few 6E devices, but they are appearing.
Also, immediately after purchasing any of these devices, I plan to install the firmware from Merlin.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @DeMon.

RT-AX88U Pro, all the way.

Put the saved $210 towards a WiFi 7 Gen 2 (or better) router in the next couple of years.

 

[DeMon]

Welcome to the forums @DeMon.

RT-AX88U Pro, all the way.

Put the saved $210 towards a WiFi 7 Gen 2 (or better) router in the next couple of years.

Yes, I’m also inclined to buy the RT-AX88U Pro. However, I’m a little stopped by the lack of support for 6E devices, and they are now starting to appear as quickly as possible. I might have considered the option of buying the AXE11000, but for some reason, it quickly disappeared from the market, and now the only option in this price range is the AXE7800.

In my case, what other than 6E support could be a killer feature of AXE16000 so I could pay no heed to its price?

 

[Tech9]

RT-AX88U Pro and GT-AXE16000

From the two models above and having in mind what router you are coming from - RT-AX88U Pro.

You won't be able to use 2Gbps ISP on any single device unless you add 2.5GbE switch and corresponding 2.5GbE connected clients. You perhaps won't get anything over Gigabit on Wi-Fi and your 2Gbps ISP is good only for aggregate traffic LAN + WLAN and only sometimes when it happens.

AXE11000

Old hardware router.

AXE7800

Weak hardware router.

 

[DeMon]

From the two models above and having in mind what router you are coming from - RT-AX88U Pro.

You won't be able to use 2Gbps ISP on any single device unless you add 2.5GbE switch and corresponding 2.5GbE connected clients. You perhaps won't get anything over Gigabit on Wi-Fi and your 2Gbps ISP is good only for aggregate traffic LAN + WLAN and only sometimes when it happens.



Old hardware router.



Weak hardware router.

Yes, you're right about the speed, but I'm okay with having a Gigabit on Wi-Fi. In my case, the price for 1 or 2 Gbps was the same.

I think I will pick RT-AX88U Pro. It will be a smart choice.

How about extending my network? I remember I had some spots on the second floor where speed was pretty slow. Which Asus router would be the best in this case?

 

[bbunge]

Save a buck or so. Drop your Internet back to 1 GB and get a RT-AX86U Pro. Will you really use the 2 GB bandwidth?

 

[Tech9]

but I'm okay with having a Gigabit on Wi-Fi

AX-clients only and close to the router. You can get about 800Mbps at 80MHz wide channel. Channels 160MHz wide are not guaranteed and require DFS range + clients with 160MHz support. Your AC-clients will be limited as usual to about 550Mbps. This bandwidth will be shared between all Wi-Fi devices.

I would also drop to 1Gbps ISP line and get the more compact RT-AX86U instead. Don't overpay for something you don't need or will never use.

 

[DeMon]

Save a buck or so. Drop your Internet back to 1 GB and get a RT-AX86U Pro. Will you really use the 2 GB bandwidth?

Yes, RT-AX86U Pro is also a good choice, but the difference between AX86 and AX88 is only $12.

 

[DeMon]

AX-clients only and close to the router. You can get about 800Mbps at 80MHz wide channel. Channels 160MHz wide are not guaranteed and require DFS range + clients with 160MHz support. Your AC-clients will be limited as usual to about 550Mbps. This bandwidth will be shared between all Wi-Fi devices.

I would also drop to 1Gbps ISP line and get the more compact RT-AX86U instead. Don't overpay for something you don't need or will never use.

Yes, you're right that getting something higher than 800Mbps on Wi-Fi is hard. However, all devices that really need a speed higher than 1Gbps will be wired connected, and yes, I will use a 2.5GbE switch for that.

Since I, like many others, have many different devices connected via Wi-Fi, I just want to have a router that would be able to support all of them. Plus, I will set up a mash network to cover some spots where I have a pretty weak signal now. I don't think I need to buy the same router to do that. But what would be the smartest choice in this case?

 

[DeMon]

Guys, thank you so much for helping me choose the right router! Yes, it will be an Asus RT-AX88U Pro.
The new router has already been ordered, and, in theory, as Amazon shows, it'll be waiting for me at the door in the morning.

Now, it’s worth choosing a good friend for him in order to create a reliable mesh network and at the same time for a reasonable price.
As I understand it, my old router is unlikely to be part of this network.

