RT-AX58U 2x2 or 4x4 for 5Ghz band? Does anyone really know what time it is?

[JWoo]

The RT-AX58U is now stated by Asus as 2x2 on both the 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz bands. The "gaming" RT-AX82U uses the same hardware and FCCID, but with the addition of fancy LEDs. A great holiday router.

Looking at the FCC information https://fcc.io/MSQ/-RTAXJ300 it is pretty plain to see that the RT-AX58U router is actually 2x2 on the 2.4Ghz band and 4x4 on the 5.0Ghz band, with the middle 2 antennas being shared. It also looks like the FCC testing was as 4x4.

It looks like for 2x2, only the middle 2 antennas ever get used. The outer 2 antennas would just be for "appearance". When I bought this router not a lot of specs were posted, so my assumption was that all 4 antennas on a 4 antenna router actually would be used. Silly me!

Has anyone with an RT-AX58U actually tested it to see whether or not the 5Ghz works as 4x4? What results did you get?

 

[RMerlin]

This was discussed a few months ago:

RT-AX56U vs RT-AX58U vs RT-AX3000

I've got the external amplifier screenshot from the FCC filing Where did you get the other picture from? Engineering sample difference perhaps? RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000 have exactly the same FCC ID - MSQ-RTAXJ300. Can't be different hardware.

www.snbforums.com

RT-AX58U - increase in speed even for AC-only client

Hi All, I purchased an Asus RT-AX58U router to replace the RT-AC66U B1 as main router. The AC66U in turn became an Access Point at another part of my house. My internet is a 1GBPS connection. What I was surprised was the significant increase of download and upload speed I observed from my...

www.snbforums.com

The Story on RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000/RT-AX82U Streams

I asked ASUS to clarify the # of streams question regarding the RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000. Here are the Q's and A's. I'm putting this in its own thread vs. going around to all the other threads and posting. Please help out and post a link to this thread in places where people are asking about the #...

www.snbforums.com

 

[L&LD]

@JWoo, it's time for the RT-AX68U!

The Story on RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000/RT-AX82U Streams

I asked ASUS to clarify the # of streams question regarding the RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000. Here are the Q's and A's. I'm putting this in its own thread vs. going around to all the other threads and posting. Please help out and post a link to this thread in places where people are asking about the #...

www.snbforums.com

I've sold my RT-AX58U already. Just couldn't 'hang' with the RT-AX86U x2 I have. I still want an AX router for my Media Bridge use (maybe a third RT-AX86U, depending on how good the 'AX68U is).

 

[cooloutac]

@JWoo, it's time for the RT-AX68U!

The Story on RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000/RT-AX82U Streams

I asked ASUS to clarify the # of streams question regarding the RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000. Here are the Q's and A's. I'm putting this in its own thread vs. going around to all the other threads and posting. Please help out and post a link to this thread in places where people are asking about the #...

www.snbforums.com

I've sold my RT-AX58U already. Just couldn't 'hang' with the RT-AX86U x2 I have. I still want an AX router for my Media Bridge use (maybe a third RT-AX86U, depending on how good the 'AX68U is).

So that thread merlin linked about the surprising bump in ac speed with the ax58u, which I've already attested to is much faster then the ac86u speed, is a reason to sell it? It sure surprised the hell out of me too lol.

I don't have any devices that support 4x4 but those ax 5g speeds they claim are decent. Many on the forums claim the amount of cores or processor speed have nothing to do with wifi range and speed. But it sure feels differently.


As L&LD said regarding why the ax68u either omits the 5ghz ax speeds from asus spec sheet on their website, or why when its listed it is listed slower then the ax58u ax 5ghz speeds, IS cause according to him "Asus marketing team is out to lunch". So maybe we can probably just chalk this up as another mistake or misleading by their marketing team. Very strange. lol

 

[L&LD]

Wow, you just see whatever you want to see, not what is in front of you in black and white pixels.

Keep believing your 'story'. No one else is.

 

[cooloutac]

Wow, you just see whatever you want to see, not what is in front of you in black and white pixels.

Keep believing your 'story'. No one else is.

I thought you are the one who feels that way when you said Asus marketing team is out to lunch? And yes I agree with you, i'm going by my own personal experience not what is written on paper. The ax58u blows away the ac86u even though on paper it shouldn't. Its AC speeds are very surprising as noted in the thread merlin linked. Its a huge upgrade from my ac66u_b1 and its 2.4ghz range is way better then the ac86u I tried and returned. I'm very happy about it since I only got the ax58u for $25 more then what I paid for the ac66u_b1 almost 3 years ago.

You can call me a liar if you want. I have no agenda or motive to do so. But you are all over those threads merlin linked praising the ax58 speeds so its quite ironic now that you are trashing it and pushing the ax68u which isn't even out yet. Maybe you are Asus marketing team lmao...

