🛒
The new Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 router looks so similar to the GT-AC5300—if you think Asus has run out of design creativity with this one, that will make two of us!
Indeed, this router is a bulky box with eight massive removable antennas sticking out around the sides—it's either an eyesore or a badass depending on your questionable taste.
I'm in the eyesore camp, in case you haven't noticed.
But if you can look past the appearance and dig deeper, you'll probably love this piece of networking hardware, especially if you're into online gaming.
So, here's the endgame: For hardcore gamers and geeks, the Asus GT-AX11000 is a nice upgrade, even at the hefty cost of some $450. Everyone else, who is not drowning in cash, should wait.
Note: Initially, at its launch early this year, the GT-AX11000 was quite buggy. After a few rounds of the firmware updates, it now seems ready for prime time. And that's good timing since I've just acquired some Wi-Fi 6 clients to put it to the test.
Asus GT-AX1100: A massively bulky box of power
Again, the Asus GT-AX11000 resembles the GT-AC5300, which means it's huge—a square that measures 9.5-inch (241 mm) wide, without antennas, and 2.4-inch (61 mm) tall. It's also heavy at 3.8 pounds (1.73 kg).
The router looks even more massive with the antennas attached. By the way, I found it quite hard to screw the antennas in tight. They tend to stay loose and might droop instead of staying up straight. That doesn't affect the performance, but it sure is an eyesore.
Powerful hardware
The Asus GT-AX11000 is enormous for a reason. This device has enough processing power to rival a storage server. As for Wi-Fi, it's one of a few 4x4 tri-band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers on the market with two 5GHz bands and one 2.4GHz band—details in the specs table below.
Considering Wi-Fi 6 is currently in the early state with many backward compatibility issues, having two 5GHz bands, apart from hosting more concurrent clients, translates into some extra advantages. Stuff that dual-band routers, like the Netgear RAX120 or even the Asus RT-AX88U, can't deliver.
Specifically, you can use one band in compatibility mode to support the legacy clients and the other in high-performance mode. Also, since the GT-AX11000 supports AiMesh, one of the 5GHz can work as a backhaul to increase performance when you use it in a mesh.
Most noticeably, though, the new router includes lots of handy features tailored to online gaming. Its huge ROG logo light on top is self-evident—the light syncs its color with other ROG gears that support Asus's Aura RGB. By the way, ROG stands for Republic of Gamers -- a brand Asus founded in 2006 to dedicate to gaming equipment.
The Asus GT-AX1100: Hardware specifications
| Full Name | ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Tri-band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router |
| Wi-Fi Technology | Tri-band 4x4 802.11ax |
| 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 4x4 AX: Up to 1148 Mbps |
| 5GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 4x4 AX: Up to 4804 Mbps |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| Gigabit Port | 4x LAN, 1x WAN |
| Link Aggregation | Yes (LAN ports 1 and 2) |
| Multi-Gig Port | 1x 2.5Gbps LAN/WAN |
| Dual-WAN | Yes |
| USB | 2x USB 3.0 (Storage, cellular dongles, and printers) |
| Processing Power | 1.8 GHz quad-core CPU, 256 MB Flash, 1 GB RAM |
| Dimensions | 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.4 in (241 x 241 x61 mm) |
| Weight | 3.8 lbs (1.73 kg) |
But what if I’m not a gamer?
For regular home users, the Asus GT-AX11000 is overkill. It doesn't hurt to get it, but you won't get much more out of it than other less pricey alternatives, such as the RT-AX88U, the RT-AC86U, or even the much older RT-AC88U. And that's because, at the core, the GT-AX11000 is a standard Asus router.
Still a familiar router with universal setting restoration
If you've used an Asus router before, you'll feel right at home with the GT-AX1100. To get it up and going, connect a computer to one of its LAN ports, fire up a browser and go to router.asus.com (or the router's default IP, which is 192.168.50.1) and the rest is self-explanatory. Generally, you can treat it like any router with a web interface.
By the way, in my testing, the GT-AX11000 could accept a setting file from any Asus router. So if you're upgrading, just backup your old router and upload the settings to it—your network setup will remain the same. This universal restoration saves you a lot of time, especially if you have an AiMesh system. In this case, you won't need to re-setup your nodes when you use the GT-AX11000 as the new router unit.
Robust interface, generous feature set
The Asus GT-AX11000's web user interface features the ROG theme like the case of the GT-AC5300. The UI is responsive—most responsive among Asus routers I've worked with—and organized, making setting it up and managing its features a pleasure. The router is not hard to use, but you need to know the basics of setting up a home network before getting the most out of it.
And this router has so much to offer. There are all the settings you can ask for, including but not limited to an interactive network map, convenient IP reservation, port forwarding, Dynamic DNS, IPv6, Guest networks (one for each band), Traffic Analyzer, so on and so forth. And for the Wi-Fi networks, there is a lot of customization, including using Smart Connect, where you choose to use all of the bands as a single Wi-Fi network.
On top of that, the GT-AX11000 has a lot of valuable features for any home user. And I'm not talking about the support for gaming yet. The following are those you sure will appreciate.
The Asus GT-AX1100’s prominent for-everyone features
2.5Gbps port: Apart from the usual four Gigabit LAN ports and one Gigabit WAN port, the router has a 2.5Gbps port to work either as a LAN port or a WAN port. However, it's a bit disappointing that there's no faster (5Gbps) LAN port, similar to the Netgear RAX120.
AiMesh: An effective way Asus turns Wi-Fi awesome. The GT-AX11000 can work either as the primary router as well as an AiMesh node. In my testing, the GT-AX11000 and other Asus Wi-Fi 6 routers proved to be quite buggy in an AiMesh setup. You might need to restart it once in a while. Hopefully, future firmware will work out the kinks.
AiProtection: Powered by TrendMicro, this feature keeps bad things at bay and blocks infected devices within the network from dialing to a malicious server in real-time. AiProtection also includes a comprehensive Parental Control feature.
Dual-WAN: You can turn one of the LAN ports into a second WAN port if you want to use two Internet connections at a time.
Link Aggregation: You can combine the first two LAN ports into a single 2Gbps connection for supported devices, such as a NAS server. Link aggregation worked very well in my tests with the Synology DS1019+.
USB applications: The GT-AX11000 can work as a robust NAS server with many storage-related features when hosting a storage device. But there's more; you can also use a USB port to host a cellular dongle as a backup Internet connection or a printer.
VPN: Apart from working as a VPN server (supporting PPTP, OpenVPN, and IPsec VPN protocols), the GT-AX11000 also uniquely features VPN Fusion, where you can link multiple VPN servers together and assign clients to different tunnels. Among other things, it allows clients that don't support VPN natively—like IoT devices—to be part of a VPN network.
Wi-Fi Radar: A complete set of tools for users to diagnose their Wi-Fi, including site surveys, Channel Statistics, and more.
Other features
Other than those, there are even more things you can do with the GT-AX11000. For example, you can use it to wake up other network devices via the Wake-on-LAN tool. There are also Alexa and IFTTT integrations for the router to work with other SmartHome devices.
In short, keep in mind that the GT-AX11000 can do more than what I have described.
Asus GT-AX11000: Detail photos
It's hard to take pictures of the Asus GT-AX11000. Partly because the router is so big, but mostly, since it's is a square, it looks the same from any angle. Again, from my point of view, appearance is the least exciting thing about this piece of hardware.
Asus GT-AX1100: Why gamers will love it
I've reviewed several different gaming routers before, and the GT-AX11000 ups the ante on this front. It has everything the GT-AC5300 had to offer and then a lot more.
When you log into its web user interface, you'll immediately realize how this router is all about gaming. For example, there is a display of real-time ping and jitter (ping variation) values of your Internet connection and a long list of popular games on the dashboard. Clicking on a game icon will bring you to the Game Radar, one of a few features mentioned below.
You can also customize the router's ROG light on top to make it sync with other ROG gears. And then, of course, there is a slew of game-related features.
Game Acceleration
This feature includes Game Boost and Gamer Private Network found in the GT-AC5300. The former is a QoS engine that quickly prioritizes Internet traffic for different services, including online gaming (default). You can quickly select one of the pre-programmed options via a click. Or you can customize an alternative to your liking.
On the other hand, Gamer Private Network allows the router to connect to a game-centric private network powered by WTFast. Generally, you need a WTFast account for each gaming client, but with the router supporting this, all connected devices will be part of the private network without configuring WTFast on each game console.
Game Radar
This feature, also available to the GT-AC5300 (via firmware update), allows you to pick a game (on a regularly updated list) to find out its servers' locations (on a world map) and their ping values in real-time. You can use that information to pick the best server to use.
Open NAT
This feature is my favorite. Open NAT allows for quickly setting up port forwarding for up to 32 clients on the network based on a particular game and the type of game console, be it an Xbox, a PlayStation, or a computer. It's much more convenient than manually setting up port forwarding, where you need to figure out and enter all different values.
I'm not exactly a hardcore gamer, but I tried out all these features with a couple of games, and they worked. It's always fun to see how the experience changes according to different network settings, and the GT-AX11000 makes it easy to do so.
Asus GT-AX11000: An excellent performer
I tested the GT-AX11000 the way I did the Netgear RAX120, and the router proved to be a formidable contender—both in Wi-Fi and network storage performance.
By the way, I used the router's 2.5Gbps port for the testing. For a Wi-Fi 6 router, a Multi-Gig port makes a huge difference. It ensures the wired connection is not the bottleneck. And this is where the GT-AX11000 is decidedly better than the RT-AX88U.
