RT-AX86U to be discontinued?

[dec]

I was waiting for launch of ASUS RT-AX86U in my country and was informed (by the retailer) today that it will be replaced with a new model ASUS RT-AX86U Pro in August/September.
Is this true that RT-AX86U will be discontinued globally or the retailer trying to push much more expensive ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 instead?

 

[RAH-66]

see RT-AX86S

 

[XIII]

But doesn’t the S have less good specs than the U?

(So not a “Pro”? Not that I ever seen any ”Pro” ASUS router)

 

[ColinTaylor]

CMIIT ID 2022AJ7707 - 5.8GHz/5.1GHz/2.4GHz无线局域网设备 - RT-AX86U Pro - 华硕电脑股份有限公司（台湾）

CMIIT ID 2022AJ7707 - 5.8GHz/5.1GHz/2.4GHz无线局域网设备 - RT-AX86U Pro - 华硕电脑股份有限公司（台湾）

cmiitid.cn

CMIIT ID 2022AJ7707 - 5.8GHz/5.1GHz/2.4GHz无线局域网设备 - RT-AX86U Pro - 华硕电脑股份有限公司（台湾）

CMIIT ID 2022AJ7707 - 5.8GHz/5.1GHz/2.4GHz无线局域网设备 - RT-AX86U Pro - 华硕电脑股份有限公司（台湾）

cmiitid.cn

My guess is that they're just renaming the existing model for marketing. Asus have done this sort of thing before.

 

[seadragon]

Good question. I'm in Canada and Best Buy here just removed the RT-AX86U from their website. I just bought two recently so I'm wondering the same thing. Those links that @ColinTaylor posted show 5.8GHz. Is that considered a 6GHz router?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Those links that @ColinTaylor posted show 5.8GHz. Is that considered a 6GHz router?

No. 5150-5350MHz is channels 36 to 64 and 5725-5850MHz is channels 149 to 165.

 

[seadragon]

@ColinTaylor Ahhh, I see now. Thank you.

 

[iFrogMac]

I've been doing some reading this morning, and just came across this thread. So, after reading through, it looks like those of us who recently purchased the RT-AX86U have nothing to worry about as far as suddenly losing support for our devices. I did click on the links posted by @ColinTaylor, but wasn't sure how to interpret them clearly because of the non English language. I did see the RT-AX86U Pro reference in both links, however both links looked identical to me. Maybe I missed something?

As long as I've been buying electronics, and other computer related stuff, I've rarely seen Asus products sold in person where I live. I've only seen them in the last year or so, and most I see have been the lower end models.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I did see the RT-AX86U Pro reference in both links, however both links looked identical to me. Maybe I missed something?

I think they're both the same thing. One says "Approval number: 2022-7707" and the other says "Approval code: 2022AJ7707"

 

[iFrogMac]

I think they're both the same thing. One says "Approval number: 2022-7707" and the other says "Approval code: 2022AJ7707"

So, @ColinTaylor, do you think Asus might be doing something similar Apple does, where they will say take a product such as iPhone, or iPad, etc and add a Pro tier ? For example instead of keeping the S branding, maybe it will be the RT-AX86U, and RT-AX86U Pro to help show it's the same line, but the Pro version is actually what we have with the maximum specs for that model line?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So, @ColinTaylor, do you think Asus might be doing something similar Apple does, where they will say take a product such as iPhone, or iPad, etc and add a Pro tier ? For example instead of keeping the S branding, maybe it will be the RT-AX86U, and RT-AX86U Pro to help show it's the same line, but the Pro version is actually what we have with the maximum specs for that model line?

Your guess is as good as mine. But Asus has a long history of marketing the same router with different model numbers (mostly for different regions). And the Chinese model numbers seem even worse.

 

[iFrogMac]

Your guess is as good as mine. But Asus has a long history of marketing the same router with different model numbers (mostly for different regions). And the Chinese model numbers seem even worse.

OK,v will just wait and see. This is my first Asus product, so I have no history with the company other than being familiar with the name, and knowing they make computers and other related products.

 

[RMerlin]

My guess is that they're just renaming the existing model for marketing.

No, the RT-AX86U Pro will come with improved hardware. I don't think Asus has publicly announced the changes yet.

They have at least one other router that will be re-released in a Pro version.

 

[Tech9]

Oh shut… I’ve got the Rookie edition last week.

 

[RMerlin]

I see Asus publicly announced the second Pro model, so here it is:

ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro | Gaming networking｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

Tri-band WiFi 6 gaming router, 10G WAN/LAN ports, 2.5G WAN port, dual WAN, AiMesh support, VPN Fusion, Triple-level game acceleration and free network security

rog.asus.com

 

[L&LD]

Hmmm, I don't see what's 'Pro' about it.

 

[iFrogMac]

I see Asus publicly announced the second Pro model, so here it is:

ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro | Gaming networking｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

Tri-band WiFi 6 gaming router, 10G WAN/LAN ports, 2.5G WAN port, dual WAN, AiMesh support, VPN Fusion, Triple-level game acceleration and free network security

rog.asus.com

Thanks @RMerlin I'll be interested to see how they perform in the wild. I was actually thinking maybe the Pro Model would also be a WiFi 6E model, but according to the Rog link posted, it doesn't mention AXE. I'm sure there will be threads here to follow as the new models come out.

 

[iFrogMac]

Hmmm, I don't see what's 'Pro' about it.

I was thinking, when I read this thread what else could Asus do the RT-AX86U than what's already here. The two main things I came up with is 10Gbps, and WiFi6e. Maybe more than one 2.5 port.
In my current setup though, I can't take advantage of the one 2.5G port I have, and barely take advantage of WiFi 6. It's certainly stable though, so I'll give it that.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hmmm, I don't see what's 'Pro' about it.

It has WAN Explicit Beamforming... it will take a pro to manage that and the rest of that can of worms!

OE

 

[Tech Junky]

Hmmm, I don't see what's 'Pro' about it.

It has WAN Explicit Beamforming... it will take a pro to manage that and the rest of that can of worms!

The name and price are what's PRO.