RT-AX86U PRO owners, experience thus far?

[Dr Mono]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

[OzarkEdge]

I think the Pro is what the non-Pro should have been.

I think Guest Network Pro/vlans are still in beta firmware(?)

OE

 

[jpthsd]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

I've been using AX86U (2) with AiMesh for 18 months,,,,it is rock solid - AsusWRT firmware ...

Why mine runs smooths and rock solid, I kept it simple!

Get 2 x AX86U ,,you won't regret !! Keep it simple , keep it simple and it would continue running very smooth, strong!

 

[Dr Mono]

I think the Pro is what the non-Pro should have been.

I think Guest Network Pro/vlans are still in beta firmware(?)

OE

Interesting point. You are right, the new features are beta. Maybe I'll wait for a future sale when these Pro features are out of beta.

 

[slackjaw99]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

That box supports tagged vlans if you don't mind configuration via SSH CLI. I had them running on the cheepo version (RT-AX86S). GUI support probably won't be for a few more months at least, but that model will be one of the first to get GUI support. If you do get it, get it from the ASUS website, or any 3rd party site except Amazon. Same discount without all the well known Amazon quality control problems with their discounted tech items as of late.

 

[Tech9]

That box supports tagged vlans if you don't mind configuration via SSH CLI.

This is model specific and requires skills 99.9% of home router users don't have.

 

[slackjaw99]

This is model specific and requires skills 99.9% of home router users don't have.

99.9999% of home router users to be more exact. I was sure OP was in that .00001% of home power users. Glad to be set straight by another 'part of the furniture'.

 

[slackjaw99]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Assuming you are familiar with SSH, the commands to attach two tagged vlans to physical port 1 or port 4 depending on how that model of router maps ports to logical interfaces is pretty much just the following few lines of code in a startup script. Just isolating ports to different subnets (non-tagged vlans) is even simpler. I figured it out from the following sources which have more detail:
https://virtualize.link/asus-vlans/
https://wu.renjie.im/blog/network/ax88u-vlan/

#create a trunk port on eth1
/usr/sbin/ip link add link eth1 name eth1.102 type vlan id 102
/usr/sbin/ip link set eth1.102 up
/bin/brctl addbr br2
/bin/brctl addif br2 eth1.102
/usr/sbin/ip link add link eth1 name eth1.86 type vlan id 86
/usr/sbin/ip link set eth1.86 up
/bin/brctl addif br0 eth1.86

 

[Tech9]

Interface names are model specific. You have to know how to find what is what. Simpe copy/paste of some script won't work. You need to know more than how to enter SSH. Also, if you have noticed this thread is not in Asuswrt-Merlin section. How you are going to run this on Asuswrt?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I think the Pro is what the non-Pro should have been.

I think Guest Network Pro/vlans are still in beta firmware(?)

OE

I temporarily enabled my new ax-ax wireless backhauls to compare the improved connection details to my previous ax-ac wireless backhauls (same difficult 77ft path), using 2.4/5.0 20/80MHz bandwidths (airport RADAR prohibits using DFS/160MHz):

AX86U_Pro+AX86U, 2.4/5.0 ax3/ax4, -61/-59dBm, 309/1020Mbps
AX86U+AC86U, 2.4/5.0 ac3/ac4, -66/-74dBm, 216/877Mbps

I began my wireless AiMesh in 2018, with two AC68Us to extend coverage to a detached garage. I immediately upgraded to two AC86Us for their wireless range boost to make the wireless backhauls usable. Now the current wireless backhauls are better still.

I eventually enabled a MoCA 2.5 wired backhaul with broadcast TV signaling, and disabled the wireless backhauls. This prepares for extending my LAN and TV over coax to additional media centers (WLANs, too, if I need the coverage, but I don't... latest WiFi6 chipsets appear to be the best performers yet, so I will repurpose a retired AiMesh router as a wired node with its radios disabled to be a 4-port switch only).

Now I have upgraded to an all WiFi6/ax AiMesh. I will likely skip WiFi6e... it's not supported on Win10.

ASUS' rolling development of AiMesh; the extra-ordinary AC86U hardware faults; the extended rollout of WiFi6/6e; the pandemic supply chain/cost issues; IoT arriving at the perimeter; and me learning about WiFi, WiFi6/6e, multi-AP networking, wired/wireless backhauls, and AiMesh/consumer mesh in general... has all contributed to an extra-ordinary home networking experience of gradual improvement that has extended until now, this milestone, 5 years later.

I am now very satisfied with my home network... it's solid and has the path forward that I want, not the past 5-year ordeal I've been on. Thank You, ASUS!

My only remaining concern is the PRC militarizing the Taiwan Straits.

OE

 

[slackjaw99]

Interesting point. You are right, the new features are beta. Maybe I'll wait for a future sale when these Pro features are out of beta.