Fast and (almost) reliable Wi-Fi
In Wi-Fi tests, I used both Wi-Fi 5 and the new Wi-Fi 6 clients for the testing.
On the 5GHz band, at a close range of 10 feet (3 m), via the 2x2 Intel AX200 client, the GT-AX11000 had the sustained speed of some 1333 Mbps, a tad faster than the Netgear RAX120. When I increased the distance to 40 feet (12 m), it averaged more than 960 Mbps, clearly faster than the Netgear.
Keep in mind that this is a 4x4 Wi-Fi 6 router. Consequently, when used with 4x4 clients (there are none now), it can deliver double the speed. Also, I had a bit of a hard time consistently getting my clients to connect at the full 2.4Gbps speed. Hopefully, this will change via firmware updates.
When used with Wi-Fi 5 clients, the GT-AX11000 was, as expected, slower but still quite fast, averaging some 905 Mbps and 800 Mbps for close and long-range, respectively.
On the 2.4GHz band, like other routers I've tested, the GT-AX11000 performance fluctuated a lot. Also, there was no difference between Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 clients. In the end, the router registered some 420 Mbps for close-range and some 125 Mbps for long-range.
As for range, the GT-AX11000 has about the same coverage as a high-end Wi-Fi 5 router. If you have a 2000 ft² (186 m²) or smaller house, it can take care of every corner if placed in the middle. The router also proved to be reliable in my testing.
For three days straight with lots of heavy tasks, the router didn't disconnect once. However, I also noted that its speeds fluctuated a lot.
The router never slowed down to the point of not delivering my Internet in full, but if you expect top Wi-Fi 6 speeds at all times, you might get disappointed. Again, likely future firmware will make it work better.
Excellent NAS speed
Considering the 2.5 Gbps port, I expected the GT-AX11000 to perform well as a network-attached (NAS) server when hosting a portable drive via one of its two USB 3.0 ports. And it did.
I tested this feature using a WD My Passport SSD and got the averaged sustained copy speed of around 150 MB/s, one of the fastest I've seen. It was slower than the Netgear RAX120, which has a speedier 5Gbps LAN port and a beefier CPU.
When I switched to use a regular Gigabit LAN port, the GT-AX11000 still did quite well. It averaged some 90 MB/s for writing and some 112 MB/s for reading.
At these speeds, you can probably use the router as a NAS server. Keep in mind, though, when you use the USB ports in USB 3.0 mode (fast), they might adversely interfere with the router's 2.4GHz Wi-Fi performance.
To avoid that, you can use them in the USB 2.0 mode, which caps at some 35 MB/s. So, if you want to enjoy network storage, it's a good idea to get a real NAS server instead.
Minor shortcomings
The GT-AX11000 is not perfect. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Long boot time, buggy firmware: Other than the speed issues above, the GT-AX11000 can sometimes—not consistently—take quite a long time to apply specific changes that require a reboot. For example, when I changed its Wi-Fi settings, the router took almost five minutes before the wireless network become available again. Generally, it's good to give it some time before you think something is wrong. Overall, the router seems buggy, though not to the point that it causes concerns.
- Only four LAN ports: That's an average amount, but compared to the GT-AC5300, it's a 50% reduction. Yes, the GT-AX11000 does have an extra 2.5Gbps port. But that means it still has three fewer LAN ports than its older brother.
- Not wall mountable: The router is enormous, and the fact that you can't mount it means it's going to be tough to find a place to put it.
Asus GT-AX11000's Rating
Pros
Fast and reliable Wi-Fi performance with an excellent range
Lots of useful features for home users
Unique and effective settings for online gaming
Multi-Gig network port, Dual-WAN, Link Aggregation
Mesh ready
Cons
Expensive
Bulky design, loose antennas, non-wall-mountable
Fewer LAN ports than the previous model
Long boot-up time, buggy (at launch), fluctuating Wi-Fi throughputs
Conclusion
With Wi-Fi 6 clients still scarce, the new Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 is not a must-have.
It will take a while before more clients are readily available, and the Wi-Fi standard itself gets to the current popularity of Wi-Fi 5. So generally, you should wait before upgrading to Wi-Fi 6. The GT-AX11000 will get better with new firmware anyway.
However, if you're a hardcore gamer, the GT-AX11000 delivers a lot more than just fast Wi-Fi speeds. Among other things, its excellent support for online gaming and the well-deserved bragging right it brings will make the hefty investment worthwhile.
Hi Dong,
Great content as always. I currently have the GT-AX11000 and would like to use it as a primary router and purchase a satellite router for aimesh. Do you have a recommendation for an additional router that would work in this setup?
For your case, the best would be the GT6, XT12, XT8, or more unit of the same router, Ryan. If you have more questions, check out this post no mixing hardware.
Doug,
I am trying to explore scenario two mentioned on this page: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044151/. Here is some background information.
1. I have a 2GBPS Google Fiber.
2. configured the Google fiber router in “bridge mode” feeding to ASUS GT AX11000 via 2.5G switch.
3. ASUS GT AX11000 is the primary AI Mesh and operating in router mode
4. Have 2 x AX92U as the AI Mesh nodes.
5. Connected GT AX11000 LAN Port 1 to ScreenBeam ECB7250 – Bonded Ethernet Over MoCA 2.5 Adapter
6. AX92U nodes are connected via 1G ethernet backhaul via the ECB7250 – Bonded Ethernet Over MoCA 2.5 Adapters
This setup is currently working great. However, I am considering changing it to scenario 2 from this page https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044151/ and give a full 1G signal to the AI mesh nodes.
my question is if I switch my primary to AP mode, will I be able to use the 2.5G port on it?
can you help.
The name is Dong, Sam. A couple of things:
1. You shouldn’t put the switch in front of the router.
2. The diagram of scenario 2 you linked is incorrect.
This post on AiMesh setup will answer all of your questions.
Hi!
I am about to get Google Fiber but I am confused.
Since it only has one 2.5Gb port that means that I can get 2.5gb in BUT I can only get 1Gb to any of the connected components, right?
I wanted 2.5Gb for my main PC so I may have to look for a new router. Any suggestions like newer Asus or other brand that works as good as this ax11000?
That’s correct, Mark, though you can get Gig+ on a good Wi-Fi client. But you should god with the Pro version, or the RT-AX88U Pro/GT-AX6000.
Thank you very much Dong!
I know Google is giving me a router and 2 mesh extenders but I have no idea which models are those and how good they are compared to my current one.
Do they use the same gear everywhere and maybe you know?
Google (Nest) Wifi uses the same units in a pack, like the Nest Wifi Pro. Generally the Orbi is the one that you must use a primary router and distintive satelite units.
One last question.
Do you prefer the Asus Pro version over something like the TP-Link AXE16000?
Thanks!
Not really, Mark. I generally don’t have preferences without context.
So if I wanted to have 5Gb service from google Fiber…I want to upgrade from my Asus AX11000.. I was considering the TP-Link AXE16000 as it has the 10Gb and 2.5Gb and more than I need (I only really need one 5Gb wired to my PC) .
But if the Asus AXE16000 is surely a better performer, then I will buy that one instead.
If you could advice between those, that would be great.
Thanks again
You need one with two or more 10Gbps ports, Mark, so the Asus GT-AXE1600/TP-Link Archer AXE300, TP-Link Archer BE800, or Asus RT-AX89X.
thanks!
👍
Question.
I currently have a ASUS Zen Wifi AX (XD4) AiMesh setup. Router on main level, and one node upstairs, one in the basement. I do not have them setup for wired backhaul as that is just not feasible for me. I read on asus website that they enabled wireless backhaul in triband+dual band. I get about 230mbps on my main pc in my basement. I have a 1.2 gb connection.
if I purchased this and placed it on the main level as my main router, would that enable wireless backhaul for my XD4 nodes? I would like to get more speed in my basement. if not, do you have another suggestion where I could reuse my nodes and get faster speeds with a wireless backhaul?
Thanks so much in advance!
That Tri-band + Dual-band thing has always worked, Chris. It’s just a matter of degree. If you want to get more speed, get your place wired or use MoCA, or use Tri-band. More in this post.
Thanks so much for the quick reply. I did read through those post before asking. so as I understand…I could enable wireless backhaul if I upgraded my router however I wouldn’t see much speed increase. Is there a way to quantify how much speed I would gain? Do you think I could go from low 200s to 500ish? Or just get my house wired ha. I’m too old to wire it myself.
I mentioned in the linked post, Chris. It’s the general signal loss as described here and then some. Basically, you’ll get quite slow speed at the satellite, but the actual loss varies depending on the environment — there’s no way to quantify it consistently, but it’s always more than 50%. So it might or might not be still fast enough to deliver your broadband.
Wiring is actually pretty easy, by the way.
Make sure you actually read before asking more questions, please.
ASUS just announced ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 PRO https://rog.asus.com/networking/rog-rapture-gt-ax11000-pro-model/ has an additional 10G port.
“Just”? 🙂 That was like half a year ago, Prashant. Thanks for the input, though.
Oh man, my bad.
No worries. 🙂
Hey Dong- I recently bought this router to replace my Netgear R7800 with sole purpose to utilize 1gig internet speed plan….but unfortunately my WiFi speeds are almost identical to my current router speeds (~300mbps up & download)…I placed it in center of the house same place as my R7800 but no luck and speeds are no where closer to 1gig speed…any thoughts? Not sure if it’s worth $400 if there’s no change in WiFi speeds..
