ASUS - TUF Gaming BE3600

I just got the BE3600. It's great, setup was very easy, and I'm impressed by the wifi signals. MUCH better than my previous TP-Link ISP router; across a few walls, I went from ~150mbps to ~800mbps on gigabit. Setup for NBN FTTP was so easy, no configuration needed. I'm a happy camper.

I bought a TUF BE3600 2 weeks ago and pretty happy with its performance based on its price, I have a 500mbps fttp at home, it can reach the whole house, and can get around 250-300 speed at the far end. Last week I bought a BE86u as I have seen so many compliment on AX86U, double the price than be3600(both were on sale on black Friday) received it yesterday, out of box is good, same far end spot can get 400+ speed, so the antenna is better than BE3600. Then I saw a new firmware is available in my asus app, and press the button, the nightmare came… after the firmware upgrade, the 2.4wifi kept dropping off, as well as the 5g, then I reset the router, still the same, then I gave up. Today I looked it up online and found a lot of people have the same issue after the firmware upgrade, the solution is to roll back to the old firmware from August…. Or use some beta new firmware to fix it. Sorry I am not paying that much money to become a technician myself, I decided to return it and keep the BE3600

End of Life is not really applicable to hardware as compared to software, as most routers are quite robust and seldom need regular patching, compared to softwares where new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered in the chain of software life cycle. ASUS TUF Gaming BE3600 is Wifi 7 compatible while ASUS AX6000 supports Wifi 6, so you got a better hardware, whether you get your money's worth by utilizing its full potential is up to you.

End of Life is not really applicable to hardware as compared to software, as most routers are quite robust and seldom need regular patching, compared to softwares where new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered in the chain of software life cycle. ASUS TUF Gaming BE3600 is Wifi 7 compatible while ASUS AX6000 supports Wifi 6, so you got a better hardware, whether you get your money's worth by utilizing its full potential is up to you.

You basically got the equivalent of an AX3000 router (2x2 on 2.4GHz + 2x2 on 5GHz). I do think you got shafted depending on what they would have provided without the extra £50 but the ISP is not completely lying. The TUF AX6000 was £180 back in April 2024, but it's not been available for a while now. The TUF BE3600 is £140 today (£130 on Amazon) but if you don't have Wi-Fi 7 devices it'll perform basically the same as a £105 TUF AX3000. The issue is that ASUS doesn't have anything in between £130 and £230 for Wi-Fi 7 (from what I can see) and the ISPs as of recently have been avoiding China made routers so other cheaper brands are out of question. You will likely not notice any speed difference on a single device but with multiple devices using internet at the same time, the AX6000 routers will likely perform better especially if you got a gigabit connection and older Wi-Fi 5 devices in the mix which get their speed from MIMO mainly. With 4x4 MIMO like on AX6000 it would support more devices. There's probably not much difference in range though. If you don't care about transferring files locally or wireless VR capabilities then it likely doesn't matter.

You basically got the equivalent of an AX3000 router (2x2 on 2.4GHz + 2x2 on 5GHz). I do think you got shafted depending on what they would have provided without the extra £50 but the ISP is not completely lying. The TUF AX6000 was £180 back in April 2024, but it's not been available for a while now. The TUF BE3600 is £140 today (£130 on Amazon) but if you don't have Wi-Fi 7 devices it'll perform basically the same as a £105 TUF AX3000. The issue is that ASUS doesn't have anything in between £130 and £230 for Wi-Fi 7 (from what I can see) and the ISPs as of recently have been avoiding China made routers so other cheaper brands are out of question. You will likely not notice any speed difference on a single device but with multiple devices using internet at the same time, the AX6000 routers will likely perform better especially if you got a gigabit connection and older Wi-Fi 5 devices in the mix which get their speed from MIMO mainly. With 4x4 MIMO like on AX6000 it would support more devices. There's probably not much difference in range though. If you don't care about transferring files locally or wireless VR capabilities then it likely doesn't matter.

Asus Tuf gaming be9400 tri band WiFi 7 With 3 2.5gb Lan port and special port only for gaming. 6 antennas and a lot of gaming mode and options.  On Amazon.de it cost 169 eur. I think between that model and Asus Tug gaming be3600 dual band wifi 7. Also lot of gaming features. Actually very similar to be9400 but be3600 has 4 antennas, it is dual band, it has one 2.5gb port. Differences in price are 70 euros. 3600 cost 99 euros and be9400 169. They look almost the same unless be9400 has 6 antennas.  I need it for PS5 gaming. I live in rural area where only good mobile SIM router helps to have normal internet. Even Xiaomi Cpe 5g  Pro v2 is very good mobile router unlocked for all providers, it is not so great for long gaming online sessions. I use cat 6 cable and cable internet but it has problem with speed instability and latency is very strong.  My plan is put Xiaomi in the bridge mode and it's only function wold be receiving mobile signal and send it via lan cable to Asus router which would do everything else.  That should make big positive difference on the WiFi  stabillity. Unfortunatelly only function that I would not be able to use, is WiFi  7 because all my devices are WiFi 6. 

I use a be3600 and pretty happy with it. Very good value for money for a wifi7 router.

I use a be3600 and pretty happy with it. Very good value for money for a wifi7 router.

I'd get the RT-AX86AU Pro. It's WiFi 6 but reliable, stable and proven. The ASUS TUF BE3600 is WiFi 7 but only has 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands; it's missing the 6ghz band, which should be included for WiFi 7 to provide additional capability. Omitting the 6ghz band is saving ASUS money and that's why the TUF router is cheaper - it's less capable. You could consider the TUF router to be a "starter" WiFi 7 router. I'd only get the TUF BE3600 instead of the AX86AU Pro if I had a bunch of WiFi 7 devices. And even then, I wouldn't get the TUF BE3600 because it's missing a 6ghz band. If I needed WiFi 7 and wanted 2.4/5/6ghz support from ASUS I'd get the ASUS RT-BE92U. But I noted you're in Australia, so if you can't use 6ghz band there then the lack of 6ghz isn't a concern. In that case it comes down to if you have a need for WiFi 7 - if so get the TUF BE3600. If no need for WiFi 7 right now (you have internet service of 1gigabit speed or less; mainly WiFi 6 clients that need WiFi) then the RT-AX86U Pro is a good pick.

The AX86U Pro is a well-designed router: Better theoretical performance (faster potential speeds) on 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands. More spatial streams (3x3 on 2.4ghz and 4x4 on 5ghz; BE3600 is only 2x2 on those bands). More spatial streams=more concurrent client connections (less wait time for clients to connect on network). And the AX86U Pro has one more gigabit LAN port than the BE3600. Specs comparision: [https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-ax86u-pro/](https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-ax86u-pro/) and [https://www.asus.com/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/tuf-gaming-be3600/](https://www.asus.com/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/tuf-gaming-be3600/)

Spectrum used to provide a modem for no extra charge as a part of the service. But routers are pretty much universal and will work with the cable modem. No need to get a combo modem/router unit. I’ve had good luck with ASUS routers. The ASUS WiFi 7 BE3600 is fairly recent and at a good price.

Asus typically still makes some of the highest performance routers, at least from what I have seen in the last few months. They are also very easy to set up. I bought the ASUS BE3600 a few months ago. Was able to set it up within 10-20 mins and it has performed flawlessly even tucked away in a cabinet under the living room tv

Recently got an Asus BE3600 and it's working great. Had a TP-Link before that and I would say that the Asus app is way better, more intuitive, user friendly.