Not sure about the other 'Pro' features, but vlans are definitely a production feature as AIMesh makes heavy use of them behind the scene to extend the first guest wlan to satellite nodes. It's the GUI support for vlan configuration that is in early beta / late alpha status. I've been through the beta GUI preview, and it was little more than one idea of how the GUI may ultimately be designed. Considering that ASUS has already announced a wifi 7 router model that won't be production ready for a very long time, I don't see the 'Pro' beta GUI features being ready for many months if you want to wait that long.

If not, I'd be happy to assist you in more detail AFA getting vlans up and running if you decide to purchase that model now. Another poster has suggested that this is not possible with stock vs Merlin custom firmware. It absolutely is possible because ASUS stock FW gives you hooks to run scripts when USB storage is mounted and unmounted. I've had stable vlans configured under both versions of FW. Also while interface name mapping to physical ports tend to follow different patterns depending on model, figuring out the mapping is pretty straightforward, and the second link I posted previously has an example of how to map port to interface by plugging in an ethernet jack to each LAN port.

What I believe sets ASUS apart from other CONsumer (Netgear, Linksys, Eero etc) vs PROsumer networking solutions is the fact that despite the PROsumer features being absent from the GUI ATM, they are mostly all there and accessible under the hood with the right information on how to access. Contrast this with other CONsumer brands which do not allow shell access or user scripts on bootup, but rather force you to use a very limited mobile app for basic config and to purchase a $100/year subscription for anything more.

 

[Tech9]

If not, I'd be happy to assist you in more detail

If you write instructions how to do it in Access Point mode for NHD routers it will be very useful for folks running VLAN capable wired routers/firewalls and using Asus routers as Access Points only. There are quite a few around and with increasing WAN speeds more will be interested. Thank you!

 

[maxbraketorque]

So any further comments on the reliability of the Pro version?

 

[Mrs_Esterhouse]

My review:

RT-AX86U PRO page now up ...

I returned mine, see post #92. My RT-AX86U Pro had issues with 2.4 GHz, not sure if it was a defect or plain incompatibility issue. I noticed with a WiFi analyzer and with my iPhone that 2.4 GHz irregularly was totally gone and the Brother printer (a 2021 model MFC-J5340DW) got lost (5 GHz was...

www.snbforums.com

 

[eunhahaha]

I've tried out the dual wan mode on RT-AX86U PRO and made my iphone share the hotspot with the router as secondary WAN. The function works, but the WAN LED doesn't. The app shows that it is already the newest firmware version but still not quite sure whether the LED is a bug. But the dual WAN function works well though!

 

[Sander_H]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

For those interested, it is on sale for €195 on Amazon NL.

 

[RoiDesRois]

The RT-AX86U PRO is down to $250 (Amazon). I'm slightly curious about the "Pro" features (VLAN, etc), so I am wondering if current owners like it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Picked one up recently. Upped Asus firmware immediately, then set up merlin and went at it. Getting much better throughput (same settings as the AC version). Have had some disconnects, but that's because I've been playing with the IP side and Yazfi.

 

[RoiDesRois]

So any further comments on the reliability of the Pro version?

Picked one up recently. Upped Asus firmware immediately, then set up merlin and went at it. Getting much better throughput (same settings as the AC version). Have had some disconnects, but that's because I've been playing with the IP side and Yazfi.

 

[Steve23]

I purchased the RT-AX86U Pro earlier this year because I wanted a consumer-level router that supported VLANs. This one does if you use the beta firmware. It does not come without its difficulties so I have been experimenting, operating, experimenting some more, and sending feedback to Asus.

The GUI for VLAN features is rough, unintelligible at times, and needs improvement, imo. I'm somewhat capable, but I consider myself in that large majority who doesn't use SSH config (hence what you read in the 1st sentence above). I'd rather stick to the GUI and keep things as simple as I can despite my desire for some perhaps more advanced networking features.

I have also been posting some of my observations and questions on these forums* (more Qs to come!) so that others might see, help, and maybe even benefit from my effort.

The router has been solid, although I just began having an issue with long periods of no connectivity on devices which use the WireGuard client connection. This after things have been working without issue for two months at least. I'm just starting to troubleshoot that one (like I said, more Qs coming!) so hope to have an answer soon. I don't yet have an idea of what changed to pull what's perhaps a mis-configuartion on my part (totally a guess!) to the forefront where it now matters.

* See:

Beta - RT-AX86U_Pro Beta firmware 9.0.0.6.102_3506

They're not on any known as schedule.

www.snbforums.com

 

[Steve23]

although I just began having an issue with long periods of no connectivity on devices which use the WireGuard client connection.

This turned out to be the fault of the VPN provider, NOT at all the RT-AX86U Pro. They made some change that necessitated a new VPN client config file to be uploaded to the router.

The problem disappeared immediately upon installing the new wireguard config file in a new VPN profile. I inspected the old & new text files (the .conf files). There was a slight change in the description of the VPN server (the so-called Endpoint). That was it.