ASUS - RT-AX88U PRO

Buy an Asus AX88U Pro on Amazon used for $184. Even better than AX86U Pro.

2nd this. Have one running my home. Everything works all the time, plus 2.5gb ports for future speed upgrades.

No issues. I use some ax1800s for wired mesh points but the 88 is my main router still.

You're going to have a hard time finding multiple multi-gig output devices as many people do not have multiple multi-gig clients to utilize those speeds. 98% of home equipment is still gigabit or less on the Ethernet port. I'd recommend looking for a device with 1 multi-gig output LAN and then purchase a multi-gig switch with it. For example, I have the Asus AX-88u Pro with 1 2.5g WAN and 1 2.5g LAN. I have a 2.5g 5 port switch off the LAN to feed my access points.

You're going to have a hard time finding multiple multi-gig output devices as many people do not have multiple multi-gig clients to utilize those speeds. 98% of home equipment is still gigabit or less on the Ethernet port. I'd recommend looking for a device with 1 multi-gig output LAN and then purchase a multi-gig switch with it. For example, I have the Asus AX-88u Pro with 1 2.5g WAN and 1 2.5g LAN. I have a 2.5g 5 port switch off the LAN to feed my access points.

I sold my asus 68 and went eero. Sold the eero and a month later went to a asus 88 rx pro. For me and my old house, the single asus had better range and perf than the mesh. So my single asus that hasn’t had a firmware release in like 6 months continues to chug along. Maybe we are getting to the point now where upgrading doesn’t get you much

Top options are the ASUS RT-AX88U Pro for strong performance, the Netgear Nighthawk RAX120 for reliability, and the Synology RT6600ax for good features. These offer solid coverage and handle multiple devices well without huge speed drops.

Asus RT-AX88U is the best router I’ve owned and I just keep linking them together in an air mesh for complete home coverage as we moved in different homes over the years.

Your Asus should be setup as WDS bridge, since you are not WiFi signal out of reach on the other end of house, WDS bridge is to use the router's WiFi to get the signal from source and then allow the ethernet network behind to join as the same network. If you run in repeater mode you are generating another WiFi signal in short distance which might interfere original signal if channel setting not correct. By using WDS bridge, your Asus AX88U Pro can connect using all 4 antennae to form a much faster wireless backhaul without interfering others (it's operating as client) [https://www.asus.com/support/faq/109839/](https://www.asus.com/support/faq/109839/)

I dont think so at all, RT-AX88U Pro is a beast compared to this, it has 4x4 2.4 and 5 GHz which is superior to this router. it boils down to whether you really need WiFI-7 and the 6ghz freq . i will be waiting for couple more years before upgrading from RT-AX88U Pro.

I went to help a family friend set up their wifi mesh, brought 3 RT AX88s, they could not be linked. It seems that some old houses have used it for structural purposes and it really blocks the signals

I like ASUS for consumer needs like yours. They have gaming features, but they're gimmicks. Look at the Asus RT-BE88U for a larger router, or the RT-BE86U for a bit smaller. These are the wifi 7 models which you may not need ot want. You can find the Wifi 6 models as RT-AX88U and RT-AX86U respectively on Amazon. They have some other models as well. I wouldn't pay a premium for any TUF or ROG branded "gaming" routers, the others do the same thing.

I’ve not paid any attention to the fork of the firmware you’re using, so I may be talking from left field, but my rt-ax88u pro running the Merlin firmware has the capability of 3-4 guest networks *per band* of wifi; for you, I would make one for your cameras, and another for everything else “smart” on 2.4ghz within the mesh. If you’re running with wifi at its highest level according to the slider on the wireless setups page, turn it down on both the router and the node and see how things go. Live with these changes for a number of days to see if it’s making your connection more reliable, and then decide if you need to engage QoS.

You must have a very large home with lots of metal in the walls, or lots of concrete/brick: I’ve a 2500+ sqft multilevel home and my rt-ax88pro blasts throughout my home and well past my yard, into the neighbourhood. My car connects to it before I’m in my driveway. So I ask, is your wifi coverage lacking from poor router positioning or is it related to the construction of the house?

