RT-AC3200 vs RT-AC86U vs GT-AC5300

[JDE100]

Hi everyone. Appreciate any advice in advance. I currently have an Asus RT-AC3200 running latest Merlin Firmware. I am getting a new Centurylink Fiber Gig line and thinking of possibly updating router at same time. I've read lots of threads on the 3 routers in question but still wondering if its worth the upgrade. The AC3200 I have does nto support Mu-MIMO and I'm worried the WAN to LAN speed might be slower. I'd love to thave the 8 LAN ports on the GT-AC5300 but don't like the no support from Merlin. AC86U is only dual band. I live in a 3000 SF single floor home. The AC3200 covers everything except a bedroom furthest from Router where I use a wired access point.

I use the router for wired and wireless connections. Lots of streaming through a powerline adaptor to ethernet. Lots of tablets, cameras, phones etc on the wireless bands.

Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[L&LD]

Hi everyone. Appreciate any advice in advance. I currently have an Asus RT-AC3200 running latest Merlin Firmware. I am getting a new Centurylink Fiber Gig line and thinking of possibly updating router at same time. I've read lots of threads on the 3 routers in question but still wondering if its worth the upgrade. The AC3200 I have does nto support Mu-MIMO and I'm worried the WAN to LAN speed might be slower. I'd love to thave the 8 LAN ports on the GT-AC5300 but don't like the no support from Merlin. AC86U is only dual band. I live in a 3000 SF single floor home. The AC3200 covers everything except a bedroom furthest from Router where I use a wired access point.

I use the router for wired and wireless connections. Lots of streaming through a powerline adaptor to ethernet. Lots of tablets, cameras, phones etc on the wireless bands.

Any guidance is appreciated.

With a 1Gbps Fibre line, the best recommendation is the RT-AC86U, at a minimum. The RT-AX88U is also better matched to 1Gbps ISP speeds with its 1.8GHz quad-core processor and there are users here that state that the coverage is the best they've ever seen with that router. It also has 8 LAN ports, btw.

Anything older (and less powerful) than those two routers will be a hit against the ISP speeds you will be paying for.

I would suggest buying both and after testing, keeping the better one.

 

[maxbraketorque]

If you are willing to consider paying for an RT-AC5300, then I suggest considering the RT-AX88U, not for the AX wifi, but because the wifi testing I've seen thus far indicates that 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz AC have excellent range along with good throughput at medium distances. It is only dual band though. I think its about the same price as an RT-AC5300.

Alternatively if you can swing running an ethernet cable under or around the outside of your house, a dual router/AP setup is ideal for maintaining good speeds across a large house. In this scenario, I'd recommend two AC86Us.

 

[doczenith1]

My old AC68U could do 940 Mbps WAN<>LAN with CTF enabled so your 3200 will be able too also. I'd see how it performs before making a purchase. If you do decide to upgrade I would suggest the 86U if you don't need the extra 5 GHz band. The 86U is a lot of router for the price.

MU-MIMO doesn't gain you much unless you have 2 or 3 MU-MIMO capable devices trying to receive a lot of data at the same exact time. My MU-MIMO results are here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/is-anyone-using-mu-mimo.40553/

 

[COBOL-Coder]

Hi everyone. Appreciate any advice in advance. I currently have an Asus RT-AC3200 running latest Merlin Firmware. I am getting a new Centurylink Fiber Gig line and thinking of possibly updating router at same time. I've read lots of threads on the 3 routers in question but still wondering if its worth the upgrade. The AC3200 I have does nto support Mu-MIMO and I'm worried the WAN to LAN speed might be slower. I'd love to thave the 8 LAN ports on the GT-AC5300 but don't like the no support from Merlin. AC86U is only dual band. I live in a 3000 SF single floor home. The AC3200 covers everything except a bedroom furthest from Router where I use a wired access point.

I use the router for wired and wireless connections. Lots of streaming through a powerline adaptor to ethernet. Lots of tablets, cameras, phones etc on the wireless bands.

Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[COBOL-Coder]

Hi, I have an ASUS RT-AC3200 router and its stated that it does support mu-mimo? This was a recent purchase from Amazon.

 

[doczenith1]

I think the AC3200 is part of the first batch of routers that Asus advertised would be MU-MIMO capable but found out at a later time that the chipset was not powerful enough to actually do MU-MIMO. RMerlin actually just mentioned this in another thread in the last few days. I can't remember which one at the moment. Found it! https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ax88u-experiences-discussion.49427/page-20#post-495409

 

[RMerlin]

I think the AC3200 is part of the first batch of routers that Asus advertised would be MU-MIMO capable but found out at a later time that the chipset was not powerful enough to actually do MU-MIMO. RMerlin actually just mentioned this in another thread in the last few days. I can't remember which one at the moment. Found it! https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ax88u-experiences-discussion.49427/page-20#post-495409

The BCM4366 was used in the RT-AC88U/AC3100/AC5300. The RT-AC3200 used a different chip, can't remember which, and don't recall it being advertized as being MU-MIMO capable either.