 

[Tech9]

Try the new router first and see how it goes. You may not need an extra router. Careful with custom scripts because some don't work properly on this hardware platform and some are no longer supported. Try the router barebones first and then jump to customizations.

 

[DeMon]

Try the new router first and see how it goes. You may not need an extra router.

good point, thanks

Careful with custom scripts because some don't work properly on this hardware platform and some are no longer supported. Try the router barebones first and then jump to customizations.

Do you mean to start with the original firmware and only, after successfully completing the setup, update the latest Merlin firmware?

 

[Tech9]

Do you mean to start with the original firmware

Current Asuswrt for this router is newer 3.0.0.6 base with some VLAN support. You may want to see it. Asuswrt-Merlin is still on 3.0.0.4 base. What firmware you are going to use depends on what features do you want to have. There are new Pro features in Asuswrt not available in Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[DeMon]

Current Asuswrt for this router is newer 3.0.0.6 base with some VLAN support. You may want to see it. Asuswrt-Merlin is still on 3.0.0.4 base. What firmware you are going to use depends on what features do you want to have. There are new Pro features in Asuswrt not available in Asuswrt-Merlin.

Do you recommend leaving on the original 3006 base until Merlin moves all scripts from 3004 to 3006?

 

[Tech9]

I would take a look what's new at least. If you don't need complex VPN configurations or Custom Scripts perhaps what you need you'll find available in current Asuswrt. It has VPN Fusion, extra WAN settings with DoT and DNSSEC, extra LAN settings similar to what Asuswrt-Merlin has, DDNS with external IP detection, etc. Some of the popular Asuswrt-Merlin features were ported to Asuswrt some time ago. Also you may need to know UPnP in Asuswrt-Merlin may not work in double NAT (if you have an ISP provided modem/router with no bridge mode), but works in Asuswrt. This is not a bug. Asuswrt-Merlin uses newer miniupnpd version with some changes. Asuswrt uses older version. May be important if you play games.

 

[Tech9]

until Merlin moves all scripts from 3004 to 3006

RMerlin doesn't "move" any scripts. Some of the script developers moved to different platforms.

 

[DeMon]

I would take a look what's new at least. If you don't need complex VPN configurations or Custom Scripts perhaps what you need you'll find it available in current Asuswrt. It has VPN Fusion, extra WAN settings with DoT and DNSSEC, extra LAN configurations similar to what Asuswrt-Merlin has, DDNS with external IP detection, etc. Some of the popular Asuswrt-Merlin features were ported to Asuswrt some time ago. Also you may need to know UPnP in Asuswrt-Merlin may not work in double NAT (if you have an ISP provided modem/router with no bridge mode), but works in Asuswrt. This is not a bug. Asuswrt-Merlin uses newer miniupnpd version with some changes. Asuswrt uses older version. May be important if you play games.

Thanks for the explanation! Yes, using the current setup from the box is a good point. I have some tricky things for VPN related to my job, but all other things are pretty simple. So, I will do a simple job first and see more complex scenarios next.

 

[DeMon]

RMerlin doesn't "move" any scripts. Some of the script developers moved to different platforms.

I meant that they started preparing to move to the 3.0.0.6 codebase. As far as I remember, this was mentioned in the last update.

 

[Tech9]

I have some tricky things for VPN related to my job

Job related VPN I would keep on a job related device only.

I meant that they started preparing to move to the 3.0.0.6 codebase

This is for the firmware only. Unrelated to custom scripts. They are supported by their authors. Some recent changes in Asuswrt prevent some scripts from running properly, some scripts were dropped by the authors, some were taken over by other developers, etc. There are many new scripts as well. Before you install any scripts read the corresponding release threads. Don't just copy your old router configuration over to your new router.

 

[DeMon]

Job related VPN I would keep on a job related device only.



This is for the firmware only. Unrelated to custom scripts. They are supported by their authors. Some recent changes in Asuswrt prevent some scripts from running properly, some scripts were dropped by the authors, some were taken over by other developers, etc. There are many new scripts as well. Before you install any scripts read the corresponding release threads. Don't just copy your old router configuration over to your new router.

It makes sense. I use a few custom scripts on my current router, but I'll double-check before installing them on a new device. Thanks!