🛒
The Asus RT-AX88U is one of the first Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers on the market, and I was quite excited to get my hands on it.
So excited, I decided to test it for a second time—I didn’t have any Wi-Fi 6 clients the first time around. So, this is an updated review to include the router’s Wi-Fi 6 performance, using some Intel AX200-based devices.
It’s important to note that RT-AX88U has no Multi-Gig network port. As a result, there was no way to find out how fast its Wi-Fi could be. At most, you’ll get 1Gbps wireless speed out of it. But that’s enough for most of us, including those few who are lucky enough to have a Gigabit Internet connection.
So, if you have upgraded your computers to Wi-Fi 6 for around $300, the RT-AX88U is a sensible purchase.
Dong’s note: I first published this review on January 6, 2019, and updated it on October 22 with 2×2 Wi-Fi 6-based test results.
Asus RT-AX88U: The RT-AC88U’s clone with a significant twist
In many ways, the new RT-AX88U router is like a souped-up version of the RT-AC88U that came out almost four years ago.
The two share the same physical design, feature set, and network ports (8 LANs and one WAN). It even carries over the awkwardly placed USB 3.0 (or USB 3.2 Gen 1) on its front. On the back, though, the second USB port is also a USB 3.1 (and not 2.0 in the RT-AC88U) case. By the way, the two routers also share the same power adapter.
While the Gigabit network ports are enough for the RT-AC88U, they are not for the RT-AX88U. As a Wi-Fi 6 router, the latter’s wireless speed can easily surpass 1Gbps. Consequently, in a wired-to-wireless connection, the router’s LAN ports are the bottlenecks.
So, yes, it’s disappointing that the Asus RT-AX88U doesn’t have any multi-gig network ports, like the case of the GT-AX11000 or the Netgear RAX120.
On the inside, the new router is much more powerful than its older cousin. For one, it features 802.11ax with a top Wi-Fi speed of up to 4333 Mbps on the 5GHz band and up to 1148 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It also sports a beefier 1.8GHz quad-core CPU and has double RAM (1GB).
Note that the Wi-Fi speeds mentioned above are theoretical, and you need a 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 client to see. Chances are, the real-world speeds will be lower but still much faster than that of Wi-Fi 5.
Asus RT-AX88U: Hardware specifications
| Name | Asus RT-AX88U |
| Wi-Fi Technology | Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) AX6000 |
| Chipset Manufacturer | Broadcom |
| 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 4×4 Wi-Fi 6: up to 1148 Mbps |
| 5GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 4X4 Wi-Fi 6: up to 4833 Mbps |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| AP Mode | Yes |
| Mesh-ready | Yes (AiMesh) |
| 160MHz Channel Support | Yes |
| Gigabit LAN Ports | 8x Gigabit LAN, 1x Gigabit WAN |
| Multi-Gig Ports | None |
| Link Aggregation | Yes (LAN 1 and LAN 2) |
| Dual-WAN | Yes (WAN + LAN/USB) |
| USB | 2 x USB-A USB 3.0 ports (storage, modem, printer) |
| Mobile App | Asus Router |
| QoS | Yes (Excellent) |
| Parental Control | Yes (OK) |
| Processing Power | 1.8 GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 1GB RAM |
| Built-in Online Protection | Yes (AiProtection powered by Trend Micro) |
| Dimensions | 11.8 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches (30 x 18.8 x 6.04 cm) |
| Weight | 2.1 lbs (945 g) |
Straightforward setup process
Setting up the Asus RT-AX88U is precisely like that of any previous Asus router. It’s similar to that of any router with a web interface. Here are the steps:
- Connect the router’s WAN port to an Internet source (such as a cable modem)
- Connect a computer to one of its LAN ports (or its default open Wi-Fi network.)
- From the connected machine, open a browser and navigate to the router’s IP address, which is 192.168.50.1, or router.asus.com, you’ll get to the initial setup process. You’ll first need to create a new admin password (for the router’s Interface) and a secure Wi-Fi network before you can connect to the Internet.
And that’s it. Now you can use the interface to manage the router’s settings and features.
Universal setting restoration
During the setup process, you’ll have a chance to upload settings from a backup file. In this case, you can upload the settings of almost any other Asus router. Like most Asus routers released in the past five years, the RT-AX88U supports universal setting restoration.
For those having a network with lots of settings (like port-forwarding, IP reservations, AiMesh, and so on), being able to transfer the settings from one router to another saves a lot of time since they won’t need to program the new router from scratch.
In my trial, I uploaded the settings of an RT-AC86U and then an RT-AC88U to the RT-AX88U, and it worked each time flawlessly.
Note: You can’t transfer all settings from one router to another. Special features, like a VPN server, may require to be set up from scratch.
Familiar feature set
The Asus RT-AX88U has the same feature set as the RT-AC88U, which is among the best among home routers. Here is the list of significant and useful features:
AiProtection
Powered by TrendMicro, this free feature protects the entire network from online threats. For example, when you’re about to browse a malicious website, the router will stop your browser and display a warning.
AiProtection also includes a useful and easy-to-use Parental Control function. You can block individual clients from specific online categories (Adult, Social media, and so on) based on a schedule.
It’s interesting to note that while Parental Controls works well, albeit vague in categorizing, the router’s URL Filter function (part of its Firewall) can’t block secure (HTTPS) websites.
Adaptive QoS
This prioritizes Internet traffic for clients or applications of your liking. QoS is not new, but Asus’s Adaptive QoS is both easy to use and effective. It also includes a bandwidth monitor—in case you want to know who’s been hogging the Internet—and web history.
Game Boost
This aims toward gamers. Game Boost includes a free client for WTFast GPN, a VPN gaming network, and a one-click tuneup for the QoS setting.
AiMesh
This feature turns the router into a part of a robust mesh network. It’s so cool that it deserves a separate post. Note, however, that AiMesh has been quite buggy in my testing with Wi-Fi 6 routers and might take Asus a while to develop better firmware for it.
Other than that, the router has a host of other features. For example, you’ll find a ton of things you can do with its USB ports that support external storage devices or cellular dongles.
You can also turn the router into a powerful VPN server or a VPN client. And there are all other advanced settings you might need to customize your home network to the max.
Asus RT-AX88U: Detail photos
Asus RT-AX88U: Gigabit-class performance
I tested the Asus RT-AX88U using a couple of homemade 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 clients, and it did well, though not as well as the GT-AX1100.
Wi-Fi 5-like Wi-Fi 6 throughputs
Indeed, chances are you won’t find the Asus RT-AX88U any faster than its Wi-Fi 5 cousin, the RT-AC88U.
The reason, again, was that it has no multi-gig port. To find out the top Wi-Fi speed of a router, you need to use a single wired-to-wireless connection so that its Wi-Fi bandwidth is not shared.
And in the case of the RT-AX88U, its Gigabit network ports are the bottleneck. Indeed, its performance with Wi-Fi 6 clients was almost the same as when I used a high-end Wi-Fi 5 client.
Specifically, on the 5Ghz, the router got around 900 megabits per second at a close distance. When I increased the range to 40 feet (12.2 m), it averaged some 810 Mbps. I used a 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 client, but even when you have faster 4×4 clients, the result won’t be different.
I did an anecdotal test by using two 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 clients, copying data from one to another, and got an average speed of about 650Mbps. That means the RT-AX88U has a sustained 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 speed of about 1300Mbps, on par with the Netgear RAX120.
Average 2.4GHz Wi-Fi speed
On the 2.4Ghz, the router was about the average, with some 198 Mbps and more than 110 Mbps for close and long-distance, respectively. Note that the performance of this band tends to suffer gravely from interferences and backward compatibility. That’s been the case for many routers in the past many years, at least where I live.
In terms of coverage, the router was about the same as the RT-AC88U in my testing. When placed in the middle, it can handle a single home of 1800 ft² (167 m²) to 2000 ft² (186 m²) easily with Wi-Fi speed at every corner fast enough to deliver an average broadband connection in full (70 Mbps to 250 Mbps).
Minor issues
This second time around, I tested the RT-AX88U with the newest firmware (version 3.0.0.4.384.6436), and for the most part, the router worked well. However, it wasn’t flawless.
I noted that it took quite a long time—up to five minutes—for the 5GHz band to be ready each time I made any changes to the Wi-Fi settings. (This is the nature of any Wi-Fi 6 routers that use DFS channels.)
During this time, the network wasn’t available—you might think something is wrong. Also, Wi-Fi 6 clients’ speeds fluctuated a lot when older clients were present.
Another thing is that the RT-AX88U worked well as an AiMesh router in my testing, but it wasn’t reliable as a node. I had to restart once in a while. At times, its Wi-Fi network wasn’t available for the mesh.