Check out this post, Kal. https://dongknows.com/how-to-fix-wi-fi-dropping-and-disconnection-issues/
1) in comparison with the ET8, the asus-gt-ax11000 has bigger antennas which you can rotate. does the orientation of the antennas has some influence in the signal quality? the ET8 has some antennas at an angle of 45 degrees, so that is why i am asking that.
2) the size of the /asus-gt-ax11000 are bigger, so in comparison with the ET8, do the size have some influence in the signal quality?
Check out this post. Make sure you *read* it. Also next time, you can search the site for “antenna” etc.
You’ve been posting lots of questions in different parts of this website. Many of those questions had been answered within the page where you left them — you just didn’t read, others were answered in other related posts. So far, none of your questions was not already addressed.
That said. Again, please follow the rules. Take your time, ponder over your questions, and spend time on this website as though you wanted to learn, starting with typing in an actual name instead of two first letters on the keyboard each time you want to ask a question — that’d give you a bit more time to think. If you just focus on what you want and expect a question to be answered the moment it pops in your head, you’ll NEVER learn anything. And nobody wants to be part of that.
Hi Dong, I’m living in a double storey townhouse (1800sqft) and I’m using the router (in my living room) that is provided by my ISP. Most of my lights are connected via wifi and I have a few smart speakers around the house. The wifi signal on upstairs is a bit weak and sometimes I could not get any signal at all. I got a PS5 connected via LAN in my living room and it works fine. Would you recommend me to get the AX88u or the AX11000?
That’s up to you, Raymond, and depends on if you keep the ISP-provided box. I’d recommend that you start with this post.
I have the AX11000. It is an awesome router. However I have about 80 devices on my home network. So on occasion the furthest streamers would glitch now and then. So I added the Zen WiFi AX 6000 in a couple soft spots ( I tried other mesh routers without real success). After a couple days of adjusting, software updates and reboots I have been using this mesh for several months without any drops. I will say that Sonos was a little choppy at 1st but I found that hooking up each speaker to the network 1 at a time to make sure it was updated fixed the issues with the speakers which seemed like the network but was actually the speaker.
Thanks for posting this Will. I’m about to move to a new(to me) much larger house and was on the fence regarding moving from OLD Orbi to
a AX11000 and a few AX6000 or AX6100. I would think both satellite models would get the job done equally at about the same cost. I too have a number (8+?) of Sonos speakers to setup.. thanks for the pro tip on setup process. Current house has a lot of GE wi-fi light switches, not sure if I’ll go the same route in the next house. The new place is wired.. Do you have a wired or wireless backhaul?
Dong please can you answer my question thanks so much
i have a asus RT-AC88U and 1gigabit internet connection
i get 100mb/s on lan
i get 80mb/s on wifi and sometimes a bit faster transferring from my nas
would i really see any benefit upgrading to this router?
Would i get a guaranteed 100MB/s on wifi for my internet?
and is it worth the $600AUD upgrade?
i live in a small 1 bedroom apartment with full wifi signal in all areas
thanks so much for your help i appreciate it so much
Nick
You need to make sure your wired network is Gigabit-capable, Nick. Check the equipment and wiring, etc. That router should work fine. More in this post.
My home environment at this time only allows for a wireless setup.
If im going AIMesh with this router (GT-AX11000) what wld you recommed as a node (triband) for a wireless setup?
XT8, RT-AX92U? Or something else?
Check out this post, Jose. https://dongknows.com/best-aimesh-routers-and-combos/
Hi Dong,
Currently my GT-AX11000 (main unit) is connected to two XT8 nodes via dedicated 5Gh2 wireless back haul.
On 5Gh2 settings page, the option to select 160Mhz is not available. While on 5Gh1, the 160 Mhz selection is available.
Just wanted to confirm if this is normal for… 5Gh2 to not to have 160 Mhz available for selection?
I think Asus forces that to make system stable, Sunny. And, for the most part, I agree. More here: https://dongknows.com/wi-fi-6-explained/
Hi Dong,
I love all the information you have in your post’s. I bought a pair of AX92U’s from reading your review and they work well. I’m thinking for the future and want to get your opinion on using the AX11000 for my main router, using both AX92U’s for mesh nodes, and the AX88U I have off of one of the 92’s with a cable. My thinking is using the wireless AX backhaul for the 92’s and using the 11000 and 88U for wifi6. Do you think i’d be overreaching here? My house is two story around 3000sq ft.
Thank you.
Frank
That’ll work, Frank. How well depends on the details, but I’ll work better than average.
Hi Frank, I have exactly the same setup but I use a wired backhaul, which is much more reliable. I have been using this AiMesh setup for approx 6 months. If you can, use wired backhaul, I would definitely recommend.
I had a Synology Mesh setup before researching and choosing Asus for my home. I have to be honest, AiMesh has it’s issues, and I have had problems with the 92 unit simply dropping of the mesh for no apparent reason. Just means I need to keep an eye on the mesh as the 92 just stops working.
Before using the 11000 and 92’s together I would upgrade the firmware to the latest, then setup your primary 11000, and then join the 92’s after.
I will be leaving the Asus Family very soon to deploy a fully managed Unifi setup, but I have no complaints with the Asus devices which run my house seamlessly and easily provide full bandwidth on my 1Gig Internet service.
Check out this post, Frank. https://dongknows.com/best-aimesh-routers-and-combos/
Hello,
This is quite old article but not much has changed since that day according to the wifi performance,
I was really curious what we can achieve at best from wifi 5 or 6, this test was one of the best on the net as most of the testers are showing pathetic results like they don’t even know what they are testing.
Anyway I would like to know what is the real maximum (result in a real life), what we can get from wifi ac or ax for ONE SINGLE CLIENT (eg. wired NAS to wifi client).
In this test the real maximum is 904 Mbps (only 113 MB/s) for a single client with 4×4 MIMO, that’s pretty low, very very low I think, how exactly did you test it? Where is the bottleneck here?
Could you do a test which would show us what is the real max for wireless transfer for a single client? If I understand correctly then we should have about 3350 Mbps (420 MB/s) through the wifi with this router when we have as below:
– Wifi 5 or 6 doesn’t make a big difference but let’s say it is WIFI 6 AX for client and this router (as a client we could use same asus rog router),
– 5 GHz band,
– Channel width 160 MHz,
– Modulation 1024QAM 5/6 – perfect conditions (router and client very close to each other and no other networks on the channel [lower eirp could help]),
– router is 4×4 and client also needs to be 4×4,
– test by iperf or fast NAS server and one big file [10 Gbps],
If CPU would not be a bottleneck here then we should be able to get:
– full 2.5G eth port speed and this port would be a bottleneck here (pulling down total wifi potential from 3,3 Gbps (420 MB/s) speed [due to wifi header (mac efficient) lost, from 4.8 Gbps to 3,3 Gbps],
I believe we are able to get real wifi speeds very close to 295-300 MB/s if only router CPU would allow that,
A couple of things, Tofik:
1. Here’s how I test Wi-Fi routers. You had paid some attention, you’d note the link in this review.
2. You got the number wrong, the real maximum speed in this review is over 1300Mbps.
3. That’s the best-case scenario number. It’s also a relevant number today. The router’s new firmware doesn’t really change much in its real-world speed.
4. There’s been no 4×4 client on the market. The router was tested with a 2×2 client. Again, I mentioned that in the review.
5. It helps if you read. 🙂
Thanks for your response,
I know the maximum in the review was over 1300 Mbps but I mentioned about the maximum for one single client, result for over 1300 Mbps was for two different clients which is something different here.
I might me wrong but don’t really believe it is the best-case scenario number,
IMHO with a good setup we should get a result over 2000 Mbps, probably same as a wired 2.5G – 10G connection and this 2.5G Ethernet port would be a bottleneck to get a higher wifi result.
We just need to have a router and client configured with a “must have” settings:
– 160 MHz channel is a must, both for client and access point,
– AC/AX doesn’t really matter (difference only about 10%), if AX then 5 GHz is a must,
– 1024QAM 5/6 modulation > maximum available PHY layer network speed (excellent signal + no other wifi networks on all 160 MHz channel band, only ap and the client in RF),
– MIMO 4×4 is also a must, for a client it might be a problem (you mentioned this), I am not sure if we have any available with MIMO 4×4 + 160 MHz and 1024QAM 5/6 modulation – but Netgear RAX120 router or second Asus ROG router could be actually a client of the main AP.
With all of this above and also calculating speeds at the application level to only 60% the PHY level, we should get about 2800 Mbps (350 MB/s) and this is something what I would like to see in real world on wifi, not wired connection.
I know that in reality very stable wifi transfer at about 400 Mbps is a good result (client limits, poor signal, csma/cd and others) but I am also very curious what potential we have in 5 GHz wifi when conditions are “perfect” to get a “maximum”.
It would help if you READ, Tofik. That was for a single Wi-Fi client with a wired client. You can’t have a connection without two parties. For the said router, with a 2×2 client which maxes out at 2.4Gbps via 160MHz (there’s no higher one), the number was really the best you could get out of it.
You said “READ” already twice but still don’t get what I mean.
I know it was for a single Wi-Fi client with a wired one (and client was only 2×2) and I know it is probably maximum but 2×2 is a bottleneck for ASUS ROG potential.
I was just asking for a scenario:
SERVER: ASUS ROG + wired PC thorough 2.5G ethernet port
CLIENT: RAX120 + second wired PC thorough 2.5G ethernet port
ASUS ROG is AP
RAX120 is APC
both are 160MHz, 1024QAM 5/6, 4×4 and RAX is connected to ROG AP,
run iperf between PC_1 and PC_2 which are connected wirelessy,
cheers
You can do the same with TWO Asus units. It’s not going to work out the way you’d think, Tofik. I tried. Specifically, I did that with GT-AXE1100O since there’s no Wi-Fi 6E client that works yet. And also what’s the point? With that kind of money and setup, you’d better off getting your home wired and a Multi-Gig switch. Spend some time more and read to find out how Wi-Fi really works. Be realistic.
