Beginners Questions: What is the Max Input Speed on the ASUS RT-AX86U?

[glens]

Might want to look into https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt6000/ though this likely won't be the place to come for support. Looks like (claimed, anyway) pretty good VPN performance.

 

[Tech9]

WireGuard only and up to. I believe the OP is talking about AstrilVPN or similar.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Thanks for the feedback. Actually, anything close to 600MB would be great, as I currently get only about 50 MB on my current DDWRT router. Plus, as the 86U is a WIFI6 router, if I understand correctly, my compatible devices will also be able to take advantage of that speed. As for the 2Gbit speed being a waste, when I connect directly to the modem via wifi, I get superfast speeds, which is awesome, but again, I need a new, faster device specifically for the VPN I can use, so I think the 86U *should* be a great choice, hopefully!

Perhaps someone can give you the actual VPN client download speeds they are are getting on the same model that you are planning to purchase. On my AX86S the download speeds I get range between 160 - 180 Mbps but occasionally slightly higher. This is only a little higher than I was getting on my AC86. If you have devices that you want to get higher VPN download speeds on you probably will need to run the VPN on the device with a more robust processor than most routers have.

In order to get speeds in the range of 600 - 800 Mbps I use a VPN appliance with an I7 processor.

 

[ADDon88]

What router do you have currently?

An TP-Link Archer C9 running some version of DDWRT.

 

[ADDon88]

WireGuard only and up to. I believe the OP is talking about AstrilVPN or similar.

Haha, yes, exactly!

 

[ADDon88]

With all new Asus hardware moving (slowly) to 3.0.0.6.xxx level firmware sooner than later, buying an RT-AX86U today is not a good use of funds. That model won't get the latest firmware (as has been mentioned here on these forums by many, including RMerlin himself).

Can you afford to buy something that may need to be upgraded in the next year or so? And effectively cost you 150% or more of something worth buying today?

The GT-AX6000 and/or the RT-AX88U Pro are the best bang for the buck choices today. The latter may have the edge for longer support too, because it was announced well over a year after the GT-AX6000 model.

What is your current router? Is it an AC class model?

To get closer to true 2Gbps speeds over WiFi, a WiFi 6E or a WiFi 7 model router is needed. However, both those class levels are not the value options, today. But letting you know what hardware will be needed to actually give ~2Gbps wireless. (i.e. it's not only the WAN 'input' Port that determines this, it is the RF hardware too).

I'm currently using a TP-Link Archer C9, but I'm not sure if it has AC, and I'm also not sure what that is.

 

[Tech9]

Haha, yes, exactly!

As far as I know it uses OpenVPN. Up to 250Mbps on this router. In reality may be less than 10% of your 2Gbps ISP line.

 

[L&LD]

That TP-Link Archer C9 was an entry-level AC class router, at introduction. It is also EOL today.

AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router

Archer C9 provides decent dual band Wi-Fi and boosts your experience great for entertainment and 4K streaming on multiple clients.

www.tp-link.com

The two models I suggested for you (GT-AX6000, and RT-AX88U Pro) are playing in a different league over what you have today. Highly recommended over the RT-AX86U and/or 'pro' models.

Again, your choice is basically this;
do you buy something to simply match (as closely as possible) your ISP capabilities today and save a bit of money, but know you will only get a fully supported router for a very short time (RT-AX86U),

or, do you buy something that is supported a bit longer (RT-AX86U Pro), but still has unbalanced hardware that will be worth less when you do decide to move to WiFi 7 (or better),

or, simply buy today the more hardware balanced, supported for much longer, and will be much more useful to you as (not if) your circumstances change (or, even if you just want to sell it at that future time)?

Hope I'm explaining well the choices you're actually making here. Good luck.

 

[ADDon88]

That TP-Link Archer C9 was an entry-level AC class router, at introduction. It is also EOL today.

AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router

Archer C9 provides decent dual band Wi-Fi and boosts your experience great for entertainment and 4K streaming on multiple clients.

www.tp-link.com

The two models I suggested for you (GT-AX6000, and RT-AX88U Pro) are playing in a different league over what you have today. Highly recommended over the RT-AX86U and/or 'pro' models.

Again, your choice is basically this;
do you buy something to simply match (as closely as possible) your ISP capabilities today and save a bit of money, but know you will only get a fully supported router for a very short time (RT-AX86U),

or, do you buy something that is supported a bit longer (RT-AX86U Pro), but still has unbalanced hardware that will be worth less when you do decide to move to WiFi 7 (or better),

or, simply buy today the more hardware balanced, supported for much longer, and will be much more useful to you as (not if) your circumstances change (or, even if you just want to sell it at that future time)?

Hope I'm explaining well the choices you're actually making here. Good luck.

That was a great write up, thanks!

I looked over the specs of the 88U Pro, and it doesn't look as if it offers much more than the 86U Pro. Merlin also seems to still only be in Beta, which would definitely be an issue.

So I might still go for the 88U Pro. Just need to confirm with the VPN guys if their applet supports the Pro model.

 

[glens]

It doesn't offer /much/ more than the 86 unless you think you can make use of >1Gb/s ethernet within your network.

Merlin has stable firmware at this time for both, with the /option/ for testing future releases.

 

[bennor]

Merlin also seems to still only be in Beta, which would definitely be an issue.

Merlin is not "in Beta". Merlin uses GPL's provided by Asus and offers both final release versions, and often a "alpha" or "beta" version of the next compile or update for people to test with before that version goes final release.

Home | Asuswrt-Merlin

www.asuswrt-merlin.net

Generally the current final release version for Merlin supported routers are:
AX series: 3004.388.4_0
AC series: 386.12_2
One can see discussion on the Alpha build of 304.388.5 for AX series routers at the following link:
[ 3004.388.5 alpha Build(s) ] Testing available build(s)

 

[L&LD]

That was a great write up, thanks!

I looked over the specs of the 88U Pro, and it doesn't look as if it offers much more than the 86U Pro. Merlin also seems to still only be in Beta, which would definitely be an issue.

So I might still go for the 88U Pro. Just need to confirm with the VPN guys if their applet supports the Pro model.

ax86u vs ax88u Pro vs GT-ax6000 vs GT-ax11000

Since my ISP is providing 1.6Gbps/950Mbps I'm looking into replacing my ax88u with a router that has a 2.5G WAN port. My actual setup is ISP -> AX88U -> aimesh -> AX88U From the following models: ax86u vs ax88u Pro vs GT-ax6000 vs GT-ax11000 What would be the recommended one? Before this...

www.snbforums.com

Newer models, newer SDKs, likely longer support, better RF design/implementation. Many things such as this can't be 'marketed' effectively, but they can make a world of difference.

Not everything that is upgraded is highlighted.

I would not base a router purchase on VPN applet support. Too many VPN options to limit yourself like that.