ASUS - RT-AC86U Wifi Router
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Jan 5, 2026 Scoring
Liked most:
26
9
"had it for 3 years now and it never has failed me"
"run 3 tbs, 3 phones, ps5, laptop, xbox all from it, with 2 tvs, 2 phones, laptop, and ps5 on pretty much at all times, and experience 0 issues. ... ibe had my current router about 3 years now, not a single issue, i run my entire house daily on it, minus 1 tv, everything else is on, and runs with 0 issue, 0 lag, standard load times for my laptop, and thats even with watching youtube on my phone, disney or netfilx on one tv, streaming and gaming from 1 laptop, hbo on the other tv, 3-4 phones going at all times (medical devices) so, why do i need to switch to wifi7?"
"I bought a pair of asus ax6100s about 3.5 years ago and they are both going strong."
6
0
"5 TVs, Gamer XBOX, câmeras, celulares, tablets e outros aparelhos . Tudo funciona sem engasgos ou demora. ... Consigo jogar COD , com a família todas usando internet, streaming e tudo mais."
"Running 1 gaming server, 1 video server, 2 gaming battlestations, 1 work battlestation, PS4, 4 rokus, at least 5 cell phones."
"But I do have about 30 IOT devices connected"
2
0
"I have a 2000 sq ft woodframe construction home (20 years old). I have one Asus RT-AC86U router that easily provides good wifi everywhere in my home."
"My current RT-AX68U Pro replaced by RT-AC86U, and that replaced an RT-AC66U. All three are currently meshed, so the garage and driveway get a good signal, as well as the rest of the house."
6
0
"With ASUS you have control over a multitude of settings. Or just leave it on the defaults and if you ever wish to dive into the config, it will be ready and waiting for you."
"For my needs, an Asus running Merlin is a bare minimum so I can configure VLANs, custom firewall rules, DNS/DHCP modifications that can't be done in the GUI, etc."
"I use Asus routers in my Ai mesh network and it gives me complete control over everything and I've loved it."
12
2
"Covers everything, no dead zones"
"It was so good that, a couple of months ago, I bought a second Asus router and made a mesh network."
"I used the 86U as an AI Mesh setup in my house to cover more ground."
Disliked most:
11
8
"No devices connect to any nodes, only the primary access point."
"the AX3000 is only 2x2 dual band and has no dedicated radio for meshing, so if you mesh wirelessly, you end up halving the 5GHz bandwidth."
"There does seem to be a client limit at about 75-80 wifi devices whiche forced me to move iot devices to a separate wifi network."
0
3
"Asus is not immune, the RT-AC86U was notorious for getting too hot, cracking the BGA solder, and dying an early death."
"ASUS 86U is notorious for overheating ... My own experience differs"
"The only downside is that the idle CPU temps for both are pretty high (170-175F), so I get worried about thermal throttling when under load. ... Seems to be a common issue with ASUS routers"
0
2
"was interested in a more current router OS for use in 2025. ... I am using the RT-AC86U running Adguard Home behind my ISP's modem/router but prefer using my own router without the ISP's equipment."
"I have a couple of Asus Routers (RT-AC68U, RT-AC86U) but both are no longer supported with firmware updates from Asus or Merlin"
"the very buggy standard firmware"
0
1
"My Asus 86u router is also slower over 5g wifi than the crappy AXE5400."
0
1
"Just be aware that if you use the Asus/TrendMicro security suite with their routers, the router sends your routing data to TrendMicro and their partners. ... Even though it is nice to have, I have all that turned off because of this."
"if you use the Asus/TrendMicro security suite with their routers, the router sends your routing data to TrendMicro and their partners."
If you don't want to spend too much then any router will do. If you do however want to get something that will give you all the settings you could dream of then I'd recommend any good old ASUS gaming router. I've had two and what can I say I love messing around with all of the settings. The one I'm using now is the ASUS RT-AC86U there might be a newer model but you cant to wrong with ASUS gaming routers. Gaming routers have more settings, slightly better hardware. I bought my gaming router just to segregate my general wifi devices form my gaming devices. The extra settings make that easy to do.
r/DubaiGaming • Router for gaming ->Flint, ASUS 86U is notorious for overheating
r/HomeNetworking • Considering Flint 3 or Asus 86u pro ->I've had zero problems with M1 for many years. Only went down once, and that was for scheduled maintenance in the middle of the night. Also, it's not just your internet plan that could be the cause of any issues. If your router isn't good enough, or is in a terrible position, or is overheating, or the bomb shelter is between your laptop and the router, you are gonna have issues no matter what plan you have. I have a standard 1Gbps plan but an Asus gaming router with ethernet cables going to the 3 heaviest users in the home – PS5, living TV and bedroom TV. I also set up a second router using Asus AImesh to provide wifi signal to one of the further corners of the house.
r/askSingapore • Recommendation for home broadband ->It's stronger than the Asus AC86U it replaced, which i found to work quite well for the last 7-8 years or so that I've owned it (I got it mid 2017 iirc). Well, except for wifi 7 and 6E stuff in higher bands, it's hard to really say, line of sight helps a lot but I've only really tried wireless vr twice so far and as long as it's LOS the experience was quite good. Say what you will about asus lately, but they make pretty good consumer components, the old ac86u was highly supported both from asus and the aftermarket firmware community, asus seems to be a lot less against that kind of thing than other brands, which I find important.
r/HomeNetworking • Can anyone recommend any routers from Asus? Thoughts on GT-BE98 PRO? ->If you don’t specifically need the 6ghz band the 88U or 86U are better on the 5ghz band which is where most performance devices will connect
r/HomeNetworking • Please help me pick a router - big budget ->I've been using AiMesh since the beginning, and it was rocky at first, but now I'm currently quite happy with it. One solid main router and two APs outside. What unifi did you get to replace your setup and do you think it was worth the cost?
r/HomeNetworking • What is the Best WiFi Mesh System for Home? 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 ->My ASUS RT-AC86U has still been going strong and has worked really well for me, I'm actually wondering whether it's time to upgrade myself to something that supports WiFi 6/6E and 6GHz now that I have multiple WiFi 6 series devices
r/HomeNetworking • Router recommendations ->Asus AiMesh - Yea TP-Link Deco - Yes TP-Link Easy Mesh - Not sure
r/HomeNetworking • Wifi mesh system ->If you have any type of QoS or packet inspection enabled turn it off. Most of these devices cannot do pppoe combined with QoSat gigabit speed. I’ve for many years used this exact asus in access point mode with a Firewalla gold (highly recommended) as router doing pppoe and WiFi easily hits 850 mbps in speed tests with some optimized settings. The Firewalla does packet inspection, qos and more. The asus was flashed with asus-wrt Merlin firmware which I also highly recommend instead of the very buggy standard firmware. There are many ways to get a good system. I now use dedicated access points but the ASUS worked well in access point mode.
r/HomeNetworking • 1Gbps PPPoE connection - router recommendations ->ASUS aimesh is the best option besides true ap based systems.
r/HomeNetworking • Best mesh WiFi system for a large house with dead zones and multiple floors? ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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