I have no doubt Asus will soon release firmware updates to improve the router. That said, you should wait for a bit if you intend to get this router to use in an AiMesh setup.
Also, until new software drivers are available, you might need to disable the router’s 802.11ax HE frame support for the router to work well with legacy clients.
Fast network-attached storage
I expected the Asus RT-AX88U to have better network storage performance when coupled with an external hard drive, and it did.
I used a SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD for the test. Via a Gigabit connection, it registered more than 72 megabytes per second and some 111 MB/s for writing and reading, respectively.
These are excellent speeds among routers with similar network storage features. But, due to the lack of a multi-gig port, the RT-AX88U trails behind the RAX120 or the GT-AX11000 on this front.
Note that the router’s USB ports tend to default to USB 2.0, likely to reduce the impact on the router’s 2.4GHz Wi-Fi performance.
To ensure the best network storage performance, you need to switch them to work in USB 3.0 mode manually. You can do this via the Network Map section of the router’s web interface.
By the way, in USB 2.0 mode, the router’s NAS performance was 35MB/s and 38MB/s for writing and reading, respectively.
Asus RT-AX88U's Rating
Pros
Fast Wi-Fi performance
Tons of useful features
Eight network ports with Dual-WAN and Link Aggregation
Universal setting backup and restoration
Fast network-attached storage speed when coupled with an external drive.
Merlin firmware support
Cons
No multi-gig network port
Buggy firmware (at review)
Conclusion
Supporting 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 yet without a multi-gig port, the Asus RT-AX88U is half of a router it can be in terms of performance. Specifically, even when 4×4 clients are available, there’s virtually no scenario in which you can enjoy its faster wireless speeds.
But Gigabit is plenty fast, and for now, there are only 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 clients on the market. That, plus the generous set of useful features, makes the RT-AX88U a sensible upgrade for those wanting a robust router that can for sure deliver Gigabit-class Internet in full.
Bonus: In my experience, the RT-AX88U is among the best that can run the Merlin firmware. Check out this alternative third-party software if you want to get the most out of this Wi-Fi 6 machine.
Hello Dong,
Love your website, much appreciated.
I bought the RT-AX88u pro based on your review.
But it seems to regularly drop all wireless devices and won’t re-establish connection until reboot.
I tried almost everything, and looking up online threads I see that many have similar issues with this router.
It did take a while for this issue to begin, others have written that as well.
I do tech-support as a side-hustle and rarely ever had an issue I could not fix, but this has proved unsolvable.
I used the one I tested for the review for a long time and it had no issues, John. Maybe something with the EU version. Try Merlin, an older firmware release or updating it to the latest whichever applicable. Apply scheduled weekly or daily restarts. Some of these tips might help. Good luck!
Thanks for replying.
Went through the tips, tried both merlin and asus firmware, different versions. Factory reset, 20/40, and smart connect off.
I talked to others with the same issue, so perhaps it might be a bug on some of the models.
It could be the case. Sorry to hear. In this case, schedule it to restart every day or every other day might help. I’d recommend upgrading the the Pro version, it’s much better.
Does anyone have the dimensions for RT-AX88U with and without antennas? Cheers
They are on the specs table, Billy. Pay a bit attention!
Thanks but it’s not though.
11.8 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches
(30 x 18.8 x 6.04 cm) That does not answer my question. I payed plenty of attention. Does anyone actually have this information? Dimensions with and without antennas?
The 2.4 inch is the thickness of the router, at its back side, without antenna, Billy. If you look at its photos closely, you’ll note that there’s no way the antennas are involved, since they will make the whole package somewhat of a rectangular cubic box—the antennas are about as long as the width (or depth) from the back to the front.
Fighting the 2.4ghz band wifi. So, I purchased the Asus RT-AX88u a couple of months ago and got it hooked up just fine Have Spectrum 1GB (coax) service running the home system mainly on hard wired to each device and getting 950mbps consistently. I am getting a strong wifi6 and typically getting 900mbps downloads consistently On both wired and wifi Spectrum up load is capped at 35mbps and getting it with no problem…
Ever since my purchase I’ve not been able to break about 15mbps down on the 2.4ghz wifi even standing with in 3ft of the router…pings have been around 27 and uploads have been between 10 – 14mbps. I’ve tried to chat and talk with Asus tech support but they have no idea what is wrong and give up on suggestions. I don’t really use 2.4 other than a couple of devices and offer 2.4 for guests (that’s all they need)… but at 15mbps is crazy! Everything is factory and firmware is up to date.
Again, wired on all units and devices is fantastic and even with Wfi6 devices it is extremely fast… It is just the 2.4Ghz band that is terrible. I have seen a lot of complaints on the Asus and other forums and it doesn’t look like Asus is addressing the issue… I thought I’d send this out to you and see if you have any suggestions… It’s not easy to take the system down to send back for warranty… and Asus doesn’t seem to give me any suggestions to correct it!
Any suggestions?
Check the USB port, Dave. Also, use 40MHz for the band.
Good Morning Dong, I have no storage connected to the USB ports. I did go ahead and changed from Legacy to Auto and the band width to 40 but when I did that although my 2.4ghz went to over 100 my 5Ghz speeds droped from 950mbps to under 200… did everything rebooted router, rebooted laptop and it stayed the same… So I went back to the Legacy with 20 and my 5 ghz is back to 950 + Strange.
I do not have adaptive Qos turned on (at least I do not think so, in the adaptive Qos page it give me the opertunity to activate it (and I have not) and the On-Off switch is grayed out and shows off.
It is odd. but I want to keep my 1gig 5ghz band so I changed everything thing back, still only getting 15mbps on the 2.4 band …. and until I can figure this out I’ll leave it set as it is……the last thing I want to do is lose my 5ghz band speed…. guests will just have to live with 15mhps I guess.
🤔
Well, I did go back line by line on my 2.4ghz settings and I missed it….. we discussed bandwidth in the last reply… well, I did change from 20 to 40 but what I should have done is change the setting to Auto 20/40 .. .did that this morning and now I am getting about 200 mbps on the 2.4 band and it is not affecting my 5g band I am still up above 950 mbps down… I guess the lesson on this one is try all options 🙂 Thanks for your review and your help and suggestions… I am all set now…
Nice! Glad you figured it out, Dave.👍
Hello Dong,
Your reviews are great. Thank you. I have an ASUS RT-AX88U router and I plan to configure an AiMesh network in my home. I fortunately have a 1G connection. Would the ASUS RP-AX58 extender make a suitable choice for an AiMesh node. I have cat 5 ports in my house, so I would use one to connect the node on the second floor. Thank you.
Yes, Ryan. More here.
Hello Dong
basing on your articles I bought Asus RT-AX86U for a 3 floor house, for a good start. I placed it on 1st floor. After that I bought ASUS RT-AX88U, placed it on 2nd floor and created Aimesh network. AX86U as the primary one, AX88U as the sattelite. Now I would like to get 3d Asus nad place it on 3d floor to imporve the coverage. My house is made of bricks and hardened concrete so they do a good job in blocking wifi signal. Should I look for a good satellite to work with AX88U or with AX86U ? would AX82U be a good joice ? Will do a wired connection but in like 2-3 years… 🙁
Any of those you mentioned will do, Pawel. It’s best to use link them using network cables though.
Bought AX82U as it is much cheaper then AX86U or AX88U. Will see how it works. Wanted to thank you for your good job on your webpage. Very detailed articles. Wish I was more fluent in English to understand them better 🙂
You’re welcome, Pawel. And your English is excellent! 👍
Love your reviews… and this one and the Rax 200 I am in the market for a Wifi 6 router. I am now just changing out my Intel 9260 card for an AX200 to give me a Wifi 6 client. My current router is a Netgear Nighthawk R7500 V1 I purchased around the 2016 timeframe ( it still performs well). I am switching my internet speed to a 1gb service soon so I thought I might as well update the router. Our house has a 1st floor area that I use as an equipment room and it is centrally located. The interconnection comes in this room and it has lots of space to have the router, any needed switches as well as my UPS battery back up device. When we built our house we ran cat 5 cables to every room in the house so I can hard wire devices where ever I want or need such as desktops, Nas devices (I have 7 currently) and security cameras. I know Cat 5 should have been Cat 5e but in 2005 who would have thought. If I look at my current router 90 % of my connections are wired (due to my set up all cables are home run to the equipment room and then through switches) I do show 8 – 12 connections on Wifi but for the most part (just my wife and I) usually are using our laptops, tablets or smartphones connected to wifi (at this point only my laptop is getting a wifi card update).
