RT-AC86U vs RT-AX86S The difference except WiFi6 and half the Price?

[L&LD]

Yes, you're right. It may not make sense to buy the 'full' RT-AX86U when the RT-AX86S is less than half price.

There are reasons to opt for the 'full' model with a symmetrical ISP connection. As long as you're not running multiple, memory-hungry scripts ('S' model has half the RAM), and/or multiple VPN instances ('S' model has half the cores), and you're willing to upgrade sooner, rather than later (in the next year or so), the weaker model may be the better fit today, at that price.

Before you jump though, is the RT-AX68U even cheaper, currently?

 

[XIII]

Yes, you're right. It may not make sense to buy the 'full' RT-AX86U when the RT-AX86S is less than half price.

Before you jump though, is the RT-AX68U even cheaper, currently?

Oops. I was not very clear it seems; with ”this model” I actually meant the AX86S, not the AX86U.

The cheapest AX68U is currently €30 more expensive than the AX86S.

 

[L&LD]

No worries @XIII, I tried to cover all the bases.

At that price and your needs today, the RT-AX86S makes a compelling case to purchase one (or two).

 

[XIII]

The opportunity passed; it’s back to it’s old price already (almost €200).

 

[XIII]

The AX86S is available again for around €130 (after a cashback from ASUS) or even €110 (if you can apply multiple cashbacks on 1 product; they are running two different campaigns that overlap in time).

I'm tempted to upgrade from AC86U to AX86S, but am curious what the AX86U "Pro" is going to add...

 

[Tech9]

but am curious what the AX86U "Pro" is going to add...

Another €130 to the price.

 

[drapos]

The AX86S is available again for around €130 (after a cashback from ASUS) or even €110 (if you can apply multiple cashbacks on 1 product; they are running two different campaigns that overlap in time).

I'm tempted to upgrade from AC86U to AX86S, but am curious what the AX86U "Pro" is going to add...

Which is the second one?

I'm only aware of the 70 bucks one.

Greetings.

 

[XIII]

Which is the second one?

€20 for a review

 

[Rockel83]

I've had the RT-AC86U and the RT-AC2900 before. They're actually completely the same hardware as I believe. Having the same RAM and CPU and running the same Merlin firmware. Although the RT-AC2900 is a few years younger.

But I had some problems with both of them. Like dropping connections etc. which seemed to get worst over time.

Never had those issues with my previous RT-AC66U_B1 and RT-AC68U, which are basically also the same routers. But they were in need of an update because of lacking NVRAM.

Now I've bought the RT-AX86s, hoping to get rid of my problems. It's working non stop without a single connection drop for about 2 weeks now. And this with exactly the same network load and settings as all the previous mentioned routers.

But looking to the specs, this router looks actually the same as a RT-AC86U and RT-AC2900. Only difference seems to be the WIFI-6. While the RT-AC86U is about €80 cheaper.

The RT-AX86U however is about €70 more expensive then the RT-AX86s. While it just has a WAN-port, 2x USB 3.0, double the RAM, double the CPU cores. But uses the same Merlin firware again as the RT-AX86s.

Logic is completely missing here to me. And had expected the RAM and CPU to be the same on the RT-AX86s compared to the already quite older RT-AX86U. At least was expecting a bit more on specs for a €200 router then only the WIFI-6 compared to those much older RT-AC86U and RT-AC2900. I feel a bit dissapointed here.