ASUS Unveils RT-BE88U WiFi 7 Dual-Band Router

[xwildx]

I use the SFP+ port to connect the internet fiber directly. For my needs its the best design.

 

[Tech9]

pc-canada

Best Buy in the US

This increases the chances of getting Asuswrt-Merlin support, but still RMerlin will have the final say.

 

[sfx2000]

Here you go, some actual benchmarks, on a GT-AX6000.

Just throwing things across...

SSD directly attach - WD NVME...

Seagate 4TB Backup Plus - spinning rust... this is a 4TB 2.5 inch USB 3 HDD...

And one last one - Synology NAS over ethernet...

 

[aex.perez]

This increases the chances of getting Asuswrt-Merlin support, but still RMerlin will have the final say.

Checked since it was shared they were at BestBuy US, the three closest BB's to me, and all have stock .
After calling and checking with each of them, I could get three of these today, if I were so inclined to be a Beta tester

Too soon and too many unknowns, but now that they're availble locally it's just a matter of time

 

[jasz]

Why is the design weird? Why would a switch be needed pre-router (which also wouldn’t work since a switch has no routing capabilities)?

Because there's no way to route multi gig output to other PC's from ISP provided 10G Gateway. Built in switch is port bottlenecked to 2.5/1G.

You could likely use the SFP port as a 2nd 10G, but it's pretty redundant and adds cost.

One argument would be to use the SFP for a fiber module, but many US based providers pass through gateways that have to authenticate service. (Or the backend from ISP is literally tied into the unit itself..)

 

[Retr0]

Just throwing things across...

SSD directly attach - WD NVME...

View attachment 59117

What is that drive attached to?
I highly doubt these speeds are coming from any router's usb port.

 

[Richard1864]

Because there's no way to route multi gig output to other PC's from ISP provided 10G Gateway. Built in switch is port bottlenecked to 2.5/1G.

You could likely use the SFP port as a 2nd 10G, but it's pretty redundant and adds cost.

One argument would be to use the SFP for a fiber module, but many US based providers pass through gateways that have to authenticate service. (Or the backend from ISP is literally tied into the unit itself..)

The router has TWO 10 GbE ports, don’t forget that. The vast majority of ISP-provided gateways don’t have more than one 5 GbE port and the rest are 1 GbE ports. Most computers only come with 1 GbE ports, no multigig ports.

Most ISP’s don't provide more than 1.2 or 2 Gbps, barely multigig. That’s why most routers and gateways won’t provide Ethernet past 2.5 GbE for years yet.

You would need to use a 10 GbE switch connected to one of the 10 GbE ports on the router to get more than 2.5 GbE to any other devices. ISP-provided gateways don’t have that capability.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Just throwing things across...

SSD directly attach - WD NVME...

I was only using a SanDisk flash drive...
What as the CPU usage at?

And one last one - Synology NAS over ethernet...

What do you expect when you're limited to Gigabit Ethernet?

 

[TheLostSwede]

The router has TWO 10 GbE ports, don’t forget that. The vast majority of ISP-provided gateways don’t have more than one 5 GbE port and the rest are 1 GbE ports. Most computers only come with 1 GbE ports, no multigig ports.

Most ISP’s don't provide more than 1.2 or 2 Gbps, barely multigig. That’s why most routers and gateways won’t provide Ethernet past 2.5 GbE for years yet.

You would need to use a 10 GbE switch connected to one of the 10 GbE ports on the router to get more than 2.5 GbE to any other devices. ISP-provided gateways don’t have that capability.

Keep in mind that in some countries you just have an Ethernet jack and get whatever speed the ISP switch/router in the basement/attic of your building offers. So some people actually have a 10 Gbps port in their homes and no other hardware is needed to get online.
There are also a lot of countries that rely on ONTs which converts the fibre to copper in the home, which also gives you a copper Ethernet port with no extra hardware needed.
As such, your suggested scenarios only applies to some people.

 

[Richard1864]

Keep in mind that in some countries you just have an Ethernet jack and get whatever speed the ISP switch/router in the basement/attic of your building offers. So some people actually have a 10 Gbps port in their homes and no other hardware is needed to get online.
There are also a lot of countries that rely on ONTs which converts the fibre to copper in the home, which also gives you a copper Ethernet port with no extra hardware needed.
As such, your suggested scenarios only applies to some people.