Yes I suggested it can be asus or rog, doesn’t matter at all, it’s just about getting a 4×4 MIMO on both sides and on 160 MHz channel. The point is just to see potential of the 5 GHz wifi (maximum non wired speed HOST-CLIENT), of course it is completely not worth the money but I was curious what we can achieve in perfect conditions, that’s all.
My idea was to test it as a AP + APClient mode, not a bridge.
PS. What’s wrong with my thinking how the wifi works, what exactly do you mean here?
You can use TWO 2×2 5GHz clients at 160MHz connecting to a single 4×4 band of a router, copy data between them, and then double the result to find out the band’s real bandwidth. I have also tried that in many reviews. Nothing you said is exactly wrong. You just got too hung up on the specs. Try doing some testing yourself; you’ll see how the numbers you mentioned don’t mean much in real-world usage. Also, here’s to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of terminologies.
I have R7800 in 2000 sf single level home. I’m interested but not convinced it’s worth it yet. Router is wall mounted. I have 1Gb Comcast I get between 1.1 to 1.3 to the modem. MBP hooks between 1.1 and 1.3 and I get about 850 down on MBP. For phone @Sammy U21 ultra I hook at 1692, and get 930Mb to the phone. I have all smart lights in house. I have Arlo cameras, three chromcasts, JBL Bar 9.1, etc…We cut the cable before it was a thing so all tvs stream 2 @ 4k and 3 @ 1080. Range is outstanding. Never thought I’d be bottlenecked on my phone from wired GB connection, alas it’s so 🙂 Great issue to have. @seems silly to drop 500 bucks for maybe 100Mb gain…but I’m silly so we’ll see. Anyways ty for the review. IMO for most today should be a pass. Ty for the info. Nice work.
Sure, Todd. And thanks for sharing! 🙂
I purchased this router about a year ago due to several reviews, including this one, that claimed this router to be head and shoulders above the rest. I have had nothing but trouble with it and have had it replaced by ASUS at one point, but one of the many issues I have is with latency and stuttering/rubberbanding with both its wired and wireless connections.
Are there any particular customizations that are recommended by the experts here? ASUS recommendations are essentially turning off all the features that differentiate this router from others, and they are not quite effective either.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
You can start resetting the router and using the default settings (except for the Wi-Fi name and password) and slowly changing others over time, Aaron. You’ll find out what setting has caused your issues. Just because a car has many buttons and switches doesn’t mean you want to push or turn them all willy-nilly. Try to understand them first. Also, be careful with the mobile app. Using the app, you might turn on or off certain things without knowing it. Latency, by the way, is mostly on your Internet connection, not necessarily the router. More here in this post about QoS.
Are there any particular things you’d recommend looking at first? My connection is a Comcast 1gb with true speeds of around 500mb down and 40 up. I’ve tried adaptive qos as your article suggests but it continues to have drops and latency issues. While I am no expert, I am absolutely befuddled on this particular issue. Thank you
Try testing the Internet directly from your modem/gateway, so you have the latency baseline, etc. If you have a 1Gbps plan, your true speed should be more than what you said — something is not right there. Check out this post on how to test it, if things are not what you expect and you’re using a Comcast gateway, maybe consider getting a new modem of your own.
Hi Dong, again a great read😅
Would you say that the GT-AX11000 has a slightly better range than the RT-AX88U? It should on paper, right? 😁
Regarding wireless aimesh – Will the 2nd 5Ghz band disappear on the AX11000 when using it with AX88 as the node? Was there some challenge with the wifi6 and aimesh or is that old news.
Thanks again for your support
I’d say the two have a similar range, if not the same, Sponk. More here. For how tri-band works in an AiMesh setup, check out this post.
Thanks.
I will have to go wireless aimesh with 2 nodes.
Would you say that the
GT-AX11000 would the best choice due to the tri-band function? (Compared to two band). Want the best aimesh signal possible. Thanks again for you pro comments.
After reading a bit more the best choice is to go either 2band or 3band and not mix together. I have AX88+AX86 and was thinking of buying the RT-AX11000 as main unit – but now maybe not a good idea?
Use dual-band if your home is wired, Sponk, or if you want to mix tri-band and dual-band hardware. Tri-band throughout if you want to go full wireless. More here.
Go with tri-band hardware throughout if you want optimal performance. But any hardware of the same Wi-Fi standard (5 or 6) will work.
Is this one still top dog or are new ones like the Asus RT-AX82U actually better overall?
Or the RT-AX86 which caught my attention too. My main PC is wired and mostly do CSGO and just regular download/streaming movies etc.
Thanks
Any you mentioned is great, Mark. But the RT-AX86U is likely the best for your situation.
I was always leaning towards the ax11000 but it seems most comparisons showing outperformed by the AX86u somehow. Aside from more exclusive gaming features, it would seem like the AX86 is a better overall router at least that is the impression I am getting.
I am upgrading from the xr500 as I got tired of the whole DumaOS nightmare
Hi Dong,
When I checked the specs page on Asus website, it says under MU-MIMO: “No” for this router. Is it a mistake on Asus’ website you think, or does this Wifi 6 router really not support MU-MIMO?
Thanks!
It’s a mistake, Marius.
Hi Dong,
I got this today and set it up in the router mode. While I had no problems with the 2.4ghz and the 5ghz_2 , I was either not able to connect to the 5ghz_1 . If I manage to connect, the connection was not stable and it would disconnect and then disappear. I tried reset, reboot and nothing seemed to bring the 5ghz_1 back. Do you think it is a bad piece or if I am doing something wrong? Thank you!
You need to be patient, Kumar. Give it up to 10 mins for the changes to apply. More here on the DFS part.
Hi Dong,
Thank you very much for your quick response. I had in fact had waited for hours together once the set up finished, and it did not show up. I will see if it does show up in the morning. what other options should I try..might be disable wifi 6 for the 5ghz_1 and see?
Maybe you set it up in AiMesh mode (and not as a standalone router) that one band is set to be the back hold. (More here.) Anyhow, that’s quite odd. Try updating the firmware etc. If that persists, you need a replacement.
Hi Dong, looking to buy this model and use in a mesh configuration.
Which Asus tri-band model would you recommend to build a mesh with this router please.
Great review!
Mate..which router u bought to form as node with your ax11000?is it any good?
That depends, Reyz. More here: https://dongknows.com/best-aimesh-routers-and-combos/
Hi Dong, enjoy your reviews. Quick question. I’m stuck between the AX11000 and NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming 6-Stream WiFi 6 Router (XR1000) – AX5400 | DumaOS 3.0 ..I am a pretty big gaming enthusiast, play a lot of online games. Both my kids are too. The 3 of us hard wired to our current router and the rest of the home devices connect via WIFI, my wife enjoys watching her movies/ shows on the Roku. The signal strength is good, but not great for just being 1 room over from the router. My current router is on the fritz. I think 1 of the ports has malfunctioned and now the current one is constantly dropping connection. If I plug it into the other 2 ports, no connection drops at all. I’m not super concerned with the cost of a new one, but I am concerned about which would be a better buy to please the gaming enthusiasts and strong reliable WIFI for the all the wireless devices. Our home is about 2500 SQ FT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The Netgear XR1000 is a bit underpowered for your situation, so I’d recommend the Asus GT-AX11000 instead. But check out the review of the XR1000 to see it might serve you better, which depends on the kind of games you play. If the Fritz has worked for gaming, though, then almost any other router will do.
Hi Dong, I currently (just bought) us the Asus GT AC5300. I have about 7 Devices (Console, TV, PC (Gaming)) connected wirelessly and 1 gaming pc wired. Wondering if i should return my 5300 and upgrade to the 11000 for another $120. Thank you!
Naw, you’re doing fine, G. The GT-AX1000 will make little difference in your case since chances are none of your devices have Wi-Fi 6. And even if you have one or two, they’ll work fine with the current router. More here: https://dongknows.com/wi-fi-6-explained/
I just got this the AX-11000 and also 3 Intel WiFi6 internal m.2 laptop cards. Work greats, but have one section of the house that seems to keep falling back to AC mode. Does the antena placement change anything, I have them all facing up, but since the swivel and can coem down I was wondering if there were any pointers on alignmnet and positions of them.
Not really, Garrett. And AC mode is fine. 🙂 More on antennas: https://dongknows.com/how-to-pick-the-best-wi-fi-router-for-your-home/#10-do-i-need-to-care-about-wi-fi-routers-antennas
I bought a ax11000 to my cm1000 modem and only get tops 160 or speed at close range 5g. How can I improve this?
Hi Dong,
I’ve learned so much from your website in the past 2 hours! Thank you for all the effort you put into this website.
I have (2) ax11000’s and (1) rt-ac68p set up in Aimesh. The main ax11000 router connects to a Netgear Nighthawk CM1150-V modem and our service is gigabit from Xfinity. I connected the laptop to the modem and verified that I’m getting a true 940mbps down and 50mbps up (940mbps due to ethernet overhead).
I see that the Netgear modem supports ethernet port aggregation since there is a setting in the admin panel that reads “Enable (LACP-IEEE 802.3ad) (Port 1 & 2). I’m aware that I can connect ports 1 and 2 from the modem to ports 1 and 2 on the ax11000 after enabling it under LAN > Switch Control > Bonding/Link Aggregation.