In one of the threads Merlin linked, @thiggins said asus may be playing games , and even though it is a 4x4 on the ax 5ghz, they are purposely mislabeling it as 2x2 on their website. So maybe that confirms your theory that "Asus marketing team is out to lunch". I have no idea if that is true or not, but the performance of the ax58u seems to be better then what asus claims. In my anecdotal experience with personally comparing it to a router that should be perform better on paper.

 

[JWoo]

This was discussed a few months ago:

RT-AX56U vs RT-AX58U vs RT-AX3000

I've got the external amplifier screenshot from the FCC filing Where did you get the other picture from? Engineering sample difference perhaps? RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000 have exactly the same FCC ID - MSQ-RTAXJ300. Can't be different hardware.

www.snbforums.com

RT-AX58U - increase in speed even for AC-only client

Hi All, I purchased an Asus RT-AX58U router to replace the RT-AC66U B1 as main router. The AC66U in turn became an Access Point at another part of my house. My internet is a 1GBPS connection. What I was surprised was the significant increase of download and upload speed I observed from my...

www.snbforums.com

The Story on RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000/RT-AX82U Streams

I asked ASUS to clarify the # of streams question regarding the RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000. Here are the Q's and A's. I'm putting this in its own thread vs. going around to all the other threads and posting. Please help out and post a link to this thread in places where people are asking about the #...

www.snbforums.com

I was actually participating in some of those threads, but didn't see the Asus response until today that the RT-AX58U is confirmed to be software neutered to using only 2 antennas for transmit (and all 4 antennas for receive) on the 5Ghz band. Thanks for posting and reminding me!

 

[JWoo]

I thought you are the one who feels that way when you said Asus marketing team is out to lunch? And yes I agree with you, i'm going by my own personal experience not what is written on paper. The ax58u blows away the ac86u even though on paper it shouldn't. Its AC speeds are very surprising as noted in the thread merlin linked. Its a huge upgrade from my ac66u_b1 and its 2.4ghz range is way better then the ac86u I tried and returned. I'm very happy about it since I only got the ax58u for $25 more then what I paid for the ac66u_b1 almost 3 years ago.

You can call me a liar if you want. I have no agenda or motive to do so. But you are all over those threads merlin linked praising the ax58 speeds so its quite ironic now that you are trashing it and pushing the ax68u which isn't even out yet. Maybe you are Asus marketing team lmao...

In one of the threads Merlin linked, @thiggins said asus may be playing games , and even though it is a 4x4 on the ax 5ghz, they are purposely mislabeling it as 2x2 on their website. So maybe that confirms your theory that "Asus marketing team is out to lunch". I have no idea if that is true or not, but the performance of the ax58u seems to be better then what asus claims.

Asus is clearly trying to use marketing to differentiate between the RT-AX58U and RT-AX82U so the latter can sell at a higher price point even though the platform is Identical. Heck it's done in many industries where the cost of platform development is high to share the R&D costs over many products. The extras with the RT-AX82U are the spiffy LEDs + neo-modern case + the use of all 4 antennas on the 5Ghz transmit.

 

[JWoo]

@cooloutac I agree with you that the RT-AX58U CPU performance is actually pretty decent (as I put in another thread the CPU load when jamming the router with SpeedTest is 1/7th the load of my old RT-AC68U Gen 1). As Merlin noted in the other thread, the main investment Asus made in this RT-AX58U model was to put in it decent radios and I agree that the radios perform pretty darn well. My only beef is that I just hate it when manufacturers neuter something in software. It's like turning off 50 horsepower.... in software. Uggh! Hoping someone figures out a "software" solution to this router's transmit software problem on the 5Ghz radio so we can use all the antennae.

 

[cooloutac]

I was actually participating in some of those threads, but didn't see the Asus response until today that the RT-AX58U is confirmed to be software neutered to using only 2 antennas for transmit (and all 4 antennas for receive) on the 5Ghz band. Thanks for posting and reminding me!

Can you point out the post where Asus actually confirms this? I see where @thiggins agrees with the one guy that if it was truly 4x4 on the 160Mhz that it would probably be 4800Mbs and that its probably only 4x4 on 80Mhz. At which point thiggins agrees and says he deleted his post. And he said he would confirm with his Asus contact but I don't see where Asus responds or it is officially confirmed.

But yes I see what you mean about the Ax82u and that definitely would be motives for such unscrupulous actions. I wonder if it originally used 4x4 on the 160mhz and then was neutered with a subsequent firmware release? lol wow. Can't keep up with all the model ax routers this company has. How they gonna keep up with their reputation for timely security updates and quality firmware? That could be the reason why its all starting to go downhill.