I’m responding to the scenario proposed by Jasz. And in the US, most homes that have Ethernet-wiring only have 1 Gbps, not 10 Gbps. 10 GbE is not very wide-spread residentially in the US, Canada, Europe, or Asia, nor is 2.5 GbE.

In Texas for example (where I live), newest homes only come with 1 GbE prewired, and customers have to request it; none have 2,5 or 10 GbE wired in the house. California is the only state that has 2.5 GbE prewired in latest new homes as standard.

 

[jasz]

The router has TWO 10 GbE ports, don’t forget that. The vast majority of ISP-provided gateways don’t have more than one 5 GbE port and the rest are 1 GbE ports. Most computers only come with 1 GbE ports, no multigig ports.

Most ISP’s don't provide more than 1.2 or 2 Gbps, barely multigig. That’s why most routers and gateways won’t provide Ethernet past 2.5 GbE for years yet.

No, it has single 10G + SFP which can be used for a 10G SFP.... But this adds external cost. My argument was to just spend $100-200 more for something with dual 10G + SFP when there's a sale... 10G XGS-PON and 10G EPON has been gaining full popularity over the past year on the fiber end.

Cable providers like Spectrum are currently deploying 10G DPoE FTTH nodes for newer areas (Still DOCSIS from CMTS). The goal is to run it aside 10G DOCSIS 4.0 for legacy builds by 2026. 2 years away, but still a long term factor.

I stated multi gig. I already knew the argument was going to be "but were on lower speeds".

You would need to use a 10 GbE switch connected to one of the 10 GbE ports on the router to get more than 2.5 GbE to any other devices. ISP-provided gateways don’t have that capability.

G fiber, Lumen (Quantum), Spectrum, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Frontier, optimum.. will all offer 10G Ethernet output via ISP provided hardware by 2026. Half are already deployed to certain markets.

I'm sure I'm missing many more companies.

I’m responding to the scenario proposed by Jasz. And in the US, most homes that have Ethernet-wiring only have 1 Gbps, not 10 Gbps. 10 GbE is not very wide-spread residentially in the US, Canada, Europe, or Asia, nor is 2.5 GbE.

In Texas for example (where I live), newest homes only come with 1 GbE prewired, and customers have to request it; none have 2,5 or 10 GbE wired in the house. California is the only state that has 2.5 GbE prewired in latest new homes as standard.

CAT5E can support over 1G, just not officially. ANSI/TIA 568 CAT spec is "bare min" @ 328FT between E2E termination. Not all cables are created equal.

A solid core 5E copper cable @ 24AWG should have no problems for 2.5G. The issue is not knowing what the builder is using. I rather have a solid core 24AWG 5E over some CAT6 28AWG "2.D" spec UTP cable rated for in wall.

Most modern CAT5E cables outclass min CAT6 spec in frequency (250mhz), but the problem will be AWG and cheaper stranded designs.

CAT6 UTP is 10G capable in shorter runs. 6A would be spec shielded, which will help with general EMI, but not needed in every scenario.

Marketed has been flooded with 2.5G Realtek and intel ethernet chips since 2019.. at least on the build your own PC end.

 

[jasz]

Keep in mind that in some countries you just have an Ethernet jack and get whatever speed the ISP switch/router in the basement/attic of your building offers. So some people actually have a 10 Gbps port in their homes and no other hardware is needed to get online.
There are also a lot of countries that rely on ONTs which converts the fibre to copper in the home, which also gives you a copper Ethernet port with no extra hardware needed.
As such, your suggested scenarios only applies to some people.

The ones in America suck and require gateway authentication or are tied to the networks backend GUI.

Specifically the case for LUMEN multigig.. There's no way you can directly plug it into to a SFP... needs copper 10G WAN.

Will be same for Cable providers using D4.0 hardware.

 

[TheLostSwede]

CAT5E can support over 1G, just not officially. ANSI/TIA 568 CAT spec is "bare min" @ 328FT between E2E termination. Not all cables are created equal.

A solid core 5E copper cable @ 24AWG should have no problems for 2.5G. The issue is not knowing what the builder is using. I rather have a solid core 24AWG 5E over some CAT6 28AWG "2.D" spec UTP cable rated for in wall.

Most modern CAT5E cables outclass min CAT6 spec in frequency (250mhz), but the problem will be AWG and cheaper stranded designs.

CAT6 UTP is 10G capable in shorter runs. 6A would be spec shielded, which will help with general EMI, but not needed in every scenario.