ASUS states that this feature combines two gigabit networks to increase bandwidth up to 2 gigabits. Please note that the modem connects to GT-AX11000 must support LACP-IEEE 802.3ad.
Now, two questions:
Does that mean I need to pay for (2) 1-gigabit Xfinity service plans in order to use link aggregation/bonding?
With my existing 1-gigabit plan, what would happen if I connect the cables and activate link aggregation on the router and modem? Will it speed up throughput?
Thank you!
No, Kevin, you’re looking at LAN bonding. What you need is WAN bonding — it’s the other side. Go to WAN -> Internet Connection in the router’s web interface and you’ll see the option to enable WAN Aggregation and pick the LAN port to combine with the WAN port. The rest is self-explanatory.
As for speed, you need to pay for the plan to get 2 Gbps. If you only have 1 Gbps or slower, there’s no benefit in enabling WAN bonding. However, if the current plan supports WAN bonding then there are no disbenefits, either, and chances are you will get full 1 Gbps even after overheads.
You’re right, I was under the wrong section in the ASUS router. Thanks for the heads up! I was about to use the wrong feature. My 1-gigabit plan supports WAN bonding and I just turned it on. All seems well.
The fastest I was able to get connected directly to the upstairs ax11000 lan port was 582 Mbps down / 48 Mbps up. On 5ghz WiFi it averages anywhere from 385 to 444 Mbps download at the farthest point. I’m happy.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Hi Dong
Great article as always.
I currently have the Synology RT2600AC as the main router and 2 MR2200AC as nodes. They have served me well over the years but since we moved to our new home with 910Mbps downloads, i find myself needing to regularly reboot it to get near the promised speeds over wifi (less than 300Mbps) . I have open tickets with Synology Support but their suggestions are often not very good
I was thinking of getting the AX1100 as my main router and then maybe combine it with a single AX92U node as i need an ethernet port in my study. Has to be wireless backhaul as no wired ethernet. Is this a decent combination for an AI Mesh? I am not a gamer but we do have 2 Synology NAS with a large movie colelction – some in 4K – managed by Plex. I work from home and need for VPN and video calls is a must.
Here in the UK, you can get the AX92U in a pair or even the XT8. Will these be a better/cheaper option? I do like to tinker with settings and i would like to keep this setup for a good 4-5 years. Most of my devices are currently AC devices and not AX.
Thanks
I’d check your devices first, Mike. A new router won’t help if your devices can’t handle faster speeds. Check out this post for more.
https://dongknows.com/gigabit-internet-and-you/
Hi Dong
Dont know if you had experience living with a Synology Mesh network but others online will agree that the RT2600 on its own has very good performance…however, when in a mesh everything goes south. I have a OnePlus 8 Pro and if i turn the MR2200AC off, i get 600-700Mbps standing in front of the router and after a fresh reboot.
If i turn the Mesh point on again, i will be lucky if i get 100Mbps.
Like you said on that article, we dont need these crazy speeds but i also have multiple Nest cameras uploading most of the time as well as a reasonable amount of mobile devices, IoT and of course work video calls these days!
The main Plex PC is directly connected to the MR2200AC and it does have a gigabit port – i checked – but regardless, i will be lucky if i reach 300Mbps. I also made sure that MR2200 was not connected to the 2.4Ghz as that 300Mbps was suspicious as it is the max of that band. Nevertheless it was connected to the 5G radio.
Hence why i was asking about an AI mesh! Sorry about all the detail
Michael
The RT2600AC is a dual-band router, Mike. If you want fast speeds out of it in a mesh, you’ll need to use wired backhaul. That goes for any dual-band mesh in fact. As for the speed you got, I think there are ways to tweak that but still, you won’t get much higher performance unless you have wired backhaul. More on that here in this post:
https://dongknows.com/mesh-wi-fi-system-explained/
Thanks for the prompt reply – Wired backhaul is not possible in my house – i did ask the builder but he was not up for it! We lived in Charlotte for a while with the same router without the Mesh points as that house was wired in every house. The router was in a silly spot (upstairs laundry room) but nevertheless the wifi speeds were brilliant but possibly because everything else was wired were possible.
The house was also twice the size of current one.
Will not the dedicated band in a tri band Asus help?
Hi Dong. I’m not sure whether to get the GT-AX11000 (as I’m a gamer) or the RT-AX88U. Would you say it’s better to go with the RT-AX88U for the Merlin firmware, or the GT-AX11000 for the superior hardware and features?
I’d go with the former, Mike. The only game-related feature the GT has on the other is the support for WTFast VPN. If you don’t use it, the RT-AX88U is a better deal.
Aren’t guest network bands same as main (2.4 and 5)? Yes, referring to GT-AX11000.
Is there a way (log entry somewhere) to identify which wireless clients are connected to the Guest Network?
It’s really depends on the router, Joe. In the case of the GT-AX11000, you need to look at the clients connected to a certain wireless band.
So no improvement in performance to upgrade to ax11000 or xt8? I have gb internet and get 450 Mbps on 5ghz channel, but only 50mbps on 2.4ghz channel. Also, by combining a dual and a tri band router, wouldn’t I be subject to more hiccups potentially? Really looking to future proof.
If Internet speed is what you care about, you’ll experience no improvement at all upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 now, YiJia. Don’t expect much faster speed on the 2.4 GHz band, either, no matter what router you use. Also if you’re looking to future proof, check out this post.
Hi Dong:
I have a 3 story home (basement, 1st, 2nd) currently being serviced by a RT5300, but would like to improve range and speed, especially for my eufycams and an outdoor wifi projector. My options would be to get this router and aimesh with 5300 vs upgrade to XT8 mesh. Wired backhaul available. I see that top speeds from 11000 are higher than for xt8 router or satellite, but i’ve also heard you say Aimesh not good for wifi 6. does that still apply and does that apply to the XT8s as well? which should i go with in your opinion.
You have a lot of options considering the wired backhaul, YiJia. I’d recommend getting another AiMesh router instead, such as the RT-AC86U or Blue Cave, and use it with the existing RT-AC5300.
Outstanding work Dong, thank you very much for all your detailed yet understandable analysis. Too few smart guys have the knack to make explaining complex material easily understandable, and you do it great! I am considering the GT-AX11000 along with a Synology DS420+ as an upgrade to our home network. Is it possible to save one Ethernet port and split the 2.5Gbps to facilitate link aggregation to the NAS? Even better, could you not use any Ethernet ports at all for the NAS by using this device you mentioned above in each of the USB3.0 ports to then connect them to the two Ethernet ports of the Synology NAS? Not sure if either design would support the standard for link aggregation. Perhaps I could wait until the RT-AX89X arrives to get the extra ports, but it doesn’t look like that will be available for a while. Thanks very much!
Sure, Andrew. As for your questions, the answers are no and no. But you do NOT need to use Link Aggregation with the NAS, that only helps if you have a super heavy loads. In most cases, there’s no improvement because all clients use 1Gbps connections anyway. But if you really want to use LA, maybe get the RT-AX88U instead. It has a ton of ports. 🙂
Hello Dong,
I really appreciate your reviews and knowledge. I am looking to purchase 2 of the Asus GT-AX11000 routers to form an AiMesh for my 5800 sq. ft. home. If I hard wire the node to the main unit do I need a certain ethernet cable to take advantage of the gig speed internet access? Will the node be just as powerful as far as coverage and performance as the main unit? Or Should I use a slightly less expensive unit like the Asus RT-AX88U? We have a family of 4, with multiple PS4s, Xboxs, Ipads, iPhones, and computers….running on an At&t issued modem/router. Thank you for your time and assistance.
Reeshard
Hi Reeshard, CAT5e (or better) is fine. More on that here. And yes, if you’re going to use wired backhaul, you can get away with getting a more affordable set, including the ZenWiFi AX Mini, or a pair of RT-AX3000. But the RT-AX88U works, too.
Hey, does this support fiber optic. I am new to setting up Routers and my current one has a port for the fiber optic. I don’t have a modem but is that something I’ll need to get as I purchased the gt11000 as per your Grrat review and now a little confused
Thankyou very much for a great review!
Sure, Zac.
Generally, all routers work with all Internet sources that have a network port. More on that here. Fiber is one of them. If you have to keep your ISP provided gateway, you can use it in a double nat setup.
So the short answer is yes.
Do you know if backup configuration settings from RT-AC68U can be loaded into GT-AX11000? I know there is some compatibility between models . I have tons of assigned IPs and prefer not to have yo set up from scratch. Thanks.
Yes, Joe, that will work. After adjusting, you might want then backup the GT-AX11000 and reload it again — I know it sounds redundant — to make sure things are good.
What if using if using both wired, will I gain any performance benefits from the ax11000?
Yes, Mark. The GT-AX11000 is a much more powerful router compared to the XR500. That’s not to mention it’s a Wi-Fi 6 one.
Should I expect any better gaming connectivity (CSGO) if using WIRED vs my XR500?
No matter what router you use, Mark, a wired connection is always the best for gaming.
You didn’t cover the 2Gbps WAN aggregation option. After connecting a 1Gbps WAN to Port 4 and another 1Gbps WAN to the the WAN port and enabling the WAN aggregation option, I cannot tell if it is working or not. There doesn’t seem to be any indication on the router UI.
I had loved to cover that part, Tony, but I couldn’t since I didn’t have that option for testing (still don’t now.) As far as I know, where I live, WAN Aggregation, as well as Dual-WAN, is generally not available from the ISPs. Also, I don’t think the router has that option.
