Отзывы о Wi-Fi роутер ASUS RT-AC65P

Я использовал РТ-AX88U около одного месяца, при этом WiFi стабильный, не встречая drppping беспроводной доступ в интернет.<бр /><бр />плюсы:
в 1. Простота настройки
2. Отличный диапазоне
3. Большую пропускную способность, что
4. Стабильный беспроводной доступ в интернет<Бр />5. Поддерживает AiMesh. Я использую РТ-AX88U и мой оригинал РТ-AC86U создать систему сетки в моем большом доме.<БР />6. На будущее: поддерживает новый стандарт WiFi 11ax<бр /><бр />минусы:
в 1. Дорогие
2. Довольно огромные, занимающие большое пространство

После владения в течение нескольких месяцев я не могу рекомендовать этот роутер.
вы заметите, что клиенты 2.4 ГГц будет иметь частые пропадания сети.
в 5 ГГц работает отлично.
я всегда обновлять до последней прошивки и все еще падает 2.4 ГГц.
я перезагрузить маршрутизатор по утрам, когда я прихожу домой с работы, 2,4 ГГц мертв... но 5ГГц нормально.
вы делаете поиск Google и найти много с похожими проблемами.
очень разочарован,,, дорогой маршрутизатор... будем стараться получить замену/возврат.

Эта вещь-монстр. Я не новичок в такого рода вещи. Я уже больше 20 лет, но я никогда не слышал вещи, необходимые, чтобы установить эту штуку. Я даже не знаю, куда идти, чтобы задавать глупые вопросы! Одна вещь наверняка; это нигде не рядом близко к "подключи и играй", как мой Яблочный аэропорт экстрим. Я полагаю, что когда-нибудь в будущем я буду, наконец, получить эту установку монстр 500$, но это не скоро будет. Если вы не являетесь гуру сетевого какой-то, ищите в другом месте.

Я знал, что этот маршрутизатор должен быть слишком сложным для меня,
но часть из отличной работы, я обнаружил некоторые приятные возможности, которые мне нравятся.
и Ф. Я. очень хороший обзор подключенных устройств в моем доме, и диск, может быть подключен (через FTP) отовсюду.
очень довольны!<бр /><бр />обновление:
и роутер перестал работать после всего девяти месяцев работы.
очень печальный опыт для дорогого маршрутизатора.
так ведь пустая трата денег.

В 5г стабильно падает линия случайные моменты времени. Иногда 4 часа, иногда 8 часов. Сброс модема и все прекрасно для того времени. Трудно не советовал, это незначительное неудобство. Работая с ASUS сейчас для решения. Некоторые из членов технической поддержки трудно понять. Опять же, когда 5G-это онлайн скорости изумительны с интернет-сервиса у меня есть. Получил второй роутер и не иметь никаких проблем после 2 недель. Отличный роутер теперь, что это работает.

Пока роутер работает нормально. Мой ноутбук уже устаревшая прошивка и мне нужно обновить его, прежде чем он мог видеть сети WiFi от этого роутера - маршрутизатора была инструкция по проверке этого. Маршрутизатор не имеет пароля по умолчанию для обоих WiFi и роутер логин / так что наверняка нужно будет сразу менять - инструкции.<бр /><бр />пользовательский интерфейс не так просто, как хотелось бы, и я не мог выяснить, как отпускать меню Обновление айпи по DHCP.

У меня было как минимум 5 маршрутизаторы в эти долгие годы. Большинство из них были компании Cisco (Linksys С) и никто из них не выступал так хорошо, как этот маршрутизатор. После прочтения тестирование на CNET и они это лучшая, то я купил это от Амазонки, и это было доставлено в течение 2 дней. Я это за 15 минут и это самый мощный роутер я имел до настоящего времени. Я даже могу выйти на улицу и по-прежнему подключен. Спасибо ASUS за создание замечательного продукта.

Загружен Мерлин , диверсия, Скайнет положил мою DGW210-700 волокна (услуги 1gig) модем в сквозной, все кипит, получил в один день как и обещали.... Проверить все 8 портов LAN (ОК) порт WAN (ОК) и 2.4 & 5 ГГц Радио (ОК) не вижу особого inprovement скорости в АТ&Т оператора, РТ-AC86U работал так хорошо, как RT-AX88u кроме РТ-AC86u было мало свободной памяти , но файл подкачки заботится о том, что.... AX88u имеет один гиг, AC86u имеет 512 МБ оперативной памяти.... AC86u более экономичным..