So your budget is around $300 and you want to learn some networking… https://mikrotik.com/product/hex_s_2025 And A ubiquiti u6+ (download the ubiquiti app portal to see pricing in your area direct from them) You *should* be able to take the fibre out of the AT&T machine, stick it into an appropriate SFP carrier, and then into the hex for routing. The hex should pass enough PoE to power the Ubiquiti AP. And then, as they say, Bob’s your uncle, and under budget. Even with a Cat6 cable to connect them. Solid little combo that will treat you well for many years to come. And easy to upgrade components as required. You might consider the U7 Long Range if wifi 7 and maxing the budget are priorities and you don’t want to address things for 5+ years (the hex has enough PoE power to run this one too) I’ve an ax88pro from Asus. I regret not knowing this when I had to upgrade, and also not having enough time to properly research and acquire kit like this. But I also only have 120Mbps cable, so wifi7 and a fibre router are a bit over the top in my world.

Do not overbuy now for a place you haven’t bought yet. I’m going start there. I say this because technology will inevitably improve between now and then, and there’s no way to predict how up to speed what you buy now will be at that time. So- buy what you need now (and that’s a current AX router like the 86 or 88 pro from Asus). It will be able to take 2nd fiddle to a BE router in either Mesh or AP or even Media bridge modes, and that BE router will be less expensive than current models because that’s how it works.

They’ll be supported longest.

Their modem and my own Asus RT-AX88U Pro router.

Their modem and my own Asus RT-AX88U Pro router.

I'm running an Asus RT-AX88U Pro with Merlin firmware and two Pi-holes. DNS Director in the Merlin firmware is awesome.

The 86U only has one 2.5Gbe port, configurable for either LAN or WAN. The 88U has two, for both LAN and WAN. If you have gig or faster internet, you need 2.5Gbe to get maximum throughput.

I run the Asus RT-AX88U Pro. It has 2.5 GbE ports for WAN and LAN.

The RT-AX88U Pro has the more superior antenna setup for the 2.4 and 5.0 bands compared to the RT-BE92U. Unless you’re experiencing problems with the router or if you really wanted to upgrade to WiFi 7, you should stay with your current router, because the processing power is still beastly, which is something I wouldn’t say for the BE92U. And that is coming from a guy with two BE92U in AiMesh setup.

Currently using one. Has the same coverage of an Asus 88U Pro in my opinion. I have a UDR7 installed upstairs on one end of my home and have complete coverage upstairs and downstairs. It replaced two U6 Mesh. I had a UCG Max and two U6 Mesh and replaced them with one UDR7. And as a test, fired up the Asus I had and it’s the same coverage, for me that is. When I had the Asus running and switched to UniFi, one U6 Mesh wasn’t enough, so I had to have two of them to get the same coverage as the Asus. Now with the UDR7, I don’t need anything else. My home is roughly 2800 square feet and one UDR7 is providing complete coverage.

You should look at the Xfinity list of approved modems for your area. I'm using the Netgear CM2000 that I got used on eBay with Xfinity. It was on the list, works great, and has given me no trouble. I'm currently on the 300/20Mbps speed tier with Xfinity, but the CM2000 is pretty versatile. Does DOCSYS 3.1, and goes up to 2.33gigabits according to Xfinity. As far as routers go, I've had good results with Asus for some time now. Couple of nice Asus routers are the RT-AX88U Pro and the RT-BE96U routers. Personally, I have the RT-BE96U that works well with wifi-7 and MLO. I also have the GT-AX6000 which is the gaming version of the RT-AX88U Pro, same chip sets. Both of these provide great wireless, each one covers our whole house (2-story, 2000sq.ft.). The RT-BE96U provides slightly better wireless, but both are really good. No need for mesh for wireless here...used to have a mesh, but was able to replace that with a single router when I got the GT-AX6000. One of the things that I appreciate about Asus, in addition to the quality of their hardware, is that they support their products with new firmware for several years. They don't just put out a couple of bug fix firmware releases and then stop supporting their products, like some other manufacturers do :-).