Hello!
I can’t thank you enough for all your energy, expertise and general good vibes to help others unpack technology. Seriously.
My wife, myself, and now both are kids are working/schooling from home.
• This often involves 3 or 4 Zoom video streams going at any one time.
• In addition we do a fair amount of VR and desktop game play.
• We have come to the conclusion that our janky, ISP issued wireless modem is not cutting doing the job.
• We can get around 300 MPS down currently.
• I do transfer large files form computer to computer. Looking at a desktop upgrade in the next year.
• We have a 150 year-old, 2500 square foot house with thick walls.
Current thinking after reading your posts:
1) Return modem, but Netgear CM1000 or 1100/1200.
2) Buy either ax11000 now or wait until newer, fancier ax89x is hopefully available real soon.
I was considering the Zen mesh setup but it seems like the above routers would be a better, long-term solution.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
The GT-AX1100 is a great choice, Ken. For more, check out this post. https://dongknows.com/how-to-pick-the-best-wi-fi-router-for-your-home/
Thank you, Dong, for your answer. I missed that.
Right now, I have all of the bands joined as one big WiFi network using Tri-band smart connect. Will this keep working if I set up ai-mesh? And does the answer change if my back-of-house router is a dual-band wifi6 router?
Also, do you have a recommendation of a router that “played nice” with your ax11000?
Scott
Sure, Scott. And no, the 5Ghz-2 band will be separated in an AiMesh system. More ok that here: https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-overview/ Also, with wired backhaul almost any router would “play nice”. 🙂
Hi, Dong
Your site is excellent, and based on it, I just bought a shiny new Asus AX11000. Speed is delightful in the front half of the house. The metal in the walls causes a serious signal drop in the back part of the 2100sf house, so I am thinking of putting a second Asus router on my wired network in that part of the house, and using AIMesh.
From your article https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-review, it seems like I want a triband wifi6 router in the back, even with the wired backhaul, to reduce potential weirdness.
Options seem to include the ax6100 and the XT-8. I ruled out the RT-AX92U, based on not being able to use the wifi6 band if it is in aimesh mode (even with wired backhaul if I read your review correctly), and the ax58u as it is dual band.
While I would love to have the cash to drop on another ax11000 for the back of the house, that seems a bit extreme.
Do you have a reccomendation between the ax6100 and the xt8 to mesh with the ax11000 on a wired network?
The AX6100 and the RT-AX92U are the same thing, Scott. And it can have Wi-Fi 6 via wired backhaul. But you can get a dual-band router, too. In this case the 5GHz-2 band is only available at the GT-AX11000.
Thanks Dong I might try the GT AX11000 first and then get the XT8’s but too be honest I don’t know what to do, the TP Link 5400 I have doesn’t give signal all around the home so I assume the AX11000 will be the same so don’t know what to do LAUGH OUT LOUD, that’s why I am on the fence about the Zen XT8’s…Confused!
Dong is the Asus GT AX11000 compatible with the ASUS RT-AX56U in Ai Mesh mode and can it be set up in wifi6 when in AI Mesh mode? Trying to get the Router set up, was looking at the Asus Zen XT8 Mesh but didn’t like some of the comments here, if not the ASUS RT-AX56U as a access point/ai mesh extender, what other router would u recommend with the AX11000 in AI Mesh mode?
Yes, Glen, but it’s better if you use a tri-band router. So another GT unit is the best.
Thank you for the quick response! I noticed that I cannot get the AX200 to connect at 2.4 Gbps even when I’m standing right next to the router, I can only connect at 1.2 Gbps. All the drivers are the most recent and I’ve even deleted and reinstalled the drivers. Are there any settings on the AX200 side that I would have to configure?
500 Mbps is definitely more than enough but I find it odd that the Wifi 6 speeds are the same as the AC speeds. I’ll do some file transfer tests to verify.
Hi Dong,
Thank you for the awesome reviews. I just bought this router and for some reason the AX speeds are only hitting ~500 mbps (Intel AX200 client less than 5 feet away). The AC clients and the wifi 6 client’s speeds are measuring the same. I have gigabit internet and I’m getting 980 mbps wired from the router.
I’ve tried changing a ton of different combinations in the settings and cannot get the wifi 6 speeds above 500 mbps.
Any ideas on how to fix this?
That’s super odd, Jesse. That said, a couple of things:
1. You shouldn’t use the Intenet to test Wi-Fi speed, it’s never accurate. For more check out this post.
2. Make sure you’re AX200 has the latest software driver and connects at 2.4 Gbps (and not 1.2 Gbps).
3. Do you really need to “fix” anything? 500 Mbps is more than anything you’d need. More on that here.
Hi Dong! My Apartment is in the basement with concrete walls while the apt is small under 1k sq ft. I want good coverage. Do i need to be concerned with interference from the Netgear Router from the family above me? I realize the AX1100 might be over kill but i will still have 8+ devices connected. Thank you for you help!
There’s always some sort of interference but you’ll be fine, J. More on that here.
Hi Dong! Wow! What an incredible contribution you are making here! I discovered you yesterday by coincidence and I’ve just spent 2 days reading through your many reviews. It has been an education and an honour. Well, after being a Netgear customer for as long as I can remember, I have just made the leap to ASUS. Yesterday my Netgear X10 R9000 decided it did not want to transmit any WIFI signal anymore, which put me in the market for a new Router. I normally purchase as close to the Top Model, so I immediately assumed I’d be getting Netgear Nighthawk RAX120. But after reading your info, I’ve now jumped ship to ASUS GT-AX11000. I’ll definitely be getting back to you with my experience! THANKING YOU KINDLY, dear Sir! LOL
Glad you’re here, David. And you’re welcome! 🙂
Hi Dong!
I read and love all your reviews for your routers.
I’m having an enquiry and would love your feedback on this. At this point I’m deciding between the AX11000 or the Zen XT8 as an upgrade to my RT-AX58U. I enjoy the ease of setting up with the Asus mobile app and general ease of use of the Asus brand.
Currently, I’m living in an apartment that’s probably around 100~120sqm, probably less than 1500 feet overall. I usually game and work in my room. (My PC that is a build in progress is Wifi 6 enabled, but my other devices are not). I am receiving -74/80 db in my work room due to obstructions (Wardrobes etc.)
I was wondering, for my situation, would you recommend the AX11000 or the Zen XT8 for a Mesh System (No wired backhaul available)?
I think for your place, a single router placed in the middle will be able to take care of it, King. More on that here. I’d recommend the GT-AX11000, but almost any Asus router will do.
Hey Dong thank you for the review, just a question i’m deciding to get either Asus GT AX11000 or Netgear Ax11000 and I would like to your opinion on those two for security, gaming , communication , and speed. is it good time to buy them. Did they improve with latest software.
Get the Asus, Fahad.
I just got this router and I had a questions. I have a Media Server set up but for some reason it constantly is going idle and then I can’t access the hard drive to transfer files over to it. I have used this same hard drive on multiple routers and never has this problem. Is there a setting I have to change? I have tried to contact ASUS in their app through chat and it never connects to anybody.
Try a different USB port and make sure you have USB 3.0 turned on. Also, make sure you choose to turn off the USB hibernation feature: Administration -> System -> USB Setting
Hi, I thought I would come here to mention that I bought a new asus ax11000 which arrived today. I noticed on the bottom it said it was hardware version 1.1 instead of just 1, like on my old one. I decided to set this one up in the same location as the old one to see if there was any difference, and I can say there is with regards to connection quality. My pc used to connect at -52dbm but is now 44dbm. Also my outdoor wireless camera was -78dbm and has improved to -68dbm. Even the xt8 node has improved from -40dbm to -37dbm.
I know connection quality can vary with the same batch of routers so it might be my old one was a poor sample or the new one is a good one (although the differences are outside of the margin of error in my opinion). I just thought I would share this as there doesn’t seem to be much discussion on the internet about what the improved hardware actually is on the updated model.
While I’m here I might as well ask a question about an issue I haven’t been able to resolve with my ax11000’s. My xbox one x NAT is permanently strict, but only with this model of router. Using wired or wireless makes no difference. When I connect to the xbox live app on my pc it’s says the NAT is open. I have turned on “optimised for xbox”, game mode, gear acceleration but nothing works. On the open NAT menu there is no pre set profile for xbox live. Any ideas?
If I have a gigabit fiber connection, should I expect much of a speed increase using the 2.5G port for WAN?
That depends on your Internet plan and provider, Chad. Switching the port generally doesn’t anything if you have a Gigabit or slower plan.
Your review page was referred to in a post about a deal on this router on slickdeals. I have to say I appreciate the reviews and I am even more impressed that you take the time to everyone’s comments.
Glad you’re here, Paul.
Hello!
Is the GT-AX11000 still the best option for gamers? I am tired of the xr500 and DumaOS issues that take forever to get fixed.
Thanks
Yes, Mark.
Thanks thats very helpful, just to clarify it is to be expected to have fluctuant speeds on the 2.4ghz band? I am not achieving 200 mbps down on, rather I will occasionally reach 100 Mbps but most of the time seems to stagnate at the sub 10 Mbps speeds, which I was far surpassing on my old router. Is that range and inconsistency to be expected in the 2.4ghz band, or is there something I can do to produce a more reliable speed nearer my old average of around 80-100 Mbps?
I feel you, Guy. New routers don’t support old clients well. A couple things you can try:
1. Make sure you upgrade the firmware/driver of the clients to the latest.
2. Change the channel bandwidth of the band to 20/40MHz.
3. Pick a clean channel for it.
4. Use 802.11n as the value Modulation Scheme (In the Professional tab)
You can check out this post for more.