Уважаемые все,
я старался 3 не 1 такой роутер
и я 2 серия х10 также
Если у вас есть новые телефоны, новые ноутбуки Асус РТ-AX88U будет ваш выбор
или
и не приходят и плачут, что ваши устройства не работают на новой технологии<бр /><бр />эти устройства работают на меня все время без остановки, и я доволен опыт полностью
в Отличный пользовательский интерфейс и отличную скорость
я считаю, это оптимальный выбор сейчас

Не могу настройки маршрутизатора доступа. Seriously....router.asus.com не работает, и 192.168.50.1 по умолчанию маршрутизатор IP-адрес локальной сети не работают.....Техническая поддержка? Забудь! Звонила 5 раз и нет резолюции для продукта 450$. НИКОГДА БОЛЬШЕ НЕ ПОКУПАТЬ АСУС, ПОТОМУ ЧТО ПОДДЕРЖКА-ЭТО ШУТКА! Возвращение этой кучи! Сил, чтобы дать 1 звезда. Заслуживает 0 для всех потратил часы, пытаясь получить помощь!

У роутера Asus также от Amazon за последние 5 лет, все время работал каждый день. Решил сделать интернет быстрее и лучше WiFi потоком через эту модель, что ручками лучше всегда связаны семьей. Установить его высоки и есть все освещение дома.
это крючки мой смарт-телевизор, принтер, настольный компьютер, ноутбук, клетки, Алекса, конечно, и мои наблюдения дома камеры. Я все больше покупать.

Простая настройка. Хорошее качество чистый звук с басами. WiFi сигнал достаточно хорош, чтобы покрыть всю мою 2000 кв. м двухэтажный дом. Я спрашиваю его, чтобы играть музыку, выключить Philips оттенок света и регулировать мое гнездо термостата температуры. Моя дочь попросить его на время и каждое утро погоду.

Даже с последней прошивкой (от 19 ноября, 2018), этот маршрутизатор капли беспроводной доступ в интернет все время. Работает несколько минут после перезагрузки, но потом снова падает. Пожалуйста, не покупайте, если вы не планируете использовать беспроводной доступ в интернет.

Очень крутой агрегат. И под этим я имею в виду пресс-папье.<бр /><бр />по-видимому, существует хорошо известная проблема через ASUS, где эта коробка упадет это соединение WAN буквально без всякого повода.<БР />
я буду вернуть его для возврата.

Удивительные маршрутизатор, но если у вас есть спектра 1 Гб, это не comaptible как в их техподдержку. Вы не можете получить больше, чем 600, через любой маршрутизатор не утвержден спектра! Я был уверен, что очень бесит!

Одна из антенн сразу сломался при попытке прикрутить. Имея трудное время с ASUS становится тех, кто на телефон, кто может сделать мне еще один.

********* Updates *********
3/31/2019
- New firmware 3.0.0.4.384_5977. Haven't had chance to use for too long yet but issue with device list has been fixed, and it seems now I can just restart Node without restarting router then node in the specific order. Still no second 5GHz band usable to Smart Connect.
- Added Advanced feature section as I got to use some of those features.
3/13/2019
- Update second 5G band direct connection section (only connects to router but not node).
- Update Setup section, as for me reboot router and node order makes difference.
- Added Router/Node switch Section
2/26/2019
- After 3 weeks of experience,
o Update AiMesh and stability sections, now up from 3 stars to 4 stars features. See detail in corresponding sections.
o Discovered that second 5GHz band can be used as separate SSID in AiMesh mode. (forced dual band section)
o ASUS support very disappointing.
o Simplified conclusion
********* ********* *********

Outside of the price, the specs on this router is currently unbeatable. Just to list a few amazing features that this router offers:
1. Wifi 6 support
2. AiMesh feature
3. VPN Fusion feature
4. Extensive customization options
5. Gamer’s optimization (I cannot comment on this feature as I do not use this feature).

