AX8, RT-AX88U or Stick with RT-AC88U

[Tommy Grace]

Hi Guys

Calling all AX8 owners in particular. I am considering purchasing one but wondered what your experiences with it are. I am keen of future proofing with my next purchase, i don't have any AX clients yet but may do in a coupe of years. I am particularly keen to understand what the wireless range and throughput is like. I have approx 20 devices, 5 wired and the rest wireless, good mix of 2.4 and 5Ghz requirement. My main requirement is a reliable solid signal around the house, our office in particular is a bit f a challenge but the ASUS seems to reach it to an acceptable level. I get the ocassional drop to 4G but it doesn't seem to last long. The house is 4 bedroom, 2 floors so not massive. I only get 40/10Mb with BT so that is the bottleneck of the network really.

I am in the middle of testing replacements for my now sold DSL-AC68U and am currently testing the ASUS RT-AC88U. It seems pretty good with a decent range and the 8 LAN ports are certainly handy (although i really only need 5 max) but i have had a couple of issues with CPU especially when making changes to the wireless. I have had previous issues with the ASUS firmware seeming to be a bit "buggy". I am considering the AX88U which seems to get god reviews but not sure i would avoid some of the issues i have already seen.

Are Netgear any better?

I have tried the MESH route (Google Wi-Fi) and sent this back as throughput was surprisingly low and client/band steering seemed very poor to me.

Thanks in advance.
Tommy

 

[Tommy Grace]

Hi Guys

Been on the Netgear forum and that hasn't instilled me with confidence. I use Sonos every day and it seems like there are issues with that amongst other things.

Also been on here looking at the AX88U thread and that seems to have a lot of teething issues too. May be i will be better off sticking with the AC88U which seems pretty stable. I was just conscious that it is already 4 years old.

 

[thiggins]

If you have no AX devices, there is no advantage to buying an AX router now. In the "few years" until you have AX devices, AX routers will be less expensive and actually support the AX features they advertise.

 

[Tommy Grace]

Yeah agreed. Read too many posts reporting issues with standard 5Ghz Wi-Fi on AX routers (both Netgear and ASUS) which is the bulk of what i use. This AC88U hasn't missed a beat since the firmware update and reboot. Think i will stick with it for now.

 

[ulaganath]

Currently ax are more draft which would get matured somewhat end of 2020 or early q1 2021


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