Asus GT-AX6000 or RT-AX88U Pro. I have a 2000 sq. ft. home, and don't need a mesh with the GT-AX6000. The RT-AX88U Pro is the same hardware, but may be better on the spousal acceptance factor :-). At any rate, I get great coverage in my house with this single router. And it has some really good monitoring tools, QoS, and a system log. You also have the choice of third-party firmware (RMerlin) if you're looking for that. Won't use up your entire budget, though, only running around $260 on Amazon.

If it were me, I'd be looking at the Asus RT-BE96U. That's a full tri-band, 4 stream per band wifi 7 router. Lots of bandwidth capacity there. I have one here, and it works great, as well as being stable with the current firmware from Asus. RMerlin also supports the RT-BE96U with his third-party firmware. For wifi-6, yes, the RT-AX88U Pro would be a good choice. Same electronics as the GT-AX6000, another router that I have here that's worked great for us. Again, RMerlin firmware supports the RT-AX88U Pro. Both of these are good choices.

Would highly recommend the ASUS RT-AX88U PRO. I have them in two homes connected to Sonic 1GB fiber. They are rock solid and I only have to restart them once per year or maybe even less. One router covers a small home no problem, no need to use a mesh network. Note: I did receive one defective unit that I had to send back (easy returns with Amazon). So if you get one with a problem, just send it back. Otherwise extremely easy install and great performance. Speedtest.net says around 450mb/sec up and down throughout the house.

> Gig > 2 users 2 users--most any router will do, but for Gig service I think you want a router with a 2.5 gbps WAN port: with a 1gbps WAN port, you'll get about 940 mbps or so--overhead. Specrum overprovisions. With a 2.5gbps WAN port, you might get 1100 mbps, 1200 mbps or more. So I think that's good. If you have a lot of apple devices, they use wifi 6e: https://dongknows.com/reviews/?tag=wi-fi-6e https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-AXE7800-Tri-Band-802-11ax-Browsing/dp/B0BLGGN4Z9/?tag=dkt-rbox-20&th=1 About $230 Wifi 6 should be more than enough for your home: https://dongknows.com/multi-gigabit-wi-fi-6-routers-to-bring-home-today/ And, this may take a leap of faith on your part but I highly recommend this Asus, using Merlin Firmware. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTTY7QFH/?tag=dkt-rbox-20&th=1 $210 Merlin Firmware is written by a Canadian guy in the open source mode (I know, Canadians, we are at war with them, right? They are the worst! /s << just to make it very clear.) Merlin takes regular Asus firmware, and makes changes to enhance stability, speed, and sometimes add features. Have been using it many years. https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ You flash it the same way you flash regular firmware updates, so it's no extra work on your part. You know, that is what I would recommend for you. It's a bit of overkill for two users, but, 1gbps is kind of overkill (depending on your work), and, if you just want the damn thing to work without bugging you or having problems, I recommend that one. Wifi 7: you don't really need it right now. But, this ubiquiti router review includes a wifi 7 model. https://dongknows.com/ubiquiti-udr7-unifi-dream-router-7-review/

The 86 will be better from a longevity perspective usually, and has a more powerful CPU, probably better wifi chipset. That being said, for the stuff you list there probably won't be any major difference. The price on that 86 is pretty outrageous though, you can get an 88 Pro (with VLANs and advanced guest network features, latest firmware support, newer router and more powerful CPU) for less than that. It really depends what features you do/don't need. A $80 TP Link will serve many people well if they don't plan to use all the extra (mostly non-performance related) features that Asus have.

I have the same setup and it works perfectly. I even have some VPN spilt tunneling as well.

I have an RT-AX88U Pro, any reason why I should go upgrade away from this right now?

Everyone has their favorite brand, mine is Asus. Try looking for a used WiFi 6 one from Amazon resale from someone that may have upgraded to a WiFi 7, or look on FB or Ebay. I got a nice used one from Amazon that you can hardly tell was used. It was more than your price range, but I can also resell it for more $. For reference it was a RT-AX88u pro. You could go for a 86 which is little cheaper, but won't get both 2.5G ports which can get you 1140 vs 940 on the Gig plan, up to you if it's worth it.

I’ve had an Asus RT-AX88U on Merlin firmware for a while now. Worked great with our previous fiber provider and with Nextlight.  The nextlight drop is in the middle of the house in the basement with the router, switch & NAS. WiFi covers all 3 floors, out to the backyard and into the garage on 5 & 2.5ghz. Full gigabit throughput. 

