Upgrading RT-AC66U to either RT-AX68U or RT-AX86U, worth it?

[SoCalReviews]

Okay @SoCalReviews, thanks for the review. It is the best Asus router for you.

...but @Tech9 I wanted to know your opinion. Name the best single overall Asus consumer wireless router at this point in time.

 

[Tech9]

...but @Tech9 I wanted to know your opinion.

When I have this router on my test bench, then I'll give you my opinion. I don't give opinion on something I've never seen/tested/opened. This is what you did in your "review". Have you owned RT-AX88U, RT-AX11000 or RT-AXE11000 routers? What is your opinion based on? Other reviews? If you jumped from AC68U to AX86U, of course AX86U is the best Asus router you have ever seen. No doubt about it.

 

[Tech9]

I can't make a judgement call about the AX86U's future reliability.

I consider all the aspects when I state this opinion: ...reliability

How many months of reliability is included in your opinion? Any comments on this:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/router-advice-uk-2021.74110/#post-706310

 

[SoCalReviews]

When I have this router on my test bench, then I'll give you my opinion. I don't give opinion on something I've never seen/tested/opened. This is what you did in your "review". Have you owned RT-AX88U, RT-AX11000 or RT-AXE11000 routers? What is your opinion based on? Other reviews? If you jumped from AC68U to AX86U, of course AX86U is the best Asus router you have ever seen. No doubt about it.

I didn't give a review. I gave an opinion with reasons why. It's based on the previous Asus wireless routers I have owned, what other users are saying about other Asus routers... their price, performance, reliability, design footprint, etc..

I don't have to own the AXE11000 to know it costs more than twice the price and has a footprint four times as large. I consider SNB tests a fairly reliable source for performance. The AX11000 also cost much more and has a massive footprint. It tested well but it's a tri-band class router. I have read what owners have said about it's reliability. I don't need to own it to know it's attributes. The AX88U costs more, has a larger footprint and didn't outperform the AX86U in the 5Ghz SNB tests.

I owned many AC68Us... I wouldn't have included that in the best Asus router ever comparison list until you said it was your favorite.

How many months of reliability is included in your opinion? Any comments on this:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/router-advice-uk-2021.74110/#post-706310

Reliability for U.S., Canada, N. American versions up until this point in time. One reported incident in the U.K. may be noteworthy but we have many U.K. owners in this forum who are have not been reporting those problems.

A more simple question... If you have $300 USD or less to spend which Asus wireless router should you purchase? Give me the best one I can get for under that price. I want to know your opinion based on all your current knowledge whether you own the router or not.

 

[Tech9]

If you have $300 USD or less to spend which Asus wireless router should you purchase?

If I lived in 60sqm apartment with my wife only and we had 200Mbps ISP line - RT-AC66U B1 for $75.
I live in 370sqm house with my family of 4 and we have 500Mbps ISP line - I told you what my choice is, no Asus routers.

From all Asus models I have in my collection now - RT-N12 D1, RT-N66U, RT-AC66U, RT-AC66U B1, RT-AC68U, RT-AC1900P, RT-AC86U, RT-AC5300 and recently RT-AX58U - the one going to my downtown apartment is perhaps RT-AC1900P. Actually, I may use Synology RT2600ac there, haven't decided yet. Sorry, our hardware choices are different. If AX86U is as reliable as AC86U, I'll tell you what's inside in about 2y time. I have no plans whatsoever to waste $300 on a disposable home router.

 

[SoCalReviews]

If I lived in 60sqm apartment with my wife only and we had 200Mbps ISP line - RT-AC66U B1 for $75.
I live in 370sqm house with my family of 4 and we have 500Mbps ISP line - I told you what my choice is, no Asus routers.

From all Asus models I have in my collection now - RT-N12 D1, RT-N66U, RT-AC66U, RT-AC66U B1, RT-AC68U, RT-AC1900P, RT-AC86U, RT-AC5300 and recently RT-AX58U - the one going to my downtown apartment is perhaps RT-AC1900P. Actually, I may use Synology RT2600ac there, haven't decided yet. Sorry, our hardware choices are different. If AX86U is as reliable as AC86U, I'll tell you what's inside in about 2y time. I have no plans whatsoever to waste $300 on a disposable home router.

...but many potential buyers in this forum would want your informed opinion about what Asus router THEY should buy. Their budget is under $300 USD. @Tech9... Hmm...Which is the best overall Asus router they could buy? Which one?

 

[L&LD]

The opinion to people wishing to buy new routers from someone who dabbles with dead/faulty ones isn't really pertinent.

All hardware fails. DOA is real. What matters to someone buying a new router is what it should perform like if it isn't faulty.

The RT-AX86U is that router today. The last one was the Dark Night - RT-N66U (where my Asus/RMerlin journey started so long ago).

 

[willyburz]

Got it. How is the AX86U looking? Does it have the final version of wifi 6? And does it really perform that well with wifi 6 clients?

I'm running tons of AC, and 3 AX clients. I have gig, and am connected to a Surfboard s33 modems 2.5 port, and then to the AX86U via it's 2.5 port as well, with 160hz hard locked ... I am hitting 770 meg down at times anywhere from 10-30 feet out, I'd say it's normally between 620-770 speed windows with AX clients...I'm hitting solid 550-650ish megs at really long distances. Hell, I've pulled 1.1-1.3 gigs down on the routers internal speed test, that sheeit blew my mind.

The AX86U is everything I could have ever asked for.