Because of your references between the Asus 88U and the Nighthawk RAX120(what version I noticed folks commenting on V1 and V2 of the same router) I thought I’d ask which one today would you choose. There seems to be a large amount of the RAX120’s available and even under $100 so I am wondering are the issues with the RAX120 bad enough that folks are jumping from them? Or is it still a contender, according to your tests it seems like the faster of the 2. Having the extra Lan ports on the Asus is nice but really not an issue for me Although you bring up a good point on the Asus with far more options and the web interface vs a 5″ smart phone screen. I don’t see any reason to jump to Wifi 6e all of my devices are Windows 10 for various reasons I will not change to Windows 11 it would just create a t for me. Finally Netgear labels their products with a spec Number of devices and is that total usuage or just connected… I show almost 40 devices connected but no way even 10 devices would have any usage other than my security cameras of NAS. Asus does not specify number of devices in any of their specs.
I realize this is a lot of questions and I thank you in advance for your input on my situation.
I saw only one question mark, Dave, but you should go with an Asus. Netgear has changed a lot since the RAX120 and especially since your current router. Also, you should read this post before asking any further questions. 🙂
Thanks Dong, I did read your post you highlighted, thanks and I completely understand… Keep up the great reviews with all the detail… after reading you the reviews I’ve come up with the same conclusion, Asus just seems to offer more…
Best decision I have made after reading Doug’s blog and don’t forget to donate to his good cause!!!
Hi Dong,
Not sure if you will still read comments on older reviews.
After reading your review, i bought this puppy.
And I immediately regretted it.
Now, before I will decide to return this thing, maybe there is something that you can actually help me figure out.
The router works well – but only the 2.4 ghz wireless is totally crap.
The max speed I can get is around 1MBps – max!
I checked the internet, and a lot of people are complaining that the 2.4GHZ band is slow as hell, and so for there doesn’t seem to be any solution.
I resetted it to facture default, i upgraded the firmware, i downloaded merlin ( latest version ) and flashed that.
No matter what i try – 2.4 works like crap – while the 5Ghz works flawless.
I need the 2.4 Ghz to actually be able to pick up the signal upstairs ( the reason i upgraded to this router ) and if i can’t fix this issue – then this router is not worth the money.
Are you aware of these issues with the 2.4 GHZ speed?
And do you maybe have a solution?
Sincerely,
You should stick with Wi-Fi 4 if you count on the 2.4GHz band, Robert. If you look at the performance charts (of any Wi-Fi 6 review), you’d note that this band is extremely slow compared to specs. And it’s not the router’s fault, but your home — more in this post. Starting with Wi-Fi 6, the 2.4GHz band has been written off as a backup, it’s no longer a priority. In your case, turning USB 3.0 off might help.
Thank you for the fast reply.
I understand it’s my home’s fault – but my previous router – tplink didn’t have this issue at all, whenever i connected to the 4g i had speeds of 50/80MB/p s- now I’m lucky to even get 1MB/ps on the 4g.
I tried to find the USB 3.0 setting – but I am not able to find it anywhere to change it to USB 2.0.
Weird, it’s not where you showed it on the screenshot, and it’s also not on the 2.4 GH/z page.
As mentioned, you might need to plug a drive into the USB port for the option to be available. If your previous router is a Wi-Fi 5 one, then its 2.4GHz is Wi-Fi 4. Wi-Fi 5 is only available in 5GHz.
Still, don’t use this band to judge a Wi-Fi 6 or later router.
Dear Dong,
first of all – THANK YOU for your impressive reviews and such great work! I literally searched the whole internet and read a lot of articles but yours are outstanding!
May I ask for your opinion – I have read both, the Netgear RAX200 review and this Asus AX88U review and I think I already know which router is the better choise for my purposes and daily life but still would like to double check your opinion and hear your thoughts / recommendation.
My special case:
I had birthday and I am in the (very) lucky situation that I received both routers as a gift. Now I can’t decide which to keep.
My #1 purpose is fast WLAN internet in the apartment which A) doesn’t strugle with around 20 devices connected via WLAN (amazon echo in each room, tablets, notebooks, smartphones, smart kitchen devices etc) and B) doesn’t have problems to cover all those devices which are spread in a 100+ square meter apartment with fast internet. I have a 300 Mbit/s fibre connection.
In this case I would go with the Netgear RAX200. Do you think this would be the “correct” choice – beside that both routers are great – for my purposes mentioned above and my daily life needs?
I would love to hear your professional opinion and your recommendation. What would you choose in my situation?
Best and many thanks for your feedback!
Unless you have Gig+ or faster Internet that can take advantage of the RAX200’s 2.5Gbps port, go with the Asus, Adis, then separate the two bands with two SSID (use the 2.4GHz for IoT devices). More on dual-band vs tri-band in this post. Either is fine but the Asus has so much more to offer.
Hi Dong,
Thanks for research and all nice articles. I like to ask a question which may not be a fair question to ask.
How do I determine the end of life for a router? I have Asus RT-AC87U. I can see it has stopped updating firmware. But its still working like a charm. Since its more than 5 years old, do I need to replace it? Since it’s an old router I am bit worried about the security.
That’s a fair and good question, Raj. I’d deal with this case by case. Technically, you can use a router for as long as it works, and generally, vendors only release firmware updates if there’s a security issue. In the case of the RT-AC87U, the latest firmware came out just a few months ago, it has plenty of life left. I wouldn’t worry about replacing it for a few more years at least. More in this post.
Thanks Dong. Happy to know that I will be able to use it for more years.
Have a nice day, Dong
I’m planning to upgrade my home network from scratch router. From now there are two option in my mind:
1. Use RT-AX88U as a router and RT-AX3000 as a node
2. Use pairs of RT-AX92U
I cannot stop reading all of your content. You are inspired me to manage your own thing, like my network.
This, among other things, depends on if you have wired your home or not, Bach. But the #2 option will work well in any case. More in this more. Have fun!
Sorry not to mentioned that I have wired my home already, thanks for your super fast reply. I think I would go for option 2
No worries, Bach. You’ll love it.
RT-AX88U is available cheaper than RT-AX86U for me but you seem to favor the AX86U more so I was wondering, which one I should go for? The price difference is around $13 for the AX86U( $313) Vs AX88U ($300)
Check the reviews, Auden.
I did and I still can’t decide for the life of me.
Well, I’m not a shrink. 🙂 This post might help. https://dongknows.com/how-to-pick-the-best-wi-fi-router-for-your-home/
That’s a rude reply. People value your comments and this question was genuine and would have helped even others to decide.
Judgy much, Syed! 🙂 How was it rude? I was just being honest, albeit a bit tongue in cheek. If a stranger genuinely asks you which one to marry, among this person and that person, could you make that decision for them? If you read the linked post, you’d understand.
Hi Dong. Nikos Rentas did a review of the AX88 on YouTube and quoted your review and he got basically almost 200 Mbps transfer speeds from the router on WiFi. This is not possible as far as I know without SMB3 multichannel together with multiple NICs. I saw on the screen shots he did he hadn’t created a bonded link either, BUT it appeared he did have LAN 1 and LAN 2 connected. I did the link aggregation from my Synology DS916+ and I am saturating a 1GB link cruising about 900/950 which is great and it may be that my setup with 4 x 2TB Red NAS in SHR with one disk redundant simply won’t go past that. At some stage though you have to get 2000Mbps out of that Synology NAS Nick has and that means two cables…perplexed.
Which is why you shouldn’t believe everything you see on YouTube, Grant. 🙂
Next you will tell me that Santa isn’t real either…
The whole restriction with gigabit is starting to be felt but it seems we are some way from really going up to the next level, at least at consumer/prosumer level.
I found that my Lenovo C930 on AC with 160 MHz bandwidth will outperform my MBA M1 which does AX but only 80 MHz.
This is in line with what I understand and in some ways I should be pleased as either system will allow me the full measure of internet on my 1000/50 HFC with Aussie Broadband.
At the end of the day, this router does, as you say, “can for sure deliver Gigabit-class Internet in full”.
Sorry to beak it to you, Grant, but Drop Bears are not real either. 🙂 For a true Gigabit connection, you generally need Multi-Gig. More here: https://dongknows.com/gigabit-internet-and-you/
Hi Dong – quite dead set in getting this router – RT-AX88U. Any ideas how many SSIDs I can create? I have 7 currently in my Meraki setup – which I know is a little overkill for a home setup. Thanks!!!
You get one main and 3 Guest SSIDs for each band, Gary, so 8 total. You can turn on the Intranet access for a Guest one to make it function like a main.
That is awesome to hear. One last question, when I turn on the intranet access on the Guest one – can I still turn on Guest SSID for 2 SSIDs and turn intranet access for the last 1 x Guest SSIDs?
You can manage the Guest networks individually, Gary.
Gracious Doug!!!!
