GT-AX6000 vs GT-AXE16000 question

[Clark Griswald]

With the AXE16000 launching so soon after the recent AX6000 price drop, I foresee many returns to Amazon, and Amazon Warehouse selling many "Like New" GT-AX6000s. Doing the Amazon math:
AXE16000
-AX-6000
=E10000 better

 

[Pancakeandcows]

Well that depends on if you want to future proof with Wifi 6E, Quad band vs Dual band of the AX6000. The AXE16000 also will have 2GB of DDR4 ram, I'm guessing the AX6000 has 1GB of DDR3 ram. The biggest question is do you want to spend that kind of money, and if you buy it at launch, all support will be ASUS based. Likely decent chance firmware/drivers to be buggy for a couple releases. To be honest I'm pretty sure the current wifi drivers on the AX6000 are having issue with not being able to connect to roku devices currently, and I think maybe a certain brand of smart tv as well. Which is something I would be concerned with the AXE16000, with Wifi 6E being the new thing.

How much of a difference will 2gb of ram make for gaming?

 

[L&LD]

The 2GB RAM will be noticed, depending on the scripts run.

Gaming? Not so much.

 

[Clark Griswald]

I followed the link to reddit, and read Mid-May Release

 

[RMerlin]

How much of a difference will 2gb of ram make for gaming?

None.

 

[lilstone87]

I followed the link to reddit, and read Mid-May Release

Yeah I seen that early part of yesterday. For me, it might be later part of June though. As I plan to buy it through bestbuy, as I have store credit with them. I much rather spend around $450-460 out of my pocket on it

 

[Clark Griswald]

@lilstone87
You've put this thread into a frenzy regarding the AXE16000, so I think you need to purchase on the first day, and let all of us know your opinion
My RMerlin powered GT-AX6000 is quite the router, and I highly recommend picking one up, if you have the means!

 

[lilstone87]

You've put this thread into a frenzy regarding the AXE16000, so I think you need to purchase on the first day

Trust me. I would love to have it ASAP. However word is Bestbuy won't be carrying it till late Q2. I'm not interested in coming out my pocket $700 for it. If bestbuy had it at launch, I would have it soon after.

 

[Kingp1n]

Trust me. I would love to have it ASAP. However word is Bestbuy won't be carrying it till late Q2. I'm not interested in coming out my pocket $700 for it. If bestbuy had it at launch, I would have it soon after.

Maybe bestbuy will have it available online? Hey I don't blame u if you can get it at launch specially since you have some credit available. I'll probably sell my AX11000 and get this as my replacement.

 

[lilstone87]

Maybe bestbuy will have it available online?

Someone who works for ASUS did a stream on YouTube yesterday, which included talk about the GT-AXE16000. He mentioned expected launch for it. Which he said limited at first. Said ASUS store would have some first. With Newegg likely to follow, with Amazon. He said Bestbuy was looking more like end of Q2. But some of that depended on best buy's logistics, as for them selling it. Look for middle of May as the launch date.

I don't see BB selling this router in stores, especially at launch. With its $650 price tag, I have my doubts they ever sell it in stores. I know they sell some higher priced stuff in stores. But we're talking about a router, I just don't see it happening.

I plan to keep an eye on BB's site the next several weeks. I kind of hope they list it on there site before they sell it, maybe give option to be notified when they will start selling it. But yeah if it wasn't for the credit, I would buy it from Newegg, or Amazon. Honestly last time I purchased a higher cost item on Amazon, there way of verifying the purchase sucked, was like a 1-2 day process before shipping. Not a bank issue either. I prefer not using Amazon for higher cost items due to this.

 

[danceedance]

Since we’re being theoretical here, another good point to be aware of are the risks inherent in getting caught up in the never ending technology chase. Case in point, I’m in the middle of building a new gaming rig. I got an RTX3090 GPU because of a lucky coincidence, even though it’s overkill for my needs. But I knew that the RTX3090Ti was not far behind, and the 40 series behind that. I’m not unhappy about not waiting for the 3090Ti, or a 40 series. The system I’m building will be good for at least 3-5 years, and, as I do when I spec life-cycle products for paying clients, 3-5 years is where I normally go.

Same holds true for the networking side. I wasn’t ready to do the overhaul on my home network when the AXE11000 was released, and I had no 6E clients at the time either. Now that I’m ready to press go, I’ll have 6E on my new rig so I’ll at least be able to test that out. The 16000 is close enough to release for me to wait for it, plus I’m still acquiring the rest of the components for my computer. In this terrible supply chain and shipping climate I figure it’ll be at least another few weeks to a month before I have everything in hand so it works for me to wait and grab the 16000 as a test unit, if nothing else.

And without question the RTX40 series is coming, and the 50 series and the 60 series. ASUS will develop and release its suite of Wi-Fi 7 products eventually. At some point you just have to say, “Now is the time I need something, so I’ll get the best available at that moment and not look back or have second thoughts.” This approach has worked for me for years. I’m not going to change it out at this point.

theoretically if our existing Wifi 6 router has no problems relaying 160Mhz channel, no DFS drop-outs, there is no reason to splurge on Wifi 6E upgrade?

