is the Asus RT-AX88U right for me?

[anttheninja]

Hi all,

I'm pretty techy but routers are a bit out of my league. I generally just do the basic set up on them and leave them be. I currently have an RT-AC68U that has been rock solid the past 4+ years however yesterday the 2.4ghz band completely died on me and I cant get it to activate any longer no mater what I do.

I decided to upgrade and figured I might as well future proof so I went with the RT-AX88U thats coming today but after discovering this site, I feel like I may have made a mistake. Is this router going to be ok if I'm just using the stock software or is flashing it with Merwins a must? Seems alot of people have some issues with this router so I'm growing a bit nervous.

Does anyone have any good experience just running the standard firmware? Am I overthinking this or should I return it and go with something a little less "new" like an 86U or 88U?

I figured this might help, A little info about my set up, I live in a 1200 sqft condo attached to 14 other units, so lots of wifi networks all over. I have a Nest camera, two Blink cameras, 2 smart TV's, 2 iPhone 11s, 3 apple TV's, a few laptops, 2 alexa devices and about 20 hue lights connected as well. My current, now broken, router handles all of this with no problems at all and never any drops. So I'm hoping the new one would handle the same.

Thanks for any help!

 

[mteicher]

I will say it is far superior than my old rt-ac87u. I did have to return my first one as it would reboot on its own about once a day. But the replacement has been rock solid and heck fast! I am using stock up to date asus fw. I set up with two diffefrfent ssids vs. smart connect. Needed to disable 802.11ax otherwise none of the ssids would show. Changed the default 192.168.50.1. Make sure you do a factory reset after updating the fw. Some prefer via the gui and some prefer via the wps button.

 

[anttheninja]

I have had mine and I will say it is far superior than my old rt-ac87u. I did have to return my first one as it would reboot on its own about once a day. But this replacement has been rock solid and heck fast! I am using stock up to date asus fw.

Well that's good to hear! I figure I might tinker around a little with the settings in this one. Like turning off AX he frame support and picking a specific channel for my 5ghz band. I will most likley write down all my current settings on my 68U and use the same ones for the new one, or at least try those ones out.

I keep reading to turn off the AX HE frame support but what does that actually do? Is that basically turning off AX and making it an AC and lower router?

 

[digits n bits]

Well that's good to hear! I figure I might tinker around a little with the settings in this one. Like turning off AX he frame support and picking a specific channel for my 5ghz band. I will most likley write down all my current settings on my 68U and use the same ones for the new one, or at least try those ones out.

I keep reading to turn off the AX HE frame support but what does that actually do? Is that basically turning off AX and making it an AC and lower router?

Im running my AX88U with stock firmware right now and it’s always been a solid, fast router. I have AX enabled with no issues, separate SSD’s, no issues. I have six AX devices the rest AC and N, everything just works like it should.
I think you said you have 1300 sq. ft. then the 88u should work just fine. The RT-AX58U (RT-AX3000) would also be a good choice in your situation.

 

[anttheninja]

Im running my AX88U with stock firmware right now and it’s always been a solid, fast router. I have AX enabled with no issues, separate SSD’s, no issues. I have six AX devices the rest AC and N, everything just works like it should.
I think you said you have 1300 sq. ft. then the 88u should work just fine. The RT-AX58U (RT-AX3000) would also be a good choice in your situation.

Also good to hear! I think in total we will only have 2 AX devices at the moment but anywhere from 20-30 AC and N devices which is why I went with the 88u, just a little more power really. Its just been delivered at my house and I'm really excited to get it all set up. I just got a bit nervous reading all the issues here.

 

[Darcy]

I would wait a little longer. ASUS has other routers coming out this year that will be better I think.


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[digits n bits]

I would wait a little longer. ASUS has other routers coming out this year that will be better I think.


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You didn’t read the post very carefully it was already delivered today. I think we’ll find out if it works for him.

 

[Sobster88]

I’ve been running an AX88U since the end of 2018 with very little issues. There were some problems with IPV6 connectivity that were present in the stock firmware and carried into Merlins but they were patched in the following firmware release. Currently I am on 384.15 and rock stable.

I have around 20-25 devices connected at a time around 12-15 being wireless (Nest thermostat, Nest protects, smart switches, IPhone X, IPhone 11, tablets, and roomba) and I never have dropped connections. I have a PC set up as a plex server that is shared with some family and I never get complaints of it dropping offline.

I run a VPN client with policy rules for only a few devices. Scripts such as Diversion, conmon, spdmerlin. Finally my dns is set up with DoT.

I use WPA 2/3 mixed mode and OFDMA as well as AX enabled. And I set manual channels for both 2.4 and 5ghz with smart connect enabled. YMMV with WPA 2/3. An old iPod can no longer connect in this mode for some reason. May be a limitation of IOS 9.3.5.

Overall, I’ve never been happier with a router. VPN performance is solid (150mbps), no drops, and quick and responsive to any changes made in the GUI.

 

[Darcy]

You didn’t read the post very carefully it was already delivered today. I think we’ll find out if it works for him.

I read the post but assumed he could return it.


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[Grisu]

But he does need a new router now and not in 1 year as his old one died (2.4GHz).
So no option to wait for coming routers ...

 

[Darcy]

But he does need a new router now and not in 1 year as his old one died (2.4GHz).
So no option to wait for coming routers ...

Option would be to buy something cheaper to meet his needs and get by until newer routers come out in my opinion.


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[Darcy]

AX88U must be working good for him and that’s all that matters.


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