Hello Dong, I have one of these routers and wanted to connect a ssd drive for some network storage but upon connecting the drive my router locked me out of the web interface. Have you had this experience? I tried restarting the router also but can’t get the setup done in the router page.
No, Sal. Locked out as in the admin password no longer works?
No as in the router locks up, the login page won’t load on desktop but the mobile app shows cpu usage at 100% on one core. Have to manually restart as no options work in app or on the webpage.
That’s not “locks up”, that’s overloaded, Sal. You might have odd stuff on the SSD. Try reformatting the drive into NTFS. Check out this post for more.
Hi, love you reviews!!
Hope you can help me with this.
I will be moving to a new house with an area of 5000+ square feet built-in area and whole place is around 7000+ square feet.
– At least 3 ethernet ports will be used as I have 3 PCs currently.
What router or combination of routers will you recommend for my situation?
From what I’ve researched, I ended up with
1. RT-AX88u
2. Zenwifi XT8
Is it possible to use RT-AX88u and Zenwifi XT8 together?
Or using 2x RT-AX88u will be better?
Hope you can help me.
Check out this post, Suda. You want a dual-band set.
Thanks for the swift reply!
So do you mean it is better to use a combo like 2x RT-AX88u instead of using RT-AX88u + XT8?
Is there any difference the WiFi performance and coverage between using 2x RT-AX88u and 2pack XT8 by itself?
I mean what I write. So again, read this post and pay attention. I’ll ignore any other questions if they are already covered in the post(s). 🙂
Hi Dong,
Question I have got two asus rt-ax92U and I an thinking to add an asus rt-ax88u. Is this wise to do or is it better to buy another ax92U?
For a wireless setup, go with another 92U, Herman.
Hi Dong,
Love your reviews, how to’s, and guides! Thank you for providing your expertise, knowledge and reviews!
I have Asus RT-AC5300 as main router and RT-AC68U as aimesh node with ethernet backhaul. I have many security cameras, other devices on 2.4GHz, many wireless devices using the two 5GHz bands, along with wired devices – about 30 devices in all. I would like to upgrade to newer WIFI 6. I would like to keep the RT-AC5300 as aimesh node, and use the RT-AC68U as AP in a different building. So, I would like to get a new RT-AX# as a main router with RT-AC5300 node. What do you recommend?
Thank you,
Hina
Don’t upgrade, Hina. Your current setup is fine. But if you want to upgrade, just use any tri-band Asus AiMesh hardware you want. Since you have wired backhaul, you’re in a good place.
Hi Dong,
Thank you for replying and giving your advice! Unfortunately, I need to upgrade. Can I use a dual-band RT-AX# as main router and have the RT-AC5300 as a aimesh node? I assume not, based on your reviews – dual-band and triband perform differently for wifi, but want to ask anyway.
Yes you “can”, Hina. It’s a matter of degrees. You want to read this post.
Hi Dong,
So I can buy RT-AX86U dual-band as main router and use the RT-AC5300 triband as aimesh node using ethernet backhaul. That would work?
Thank you for providing your time to answer my questions!
Hina
Are you asking questions because you love doing that or because you want answers, Hina? For the latter, check my previous replies.
Hi Dong,
Thanks for insightful review. I have this router, and was wondering about best companion AiMesh node for this. Have concrete walls, and even with best possible placement, I have dead zones in the house, and have a wired house (for back-haul if required).
Following routers are available in my country:
1. Asus RT-AX3000.
2. Asus RT-AX92U.
3. Asus RT-AX82U (launched but not readily available).
4. Asus RT-AX88U (last but not the least).
Afraid Asus RT-AX86U isn’t available. Compatibility with Merlin would be great.
Regards,
Prashant
Since you have wired backhaul, any of those will work, Prashant. But only the RT- AX888U gets Merlin, for now.
Thanks, Dong. Just checked https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/, and following seem to be supported.
1. RT-AX56U
2. RT-AX58U (RT-AX3000 ?)
3. RT-AX86U (Not available in my country)
4. RT-AX88U
Am assuming it’s fine to have RT-AX58U (RT-AX3000) as node in this case.
Yeap. Then just pick whichever you like.
Thanks Dong. Will be going ahead with RT-AX3000, costs half as much as RT-AX88U.
Hello Dong, I have been using this router now for 7-8 days with the latest stable merlin and have run into a couple of issues and wanted to ask if you have seen these or know of the issue. I have times where devices cannot connect to the wifi, I get a failed to obtain ip address or it just does not connect. I have tried changing some settings around but no luck, the other one that occurs maybe every 3-5 days is I will wake up in the morning to a lot of devices not connected to the wifi and I restart the router and they seem to connect up fine again.
Have you noticed these issues?
Hi. I advise use you not to use Merlin. The router is having problems. Just upgrade to latest official firmware 3.0.0.4.384_9579 and test again.
Mine is working fine except I have issues with Wiz Smart Light bulbs. They seem to work and then they stop. Like I can turn them on manualy and then thru the app but then they would stop working. Any idea what might be causing the issue? My other LED strips from other vendor work completely fine as well as smart plugs.
This is the ongoing issue with the Wiz Smart Light bulb. This process keeps repeating:
Jan 12 10:48:46 WLCEVENTD: Deauth_ind ##:##:##:##:C2:2A
Jan 12 10:48:48 WLCEVENTD: Auth ##:##:##:##:C2:2A
Jan 12 10:48:48 WLCEVENTD: Assoc ##:##:##:##:C2:2A
Can anybody help why is this happening? Is there any settings I need to change? My 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz are on same ssid. Is that an issue? With my previous router RT-AC66U this was never an issue. Thanks a lot.
Contact the Wiz Smart Light’s maker, Dusan.
Hi, Dong!
Problem solved. I reverted back to latest Asus firmware. Merlin latest stable release is causing an issue.
Good to know. Yeah, that can happen, too. Thanks for the update, Dusan.
Hello Dong,
I am in there market and wanted to ask your opinion on a matter AX88U (350$) vs AX11000(479$)? Do you think the later is worth the extra price? Or would I be better of going with the AX88U?
Thanks
Not really, Taimour. More here. But of course, that depends on what you want/need.
@Dong Ngo, thanks for the link, so I went through it and at the moment I am thinking of just trying 1 router and seeing how coverage is. I have gigabit connection from my isp and currently get some decent speeds throughout the house but with some new wifi 6 devices think I would benefit from it. I think ax88u will do me good and if need by I can grab another of the same and try aimesh.
Thanks for your great site and help
Yeap, and the RT-AX88U support Merlin, too. Try it!
Hello Dong, I ended up going with the AX88U, but have encountered an odd issue. I flashed the latest merlin fw and set the router all up, scanning the area for channel congestion and setting the router for the least congested channels. With ax on I am getting 20-30% slower speeds on the wifi vs with the ax off. Could there be a reason for this? I have tried a couple of tests throughout the day and find that the results are consistently slower when the ax is on.
You’re prolly using a Wi-Fi 5 or 4 client for the resting?
I have tried it on a couple of smartphones, some that have wifi 6 and some that are wifi 5. I got a ax200 adapter for my desktop also to take advantage of the ax wifi.
Hi Dong,
I have 5 Asus routers in a mesh, all same type (AX88U). Should I implement a reboot schedule(s) and if so what would you recommend ?
Hi Dong,
We moved into a new house in August and have a gigabit plan thru Comcast and we’re excited about faster internet. However, we’ve had numerous issues so I’ve been going through different routers. Right now I have the TP-Link AX6000 because the Asus RT-AX88U wasn’t available. The AX6000 is ok, but I was going to audition the RT-AX88U on Thursday. But after reading your review today and seeing the results, I’m beginning to think I might be better served with two RT-AC88U’s instead of one WiFi 6 Router. Our house is two floors (and a basement) and about 1,800 sq ft. Would you recommend one RT-AX88U (or AX6000) for the whole house or two RT-AC88U with AiMesh for around the same price? We really just stream on a living room TV and bedroom TV and go online via iPads or phones. The bedroom TV was having some lagging issues but that may have been a wiring issue that was addressed by Comcast yesterday. Thanks for any advice!
First of all, Justin, you won’t see 1Gbps at your end devices, that’s almost always the case. For the money, I think two RT-AC88U are a great choice, especially if you can link them together via a network cable. Also, consider putting Merlin of them.
I made a mistake with regards to cost. I’m basically looking at either:
1) TP-Link AX6000 or RT-AX88U for around $300
2) RT-AC88U for around $250
3) RT-AC86U x2 for around $167 each
For a 1800 sq ft house with a basement, do I even need two routers or would one of the higher end routers work fine? I’ve just kept reading so much about “future proof” equipment with WiFi 6, I thought I needed to invest in one but do I really? Is the RT-AX88U worth the $50 difference in price or for my needS, would I be good with the RT-AC88U?
