ASUS RT-BE92U BE9700 is now the most popular Asus router on pricerunner.dk.

[Poul Bak]

I have read some old questions about Merlin support for RT-BE92U. The answers there were: "Don't count on that, nobody uses that router".

That's why I find it interesting that when I search on pricerunner, it shows that it's the most popular Asus router at the moment.
Personally I'm not surprised, it has both Wifi 7 AND 6 Ghz support.
Ok, if you have 20 wireless devices, all downloading and streaming (or need 10 wired connections), then its not for you, but many home users don't need that.

Here's the link to pricerunner: Pricerunner

 

[bennor]

[FAQ] READ ME FIRST before posting a question

Model support Q: Will you support the RT-xxxxxx that was just announced? A: See detailed answer in post #3. Q: Will you support router XYZ from this non-Asus manufacturer? A: No. Asuswrt-Merlin only targets Asus-supported models, due to both technical and legal reasons. Q: I'm having...

www.snbforums.com

Q: Will you add support for model XYZ?
A: The decision whether or not to support a new model depend on a long list of factors, which may evolve over time. Right now:

- It needs to be Broadcom-based
- It needs to be widely available (not just in two or three countries)
- It needs to have high-end hardware so I don't have to fight with lack of flash or RAM
- It needs to receive frequent enough GPLs so I won't have to regularly skip it due to the GPL being outdated
- I need to have one
- I need to have the time to try supporting it
- I need to have the motivation to try supporting it

Each new model requires its own dedicated support. That means every time I work on a new firmware release, I have to work on each separate model, and I need GPL releases from Asus for each individual model, and I need to merge each of them separately. So that means if I support 10 different routers, then I need to merge in the content of 10 different GPL releases, and these need to be close enough to one another to still be compatible. The more models I support, the harder this is to accomplish, therefore I am VERY conservative regarding adding any new model.

So don't ask if/when a new model will be supported. I cannot speculate about future model support, and until I have working support for a model, I cannot answer that question.

FAQ

Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

Q: Will you support router "RT-xXX" from Asus?
A: Most likely not. Without having an actual router to test with, building a firmware that people would flash without me having at least confirmed it can be flashed at all would be far too risky.

 

[Poul Bak]

[FAQ] READ ME FIRST before posting a question

Model support Q: Will you support the RT-xxxxxx that was just announced? A: See detailed answer in post #3. Q: Will you support router XYZ from this non-Asus manufacturer? A: No. Asuswrt-Merlin only targets Asus-supported models, due to both technical and legal reasons. Q: I'm having...

www.snbforums.com

Q: Will you add support for model XYZ?
A: The decision whether or not to support a new model depend on a long list of factors, which may evolve over time. Right now:

- It needs to be Broadcom-based
- It needs to be widely available (not just in two or three countries)
- It needs to have high-end hardware so I don't have to fight with lack of flash or RAM
- It needs to receive frequent enough GPLs so I won't have to regularly skip it due to the GPL being outdated
- I need to have one
- I need to have the time to try supporting it
- I need to have the motivation to try supporting it

Each new model requires its own dedicated support. That means every time I work on a new firmware release, I have to work on each separate model, and I need GPL releases from Asus for each individual model, and I need to merge each of them separately. So that means if I support 10 different routers, then I need to merge in the content of 10 different GPL releases, and these need to be close enough to one another to still be compatible. The more models I support, the harder this is to accomplish, therefore I am VERY conservative regarding adding any new model.

So don't ask if/when a new model will be supported. I cannot speculate about future model support, and until I have working support for a model, I cannot answer that question.

FAQ

Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

Q: Will you support router "RT-xXX" from Asus?
A: Most likely not. Without having an actual router to test with, building a firmware that people would flash without me having at least confirmed it can be flashed at all would be far too risky.

This is not a question, just som observations. If it in any anyway influences @Merlin's decisions, that will be fine by me.

 

[Tech9]

it shows that it's the most popular Asus router at the moment

It's the cheapest Wi-Fi 7 tri-band Asus router. I see from your old posts you want one, but careful when reading reviews. Your router in Denmark will come restricted to local EU regulations. You'll have 100mW on 2.4GHz band, 200mW on non-DFS range 5GHz band and 200mW on 6GHz band on limited to U-NII-5 channels. The test results or experience someone else reports from US, CA or KR regions don't apply to your device in your region. Your router will be different and your house is perhaps not build from cardboard.

 

[Poul Bak]

It's the cheapest Wi-Fi 7 tri-band Asus router. I see from your old posts you want one, but careful when reading reviews. Your router in Denmark will come restricted to local EU regulations. You'll have 100mW on 2.4GHz band, 200mW on non-DFS range 5GHz band and 200mW on 6GHz band on limited to U-NII-5 channels. The test results or experience someone else reports from US, CA or KR regions don't apply to your device in your region. Your router will be different and your house is perhaps not build from cardboard.

I'm aware of the differences (nothing I can do about those). In Europe we can't get 320Mhz band on 5Ghz, only on 6Ghz. 5Ghz only have ONE 160Mhz band. That's why I don't want a router without 6Ghz.

 

[Tech9]

Any modern router will be significant upgrade in user experience compared to your RT-AC68U with >12 years old hardware inside.

 

[Sander_H]

Tbh, i was looking to see if it makes sense to upgrade any of my AX86 (Pro)s, but really, the only worthwhile upgrade would be the BE92.

Wifi 7 without 6Ghz is really not a worthwhile upgrade.
Yes, range will suck on 6Ghz, but, if you have a Mesh network in your home, less of an issue.