Marketed has been flooded with 2.5G Realtek and intel ethernet chips since 2019.. at least on the build your own PC end.

Actually, CAT 5e is part of the NBASE-T spec up to 2.5 Gbps and that's largely why we ended up with 2.5 Ethernet to start with, as it allows older infrastructure to support higher speeds. It was supposed to be good enough for 5 Gbps as well, but it seems like CAT 6 is recommended for 5 Gbps now.

Crap cables are always going to be crap cables.

I even managed to run 10 Gbps over CAT 5e for several months, I didn't even notice I had used the wrong cable, but that was a 1 meter run so...

We should see an increase of 5 Gbps Ethernet chips from Realtek this year, some motherboards already ship with them. They were announced last year at Computex and are a lot cheaper than Marvell's options. There will be a USB version as well. Runs cool to the touch.

 

[jasz]

Actually, CAT 5e is part of the NBASE-T spec up to 2.5 Gbps and that's largely we ended up with 2.5 Ethernet to start with, as it allows older infrastructure to support higher speeds. It was supposed to be good enough for 5 Gbps as well, but it seems like CAT 6 is recommended for 5 Gbps now.

Crap cables are always going to be crap cables.

I even managed to run 10 Gbps over CAT 5e for several months, I didn't even notice I had used the wrong cable, but that was a 1 meter run so...

We should see an increase of 5 Gbps Ethernet chips from Realtek this year, some motherboards already ship with them. They were announced last year at Computex and are a lot cheaper than Marvell's options. There will be a USB version as well. Runs cool to the touch.

Yeah.. Small patch runs wont really matter unless the cable is actually terrible. I'm pretty sure the better 5E cables can do at least 25-30m @ 10G.

And Yup. I saw that.. Should be a cheaper option and spec bump for the DYI PC sector in relation to next gen products. Good marketing at least

I also noticed certain ISP's divulging into 10G Realtek for newer gateways. Bulk price is likely cheap enough for them to pull the trigger.

 

[Tech9]

I'm highly in doubt this router's hardware is capable of 10Gbps with common firmware options enabled. It only has 10GbE ports.

 

[jasz]

Port limit is around 9.2-9.4gbps, though most ISP's have settled on 8 gig for overhead.

If a 1.3ghz InterAptiv MIPS design can do 8 gig with acceleration, I'm pretty sure a 2.6ghz A53 is fine.

 

[Tech9]

You have to select firmware options compatible with NAT acceleration always. The previous generation 2.0GHz CPUs couldn't do even Gigabit without NAT acceleration. For true 10Gbps packet processing capabilities some fast x86 CPU is needed with multicore processes. Something Asuswrt doesn't have.

 

[sfx2000]

What is that drive attached to?
I highly doubt these speeds are coming from any router's usb port.

I can't say which SoC is in play, but it's over USB3.1 on a 10Gbps channel from the disk to the SoC, and 10Gbe to my test host running MacOS with an external TB3 10Gbe adapter...

The SoC itself is a quad-core A73 running at 2.2Ghz... it'll NAT around 8Gbps with iMix in play...

 

[sfx2000]

Port limit is around 9.2-9.4gbps, though most ISP's have settled on 8 gig for overhead.

If a 1.3ghz InterAptiv MIPS design can do 8 gig with acceleration, I'm pretty sure a 2.6ghz A53 is fine.

A53 doesn't scale to 2.6GHz unfortunately...

MIPS is a dead architecture, they've moved over to RISC-V

It's starting to look like the serious designs will be similar to Cortex-A73 or similar

 

[jasz]

You have to select firmware options compatible with NAT acceleration always. The previous generation 2.0GHz CPUs couldn't do even Gigabit without NAT acceleration. For true 10Gbps packet processing capabilities some fast x86 CPU is needed with multicore processes. Something Asuswrt doesn't have.

Agree on CPU part.

Not sure about BCM hardware, but the previous gen QCA stuff has done 8 gig passthrough via router. 2.0-2.2ghz A53..

A53 doesn't scale to 2.6GHz unfortunately...

MIPS is a dead architecture, they've moved over to RISC-V

It's starting to look like the serious designs will be similar to Cortex-A73 or similar

just referring to whatever the BCM4916 is.. "2.6ghz".

LUMEN's 1.3ghz MIPS SmartNID can process 8 gbps to a faster x86 CPU, though its likely offloaded via x86. (Friend has this service).

The irony is that the GPON service/SmartNID they offer to my address is completely broken.