********* ★★★★★ Features *********

+++++ Speed +++++
The router performance is great. In proximity to the router, I can get 500-600 Mbps Wifi internet download speed with 2016 Macbook Pro as well as Ipad Mini 4 on my 1Gbps service. Even at distance when connected to 5GHz band, I can get upper 300’s Mbps download at least 30 ft away from the router.
+++++ Range +++++
Our 3800 sqft two story house needed 3 Orbi Mesh system or 3 Eero Pro system to cover end to end with adequate speed. A single GT-AX11000 covers most of our home except one end of the basement, likely due to concrete wall.
To put into the objective number, Orbi was fast and I could get 200+ Mbps Wifi download speed throughout my home, but very unstable. So I moved onto Eero. Eero got very stable system without a hiccup, running for months, but there were areas where my speed went down to 80's or even lower Mbps for download. A single GT-AX11000 can get me 200+ Mbps throughout the house where the signal is reachable as long as connected to 5GHz band.
With AiMesh, most part of house I get 300+ Mbps and the worst area where I have no AiMesh Node, I still get 200+ Mbps. Though AiMesh to other Mesh network system I had are not directly compared here because I only got 1Gbps service recently and previously had only 400 Mbps service and also I did not have Ethernet back-haul option before. Nonetheless, I’m happy with coverage.
+++++ Advanced Features +++++
Although there are many features that I do not use or don't know how to use, lately as I set up more smart home device/home automation system, I've been impressed by what this router offers as otherwise, it could have got a bit more work.
1) Static IP: Ax11000 allows single toggle button to each of its connected devices to get Static IP, which is based on MAC address of the device and handled by router side, so even after reboot of the router, this feature remains. If needed, even laptop/tablet can use this so going out of network and back is hand-free.
2) VPN Server: Fairly readily set up to remotely log into home network.
3) Free DDNS: This is run by ASUS and let you point to your home network router by NAME.asuscomm.com. This allows remote accessing of home devices easy as we do not have to worry about ISP changing your IP address and reconfigure VPN access etc.

********* ★★★★☆ Features *********

+++++ WIFI 6 support +++++
This is certainly one of the main reasons to choose this router. The potential gain of WIFI 6 (802.11ax) standard is huge including speed boost, battery saving, and more simultaneous device connection. However, in order to see these benefits, supporting client device is needed. Recently, Samsung announced their latest phones to feature these, but I currently don’t own any client device. Also, Ax standard is still a draft version, so final version may have additional features that this router may not support (who knows). Basically, this is the future proof but not yet testable at the time.
+++++ Setup +++++
As a standalone router, set up was easy. As an AiMesh system, the initial set up was also easy enough. However, once I change some parameters, the router goes offline and I must reboot the router and node manually. These should be automatic. Also, in my case default setting of AiMesh did not work so well.
[3/13/2019] As part of other home network change/upgrade, I occasionally need to turn of Mesh Node. But when I do so, in order to get solid network back, I have to restart router first and wait until it is fully up, then turn Mesh Node on. Otherwise, system acts up.
+++++ AiMesh +++++
This is another major reason why I chose this router. AiMesh feature allows ASUS routers to act as true Mesh system. Advanced users can potentially implement Mesh like system using Access Point and/or Repeater mode of routers, but this requires lots of tuning like selecting proper Channel to avoid conflict, selection of Roaming parameters etc. Dedicated mesh system is simple but lacks customization option. AiMesh allows us to buy new and the latest, feature rich router and turn that into new router then use older routers to be satellite node to cover better range of house. This is a brilliant concept. For this reason, I have purchased two ROG GT-AX11000 routers.
Initially by default setting, I had constant drop out of AiMesh node (satellite). This was fixed by making node into Ethernet mode where default setting was AUTO mode. The latter mode supposed to automatically choose the best connection either Wireless or Ethernet backhaul. In my case, I found out it tried to switch to Wireless but signal was too weak (as I intentionally placed in the area with weak signal), and then disconnects and instead of reconnecting to Ethernet, node went offline. Ever since the change, not a single event of node drop.
+-+-+- Stability +-+-+-
I have HEOS speaker network system. Originally when I got HEOS speakers, I thought it was the HEOS that was faulty system as some speakers kept disappearing from the App device list. But later I found out, it was the Orbi mesh network issue. This is because after switching to Eero mesh network, I had never had this issue once again.
After fixing AiMesh node into Ethernet backhaul mode, this got better; however, I still experienced occasional sudden, device not connected to internet. After doing online research, I eventually changed setting to disable MU-MIMO, universal beamforming and airtime fairness options on both 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands, and also enabled quality of service in media/internet surf mode. Ever since these changes, the Wifi went rock solid without any drop out. I had 7 solid days without a single reboot. As I do other home network upgrading, I have to turn them off every once and awhile. So mid-term stability is rock solid with appropriate setting, but figuring these on my own were not easy, and I don’t expect everyone get as lucky.