Hi Dong,
I recently purchased and install the ASUS AX11000, upgrading from a Asus AC66U. The two 5ghz bands are faster or the same as the old router, which I am happy with. However my 2.4ghz band seems to be really inconsistent with speeds ranging from 100mbps down to 1-2mpbs or even less. I have tried turning of AX mode, setting a fixed channel (thats not congested) and ever setting the router the N mode for this band. Typically after I make these changes speeds may increase briefly back to normal speeds I would be expecting, however if i run speed tests an hour later the speed tends to have slowed right down to single digits again.
Therefore, I was wondering if you encountered this problem during your testing and if you are aware of any fixes for said problem. Furthermore, if this may be a faulty router or more likely a settings or firmware problem. I have tried calling Asus support and have not managed to get through or I missed them to day, I will be trying again tomorrow but thought that it couldn’t hurt to ask you! As I am wondering if I should return the router or even swap it for another router such as the ASUS AX88U.
Thanks
GP
P.S. one of my 5ghz bands seems to be faster then the other, is there any reason for this?
That’s VERY normal, Guy. I haven’t seen a router released in the past 3 years or so that’s actually fast on the 2.4GHz band. My take is this band is kinda just a backup for now so if you can get 200 Mbps out of it, that’s about the best. For the other questions, the 5GHz include lower and higher bands, each has different characteristics. The speed can vary from one channel to another, let alone different parts of a band. Again, what you’re having is very normal. Don’t expect Wi-Fi to be as consistent as wired connections. More on that here.
Great reviews! I have been waiting for Comcast to roll out the new XB7 Gateway for WiFi 6 in my area, but I am also thinking about getting a GT-AX11000, RT-AX90X, or RAX120. I am primarily a gamer. I have a PC with WiFi6 and a 2.5G Ethernet port built in, and a Synology Diskstation 718+ NAS in my office (where the cable comes into the house), and then a 4K TV and various consoles/streaming devices in a nearby living room. My thinking was that if the XB7 is good, I can use it as my primary router (and keep using the XFi mesh pods I have for it), and use this router as an access point / switch in the living room to have a speedy WiFi 6 connection to the devices in the living room. If the XB7 is bad (or just while I am waiting), I can use the GT-AX11000, RT-AX90X or RAX120 as my primary router, and wait until WiFi 6 access points are more available or maybe run a coax network to the living room. Thoughts on my strategy? I am getting “decent” internet speed now in the living room (around 90 Mbs) running an Ethernet cable from a Comcast XFi pod, but that is where I am most worried about bottlenecks.
I think that’s a good strategy, Spionza. You can start out with an Asus AiMesh router and add more later. The xFi pod is really bad, it’s the Plump pod I checked out a couple of years ago.
Thanks, Dong. Am I replying in the right place? Seeing it above your response.
My internet down speed is about 400Mbps- and likely to go up before I buy another router.
I don’t use AiMesh – I have a bunch of wireless IOT devices connecting to a guest network at the access point. Since there is no guest network support at Aimesh nodes, many devices failed to connect at all when I tried it. (I saw your comments in other posts that having IOT devices on guest network provides no extra security – if they are isolated from the computers on the main network, doesn’t that mean that malware in them could not affect those computers?) Learning a lot!
Joe
Even when they are in the same network, it’s not necessarily they can infect your computers as longs as your computers have their security set properly, like having password for each account, not turning on sharing to everyone, and keeping them up to date with patches. Also, turn on your router’s AiProtection.
Hi Dong,
Thanks for all you do!
I have a large house, and have used two Asus RT-AC68U routers, one as main router and the other as an access point with a wired backhaul. It has worked well except for an area of poor wi-fi coverage downstairs, which I just solved with a Netgear EX8000 triband extender. It fills the dead area, but the wireless backhaul between the router and extender is only reaching 526 MB/s. I was thinking of upgrading my venerable RT-AC68 u with newer technology. Am I correct that if I bought a triband router with 4×4 5G, I could double the theoretical backhaul speed from 867 Mbs to 1733 Mbs? And maybe the stronger router signal at the extender site would get me closer to full backhaul connection speed?
I stream TV on my laptop downstairs, and the continuous buffering glitches I used to have are nearly gone. I’m actually OK as is, but I would like to see a nicer number than 526Mbps.
I like the Asus interface, and so I am looking at the GT-AX11000. I am not a crazy gamer, but Asus doesn’t seem to have many options for higher end triband routers. (The RT-AC68u access point shouldn’t be an issue since it has wired backhaul – it is working well).
Am I missing stuff? What do you think? Thanks!
I’d say you’re in a pretty good spot right now, Joe. 526Mbps backhaul means you’ll get the same on the front-haul out of the extender, and that’s faster than your Internet speed, I’d assume. Yes, getting a tri-band router will improve that speed, but it might not translate into any meaningful result. The buffering issue might be your Internet speed. Also, the EX8000 an extender, so it’s not super good with latency. Maybe you should tweak it a bit. Btw, if you choose the GT-AX11000 (or RT-AC5300) and use AiMesh, you’ll need to create a separate backhaul band for the 5GHz-2. More on that here. And manually connect the extender to the 5GHz-2 band.
Dong I am in the market for a new router and would prefer a Tri-band model so I can isolate both kids activity to independent 5GHz bands (less complaining hopefully). I plan to purchase an ax11000 model since they have the most features but I am having a hard time deciding between the Asus and TP-link models. I know its not included in your review here but the only major differences I can see is the TP-link has larger flash memory and more LAN ports. I am hoping to go down to just a single router with some WiFi 6 adapters to uncomplicated my setup a bit (currently using an RT-AC87 and some Lyra in AP mode). Both the AX11000 routers I find seem to be priced similarly and beyond the 2 features I mentioned don’t appear much different. Depending on who is reviewing which one they are both labelled the most bestest super-dooperest ever. Can you help me decide?
Get the Asus, Chris. It has more features and is much more intuitive than the TP-Link.
Hello,
i am thinking about upgrading wifi. I only would need a Access point, but a router would work as well.
Do you know if the Wifi Issues are still present? Fluctuation and so.
My options are this one, the Netgear RX200 or a real access point like the Cisco 9117.
Have you ever testet a cisco AP? Is it possible to use it in a private environment? I dont hae all the Cisco support plans and so on…
Thanks for the advice
The GT-AX11000 is much better now than when I tested it, Cuco, but it’s never going to be perfect. The RAX200 works well, too. Both are very different from the Cisco 9117, which will work out just fine for any environment if you know how to configure it (and don’t mind the cost.)
Hi Would this be the primary or secondary router if added to Aimesh network with node RT-AX89X
Either will work, but you shouldn’t use them together since one is a dual-band router and the other is a tri-band. You’ll waste a band in a wireless setup and there’s no dedicated backhaul band.
Can you expand a little – how to setup the link aggregation? I am planning to use on my desktop two 1GB ports and plug them in port 1 and port 2 of this router. And then use the https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/XG-C100C/ NIC to connect my media server in the multi-gig port of the router.
I cannot find any setup inside the router to make the link aggregation.
Link Aggregation (also known as NIC Teaming) only works when both the router (or switch) and the end-device (like a NAS server) support the feature. This means the device itself also needs to use two Gigabit ports. Now, you just connect them using two network cables and, then, turn on the feature on both sides. On the router side, you can find Link Aggregation in the LAN section (Switch Control) within its web interface.
LA is not available in Windows 10 (or older, you can probably hack it but it’s not easy), but only Windows Server (starting with server 2012 I believe). On a MAC, it works, you can create a virtual interface in the network setting area.
In your case, you should use the 10Gbps NIC on your computer and use LA with your media server (if it supports it). If not, here’s a hint: Most NAS servers that have 2 or more network ports support LA.
While I would agree that most wifi routers provide PPPoE the more important question is whether they’ll “also” provide that over a VLAN. That is what CenturyLink does with their HSI service. So far I’m not seeing reviews that are specific enough to answer that question.
Typically you’ll find people, in discussion forums, getting a managed switch to un-trunk the Ethernet service before handing it off to the WiFi router so it can negotiate PPPoE. It’s a kludge to do this if you end up with a router that cannot combine these two protocols on the WAN port. Make sense?
It totally makes sense, Derek. The thing is what you want in this case is a bit non-standard and it’s hard to put that to the test with all routers. I think, though I’m not sure, I can make most routers work, one way or another if I had a chance to test them with CenturyLink.
I usually find myself looking for a new router when I need to eliminate renting a router from my ISP. Recently for my use case I don’t see any WiFi router reviews including configurations where the ISP expects the WAN port to have PPPoE over a VLAN. I’ve had to combine a Netgear X10 (R9000) router with a TP-Link switch so I could return Century Link’s router.
It would be nice to see whether this capability is covered in WiFi router I may be interested in.
Most, if not all, routers, I’ve reviewed have the PPPoE option, Derek. You can find it in the WAN area of the interface.
Thank you so much for your help
Sure, J. 🙂
Dong Ngothanks for having answered but i got some information on the internet but i never got a clearer information, what suggests is that i use that hardware on my mac and behind the router connect a modem cable to port 2.5g and another one from lan port to mac and in the UI change the primary port to 2.5g?
I’m a bit confused but here’s the deal with the router’s 2.5Gbps port: You can use it as either a WAN (Internet) or a LAN port (default). If you want to use it as a WAN port, you’ll need to configure dual-WAN and change it to be either the main WAN or the secondary WAN. By default, it works as a LAN port.
