ASUS - RT-BE88U

Asus BE-88U or 98U, an SPF+ to RJ45 adapter and a couple of TP-Link SX1008 switches.

I just moved from a BE88U (Have been Asus+Merlin for the last 10 years) to a UniFi system, UDM Pro, Agg Switch, and a U7 Pro Max running the latest EA FW and Network app, and have been rock solid including 2.4hhz IOT devices.

You don’t need a 3 pack for that sq feet. Look at a 2 pack if you want mesh . Otherwise I prefer ASUS routers. Check out BE88u. It will probably be fine!

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 have a 2700sqft house with bedrooms on the second floor and router in the basement. I recently upgraded to an Asus RT-BE88U from a TP Link ax-21. Have no issues getting connection in bed room from the router to handheld and streaming devices. Though if you have any gaming or desktop equipment you may need to set up APs and get a hard wire. But the router alone is perfect for me, where before I was considering MoCa for the top floor and now I’m not sure it’s necessary

I got the Asus be88u this week and the wifi it nearly full speed everywhere in the house. 500mbps everywhere. Just another option to look for

I have an older ASUS and it covers my entire 3500 sq ft house, router on the top floor and it covers the entire home down to the basement, also covers a 2 acre backyard. This is the modern model of it. 5g is always only good for short distances, you need 2.4Ghz for long range access. https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/

I was recently shopping for a wifi router, and I find it best to start by making a list of features I care about, then stacking the candidates up on that. Here is the brief list of differences I saw between these two units. The biggest difference I saw was the 92 has 6Ghz, but only 2x2. The 88 lacks 6ghz, but has better 4x4 support for 5ghz. The 88 also has more ethernet ports if you have a lot of devices to plug in. The 88 also has a tiny bit more cpu power so maybe it is better at supporting VPNs? Unfortunately, VPN performance metrics in consumer routers is hard to find. The other thing the 88 has is a second 10Gbit Wan SFP+ port. This feature probably doesn't matter unless you have an internet connection faster than 2.5Mbit, or you need fiber optic support. Seriously however, if you have 5-10Gbit internet, you probably need to start looking at separate routers. Asus RT-BE92U - WIFI 7 ($220.) 2.4GHz 3x3 5GHz 2x2 6GHz 2x2 MLO supported.  Wan/LAN: 1x10Gbit, 1x2.5Gbit.  LAN 3x2.5Gbit 2.0GHz quad-core processor [https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-7/all-series/asus-rt-be92u/techspec/](https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-7/all-series/asus-rt-be92u/techspec/) Asus RT-BE88U - WIFI 7 ($329) 2.4GHz 4x4 5Ghz 4x4 6Ghz - None. MLO supported.  WAN/LAN: 1x10Gbit, 1x10Gbit SFP+, 1x2.5Gbit.   LAN: 3x2.5Gbit. 4x1Gbit. 2.6GHz quad-core processor [https://www.asus.com/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/techspec/](https://www.asus.com/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/techspec/)

Gaming routers are marketing. If you're going to spend $400 to $500 on a router get an Asus, BE86U or BE88U are the cream of the crop right now, but you could probably spend half that and have perfectly good performance and coverage and have some left over to buy a second less expensive one to use as a mesh node. Of course If I was looking to invest that kind of money I'd get a dedicated router and separate access points from Ubiquiti or possibly the TP Link Omada line, but that setup isn't for everyone.

It's similar to any other dual band wifi 7 router with 4x4 streams on the 5 Ghz band, Asus BE-RT-82U is better and has a 2 Ghz CPU with an extra LAN port. The TPlink BE6500 is on sale for a much better price in Amazon.

I have the 88u and the 88u pro. Thought I needed 8 ports but I've been lazy and could also use a switch if need more ports. Going to gift the 88u and keep the pro I guess, but weird thing when i enable dual Wan on the 88u it freaks out flashes like it's booting but never does. Needs to have reset and then dual wan is not enabled (which it seems it does not wish to work)

Was doing research on deco mesh systems and one thing i noticed is that there’s a lot of complaints about hardware revisions and firmware. I was interested in the ability to select preferred connection between decos and device preferred connection. That way i could set the mesh topology as i wanted while steering non mobile devices to specific decos where signals are strong from multiple decos to the correct one. Simple right? Nope. The updated firmware for this feature only applied to specific versions of hw. So a v1 xe75 got it but not a v2 at the time. Then an xe200 didnt have it at all and it some older popular models never got it at all. It just seemed like a mess and the model i ordered didnt have it but amazon lost the pkg so i got an asus instead that feature is just naturally in their firmware… Their wifi7 models all support it but it’s like they just stop supporting previous popular hardware and move on so quickly

Asus zenwifi is worth considering. Just got 2 nodes of the 6E one from 2023 for $200 @ microcenter. After some issues with a new fully updated asus wifi7 router constantly rebooting & some similar claims across a few of their wifi7 devices i fear they've got a bug. The 6E has been running fantastic for ~4days now

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

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.

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)

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