Go with the RT-AX88U or RT-AX86U, Justin. Chances are you only need one, but that depends on the layout and number of walls you have, etc. The respective AC versions work, too.
Thank you!
Sure, Justin! Have fun! 🙂
Dong, firstly thank you for your service to the world! I’ve been torn between the AX88u and AX86u.
1) I just saw the PcMag review yesterday. and saw that the 2.4Ghz range performance on the 86u is significantly poorer than the 88u. A post on snbforums explained its because the 86u is using an inferior chipset for the 2.4 radio (RT-AX86U uses an inferior BCM6710 chip and AX88U 2.4Ghz performance the BCM43684 radio) – this range is critical for me so I’m leaning 88u
2) I saw a lot of posts about the the 88u having a buggy firmware, requiring frequent restarts and the restart time being long. It is also one year old and I expect that the 86u being newer, they would have fixed it to be better than the 88u.
I am a heavy Android TV streamer (Live and Netflix/Hulu,etc), have an Xbox, Echo, Fire TV, two android phones and 2 laptops (8 devices). Latency and signal strength are key things for me
Can I ask if the budget wasnt the issue, would you lean towards the 88u or 86u. Do you think the 88u is buggy to the point you recommend the 86u or does it still have strengths over the 86u. Thank you!
Can I also just mention, I’m totally on Wifi 5 with no plans in the near future to get anything Wifi 6. So I’m potentially asking which is the best Wifi 6 router to buy now that has stability, range and Wifi 5 performance for under 300$. Thank you.
Get the Asus RT-AX86U, Marcus. https://dongknows.com/asus-rt-ax86u-ax5700-gaming-router-review/
That nails it then. AX86u it is.
I really appreciate the support you are providing across the different areas of this blog! You are impacting us at a global level (I’m writing in from the Middle East) and is a crucial service bettering our lives in the midst of this pandemic with WFH and kids schooling from home.
Thank you again Dong for your patience and support!
Most Wi-Fi 6 routers have terrible 2.4GHz performance, Marcus. I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s mostly used as a backup these days.
Hi Dong
Can’t speak highly enough about the AX88U since I implemented it 2 months ago using the guidelines you recommended here. In a nutshell :
1. get the latest firmware before you start and if your router supports Merlin on Asus I would encourage you to do so.
2. can’t beat a wire ! after a few visits to this site I realised that no matter how much hype a vendor puts on their box about ‘fast wifi backhauls’ you can’t beat the humble cat 6. Best money I spent before I launched into my mesh set up, 4/5 AX88U routers in my mesh are wired.
3. I stuck to the old school web interface, as nice as the phone app was (great for browsing etc) I did all my changes via the web.
4. Kicked off with router defaults for the most part, just now starting to play with QOS and have dabbled with dual WAN successfully.
5. I get the same max internet speed provided by my ISP (75 mps) anywhere in the home. Gotta be happy with that !
Everything works just like in the Dong review, really happy I went this way because that Alien router looked awesome. Happy to trade that beauty for 8 ports in each node !!
Looking forward to AIMESH 2.0 when it encapsulated in Merlin.
Hi Dong,
I’m wondering how many streams this router has. I find it strange than some routers are very heavily marketed as 12-stream or 6-stream and in others, like this one, I cant seem to find that spec anywhere online. Is there a reason for that? I’m a beginner so I apologize if there’s some sort of obvious answer to this.
I feel you, Rob. On the 5 GHz band, it’s a 4×4 when working in the 160 MHz channel width, but 8×8 when using the 80 MHz channel width. More here.
Hi. Which do you recommend more? The Asus Ax88U or TpLink Archer Ax6000? Which of these two has the longest WiFi range. Thank you.
Range about the same, John. But the former is a lot better overall.
Thank you !! that was exactly what I was hoping the router would do. All set up and now using Dual WAN.
I was trying to set up some rules to direct traffic for some devices and I don’t understand what it means by ‘Destination IP’ in the rules. The obviously cannot be the same (tried that…)
Generally, that’s the IP of the client within your network, Mario.
Hi Dong,
I have a wireless internet service to which I am committed to for the next 12 months; with the success of my AX88U Mesh implementation (via cable ISP) the wireless has now become an expensive backup to my ISP services. Ironically the wireless service is 20% faster than my cable service !
Is there a way (I am using a Mac) to somehow feed the two services into the AX88U router ? I was reading about AX88U link aggregation but from what I saw it was going back to the same router. I am looking at feeding two services into the AX88U and that it somehow aggregates the bandwidth.
In 12 months I will cancel the wireless but it seems a waste to have this service idle.
You can use the dual-WAN feature of the router, Mario. Link Aggregation doesn’t apply in this case.
Hi Dong,
I’m struggling with my smart locks (august) after upgrading to RT-AX88U. Previously was stable with RT-AC68U, everything on same place and the Signals and SNR with basically the same levels.
I tweaked all possible settings on the new router (one each time), such as Airtime Fairness, WMM and WMM APSD, Target Wake Time and the list goes, but what I get varies from two August “Bridges” disconnecting each 3 minutes to disconnection around 6:02 hours. I couldn’t have a reliable diagnosis neither identify the source of all issues.
The logs shows WLCEVENTD: Deauth_ind …. and nothing more.
Searched a lot over the internet to find nothing… I’m really without ideas here… Hope you may have any empirical/historical experience on that, because I’m in contact with both companies support teams but none seems to have a clue about where the incompatibility may be…..
Congrats for all content and great information you provide. I’ve decided on my new router here… Source of reliable information !!!
Set the band used for your locks in the most compatible settings, MB. My take is your locks don’t support the latest security or Wi-Fi grade of the new router. Alternatively, you can backup the settings of the 68U and restore those on the 88U.
Thanks for that, i will leave things as they are.
Very interesting comment about -69 dBm ; I never thought about it in terms of relativity to my location.
If I understand you correctly , a score of -69 in my home is not the same as -69 reading in your location but only relative to our respective homes ??
That’s correct, Mario. More on that at the bottom of this post: https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-overview/
Hey just letting you know, the AX88U’s processor was able to keep up up with bandwidth limiter on the 4K TVs. However, when I also enabled LACP-IEEE 802.3ad Wan Port Aggregation, the AX88U would drop from 700mbs to about 10mbs on all clients after about 2 hours use. For now, I had turn that off. I’m still only getting about 451mbs on my closest ethernet client at the same spot where I was getting about 700mbs with the AC66U (with no features on). Remember I got 110mb with the same features on the AC66U
Hi Dong,
Been running the AX88U mesh for 2 weeks now with ZERO outages or dropouts, I am stoked about my system having come from a reliable but underwhelming Apple Extreme extended network. Full ISP speed everywhere in the house and about 80% in garage (basement).
I added an additional AX88U in the basement to improve the coverage in the garage for some cameras and smart devices (5 connections) , the 4th node is connected via wifi as I have no ethernet backbone there. My queries are :-
1. Is the wifi connection between the mesh routers at wifi6 speed ? (definitely using 5Ghz, 3/4 bars)
2. I am getting -69 dBm signal down there from the 4th Mesh (worst case I have seen), would adding a 1Gb Powerline and ethernet make this connection better ?
Thanking you,
Mario
1. Yes, Mario, but remember you’ll have to deal with signal loss. Still it’ll be more than fast enough. But you can’t count on wireless backhaul to be consistent and reliable (compared to wired backhaul.)
2. No, Powerline is always going to be much worse than Wi-Fi 6 wireless backhaul. You need network cable or maybe MoCA. By the way, the 69 number is relative. It’s only meaningful to your location.
I think I may have found a bug on my Asus RT-AX88U. I have a burglar alarm with a wifi card in it that cannot operate on any channel above channel 11 on the 2.4GHz network (it also doesn’t work with 5GHz). I have the check box unticked on my router that says “Auto select channel including channel 12, 13” and yet my router still auto selects channel 12 (causing the alarm to disconnect with a ‘comms error). I also have 2 x XT8s in an AI Mesh with the AX88U so am a bit unsure which mesh device the alarm is connecting to but obviously with a mesh system, I presume the settings are the same across all mesh devices. I’ve raised a ticket with Asus but thought I’d see whether anyone here had seen this before.
Hi Dong!
Great website! Very informative!
Last month changed my internet service to At&t fiber and they gave me the BGW210. Max speed through wifi in the same room was 500 mbps top so did some research and decided to get a better wifi router to improve it. Decided to go with the RT AX88U after reading quite a few blogs, yours included, that it was a really good router.
The wifi speed improved a bit to 600 mbps top same room, but was expecting it to improve to 800 mbps, like your testing was showing.
