Photo of the wizard's lab, 2021 edition

[malinois1]

@RMerlin In your opinion, is the AX86U best to get for AC88 Wi-Fi cards, LAN LACP and of course is support by your good self or something in the pipeline to wait for, "if" price not a factor ?

I am also curious about this. I have an AC 5300 and was wondering if I should replace it or not and if so with what?

I definitely want something that you support

 

[L&LD]

If price is not a factor, the RT-AX86U running RMerlin firmware is a high bar to beat. It will happen, eventually, but even when it does, it will still be a great router at that time too.

 

[RMerlin]

Do i see an AX92U on top ?

Yes, there`s one sitting on top of the RT-AC5300 and GT-AX11000.

@RMerlin In your opinion, is the AX86U best to get for AC88 Wi-Fi cards, LAN LACP and of course is support by your good self or something in the pipeline to wait for, "if" price not a factor ?

The RT-AX86U is currently Asus's best high-end router IMHO.

I can`t comment about anything currently in the pipeline. There is always something new coming out at some point.

 

[RMerlin]

I am also curious about this. I have an AC 5300 and was wondering if I should replace it or not and if so with what?

If you aren`t sure if you should replace, then it probably means that right now it still fills your needs, so there is no real reason to replace it.

 

[anotherengineer]

The AC68U reminds me of an old chevy 350 engine, it just runs and keeps on running.

 

[akb]

the AXE has the 6ghz! that is like the king of the all the routers. Staying on an ax88u because no 2.5g ports and no 6ghz network is so limiting ;P

 

[RMerlin]

the AXE has the 6ghz! that is like the king of the all the routers. Staying on an ax88u because no 2.5g ports and no 6ghz network is so limiting ;P

I have no 6 GHz clients, and my LAN switch is only Gigabit, so there is no point for me.

The AS68U reminds me of an old chevy 350 engine, it just runs and keeps on running.

It's Asus's WRT54G product...

 

[akb]

I really wish they make the 88u with a multi gig port. Its like I want the 86u for the 2.5g port, but the 88u for the 8 lan ports, but then there is the AXE which has 6ghz. I hope the embargo or whatever comes out next solves these problems. I really do not like how they have one feature locked into each model... I would pay the premium for one rule them all router.

 

[L&LD]

For $15 you can get a switch with 8 ports (more, in total, than the lesser RT-AX88U has).

For Wi-Fi 6E, I haven't seen one that is better overall than the RT-AX86U yet.

Right now, the RT-AC86U does 'rule them all' with RMerlin firmware installed.

 

[akb]

For $15 you can get a switch with 8 ports (more, in total, than the lesser RT-AX88U has).

For Wi-Fi 6E, I haven't seen one that is better overall than the RT-AX86U yet.

Right now, the RT-AC86U does 'rule them all' with RMerlin firmware installed.

Maybe i did not do enough research but does the ax68u do lcap? I have wired clients which would eat up that 1gib going to a switch. I was thinking of getting that 89x which has 10g link, but it doesnt even look like Rmerlin even has it in his lab, so wont even have this firmware on it for who knows how long.

 

[L&LD]

Sorry, I haven't even seen an RT-AX68U.

 

[pirx73]

@L&LD - should i post a picture of my AX68U here for you to see?

 

[anotherengineer]

@L&LD - should i post a picture of my AX68U here for you to see?

RT-AX68U｜WiFi 6｜ASUS Canada

WiFi 6 router, free network security, easy setup, fast wifi with no dead zone, mesh WiFi support, free VPN, parental controls, nice design, 802.11ax technology

www.asus.com

Review ASUS RT-AX68U: A classic redesigned for Wi-Fi 6! - Digital Citizen

See what speed you get from the ASUS RT-AX68U dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router, and how it compares to other Wi-Fi 6 routers.

www.digitalcitizen.life

Nice to see a 3yr warranty on the box, better than 1 or 2yrs. I just wished they would come with 5 gbe lan ports instead of 1. Then could put SSDs in the NAS for some better transfer speeds ..............well would need a NAS with 5gbe and a 5gbe card for the PC

edit glanced at "Parental Controls for All Ages - Customize settings for different age groups, giving your kids "

brain read - firmware so easy even a kid could do it lol

 

[Morris]

Wow, you must get a lot of cross channel interference with all those APs so close :-}

 

[unsynaps]

The RT-AX86U is currently Asus's best high-end router IMHO.

Eh. Depends on use.

Model RT-AX86U RT-AX88U WiFi Speed AX5700 AX6000 861+4804Mbps 1148+4804 Mbps Encryption WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal WPA/WPA2-Enterprise WPA/WPA2-Enterprise GHz 1.8 1.8 Cores Quad Quad Network a, b, g, n, ac, ax a, b, g, n, ac, ax IFTTT no yes WTFast no yes Memory 256 MB Flash / 1 GB RAM 256 MB Flash / 1 GB RAM Antenna 3 x EX / 1 x IN 4 x EX RJ45 4 x GbE LAN 8 x GbE LAN 1 x GbE WAN 1 x GbE WAN 1 x 2.5GbE WAN/LAN USB 2 x 3.1 Gen 1 2 x 3.1 Gen 1

 

[akb]

Eh. Depends on use.

Model RT-AX86U RT-AX88U WiFi Speed AX5700 AX6000 861+4804Mbps 1148+4804 Mbps Encryption WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal WPA/WPA2-Enterprise WPA/WPA2-Enterprise GHz 1.8 1.8 Cores Quad Quad Network a, b, g, n, ac, ax a, b, g, n, ac, ax IFTTT no yes WTFast no yes Memory 256 MB Flash / 1 GB RAM 256 MB Flash / 1 GB RAM Antenna 3 x EX / 1 x IN 4 x EX RJ45 4 x GbE LAN 8 x GbE LAN 1 x GbE WAN 1 x GbE WAN 1 x 2.5GbE WAN/LAN USB 2 x 3.1 Gen 1 2 x 3.1 Gen 1

I agree, if anything ac88u looks better in every way except missing 2.5gb port.

 

[pdc]

I agree, if anything ac88u looks better in every way except missing 2.5gb port.

For $100 less, the AX86 is awfully similar if you don't need an extra 5GHz band.

 

[L&LD]

In actual use, the RT-AX86U is undoubtedly better. Specs be damned.

 

[Wolfclaw]

Well I fired up the AX86U+RM firmware+Flexqos+Diversion last night and got an instant 36Mbps free from Virgin Media M500 package, so now happy at 556/37, don't use Wi-fi 6 but I have something to upgrade too in the future, my Server 2109 loving the 2.5G Nic.

 

[Phantomski]

I really wish they make the 88u with a multi gig port. Its like I want the 86u for the 2.5g port, but the 88u for the 8 lan ports, but then there is the AXE which has 6ghz. I hope the embargo or whatever comes out next solves these problems. I really do not like how they have one feature locked into each model... I would pay the premium for one rule them all router.

If I can suggest - if you need more than 4 LAN ports (or even more than one for that matter), you’d save yourself a lot of hassle and gain a lot of flexibility, capability and additional security by a separate switch.
Even with a relatively cheap managed Netgear, you get VLANs, Link Aggregation, Port security and authentication or Port Mirroring for IDPS.
I may be wrong of course, but with the wireless limitations I can’t see even multiple 5G WiFi clients overloading a single 1Gbps LAN port for downstream switch. If you’re running for example your NAS there, I think you’d gain more performance by connecting all 2-4 LANs on let’s say Synology into LAG and running heavy users wired if you really need fast concurrent connections.