Should I upgrade to RT-AX88U Pro?

[ivannn]

Hello good people,

I am using AX86 and AC68 in two different locations running latest Merlin.

I have a very specific question regarding RT-AX88U Pro vs RT-AX86U:

Shall I expect improved wifi coverage in general in case of upgrading AX86 to AX88U Pro?
I understand this would be very specific to my spot and the surroundings, but I am looking for information that is either based on the hardware specifications or someone's first hand experience with these devices.

Additional background:

In the past I saw a significant wifi coverage improvement when I upgraded AC68 to AX86 at my primary location. The old router was deployed to a secondary location that would also benefit of a wifi coverage upgrade now, but instead of getting another AX86 I consider AX88U Pro for the primary place and re-deploying the AX86 to the secondary. The AC68 is EOL and running a VPN server that would get faster if I replace it with AX86.

In my primary location I would benefit from the additional 2.5 gig port and VLAN support on the AX88U Pro (possibly eliminating a multi gig managed switch between my internet link to media converter and another managed "core" switch), but some of my wireless clients are experiencing weak wifi signal in the room that is furthest away from the AX86 today and upgrading the router makes less sense to me if wifi coverage wouldn't improve at least a little. In such case I would keep suffering from not quite ideal wifi coverage in both locations until I can get improvement using a wifi 7 router in the future. I am not eager to go bleeding edge today despite I have a wifi 7 device at home. I have considered changing the locations of the wifi routers but this would not be possible in both locations due to missing ethernet cabling. Deploying mesh is also not welcome in my environments. Any hint about wifi coverage diferences between RT-AX88U Pro and RT-AX86U would be appreciated.

 

[L&LD]

While the absolute coverage/range may be very similar, the RT-AX88U Pro offers more bandwidth at the same distance than the old (and effectively obsolete, today) RT-AX86U (orig), as it has been indicated it won't be getting 3.0.0.6.xxx level firmware many times.

Definitely not worth buying the crippled RT-AX86U Pro either today.

The best bang for the buck Asus/RMerlin powered router today is hands down the RT-AX88U Pro.

 

[bbunge]

Shall I expect improved wifi coverage in general in case of upgrading AX86 to AX88U Pro?
I understand this would be very specific to my spot and the surroundings, but I am looking for information that is either based on the hardware specifications or someone's first hand experience with these devices.

No. And with the AX86U Pro on sale for $199 you get a good deal.

 

[ivannn]

I am looking at AX88U Pro (not AX86U Pro) as upgrade to AC68U in terms of wifi coverage. This one is about 300 eur where I live. Based on the specs I have compared - there are more antenas, 5GHz radio is the same and 2.4 seems improved in 88. Is that going to give noticeable difference in coverate or bandwith in theory?

 

[L&LD]

Not only in theory but in practice too.

More effective (i.e. usable) range.

More (~20% more) throughput.

Much longer longevity.


Here is a comparison of the superior RT-AC86U (vs your RT-AC68U) to an entry-level AX class router.

Can I Use Both AiMesh (Wired) and VLAN?

Hi there. I've used Merlin on all my ASUS router for what I think is at least a decade - this question may not be specific to Merlin, but since I use Merlin for everything I figured it's good to have that background as a "constant." Currently have two RT-AC68Us in my property on a wired...

www.snbforums.com

 

[bbunge]

AX86U Pro has 4 antennas. 3 external one internal. Great WIFI coverage too.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

Any hint about wifi coverage diferences between RT-AX88U Pro and RT-AX86U would be appreciated.

I've owned 3 generations of Asus routers...
RT-AC88U -> RT-AX88U -> RT-AX88U-PRO. The 88U-PRO is my primary router - the AX88U is a cold backup. Since the AX-88U is very similar to your AX-86U, my experience may be of some value.

I can tell you that my PRO unit does seem to provide slightly better 5Ghz coverage than the non-PRO 88U. But the difference is not significant and may be the result of a very small location difference or antenna orientation or upgraded WiFi devices.

My router is located on the 1st floor in one corner of the house. I do get adaquate coverage on the opposite corner on the 2nd floor. In my use-case, I have not found a need for a mesh setup. That said, there are "dead" WiFi spots where kitchen appliances or metal fireplace flue or other metalic barriers do block some signal.

As far as VLAN config, my personal experience is very good with the 88U-PRO. I'm running 3 Netgear L2 switch. One of these is configured with 802.1Q ports. The other 2 are for POE devices and each are VLAN configured with the 88U-PRO stock Asuswrt FW. Guest WiFi is on a seperate WiFi 2.4Ghz VLAN. I turn the 2.4Ghz radio off when no guests need router WiFi. In total, Ive got 5 VLAN setup with "Guest Network Pro".