UPDATE: I see now where Merlin confirms that someone at Asus told him the 5ghz has only 2 transmit streams and 4 receive streams. either way I only have two devices that support it and i'm not sure how much a difference it makes. Certainly doesn't affect me compared to the ac86u. But ya sure leaves a bad taste if neutered by software lol. But that ax82u is $230? Wow, what a ripoff.

 

[JWoo]

Can you point out the post where Asus actually confirms this? I see where @thiggins agrees with the one guy that if it was truly 4x4 on the 160Mhz that it would probably be 4800Mbs and that its probably only 4x4 on 80Mhz. At which point thiggins agrees and says he deleted his post. And he said he would confirm with his Asus contact but I don't see where Asus responds or it is officially confirmed.

But yes I see what you mean about the Ax82u and that definitely would be motives for such unscrupulous actions. I wonder if it originally used 4x4 on the 160mhz and then was neutered with a subsequent firmware release? lol wow. Can't keep up with all the model ax routers this company has. How they gonna keep up with their reputation for timely security updates and quality firmware? That could be the reason why its all starting to go downhill.

UPDATE: I see now where Merlin confirms that someone at Asus told him the 5ghz has only 2 transmit streams and 4 receive streams. either way I only have two devices that support it and i'm not sure how much a difference it makes. Certainly doesn't affect me compared to the ac86u. But ya sure leaves a bad taste if neutered by software lol. But that ax82u is $230? Wow, what a ripoff.

I agree, it does seem like a ripoff.

For the info on the wireless capabilities of the RT-AX58U, look at https://www.snbforums.com/threads/the-story-on-rt-ax58u-rt-ax3000-rt-ax82u-streams.64245/

Partial text of that thread:

Tim: Are four streams being used for receive and 2 streams for transmit for 5 GHz?
ASUS: Yes. For RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000, the 5GHz band become 2T4R due to software control .

 

[cooloutac]

I agree, it does seem like a ripoff.

For the info on the wireless capabilities of the RT-AX58U, look at https://www.snbforums.com/threads/the-story-on-rt-ax58u-rt-ax3000-rt-ax82u-streams.64245/

Partial text of that thread:

Tim: Are four streams being used for receive and 2 streams for transmit for 5 GHz?
ASUS: Yes. For RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000, the 5GHz band become 2T4R due to software control .

Guess Merlin talked to the same guy. Thanks, Guess I didn't click that link. interesting. meaningless to me but interesting. maybe in 5-10 years it will matter more lol. Do you have alot of 4x4 devices on your network? I don't even think my galaxy s20 is or at 160mhz. I know my laptop is only 2x2.

This all makes ya wonder how they will justify a cost of $100 on the ax68u besides it just being dual core. Its to the point now with this sea of asus routers you have to really just test them out for yourself to see how buggy it is, or how it performs in the real world before you decide to keep it while ignoring the marketing. Or just go for the lowest price which is probably what they are expecting people to do now. I think they are hurting their brand. Its the corporate way though. they were really milking the success they had off the ac68u with that ac86u, and now they're milking their name dry even further it seems after getting away with it. Although I don't think its just the marketing people as @L&LD says that are "out to lunch".

 

[RMerlin]

Guess Merlin talked to the same guy.

I didn't. I spoke with one of their engineers back then.

 

[SoCalReviews]

@JWoo, it's time for the RT-AX68U!

The Story on RT-AX58U/RT-AX3000/RT-AX82U Streams

I asked ASUS to clarify the # of streams question regarding the RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000. Here are the Q's and A's. I'm putting this in its own thread vs. going around to all the other threads and posting. Please help out and post a link to this thread in places where people are asking about the #...

www.snbforums.com

I've sold my RT-AX58U already. Just couldn't 'hang' with the RT-AX86U x2 I have. I still want an AX router for my Media Bridge use (maybe a third RT-AX86U, depending on how good the 'AX68U is).

Why not? Having three AX86Us is a charm... four is a home run. I have been considering getting a fifth one to bridge my PS5 (which already has Wifi 6/80Ghz) and the associated media devices in that location... at 160Mhz instead of using their built in 5Ghz radios. It would be great if Asus provides an update soon to take advantage of that newly allotted 5Ghz channel.

 

[L&LD]

Just be sure that when the PS5 is wired, it is not limited to 100Mbps LAN speeds.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Just be sure that when the PS5 is wired, it is not limited to 100Mbps LAN speeds.

Shhh! No one is supposed to know that but me.

Unfortunately for now the internet service on this one is about 100Mbps.

 

[Igs]

Guess Merlin talked to the same guy. Thanks, Guess I didn't click that link. interesting. meaningless to me but interesting. maybe in 5-10 years it will matter more lol. Do you have alot of 4x4 devices on your network? I don't even think my galaxy s20 is or at 160mhz. I know my laptop is only 2x2.

Well, it is not only about how many 4x4 devices you have. It's about how many devices can be served simultaneously.