Hey! With a $500 budget, you’ve got some awesome choices. For solid coverage (up to or beyond 5000 sq ft) and gigabit speeds, I’d go with a TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro mesh system Wi-Fi 6E, super reliable, and great range even into the garage.. If you prefer a single powerful router, the ASUS RT-AX88U or AX86U Pro are both solid picks. Fast, stable, and feature-packed. ASUS usually has better software than Netgear, in my experience.

Just went with an ASUS AX-88U Pro and I highly recommend it. It’ll easily handle the speeds you’re wanting and I found my signal to be much stronger.

hi, got the Asus AX6000,really great performance and not so expensive.

I have this same router and it has been an absolute nightmare. It is constantly changing device IP addresses and assigning them incorrectly, causing repeated IP conflicts and kicking devices off of the network. I have tried every single config you can imagine, same issue so I have to RMA this device. Third one in a year. SMH

I bought one and but its slower than my Asus ax6000 😢

Asus ax 6000 had the most powerful range I found way back when. It is limited by the fcc (what ever determines radio broadcasting power) for routers. Like others are saying, putting down fiber or a cable 100ft would not be too bad. Ubiquiti has a long range outdoor extender but is very expensive. Starlink could be another option if you don’t want spectrum.

Asus ax 6000 had the most powerful range I found way back when. It is limited by the fcc (what ever determines radio broadcasting power) for routers. Like others are saying, putting down fiber or a cable 100ft would not be too bad. Ubiquiti has a long range outdoor extender but is very expensive. Starlink could be another option if you don’t want spectrum.

Just recently ordered this. 4x4 router with usb port at a reasonable price and cheaper than the 4 year old RT-AX86u pro

No problems so far. Everything works.

I bought a spool of cat5e cable before my house renovation thinking that 1 gigabit would be enough forever. The cable turned out to be utter crap and barely skirting the edge. Wont negotiate above 100 mbit. After many-MANY hours of making new jacks and trying all kinds of magic I just bought 3 ASUS wifi 6 routers and the AImesh is actually perfectly fine. 600 megs in my living room via mesh and my computer is the only device with a gigabit connection as the ONT is in my office. Spent 150 euros on a 3 pack of ASUS routers. Works just fine until I move on to some Ubiquiti wifi7 mesh.

Avoid tp-link and any other CCP networking equipment. Don't intentionally put stuff with backdoors in them just to save a few bucks. Unifi is great but it's expensive and you really should use it wired. If you're just looking for plug and play mesh Asus has good offerings. Their AI mesh system works well

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.

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?

Asus AiMesh - Yea TP-Link Deco - Yes TP-Link Easy Mesh - Not sure

ASUS aimesh is the best option besides true ap based systems.

I've been using Asus Aimesh for years. 3 nodes and seamless switching when walking around. 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. Asus is great to start with but unifi likely my next system

I use Asus routers in my Ai mesh network and it gives me complete control over everything and I've loved it. I use that coupled with family link from Google and I feel like I've done my job as a parent blocking as much bullshit as I can for my kids.  But don't worry, their friends who's parents don't care about a single thing they consume will come along and ruin your hard work. Or your kids will be kids and find loop holes, which they always do. But you still tried. 

Asus AiMesh can be configured without an app and uses local credentials for management.

For gaming use cable, for wifi coverage of this size, you can do well with asus aimesh, you can pick two routers of your choice, cheaper than ismesh system and many settings available.

I went from DD-WRT for years to ASUS AiMesh and have been on Unifi equipment for a good four years now. I never have any issues with roaming (3600+ home) and I can fine tune whenever necessary (rare). I love the Unifi and don't plan on moving away any time soon. If you want peace of mind, I definitely also recommend Unifi.

As has been said, plug in everything you can. For a basic option, the Asus routers with AiMesh are a pretty simple solution. Start with one on the second floor centrally located and see if you need more. Use inSSIDer to see how your signal strength is as what kind of interference you have and set settings accordingly. If you’re not reaching all corners, add another compatible Asus and put them on floors 1 and 3 (both wired connection to WAN jack)

ASUS AIMESH Stable and cheap.