I also connect a Synology DS220+ NAS to the 2.5Gb LAN router port even though the NAS only has dual 1Gb ports.

All this to say that my home network is not overly complex.

The 88U-PRO FW has some bugs (see other posts that cover these). Nonetheless, the basic VLAN capabilities in "Guest Network Pro" do work. For the most part, the FW is relatively stable.

Although not a perfect router, I can recommend the 88U-PRO.

 

[ivannn]

Thanks guys, I am pulling the trigger on an AX88U Pro.

 

[Jimmy9]

If you have the 88 pro as the primary router and the 88 non pro as a wired ap, will the wired and wireless clients of the AP still end up in different vlans. or would all of the AP clients end up in the same vlan.
Many thanks

 

[bbunge]

If you have the 88 pro as the primary router and the 88 non pro as a wired ap, will the wired and wireless clients of the AP still end up in different vlans. or would all of the AP clients end up in the same vlan.
Many thanks

You seem to be confused about VLAN operation. And, the non Pro router will have very limited VLAN capability compared to the Pro in Asuswrt 5 firmware.

 

[Jimmy9]

Yes i am unclear about the VLAN operation, I am trying to work out what happens if you have separate VLANS on the pro, but clients connect to the non pro in wired ap mode. Will those clients still be segregated into the VLANs configured on the pro or because that wired AP has no VLAN functionality, those client just end up in whatever vlan that AP is in?

 

[Tech9]

Nothing is officially documented yet. What we know so far from experiments Asuswrt 5.0 features stay on the main router only, Asuswrt 4.0 nodes get whatever was before Guest Network to nodes only. For full features - all routers must be running Asuswrt 5.0 firmware, that means nodes upgrade too. Another option is entire new system with whatever is available from ExpertWiFi products. Very few options at the moment, perhaps more coming.

 

[Rain Kleyman]

For VLAN you definitely better off adding managed switch into equation or moving to SMB oriented ecosystem altogether

 

[marcd5123]

AX86U Pro has 4 antennas. 3 external one internal. Great WIFI coverage too.

And 86U Pro is 2023 model !!!.The 88U Pro is 2018/19 to my knowledge.. Personally I believe the overall best router is most certainly the 86U Pro (2023) model powered by Merlin and it does has 4 antennas as previously stated so this means this router should have the best longevity with regards to firmware Stock and Merlin and obviously WRT 5 moving forwards ..I would be a little "cautious" with the 88U Pro is older model yes still great hardware but could end up being on the "end of life" cycle far sonner than the 86U Pro so i would be somewhat very careful/mindful. I was also going to grab the 88U Pro instead of 86U Pro but ... reading on these very forums and the amount of downloads from 86U Pro you can also clearly see just how popular the 86U Pro is as a model. It's subjective at the end of the day and will differ from environment to environment ..Have fun and good luck .

 

[vit5421]

And 86U Pro is 2023 model !!!.The 88U Pro is 2018/19 to my knowledge.

U r wrong. 88U Pro is 2023 model as well

 

[marcd5123]

U r wrong. 88U Pro is 2023 model as well

Perhaps it was the regular 88U was 2018/19 I'm sure I read it somewhere fair enough. The Original was 2019 and the Pro is 2023 my mistake.

They are literally identical like 90% ...

88U Pro ...2X4 for 2.4ghz and 88U Pro is 4X4 2.4ghz so unless your going to be using the 2.4GHZ band no point.
Looking at Asus Website hardware wise that's it !...the 88U Pro has 4X external Antennas and 86U Pro has 3 external and 1x internal.

Otherwise everything else CPU & memory are 100% same .

Both run exactly the same firmware so WRT 5 and both models obviously will run MerlinWRT anyway.

So both models longevity wise are good to go for some years anyway both are 2023 models .

So apart from design and footprint and 2.4ghz 4X4 their idental so obviously it's down as usual to personal preference and it's extremely subjective anyhow how both will work in their own respective environments no matter how many people on YouTube review both of them .

For me and my own opinion I personally think the 86U Pro is absolutely spot on for everything design, hardware and Firmware Asus Stock WRT 5 and Merlin which will next year move onto the newer WRT 5 or new GPL code I'm not in a hurry. The latest Merlin Firmware works and it's absolutely rock solid stable .

 

[KevTech]

AX88 pro has two 2.5 gig ports.
AX86 pro has one 2.5 gig port.