Don’t have any AX clients, most are AC. Set the modem to passthrough to the Asus. Have set up the Asus as described below:
Enable Smart Connect OFF
Wireless Mode: Auto
802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6 mode: Disable
Wi-Fi Agile Multiband: Disable
Target Wake Time: Enable
Channel bandwidth: 20/40/80/160 MHz
Control Channel: Auto
Auto select channel including DFS channels (unchecked)
Extension Channel: Auto
I’ve been playing with these settings but can’t figure out what I need to do to. Getting to the point of returning the Asus. Any insights, things I can try?
Thanks!
Hernan
Your number is very good, Hernan, and might be that of the client itself. For more check out this post.
Hi Dong it’s quite a comprehensive review on AX88U. Have been using AC68U for many years and so far it never let me down. I thinking to get an upgrade from AC68U to AX88U. Seeing AX 88U has some negative points, is it still worth for an upgrade or should I wait for AX86U which has a multigig WAN port? I would like something that is future proof that can serve me for many years of usage. Thanks.
Andy, I have the same router and would like to upgrade having the same objective as well as concern. Did you end up upgrading to AX88U or something better?
Have upgraded to AX86U, no regret. Unless you need 8 LAN port of AX88U.
Thank you Dong.
I have a follow-up question then.
The system on which I wish I would have more speed to use from that Google Fiber connecton is my main server which is running integrated Intel 9260 on the motherboard ASUS TUF x570 Wifi mobo). I never get more than 500mbps on it so would upgrading to a wifi 5 pci card that supports 4×4 vs. the 2×2 that I have now lead to a substantial increase in wifi speed?
If so, I am considering this one.
Anything better out there?
Thank you.
That one is an excellent adapter, Mike. I use it for my testing. And no, it’s as fast as Wi-Fi 5 can be and since Wi-Fi 6 is currently available at only 22 on the client-side, it’s almost as fast as Wi-Fi can be. Generally, though, it’s very hard to get true 1 Gbps via Wi-Fi, but faster connection grade helps. More on that here.
Hi Dong,
My house is a 2-story and about 2,100 sqft in size. I am not a big gamer but need reliable wifi at max speed.
My Asus RT-AC66U B1 is setup as the main router on one side of the house to Google Fiber to distribute Wifi and I am using an older first-gen Asus RT-AC66U as media bridge downstairs on the other side of the house for my living room. In total, I have 18 devices connected via Wifi through this setup.
I am planning to move my RT-AC66U B1 in place of the first-gen AC66U as a media bridge and buy a new unit to act as primary router.
Should I go for the Asus RT-AC86U at $180 or get the RT-AX88U at $350?
The former, Michael. It’s not a good idea to mix Wi-Fi standards. The 88u probably won’t make a meaningful difference.
Dong,
You were correct, the meshing did not update the firmware on the other units. I found the menus you recommended and I am now running Merlin on all routers. Many thanks !!
Hi Dong,
After weeks of reading your tips etc I plunged and put my money on 3 X AX88U routers meshed via ethernet (one each floor). I took your comment and ditched the ISP router so it is a clean ASUS setup.
I installed the latest Merlin firmware 384.18 and then went ahead and meshed the other 2, all went pretty smoothly and I am now getting 73 Mbps anywhere in the house (3 floors), that is the max my ISP can pump so I am very happy with thruput. Those pesky Ring devices are all showing sub -50 RSSI so life is good all round. I will play a bit more with parental control on the iPhone app but so far so good. I kept router defaults as they were based on so much contention here.
I do have a couple of questions, when I flashed the Merlin software on the main router all went well; when I meshed the other two routers (via the Merlin interface) it linked them perfectly but never gave me an opportunity to update the firmware and it would seem that once meshed you can’t get to the individual mesh routers other than thru the main router.
My two queries are :-
1. Does Merlin firmware propagate itself to its mesh clients ? The Mesh process took 3-4 mins each which makes me think that it brought the router firmware in synch.
2. Despite knowing the IP addresses of the Mesh devices I can’t seem to logon to them and all interfacing happens thru the main router ?? If the answer to Q1 is YES then it is now an awesome synched system.
I decided to go AX88 rather than wait for AX89 which does not support Merlin and would cost more for features I could not make use of because of my ISP’s poultry speed offerings.
Cool, Mario.
1. Likely no, you need to upgrade the node via the interface of the router. There’s an Upload link for each in the upgrade section of the router, the login username and password is the same as those of the router.
2. It is.
Dong, thanks for the quick response. My modem is the Netgear CM1150V and it supports LACP-IEEE 802.3ad Wan Port Aggregation. The reason I want to use Bandwidth limiter (PER DEVICE) is the internet caps at 1TB a month and I have some small 4K Roku Tvs that are abusers. If fact, 1 TV can use the entire limit with only 2-3 hours of viewing per day. There are no throttle settings on the TV itself. I want to limit them to around 5-10mb for HD quality and keep the rest of the bandwidth open for the other devices. This works nice on the RT-AC66U but it switches from hardware acceleration to “store and forward” and the processor cant keep up. QoS isn’t the answer because it will allow the TVs to switch to 4KV when there are no higher priority devices on the network. I hope this clears it up a bit.
Thanks again
Wow, that’s crazy! Why don’t use just turn the Roku off? Mess around, I think you’ll be able to do it. I’ll look into this.
Great site. I’m so glad I found it. I have Xfinity 1GB service and I’m interested in using the following features together 1) WAN Aggregation, 2) Bandwidth Limiter and 3) AiMesh (with cat5e backhaul). I am upgrading from a RT-AC66U and noticed that when I use Bandwidth Limiter the Cut Through Forwarding is disabled and my speeds drop to under 200mb. This got me worried about how using multiple features affect throughput on the RT-AX88u.
On this ASUS FAQ https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1039053/ it states that “WAN Aggregation only works under Router Mode” so I didn’t know if that meant I can’t use it with AiMesh. Any thoughts you can offer on this including recommending a different router would be helpful.
Happy to have you here, Gerald. You can find WAN Aggregation in the Internet section of the WAN setup area. That only works when you use a modem of the same feature. If you use Bandwidth Limiter, your speed will be throttled, that’s the point. I’d recommend using Adaptive QoS instead.
2 houses? If the houses are next to each other, then use Ethernet cable to backhaul. Use wireless backhaul only if the 2 nodes/routers are within 40 ft with walls between, may even closer if walls are bricks or stones. ZenWiFi AX does not have Ethernet backhaul supported.
The ZenWiFi AX does support wired backhaul, Kelly.
Hi Dong,
First off good work on your reviews! I really like the breakdowns and speed graphs. I recently purchased the RT-ax88u to replace my rt-ac68u. I find the WiFi signal much weaker and slow than the ac68u(its in the same spot and has the same connections). Upon start up of the 88u I used a load of the 68u settings. This really caused problems with speed and signal, so I factory reset the 88u. I have now spent hours trying to tweak settings to increase performance, but it still seems inconsistent. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play here, but I wonder if you have why it would perform worse than a router that’s almost 8 years old.
Thanks!
Update the driver of your Wi-Fi 5 clients, Alex. They need to use drivers released in 2019 or later.
Thanks Dong for your excellent reviews. I am considering purchasing a RT-AX88U router to use in a AiMesh setup. Is there any performance differences in using another of the RT-AX88U units vs. using a RT-AX58U as the node? I am specifically interested in range to an outdoor space from the node.
Sure, Matt.
1. If you use a wireless setup, the speed at the node unit will cap at just half of what the router there can do.
2. If you use wired backhaul, the speed there will be at full, but the RT-AX58U is slower and has a *slightly* shorter range than the RT-AX88U.
For more check out this post on mesh systems, and this post on AiMesh.
Hi Dong,
Thank you so much for a great review. I bought the router after reading your take and I am happy with it. My apartment is l-shaped and the WiFi signal collapses from 85% to 18% from a room to the next I guess because of a thick reinforced wall. The room at the very end of the corridor doens’t get any reception whatsoever. I used to cover that room and the one next to it with a devolo CPL+Wifi but I wasn’t really happy with the results, hence the switch to Asus. Now my question is, what is the best way to cover those two rooms given I can’t connect it via ethernet and the wifi signal is so weak? I was thinking of a CPL but I can’t find any with AiMesh. I’m intrigured by the new ASUS ZenWiFi AX Mini (XD4), maybe if I have one repeater per room it’ll work? What do you suggest?
Many thanks,
Paolo
Try a better pair of Powerline adapters and a good access point there, Paolo. You can also use AiMesh via powerline.
Hi Dong I enjoy reading your blog. I have one question. If I have a AX88U (Wifi6) and Asus ZenWifi AC (non-Wifi6) AC3100, which should I set as a backbone, sorry this may sound simple, but I’m very new.