It will be possible to explain how I can make the 2.5g connection on this router on the ports behind the router and how to make the correct connections in the software, I would be grateful, thanks
You just need to plug a 2.5Gbps-capable device — like this one https://dongknows.com/trendnet-tuc-et5g-usb-c-3-1-to-5gbase-t-ethernet-adapter-review/ — into the that port. There’s nothing else to it.
Then it’s settled. I’m getting the Alien. Thank you for your input, Dong.
You’re welcome, Maku. 🙂
Hi Dong, have you tested a couple of these ax11000s in mesh? I’m debating between this and the Amplifi Alien. I would like to get one now and add another later in mesh mode. I like that the ax11000 has a dedicated backhaul and allows a lot more tweaking than the Alien but I do appreciate the ease and out-of-the-box reliability and performance of the Alien. Not to mention the looks. But in the end I do prioritize performance and reliability over everything else, even if I have to do some initial tweaking.
Would you recommend two ax11000 over two Alien for a mesh system?
Thanks!
You should go with the Alien, Maku. AiMesh is not really ready for Wi-Fi 6 yet. It works, but can be buggy.
Just bought one of these and I must say I am a bit disappointed. I am upgrading from the GT-AC5300. The biggest issue is with the 5Ghz bands. The signal drop off is so high just 10 feet from the router that it is slower than the AC-5300. From my basement where the router is to the first floor bedroom the signal drop is so significant that I can only get 300Mbps where the AC5300 would get 600Mbps. Within 5 feet of the router the signal strength sits around -35 to -40 DB but upstairs it is just -60 DB even right above the router. I have moved the router around as much as I can but it doesn’t seem to change anything at all.
Also, can you tell me which antennas on the unit are for which band or are there no dedicated antenna for any one band.
I hear you, Ron. Asus Wi-Fi 6 routers need quite a bit of tweaking. I do use one same unit myself and it’s been quite good. Try upgrading the firmware to the latest (google and download the firmware manually), reset the router and set it up again. That will likely help. All antennas are used for all bands, you can’t separate them.
Hello Dong,
I’m looking for a new router and can’t decide for the ax88 or ax11000 and wanted to check with you one option that I’m looking for:
I read that the ax11000 VPN features and option that allow you to select if a client can use or bypass the VPN, do you know if the ax88u have this option?
Thanks!
If you’re talking about VPN Fusion, Sergio, then no, only the GT-AX11000 has it.
Then, that helps me a lot with my decision. Thank you Dong!
Saludos from Chile.
Hey Dong. Any suggestion for stability on either the 88u or the ax11000? Everything is on the latest firmware. With the ax11000 I get bad range for signal and the 88u has great signal but keeps dropping Wi-Fi. Any suggestions? I have to keep one or the other unfortunately
The RT-AC88U is generally more stable than the GT-AX11000. But I’ve had no problem with either. You might want to back up the settings, reset the router to default and restore the settings. That might help. Better yet, re-setup the whole thing. There might be a setting somewhere that messes things up.
Hey man. Hoping you can help. I currently have an ac88u with two ac68us in a mesh set up in my house. The ac88u is downstairs in my office, one ac68unis directly above me upstairs and we have the last node in our bedroom about 30-35 feet away. This setup is great for coverage but our phones and my wife’s pc constantly drops off WiFi.
I thought it was the main ac88u so I bought the ax11000 thinking it would solve my problem. That’s been even worse. My wife’s PC can’t connect at all to the 2.4ghz band and the 5g band gets garbage speed. I tried setting up the 68us as mesh units thinking that would help and those units hit about 5mbs a second where as I’d hit 60-70 with the ac88u and the mesh setup. I thought the ax11000 would be better since it has an entire channel for the wireless back haul But the coverage and speed is WORSE with the ax11000.
We have gigabit internet btw so speed shouldn’t be a problem. When I’m in my office I can hit 300mbs easily with either router on the 5ghz band.
At this point I’m losing my mind. I just want my wife’s internet and the internet for our home to be stable when on Wi-Fi. Any suggestions for settings for either router to increase stability?
The GT-AX11000 won’t help in your case base. You need the dedicated backhaul band on the side of the nodes more than the side of the router. It’s a bit wasteful but if you use the GT-AX11000 as a node and he RT-AC88U as the router, that might help. Also, best is you use a wired to connect them (wired backhaul) and make sure you use the latest firmware on every router.
Picked this one up and I’m disappointed that the SAMBA is stuck in SMB v1, deprecated in 2014 and now no longer default with Windows 10. Any reason you didn’t comment on this one? I saw the speed for file transfers on external USB drives. Was that tested via FTP?
I agreed. Many other routers are also stuck with SMBv1 though. I didn’t mention that in this post. I didn’t test the FTP performance since I don’t recommend opening up the router’s USB storage to the Internet, either. Also, since it is more a review of a router than one of a NAS device, I can’t cover everything. 🙂
Hi, I’m not sure if my other comment on another review of yours went through. If so, disregard answering on both. I would like to know what is the best router on the market to hold the most wifi phones streaming? I have this Asus AX11000, but is there anything that is better at multiple device streaming?
Streaming is generally NOT an issue with a router, but your Internet connection. For more on that check out this post. So you know for sure your broadband speed is good, then maybe just tune the router’s QoS feature to prioritize streaming. In most cases though, that is not necessary. If you have a fast enough Internet connection for the number of concurrent devices, your streaming should be OK.
Hi Dong- I am not a gamer, but heavy on streaming, and my wife and I both work from home, so we have have a lot of network traffic in our house. Is this router still overkill considering 10-13 devices could be connected at any given time and a few of them streaming? Also, with all those antennas, is there advice on what direction they should be pointing?
It’s hard for me to answer this question, man. The GT-AX11000 will work but it might need a bit of TLC in terms of settings (if you have a lot of Wi-Fi 6 clients, that is). It’s mostly because Wi-Fi 6 is still really new. If you want something more stable, get the RAX200, but it’s too expensive. Bottom-line is, the amount of devices you have there is not enough to justify the need for a tri-band router (a dual-band will do just fine). So, any router you get will take care of your situation, it’s just a matter of $$.
Hi Dong, Are the AX6100 2pack units supposed to be the wifi 6 AP/extender units for the AX11000 or are we still waiting for dedicated devices that would presumably be cheaper as they are not actual routers?
I assume you can use them together but I’m not sure since I haven’t tested the AX6100. It’s buggy now.
Hi, Thanks for the reply! I thought there was some utility in keeping IOT off the same network as the actual computers you use to make them less able to compromise your computers? Are the Asus guest networks are also behind the same firewall and have the same Trendmicro AIprotection as the local network?
Having them in a separate network doesn’t help and some of them won’t work since they can’t talk to your computer, for example. Yes, Guest Network is behind firewall and Trendmicro protection.
Hi Dong! Great info as usual; decided to go with the AX11000, but had a question about IoT devices. I’ve read that you should put them on a “guest network” as this would make it somehow more secure. Is this the case with the AX11000? Or does the firewall+Trendmirco make it so you don’t really need to put IoT on a guest network? Or does it depend on what IoT devices you are talking about (a cheapo off brand security camera vs a roku or ecobee, etc?) It makes it much more difficult to always have to switch between networks to control a bunch of smart speakers, etc. Also, with the guest network, then you can’t use the AiMesh for IoT setup? Also (sorry one more)… is UPnP really that dangerous? I’ve heard you need to enable it to get stuff like an Xbox One to work correctly; is this the case, or should it always be turned off?
No putting IoT devices on the guest network doesn’t make them more secure. Doing so will just isolate them from your local network and, depending on the type, they might not work as expected. So, the Guest network is only for guests, not your devices. UPnP is not dangerous, but it does allow other devices to change certain settings of the router without having to know the admin password. If you’re not sure, just turn it off. In this case, you might need to manually change some settings, like port-forwarding, (which you should know how to do anyway) for certain setups to work. Personally, I turn UPnP off mostly because I want to have full control of the router.
Dong your a star I have sat for 6 hrs reviewing these two routers. You have answered the question very comprehensively. The AX12 (bar the 5GHZ port) is expensive and from other reviewers it came across as a work in progress. Only plus side was the Qualcomm chipset. (Do you know if the ROG has a Broadcom or Qualcomm chipset? Most likely Broadcom) It’s bulky and ugly and the Netgear has that Star Wars thing about it.. but something tells me I will regret the Netgear. Asus are usually great for fimware updates. I still have my RT-N56U 🙂 ?Do you recommend a fibre modem to go with this router ?
You’re right and right throughout, including the chipset, Reghar. As for the modem, I’m not sure since I don’t have a lot of experience with them. Where I live, we’re still stuck with cable and generally must use provider-supplied modems when it comes to fiber-optic.
I have an AC-5300 that’s failed – do you think it’s worth upgrading to the ax1100?
Yes, the GT-AX11000 is great.
Should I go for this router or the Netgear AX12 if I want the best router out there?
The question is perhaps difficult to answer but my by far highest priority is to have trouble free Wi-Fi in a house with many nodes (phones, tablets, laptops, Hue, Nest, Z-Wave). Both routers seem to be competent but I couldn’t quite make the conclusion which one is better from reading the two reviews. Is the faster CPU in the AX12 an indication that it would be better in an congested environment? I should also add that I’m only a casual gamer.
I prefer this one. Get it!
@DongNgo
I’m not sure if you know this or not….do you think the GT-AX11000 will get the newer 3.0.0.6 firmware?
Thanks!
Your guess is as good as mine, Joe.