 

[kevindd992002]

Post 2 answers that too. Ask then. :

Yes, the RT-AX86U does go on sale. I buy as many as I can (locally) because they are pre-sold. Have you not read any of @SoCalReviews posts here?

A discussion about pros and cons of different options is still better.

I read every post in this thread. I don't see @SoCalReviews saying about any "sale" for the AX86U. Am I just really blind?

 

[SoCalReviews]

A discussion about pros and cons of different options is still better.

I read every post in this thread. I don't see @SoCalReviews saying about any "sale" for the AX86U. Am I just really blind?

The AX86U has been back ordered on most online sites for over a year. I believe LL&D's reference is that I have posted about it in this forum as being extremely popular but out of stock since last year. I have heard they have been on sale before but not much of a discount. You will be fortunate if you can find one at regular price. At the time of this post it is available and in stock on the BestBuy U.S. web site.

Pros and cons? You could buy a lesser Asus router for less money or stay with what you have and wait. Pros... save money. Cons... you probably won't be as happy as if you got the AX86U. If you have to upgrade right now and want to save money the budget buy would be an AC86U but I wouldn't recommend that since you would still be stuck in AC land. I wouldn't bother with the less expensive Asus AX routers. You wouldn't see enough of a difference from what you have now. If you don't want to spend the money right now just wait and save your money until you are ready. The pro about waiting is that more Asus AX and AXE routers should be released in the coming months.

 

[L&LD]

A discussion of the pros and cons of today's available hardware may very well be meaningless tomorrow.

Don't base your future decisions on what is discussed now.

 

[Tech9]

Their budget is under $300 USD. @Tech9... Hmm...Which is the best overall Asus router they could buy? Which one?

This is an international forum. You have to specify region as well. RT-AX86 is above $300 in many places. It’s a good router, but I can’t tell if it’s the best one for everyone in specific price category. It will do little for @kevindd992002, for example.

 

[Lee MacMillan]

Didn't get you anything? You are future proofed for the next five years. The new router is rock solid. It will be fully supported by Merlin and Asus (which would not be the case with the 66U). You have a much improved 5Ghz band, greater WIfi range, better Wifi device handling, better band steering, better traffic prioritization, full Wifi 6/AX support. Your next possible upgrade will be Wifi 7/BE when the 6Ghz tri-band radio routers have matured.

I should have said I don't really notice any difference in my daily internet usage.

 

[SoCalReviews]

This is an international forum. You have to specify region as well. RT-AX86 is above $300 in many places. It’s a good router, but I can’t tell if it’s the best one for everyone in specific price category. It will do little for @kevindd992002, for example.

I said less than $300 USD (U.S. Dollars) which implies it's a U.S. purchase. I tried. It's ok if you don't want to give your direct opinion. There is no requirement here for answering simple questions. @Tech9 back to answering the complex technical questions.

 

[Tech9]

Someone should start an AX86U addiction help thread in this forum.

I agree. Let's discuss the best router Asus ever made in mid 2022.

 

[SoCalReviews]

I agree. Let's discuss the best router Asus ever made in mid 2022.

We won't be holding our breath for your answer in mid 2022. We are still waiting for you to tell us what you think the best router overall that Asus has ever (all factors considered... price, performance, features... like AX, etc..) made up until now mid 2021.

All we know is you don't seem to think it's the AX86U even if we narrow the question down to Asus routers costing less than $300 USD.

...and sorry but most would agree it's not the AC68U.

 

[Tech9]

We won't be holding our breath for your answer in mid 2022.

You narrowed the question to fit your hardware choice in your country. I don’t know what is the best Asus router in 2021. What I know is the previously crowned “best” AC router is unreliable toy. It was also in up to $300 category when introduced to the market. I can only wish you good luck with what you believe is current “best”.

 

[L&LD]

@SoCalReviews, don't worry.

Nobody is holding their breath in mid 2021 either.

 

[supe]

As my RT-AC86U just died 2+ years in, I feel what tech9 is saying. It seems that the RT-AC86U may have a poor life cycle based on my research into the failure I observed, with several reports of the same symptom.

 

[RangerZ]

...and sorry but most would agree it's not the AC68U.

I totally disagree.

I install technology for homes and small businesses.

• Most people do not even know that they can login to their router and change the SSID that the dumb cable installer setup.
• Most people have no complaints about their internet speed, though some do complain about range.
• Most people do not know they can use their own router.
• Most people still have PCs running on Ethernet.
• Those who post on this forum are not Most people.

Over the last year, mostly for range and expensive ISP HW, I have started installing wireless routers, the first was a set of CT8s a client purchased. (turns out they really only needed one). These are too expensive for most people who think a router is worth $100-$150, and indeed for most people they can get good performance for this price.

I bought myself a pair of RT-AC1900P (AC68u family) devices I am using for test and support. I choose these because of the availability of regular firmware updates and the ability to support mesh.

Over the last few years I have gone from a TP-Link 3600 (openwrt AP) which covered most of my upstairs (1250 sqft on each of 2 levels) to a Unifi AP (2.4 Ghz only) which covered almost my entire 1/3 acre property to a Unifi AC-Lite which covers my entire house and patio (less, but perfect) . The RT-AC68U covers at least as much as the Unifi AC-Lite. Both easily give me 130Mps sustained speed centrally and 60Mbps at the extremes (1 device). While I'm sure your not impressed speed wise, it's plenty fast for Most peoples requirements.

There must be some reason that the weekly Merlin downloads are about twice those of any other device and why it appears ASUS is now planning a V4 version of this product. It meets the needs of MOST people.

Oh, and for the OP, this family includes your RT_AC66U B1. Do as L&lD said.