RT-AC88U

[wfhmaster]

I'm tempted to get an 88U, but the only reason is because my 87U is such a POS. The 87U completely crashes on a regular basis and has to be hard reset to recover. However, I want to see the 88U does not have the same issues as the 87U, but based on some reviews so far I'm not convinced. I've never owned a less reliable piece of hardware (87U), ever! I can't wait to find a better solution, ie stable router with similar features, I don't care what brand it is. The experience with this router has greatly reduced my confidence in ASUS.

 

[skypx]

I'm tempted to get an 88U, but the only reason is because my 87U is such a POS. The 87U completely crashes on a regular basis and has to be hard reset to recover. However, I want to see the 88U does not have the same issues as the 87U, but based on some reviews so far I'm not convinced. I've never owned a less reliable piece of hardware (87U), ever! I can't wait to find a better solution, ie stable router with similar features, I don't care what brand it is. The experience with this router has greatly reduced my confidence in ASUS.

On average, how many days defore you need to reset?

 

[wfhmaster]

Sometimes 1-3 days , and always by 20-30 day range no matter what, it will not stay up longer than this. When it dies all ports and wifi die but the lights stay on. The log has zero info upon reset. Funny thing is if I clear NVRAM and/or update FW it will usually make it for the 20-30days, but once it crashes it's usually is pretty consistent after that. I have doubts the hardware is at fault, I suspect the OS/software are to blame.... like a log file getting big over time and somehow crashing the OS after growing too big... maybe something similar. With the latest official FW it has maybe been slightly more stable, but hard to tell.

 

[skypx]

Sometimes 1-3 days , and always by 20-30 day range no matter what, it will not stay up longer than this. When it dies all ports and wifi die but the lights stay on. The log has zero info upon reset. Funny thing is if I clear NVRAM and/or update FW it will usually make it for the 20-30days, but once it crashes it's usually is pretty consistent after that. I have doubts the hardware is at fault, I suspect the OS/software are to blame.... like a log file getting big over time and somehow crashing the OS after growing too big... maybe something similar. With the latest official FW it has maybe been slightly more stable, but hard to tell.

Wow! That sucks! I'm sure one of the experts here may help you figure out what the issue is.

 

[Puppa]

I'm tempted to get an 88U, but the only reason is because my 87U is such a POS. The 87U completely crashes on a regular basis and has to be hard reset to recover. However, I want to see the 88U does not have the same issues as the 87U, but based on some reviews so far I'm not convinced. I've never owned a less reliable piece of hardware (87U), ever! I can't wait to find a better solution, ie stable router with similar features, I don't care what brand it is. The experience with this router has greatly reduced my confidence in ASUS.

Sounds about right regarding the 87u. I pull mine out every few months to see if it's still bad. Fortunately, the bulk of the issues follow Quantenna, not Asus. Don't get me wrong, Asus isn't perfect, they're just the least problematic overall.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I'm tempted to get an 88U, but the only reason is because my 87U is such a POS. The 87U completely crashes on a regular basis and has to be hard reset to recover. However, I want to see the 88U does not have the same issues as the 87U, but based on some reviews so far I'm not convinced. I've never owned a less reliable piece of hardware (87U), ever! I can't wait to find a better solution, ie stable router with similar features, I don't care what brand it is. The experience with this router has greatly reduced my confidence in ASUS.

You're not the only one. I have heard many negative reviews of the 87U. The 87U is probably the worst router they ever released. The 88U is Broadcom based so it should be better. But after a few wifi tests with the 88U it doesn't seem to be that great either. Stick with the 68U or 68P for now as those are the most reliable and AC1900 routers are at the top of their game now.


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[Antony Williams]

I got my 88u on a Black Friday deal. So far it's great. Firmware seems stable, and wifi range is impressive. I also really like having an 8 port LAN. I have 2 desktops, server, Ooma phone and a printer. No need for my extra switch.

 

[kvic]

I got my 88u on a Black Friday deal. So far it's great. Firmware seems stable, and wifi range is impressive. I also really like having an 8 port LAN. I have 2 desktops, server, Ooma phone and a printer. No need for my extra switch.

Nice.

Look forward to hear more feedback from users who actually own AC88U.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Yeah would like some more user feedback. I just ordered one from Amazon straight up trade. I'll have it Friday.

 

[faur]

Well, yesterday i received my AC88U... it comes with 378.xxx firmware and did some tests... appx same speed as AC68U...after the upgrade to 380.xxx, I saw a plus in speed but not in range in compares with AC68U. My tests revealed appx. 8 to 10% increase in speed for WAN, being on 1Gb plan. for LAN-LAN - no differences, it's Gb speed - 102MB/s (from NAS to PC and reverse) For WIFI to LAN and LAN to WIFI - appx 40 MB/s (from NAS to Laptop i7 ssd and reverse).
These were not lab tests, those are done in my apartment and for WIFI the distance was appx 5 meters away from router.
Overall, it's a step forward in compares with AC87U in terms of 5Ghz stability but not so big differences in compares with AC68U.
I hope those dates will help you deciding...

 

[kvic]

For WIFI to LAN and LAN to WIFI - appx 40 MB/s (from NAS to Laptop i7 ssd and reverse).

Nice..

What's the link rate (it's available from the wireless adaptor) that you see on your i7 laptop?

 

[faur]

It's fluctuating between 702 and 866.

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[kvic]

It's fluctuating between 702 and 866.

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Thanks. For that link rate, I would expect to see near 60MB/s transfer speed if AC88U is as good as some other users reported.

 

[faur]

I reported what I saw..

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[punkinduster]

I currently have a RT-AC66. Do you think I would benefit in any area, besides 4 extra ports, by upgrading to the RT-AC88? We currently have John's fork running and thought maybe devices at the far end of the house might actually get worse since John's fork doesn't support the new router. I do like to think the faster/newer processor (MIPS->ARM) in addition to USB 3.0 would be nice but $300 with no significant improvement wouldn't make a lot of sense.

 

[faur]

Well, you can think about AC88U in terms of future proof, for the time when the usual wifi deviced like laptops, phones and tablets will have 4x4 MU-MIMO cards... Another reason will be that you will have more CPU power and more memory which is good if you want VPN multiple clients, NAT fot high speed WAN, the build-in router applications like antivirus, backup system, even when you have multiple routes etc. Anyway, you will have some benefits but not in range... The decision is yours.

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[thiggins]

Do you think I would benefit in any area, besides 4 extra ports, by upgrading to the RT-AC88?

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...32896-will-a-new-ac-router-bring-you-wifi-joy

 

[faur]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...32896-will-a-new-ac-router-bring-you-wifi-joy

This article is done using the first ac88u firmware which was not tuned for performance...with the new one, the things are quite the same as ac5300...

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[punkinduster]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...32896-will-a-new-ac-router-bring-you-wifi-joy

Thanks for all of the info you supplied in your testing. I did notice all of the routers you tested were newer than mine. I'll have to do some more reading on the differences going back to the RT-AC66.

 

[platocplx]

I currently have a RT-AC66. Do you think I would benefit in any area, besides 4 extra ports, by upgrading to the RT-AC88? We currently have John's fork running and thought maybe devices at the far end of the house might actually get worse since John's fork doesn't support the new router. I do like to think the faster/newer processor (MIPS->ARM) in addition to USB 3.0 would be nice but $300 with no significant improvement wouldn't make a lot of sense.

I just upgraded from the AC66. I immediately noticed better range. I used to get slower range in my upstairs bedroom. right now its rock solid and im getting 5ghz speeds upstairs.