Glad you’re here, Andrew. I assume you mean which one you should use as the main router. In that case, this depends. If you have wired backhaul, use the 88U, if not, use one of the ZenWiFi. More on that here.
Hi Dong, thanks for the reviews. It was very helpful in deciding which router to get. The RT-AX88U is working well so far. Currently I have a powerline extender to cover the weak signal at the back (too many walls) however that is limited to about 100mbs. I’m thinking of getting another Asus to use as a mesh and put in the middle. I don’t need IP6 at the back so another AX88 would seem overkill. What do you recommend that would work well from the ASUS range?
You’re welcome, Graham. You can try RT-AX3000, or the RT-AX92U. Either will work with your RT-AX88U in an AiMesh system. Alternatively, you can get the Netgear EX8000 extender. Make sure you update it to the latest firmware and set up to use one of its 5 GHz band as backhaul.
Thank you Dong. I see in your first link that the AX88U’s satellite performance is about equal to the performance listed in this article. Is that because this unit has bandwidth that far exceeds the gigabit input (i.e. if this unit had a 2.5 input, we’d expect to see ~1600+ Mbps?).
What would you recommend for an 1100 sqft one-floor apartment with upgradability in mind? Wifi 5 or 6? Mesh capable or no? Currently between the ASUS AX3000 and a single ZenWifi AX (upgrading from a netgear c3000 :X)
Yeap. With the ceiling of 4800 Mbps, even if you cut that in half you still have very decent speed. You should check out this post to find out what you should get, Bend.
What approximate speed could you expect from the satellite of a pair of AX88U’s using AiMesh? Would it be 3/4 the speed because the wireless backbone uses 1 out of 4 streams? In general, are 4×4 capable units better than 2×2 for mesh purposes? When a mesh network is established, does the master unit also suffer the same penalty as the satellite?
You can see that in the performance chart of any mesh system, Bend. Or in this post. And no, the backhaul uses up 50% of the satellite’s bandwidth, generally. More on that here in the signal loss section.
I do get a signal of -65dBm if I use 2 AC87U’s one as AP and the other in bridge mode. (On 2.4GHz of course)
I can’t move them closer then I need to put them outside. Distance is 30m with 2 walls in between.
Both setups work, but I would like to get a bit better performance there. No need for gbps speed, but 200mbps would be nice…
Hi Dong,
I have a zenwifi AX installed between 2 houses, but the connection is showing as weak(-85dBm) in the UI.
If I would replace them by 2 AX88U’s, would the connection then be better? Since it’s not a tri-band, I’m hoping it can use the 2.4GHz as the backhaul instead of the 5GHz. Or is a setup with 2 AX11000 better, but then again, the 5GHz-2 will be used as backhaul with the related range restrictions of the higher frequency…
No, Bart. It seems the distance is either too far or there are two many walls in between the two. No new hardware will help you in this case. You need to figure out a way to move the two units closer.
Hi! Very good review! Just 2 my cents: I have rt-ax88u and they support link aggregation. Thank you
Thanks for the input, Alex. But that’s a known fact. 🙂
I purchased this device and installed, but having issues getting all my devices connected and out to the internet. I can connect 3 devices, but all others it shows connected with no internet access – any suggestions?
Make sure you update it to the latest firmware. After that, you may want to reset it and set it up from the beginning.
Hey Dong,
I just bought the ASUS RT-AX88U and i have a question. What is the maximum range you can get from it?
My router is set up in the front of the house and the router does not cover the backyard. It’s about 18/20 meters (65 ft.) Away. Is this normal?
Thanks in advance
It is, Mika. You have an entire house in between. The range of a router can be greatly reduced by obstacles. Certain walls can block the signal completely. More on that, check out this post and this post.
Nice review, Dong. I’m now using the AX88U since ca. 1/2 year. At the beginning it was a bit buggy, but over time (and this is exactly why I went for another Asus router – Asus are upgrading firmware for many years) it was vastly improved with better firmware.
The issue with 5 GHz needing long to restart may be from the 802.11 implementation where the router needs to test for presence of other signals on channels 100-140 before activation of the radio as these channels are shared with air traffic radar frequencies. If you are using these channels activation of 5G will take much longer than if other channels are used. The benefit is potentially of course less ‘competition’ of other routers on these channels.
I’m currently thinking of replacing my old AC66U (which I am using as a repeater) by another AX88U. Do you have any idea what Wifi connection speed can be achieved between 2x AC88U this way? Between the AX88U and the AC66U I now have a link speed of 1300 Mbps at a distance of ca. 15 m (not bad, I know…)
That one sentence should read: Do you have any idea what Wifi connection speed can be achieved between 2x AX88U this way?
You’ll find it in my writeup on AiMesh, Guenther.
I was wondering if there was an firmware update that resolved the issue where it was acting up as a node. Im planning on getting a RT-AX89X as a router and AX88U or AX92U as a node. Do you have a recommendation for which one I should get for the node? The AX88U seems more powerful, but Im worried that it might have issues like yours did.
Also on ASUS site it lists the AX89X as having a 8×8 5Ghz setup, they mean bean 2 4×4 5Ghz right?
Thanks!
I reviewed it a while ago and there have been a few firmware updates since. I’d say it should work better now. You should a couple of RT-AX89X units together. Read my review on it for more.
Hey Dong,
Does the Asus RT-AX88U support VLANs on the wired network? If so, how do you configure it?
I don’t think so, Ryan.
How do you merge the settings of my RT-68U to the RT-AX88U? I would lik e use the RT-68U in my rear bedroom and the AX88U on my computer desk.
You can use AiMesh with the two, Guy. I wrote on that in detail in this post.
Hi Dong, do you think that Asus rt-ax88u is better than Netgear RAX80 ? Both routers have similar specifications and price I would like to hear your opinion.
Yes, Kama, it has more features and more LAN ports, among other things.
Good day Dong,
I love your website. I decided to go ahead and purchased Asus AX88. Unfortunately, I did not receive much better performance than my ac86. I suspect that there might be some settings that should be adjusted. Did you do any customization to improve the range. I have iPhone 11Pro and I am losing the signal on ax88 much closer compared to ac86.
In your test for the NAS it was mentioned that AC 86 can deliver only 45 MB /s. I am getting 112, To have those speeds I changes USB 2 to USB 3 in configurations.
I really want to upgrade the system since more and more devices are coming to my home.
Hope you can help me to tweak the settings so that the range on Ax88 is as good as on Ac86
Thank you,
Alex
Thanks, Alex. Your observation is correct. I probably tested the RT-AC86U with older firmware and generally, you need to have Wi-Fi 6 clients to see the benefits of the RT-AX88U. For now, make sure you upgrade the RT-AX88U to the latest firmware and use Smart Connect for its Wi-Fi settings. Wi-Fi 6 is still an early stage now and it might take Asus a while to make things work as well as they do in Wi-Fi 5.
Hi Dong. I am already invested in the Asus biosphere:) as I have an rt68u functioning as an access point currently and rt86u as the main.
I managed to damage two of the lan ports on the 86u and so I currently need to buy a new main router. The 86u will be turned into an access point or node. I am currently waiting to see if the AX88u will be put on sale this black friday or cyber monday but am wondering if I should wait to see if there are new product releases on the horizon from Asus?
Can you tell me if there are any new exiting router products coming from Asus, perhaps with multi gig ports? Best wishes and love your site and reviews.
Sorry to hear, Daniel. I wonder how one can damage the LAN ports! 🙂 Currently, there’s only one router from Asus that has one 2.5Gbps network port which is the GT-AX11000. I’m not sure if that’s worth the extra cost, though.
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Thanks for the review. I needed a new router and figured I could “future proof” my setup. I do have to state that I don´t have all the router options available like you guys do in 1st world countries, so out of the list you’ve tested only a handful get to Mexico, and this is one of them.
I just wanted to clarify one thing for readers, ask a question, and give a little bit of caution…
First, the router does support link aggregation via LACP, and none of your tests nor examples take that into consideration. I have a D-LINK DGS-1210-28 switch and a QNAP TS453Be NAS that both support link aggregation, and my PC also has a quad gigabit network card, so eventhough the router is a gigabit router, connection speeds in both WiFI and NAS performance are way bettter than those stated when in this mode. For the NAS I am getting 130 MB/s write and 160+ MB/s read speeds constantly both in single large file and multiple small file sizes tests. I am just stating this since it is unfair to judge this router in equal terms when this is not considered in your testing methodology. I do realize that for the average user this will not be used, but it should at least be mentioned for the reader’s consideration.
The question is, why can´t you use your Samsung S10 to test this as you mention in Clamb’s post of March 23, 2019? I have a S10+ and haven´t had issues using the device to test my network. Obviously I can´t saturate it with that single device, but speeds and throughput on my device can be measured and tested.