 

[Poul Bak]

Any modern router will be significant upgrade in user experience compared to your RT-AC68U with >12 years old hardware inside.

Absolutely. But why not go 'all the way' and skip upgrading in 2 years?

Wifi 7 without 6Ghz is really not a worthwhile upgrade.

Agree, Wifi 7 routers without 6GHz are first generation routers and I never by those, they have not implemented the full standard.

 

[Tech9]

Wifi 7 routers without 6GHz are first generation routers

No, all current models are first gen devices with fair share of issues. Half of the world's population lives in places where 6GHz band is not available and this is the market dual-band devices are targeting. There will be second gen dual-band devices.

Absolutely. But why not go 'all the way' and skip upgrading in 2 years?

Because you'll probably be beta testing this device in next 2 years. There is no future proofing with home routers. You just overpay for something you don't need now and when you need it better and cheaper devices will be available on the market.

 

[Poul Bak]

Because you'll probably be beta testing this device in next 2 years.

You know, they have a name for when beta testing is over, it's called 'Out of support'.

 

[kjoshj]

@Poul Bak: The BE92U uses Arm A7 cores, which are +25% less performant than the A53 cores per MHz that all of the supported BE routers use and (Corrected by @RMerlin) it's clocked slower. Merlin did support the AX series with A7 cores SoCs knowing they were entry level, while the AXE7800, the closest thing to a WiFi 6 version of the BE92U, was never picked up even though it used the same SoC as these entry level supported devices.

If you want 6Ghz and Merlin, get the BE96U already, give it up. I'm picking up a BE92U to use as a mesh node knowing that Merlin will not support it, and that the CPU is much weaker than the one used in the BE86U, 88U, 96U, etc...

 

[Ice9]

@Poul Bak: The BE92U uses Arm A7 cores, which are 25% less performant than the A9 cores per MHz that all of the supported BE routers use and it's clocked slower. Merlin did support the AX series with A7 cores SoCs knowing they were entry level, while the AXE7800, the closest thing to a WiFi 6 version of the BE92U, was never picked up even though it used the same SoC as these entry level supported devices.

If you want 6Ghz and Merlin, get the BE96U already, give it up. I'm picking up a BE92U to use as a mesh node knowing that Merlin will not support it, and that the CPU is much weaker than the one used in the BE86U, 88U, 96U, etc...

Thanks for this information. Very handy to know.

So does the BE92U use the same CPU as in the older AX model series? What cores does your AX86U Pro have?

I was actually looking at the BE92U, but that is off the list now. I'll stick with keeping track of prices on the RT-BE88U and BE86U if they have better performing cores (I knew they had a faster CPU at 2.6Ghz, but didn't realize the cores were also faster per Mhz).

On the Asus website it usually just lists the Mhz, but not the cores, so how would you find out what cores a certain router uses?

 

[kjoshj]

@Ice9: https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru is an amazingly detailed resource that unfortunately just doesn't list every device, (the AX86U Pro and AX88U Pro are missing from their pages while they already have the BE86U and BE88U added).

List of Broadcom SoCs:

Broadcom/SoC

Broadcom

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

The BE92U uses the WiFi SoC BCM6765 with radios integrated, while the Merlin supported BE routers use Broadcom's general purpose platform BCM4916 and dedicated radio chips.

Edit: The AX Pro series and GT-AX6000 use the BCM4912, very similar to the BCM4916 used in BE series (an evolution of the BCM4908 used in the 3004 branch devices, smaller node etc...). Similarly the BE92U uses a SoC that is very similar to the AX BCM6756 & 6755 used in AX58Uv2, AX3000v2, etc..

That's what people are missing about the BE92U, its a whole different platform and SDK he'd have to maintain for a single model at the moment, while he's currently doing the heavy lift of moving the BCM4912 AX models to 3006.

 

[RMerlin]

@Poul Bak: The BE92U uses Arm A7 cores, which are +25% less performant than the A53 cores per MHz that all of the supported BE routers use and it's clocked slower. Merlin did support the AX series with A7 cores SoCs knowing they were entry level, while the AXE7800, the closest thing to a WiFi 6 version of the BE92U, was never picked up even though it used the same SoC as these entry level supported devices.

Not quite.

Dual 2x2 320MHz Wi-Fi 7, quad-core ARM SoC | BCM6765

BCM6765 is a dual SoC communications processor that enables low-power, small form factor multi-gigabit access points, routers, repeaters and service provider gateways for residential applications.

www.broadcom.com

 

[kjoshj]

Not quite.

Dual 2x2 320MHz Wi-Fi 7, quad-core ARM SoC | BCM6765

BCM6765 is a dual SoC communications processor that enables low-power, small form factor multi-gigabit access points, routers, repeaters and service provider gateways for residential applications.

www.broadcom.com

Nice, thanks! (I should've caught that v8 as listed on Wikidevi doesn't include A7 as also listed on Wikidevi)
So is it using A/B53 cores like the BCM4916, maybe configured with less L2 or something? (Beyond being a whole SoC) Glad they moved to v8 for the BE SoC's.

If Wikidevi would ever send my email activation link I could fix their data on the SoC's too then... I've given up hope on that. I've been cleaning up the device data for OpenWRT instead lately.

 

[JWoo]

The RT-BE92U is a popular router because it is tri band, hitting a very competitive price point and has decent specs. It also appears to be sold in nearly all Asus markets globally. In the US, Best Buy gets a handful in stock at a brick & mortar store and they sell pretty much immediately. So definitely in terms of volume this is a winner for Asus.