Is it better to wait for Wifi 7, in about another 3 years time, seeing how slow mainstream routers get their firmware act together?

Never go for draft specs? Never go for first version hardware?

 

[AnClar]

theoretically if our existing Wifi 6 router has no problems relaying 160Mhz channel, no DFS drop-outs, there is no reason to splurge on Wifi 6E upgrade?

Is it better to wait for Wifi 7, in about another 3 years time, seeing how slow mainstream routers get their firmware act together?

Never go for draft specs? Never go for first version hardware?

It depends. Am I spec’ing a mission-critical installation for a business? Am I evaluating the suitability and performance of newly released products for potential future use? Am I putting together a new home network? Am I an early-adopter hobbyist working in a sandbox environment? In each scenario I would set a different expectation. As long as expectations are set realistically for whatever environments and product(s) are being worked with, then expected outcomes for each case will be appropriate and can be evaluated properly. And in my experience, outcomes are rarely binary.

 

[Starrbuck]

I don't see BB selling this router in stores, especially at launch. With its $650 price tag, I have my doubts they ever sell it in stores. I know they sell some higher priced stuff in stores. But we're talking about a router, I just don't see it happening.

They sell the Netgear RAXE500 in stores and it's only $50 less.

 

[lilstone87]

They sell the Netgear RAXE500 in stores and it's only $50 less.

I believe you, but currently they don't sell that router in stores anywhere around me. Also my main point, is this router will very likely sell online via bestbuy, a good bit before they even attempt to sell it in stores. That's a big if they ever do. To be honest I don't mind buying certain things from bestbuy. Having one near me, I can return if I have issues easier. I have purchased several of my routers through them.

 

[Starrbuck]

I believe you, but currently they don't sell that router in stores anywhere around me. Also my main point, is this router will very likely sell online via bestbuy, a good bit before they even attempt to sell it in stores. That's a big if they ever do. To be honest I don't mind buying certain things from bestbuy. Having one near me, I can return if I have issues easier. I have purchased several of my routers through them.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and there are RAXE500's available right now at five stores within 28 miles of me. I love Best Buy.

 

[lilstone87]

Well I see today the GT-AX6000 is back at $400, it was $350 on several sites for a few days.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and there are RAXE500's available right now at five stores within 28 miles of me. I love Best Buy.

I have seen them carry some $400+ routers before. I doubt we see any in store sell of the GT-AXE16000 for a little while. As an ASUS rep himself mentioned this router being limited at release. No question I will buy one as soon as I can. I honestly hope bestbuy has them for sell sooner than expected. Once I get it, I will have it run as my main router, with my AX88U running as an AP, to keep wifi strong throughout my home.

 

[Crimliar]

I already have my GT-AX6000 and probably couldn't justify the splurge to upgrade to the GT-AXE16000. Even if I could, I think moving the GT-AX6000 elsewhere to act as a mesh unit would probably prompt a divorce with it being such a large ugly brute (the router that is)!
I'd be interested to see how the GT-AXE16000 performs real world too - so many radios in such a small space!

 

[lilstone87]

I already have my GT-AX6000 and probably couldn't justify the splurge to upgrade to the GT-AXE16000. Even if I could, I think moving the GT-AX6000 elsewhere to act as a mesh unit would probably prompt a divorce with it being such a large ugly brute (the router that is)!
I'd be interested to see how the GT-AXE16000 performs real world too - so many radios in such a small space!

Hey the GT-AXE16000 won't be for everyone, as its cost is very high, at around $700 after taxes. For me personally I'm looking at it, as a router I can likely use for the next 2-3 years as my main router, minus any major issues. Which I would return it if that's the case.

As for the size of these routers, they're both really big, and overall I don't think either one is something to write home about, in regards to looks. I think the GT-AXE16000 might look a bit better overall. Still nothing you would ever see me bragging about to anyone.

Hardware, and overall performance will be key. If performance lacks, and the software is a buggy mess. I will return it after a few/several months. I don't mind giving a new product some time, but I refuse to have a $700 paper weight. I plan to buy a bestbuy warranty to help with this. Because if it's a POS, I will replace it with different router, or product, not send it to the manufacturer for them to try to send me another one.

 

[Clark Griswald]

I just read the 16000 has a mirrored top to go with the ROG lighting.
At least they justified the high cost

 

[lilstone87]

I just read the 16000 has a mirrored top to go with the ROG lighting.
At least they justified the high cost

Well overall I do think this router, and others, are a bit overpriced in general. As for the glass looking top. It's not something I look for on a router, but understand them trying to make their top router in this line a bit different.

Without the glass looking top, not to beat a dead horse again. Its hardware specs alone, do justify it costing a $100 more than the AXE11000.

At this point I'm just ready for middle of May to get here, for it to officially launch. Then we can all judge it based off performance. As most of us here would use a ugly looking router, if it has the hardware specs, and performs as expected.