So, a new router came today, the AX86U <3

[torstein]

After having read these forums for a year, and felt a bit of frustration with my AX58U poor performance, and reading how it is an okay-ish entry level product in several reviews with poor performance (just look at Thiggins throughput review) I finally bit the bullet and sold the AX58U and upgraded to the already beloved community darling AX86U. I was lucky to get the very last one they had in stock here in Oslo, Norway.

I was a bit worried I was getting too caught up with tech specs, and wouldn't really notice any real world differences, but boy does the AX86U deliver!

1. My 1gbps connection could only reach 450 down and 550 up on the AX58U. The AX86U gets me 750 down and 640 up on speedtest.net and on fast.com I get 950 down and 640 up. On WIRELESS!!!! (5Ghz radio to Macbook Pro 2018 ac 3x3)
2. It boots up noticeably faster than the AX58U, I didn't clock the AX58U, since I didn't expect it to boot faster, but it does. Practical for whenever that's necessary.
3. It is beautiful to look at and the build quality is generally good. Even the power cables are of high quality premium rubber like the ones you find on Apple iMac power cables. And luckily the red grill isn't really noticeable.

It was expensive. 290$, but I am so happy I got it. Thank you community for convincing me to buy this amazing, future proof, top performing Thiggins-RMerlin-and-community-fauvorite AX86U.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I never have a issue getting 940/940 wired and 600/600 wireless with my AX58U. Works fine and way cheaper but to each there own enjoy the new router.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Congrats! You are amongst the true believers.

 

[BreakingDad]

You just bought the best router on the market in my humble opinion. Now read @L&LD setup guide, add Merlin, bung on the 160hz add flexqos and bask in the glory.

 

[torstein]

You just bought the best router on the market in my humble opinion. Now read @L&LD setup guide, add Merlin, bung on the 160hz add flexqos and bask in the glory.

• Thanks I don’t think any of my devices will be able to take advantage of 160mhz just yet, as I have a MBP 2018 and iPhone 8 and 12. The rest of my stuff is wired into the router (PS4, AppleTV, Ikea smart home hub etc)
• Is FlexQoS - or any QoS for that matter - necessary with 1gbps fiber connection? I’m genuinly asking, because I dont know, but I was of the understanding that QoS was for slower connections, no?
• Already have merlin 386.2 installed. First thing I did after unpacking the AX86U, but I didn’t reset the router after flashing with MerlinWRT. I din’t even set up SSIDs or anything before flashing it. Is resetting the ax86u really necessary on a factory-fresh router and newly clean install merlin?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks I don’t think any of my devices will be able to take advantage of 160mhz just yet, as I have a MBP 2018 and iPhone 8 and 12. The rest of my stuff is wired into the router (PS4, AppleTV, Ikea smart home hub etc)

Where I am located there are too many nearby access points to be able to use 160MHz without interference. I don't have any devices that could use it anyway. There appears to be a bug in the current WiFi code where if the AX86U detects interference from a nearby station on overlapping 5GHz channels the WiFi driver will repeatedly crash and restart.

Is FlexQoS - or any QoS for that matter - necessary with 1gbps fiber connection? I’m genuinly asking, because I dont know, but I was of the understanding that QoS was for slower connections, no?

My internet connection is 660/40 and I don't use QoS. If you're saturating your bandwidth you might need to use QoS for latency sensitive applications like VoIP.

Already have merlin 386.2 installed. First thing I did after unpacking the AX86U, but I didn’t reset the router after flashing with MerlinWRT. I din’t even set up SSIDs or anything before flashing it. Is resetting the ax86u really necessary on a factory-fresh router and newly clean install merlin?

It is usually recommended but in this specific case (AX86U - current stock to Merlin) it is not necessary. You might want to review the WiFi settings though. e.g. turn of Universal Beamforming, etc.

 

[BreakingDad]

• Thanks I don’t think any of my devices will be able to take advantage of 160mhz just yet, as I have a MBP 2018 and iPhone 8 and 12. The rest of my stuff is wired into the router (PS4, AppleTV, Ikea smart home hub etc)
• Is FlexQoS - or any QoS for that matter - necessary with 1gbps fiber connection? I’m genuinly asking, because I dont know, but I was of the understanding that QoS was for slower connections, no?
• Already have merlin 386.2 installed. First thing I did after unpacking the AX86U, but I didn’t reset the router after flashing with MerlinWRT. I din’t even set up SSIDs or anything before flashing it. Is resetting the ax86u really necessary on a factory-fresh router and newly clean install merlin?

1) I've not had any issues using 160mhz, I live in an average house on an average street in the UK, I can see about 10 access points from my house. I do live about 1 mile from a small Airport, but this has never interfered afaik. Only 2 devices use the 160mhz, that being my pc and my daughters laptop. Right now I have about 5 devices on the 80mhz (mainly google speakers ) and 7 on 2.4ghz (smart plugs , roku and some other toys)
2) Perhaps not in your case, I have 500/40 fibre and a family of 5 hardcore internet users, for me it's essential as if someone is watching amazon prime or netflix it ruins my ping without. I think flex is amazing, but it may be of no benefit to yourself.
3) Glad to hear you're using Merlin
4) Bask in the glory some more.