The caution part here is that the router’s little door that covers the front side USB port is very flimsy in its hinges, so if you plan to use the front USB panel a lot, you might just end up holding a broken door in your hand at one point.
In any case. I do thank you for the review since it did sway my purchasing decision.
Saludos desde Mexico.
Alex
I forgot to also add, since for me this was the tipping point, I purchased this router, since it is one of the few AX routers that is actually wall mountable.
De nada, Alex. Gracias por tus comentarios y preguntas. The reason I didn’t use link aggregation to test the router is that not all routers support link aggregation. Also, not everyone uses a NAS server, either, and I need something that’s relatable to the larger audience. For the same token, I don’t use a mobile device for the testing. In short, I need a method that’s generic and can be applied to ALL routers so that I can compare them apples to apples, at least in terms of speeds. If you wonder how I test router, check out this post. Saludos desde California! 🙂
Just picked mine up and one thing I like is the android ASUS Router app available on the google play store. My only gripe is that the app does not let you activate/deactivate stored vpn client profiles. I know you can just browse to the router using chrome, IE, etc, but the smartphone app should allow you to administer your router’s vpn.
You’re right, Harry. But generally, apps are less in-depth as the web interface. By the way, you can skip the app, use DDNS and your mobile browser for the router’s web interface, make a shortcut for it. It’ll work somewhat like an app and gives you access to everything.
What features does the router support, uplink mu-mimo for instance? What are the benefits of an 5ghz 8×8 config vs 4×4-4×4 5ghz trio band? Ty
Uplink MU-MIMO won’t be available till WAVE 2 of Wi-Fi 6 (no ETA yet). The 8×8 (160Mhz) allows for the top Wi-Fi 6 speeds but only work with Wi-Fi 6 (and a few Wi-Fi 5 clients). The other support legacy clients better but is generally slower.
Wondering if you can help make a choice. I was going to get Ubiquiti pro access points but wondering if Asus AX6100 might be a better choice. I now AX is still down the road but would that “future proof” the set up.
Thanks
The ax6100 so far has been very buggy, don’t get it.
Hey Dong, just came across your site and have been enjoying your reviews and comments a lot.
Want to replace my rental Verizon Fios G1100 AC1750 WiFi router with a 802.11ax purchased router that hopefully gives me some better performance wired and WiFi as well and reduces my monthly bill a little. Of course, multi-year before I break even on money, haha. Have three Elac Discovery Z3 speakers on three levels in house powered by sonicTransporter i7 – and sometimes I have some music lag. TV is connected via Cat6 – and sometimes have lag streaming video from QNAP TS-251+ that is connected to Cat6.
1. I’m assuming I can just swap out the Fios router with the AX88U?
2. Even more overkill than the RT-AX88U for my needs, are you going to test out the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000?
Debating running out to MicroCenter this weekend and buying a new router 🙂
Thanks.. enjoyed your CNet reviews in the past.
Thanks, Z.
1. This depends. I don’t know how your Fios works (we don’t have it where I am) but it might need an end device (like a modem) in the place of the current Verizon gateway. If so, you’ll need that to plug your Asus router in. If the current gateway uses a special port to hook to the service line (and not a WAN port) then you definitely need a modem.
2. Yes, I will. I have a bunch of AX routers with me right now and I’m waiting to get AX clients before I’ll review them. After the Asus RT-AX88U, I feel there’s no point in reviewing AX routers without the clients. There are still no clients on the market right now other than the Samsung S10 which I can’t use for my test method.
Stay tuned! 🙂
Hi Dong, love your site and info! Currently running an RT-AC68U (old!) and looking to future proof. Is the AX88U recommended yet with the new firmware updates? Also, if I wanted a mesh that works well, is the AC68U too old (no backhaul)? If so, what newer Asus would you recommend to get that doesn’t break the bank and work well with the AX88U? Thanks!
Thanks, Clamb. I still haven’t had a Wi-Fi 6 client — the new Samsung S10 phone won’t work for my tests — but so far the RT-AX88U has been working very well. I don’t have any reason to believe it won’t work well with Wi-Fi 6 clients. That said, yes, I personally recommend it. As for your setup, you should try the RT-AX88U (as the router) with the RT-AC68U (as a node) for a while and see how it goes. It will likely work well for your needs for a long time. Or you can try the Blue Cave. It’s quite great. Relatively soon, Asus will release Wi-Fi 6 AiMesh nodes.
https://dongknows.com/asus-blue-cave-router-review/
Hi Dong, I would often read your reviews on CNet and was wondering why their router reviews seemed to die off, so I am glad I found your new site. I currently have the 88U and I am looking to add another ASUS router so I can utilize the Airmesh feature. Just curious if you have thoughts on any performance benefit that the new quad processor and double RAM in this AX88 would have over the 88U? I have a house that can have 30 + clients connected at a time (smart home devices, gaming, and video streaming). At times I have 3 Xboxes running online while someone is streaming Netflix 4k at the same time (all wired connections btw). Just trying to decide if I should just get another 88U or if the extra cpu and memory would any benefit to my situation and worth the extra $ to upgrade to the AX88? Thanks for any insight!
Hi Ken,
Glad you found me. For your situation, you can get any Aimesh router and it will work fine. The AX88U is overkill. For more check out this post: https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-overview/
Hope this helps,
-Dong.
Hi Dong,
I have been considering getting an AiMesh setup for my new place. My challenge is that my place has 4 levels – basement and 3 levels. I was hoping whether you could weigh in your opinion about my potential solution given your knowledge and experience in this area.
I was thinking of getting an AX-11000/ AC-5300 in my basement (where the fibre line is) and an AX-88u on the 2nd floor.
I am hoping that the basement router can penetrate the ceiling to cover the first floor and the AX-88u to cover the 3rd and 4th floors.
I don’t quite understand thoroughly the backhaul stuff, but both routers would be connected to lan points so I suppose that wouldn’t be an issue? Also, even in the pairing of the AC-5300 with the AX-88u, I would suppose the AC-5300 should be the main router instead of the node?
Hope to hear your opinion. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi John,
Generally, I think you should hold up from getting an AX router for now. Wait a few years, this is because there now no Wi-Fi 6 clients yet and existing clients can be incompatible with Wi-Fi 6 routers.
That said, for your home, you can just get two AiMesh routers, such as RT-AC88U, 86U, or 68U, Blue Cave, or a combo of them. Generally use the one with most features as the main router. But if you intend to use a tri-band router then make sure that router is used as a node first. Since you use network cable, back-haul won’t be an issue. Make sure you place the routers as close to the ceilings and the middle of the house, as you can.
For more on this check out this post: https://dongknows.com/asus-aimesh-overview/
Hope this helps!
-Dong.
I’m so glad I found your site. Most detailed router reviews with methodology. AiMesh sounds amazing conceptually. With WiFi6, 5G channel is now supporting over 4Gbps, so AiMesh connection should be also substantially improved on paper if router and node are both Ax. So I have two questions/request.
Have you tested two of these with one as Router and another as Node to see even better connection speed? Obviously, bottleneck will still be client PC/Mac or even ethernet cable itself as this can only support 2.5Gbps max per port.
AiMesh has mixed reviews for its speed. I like your numbers as conceptually makes sense but other sites state they are by far slower than dedicated Mesh systems like Orbi when connecting to node. My guess is proper placement on AiMesh may be even more important than dedicated Mesh system perhaps due to too close placement may be taken over by router instead of node, may be even signal intereference? So my question is can you give us a detail how you figured out placement of AiMesh or even better is give us an insight how placement can affect the speed to really comfirm my gut feeling of those sites having numbers AiMesh had almost neglible impact.
Thanks in advance,
Thanks, Sen. Funny you should ask, I’m actually getting another unit to test AiMesh with AX. As for the placement, I place the node 40 feet away from the main router. That’s consistent for all mesh systems I review. Personally, I always use network cables as back-haul.
Awesome. Can you possibly tell me how much speed we lose if we don’t use wired backhaul? I believe there are enough of us that do not have home Ethernet networks, so rely on mesh type system in a hope to get best speed across the home.
If you’re NOT using a tri-band node, you’d lose at least 50% of the speed compared to that of the router when you connect to the node. You can read more about this here: https://dongknows.com/mesh-wi-fi-system-explained/2/
Hmm… Look like your unit has issue. My USB HDD performance is above 100MB/s for both read and write.
Possibly. But the connection and firmware restoration issues have been confirmed by Asus. I’m running a new beta firmware and it’s much better. Haven’t re-tested the NAS feature yet, though.
You’re correct, Jay. Apparently, originally, the router defaulted to USB 2.0. The latest firmware really helped. Thanks again for letting me know.