********* ★★★☆☆ Features *********

+-+-+- Many customization options +-+-+-
Stand-alone router system has advantage over Mesh system for more sophisticated customization options to the advanced users. AX11000 has nothing short in terms of these options. This is great for advanced users, but for trouble shooting, too many options make impossible to figure out exactly what’s causing the problem. I think ASUS should make default setup so network stability is the highest priority then let user play around to get more optimized, faster speed.
+-+-+- AiMesh Forced Dual Band +-+-+-
In tri-band systems, AiMesh uses second 5GHz band for dedicated Wireless back-haul. This makes sense as keeping solid connection between the router and node is crucial in mesh network system, and Mesh system like Orbi uses this technology as well. However, what does not make sense is when I have the connection set to Ethernet mode (not AUTO), I see no reason to keep blocking the band. Basically, the router and node are now appears as dual-band system, which we can buy for cheaper price. There is a rumor on Internet forum, this may be reverted in future firmware update.
[3/13/2019] It turned out the second 5GHz band is usable by disabling hidden SSID option. If you try to change the name to match Smart Connect SSID, you get an error though. Also, this band is only accessible on main router and not on Mesh Node.
+-+-+- Router/Node switch +-+-+-
In an ideal world, transition from router to node connection should be smooth and user shouldn’t even notice when the switch happened. In my case, this is a mixed experience. Sometimes device sticks to the original router or node despite the other is closer and even experienced a complete device disconnect when transition is happening. This sensitivity; however, is configurable by user in AiMesh. One need to change RSSI setting. I changed mine and it seemed to work better. However, I wish ASUS implement something so that RSSI value is automatically adjusted based on day to day statistics or at least suggest user to change RSSI values. This is probably one of the most important parameter to adjust to get optimal Mesh experience.

********* ★★☆☆☆ Features *********

----- VPN Fusion -----
Another great feature on paper by ASUS. This feature allows individual device to go through specific VPN service using a single router/network. Previously, I had my old router set up to connect to VPN and devices that I want to connect to the VPN had to switch to the router.
This feature can be a 3 stars because I was able to get this working with some VPN service such as Express VPN, but not others. However, those that do not work on this router works on ASUS Merlin firmware installed another router, so I believe it is not VPN server side issue. Basically, I see VPN connected on both server side and router menu; however, internet becomes inaccessible. To make it even worse, it affects entire network rather than just the device I associate with the VPN. Since this is one of the feature ASUS advertise, and I see as relatively unique to only some of ASUS routers, I hope to see this fixed.

----- Devices disappearing from Network List -----
[Update 3/31/2019] Firmware 3.0.0.4.384_5977 has resolved this issue.

----- AiMesh Node not configurable -----
It makes sense for some features to be non-selectable/configurable on AiMesh node as the purpose of mesh system is to make one change and reflect to all as a whole system. However, some feature like “light” on node should be individually configurable.

----- Aesthetics -----
It looks like a giant spider.

********* ★☆☆☆☆ Features *********

----- ASUS Customer Service -----
I have submitted my issues on the Ax11000 soon after I received the first router. ASUS occasionally sent me email saying they are still working on then referring to special tech, which sounded a good customer care. However, they were all templated e-mails and most likely just to buy a time. After 3 weeks of wait, the response was very disappointing without any content that’s useful.

********* ALTERNATIVE CONSIDERATIONS *********

The main reason to choose this router is its WIFI 6 support. Currently, there are relatively limited options for WIFI 6 compatible routers, but many more are on its way. So why did I choose this over the other options? Noteworthy alternatives are ASUS AX88U, Netgear RAX120 and TP Link Archer AX11000.

Vs. ASUS Ax88U
Ax88U is cheaper and also supports AiMesh. But it's a dual band, lacks VPN fusion feature and theoretical speed rating is 6000. So technically, ROG Ax11000 is better in all the specs. However, when used in AiMesh with Ethernet back-haul, I am losing a band anyways with current firmware, so Ax88U is likely to give the same performance with cheaper price.

Vs. TP Link Archer AX11000
This router also has 11000 speed rating. Furthermore, TP Link announced AiMesh equivalent OneMesh feature. Up on reviewing online, I just saw ASUS router gets higher rating in general and longer support from the company. But prior to current purchase, I've never had ASUS or TP Link router, so I just went with what I read. Also another feature I wanted was VPN Fusion but TP Link had no mention about this type of technology.

Vs. Netgear RAX120
Out of all system, I think this was the biggest alternative option for me. RAX120 has multigig LAN ports up to 5Gbps whereas, ROG GT-Ax11000 only has one 2.5 Gbps LAN port. However, RAX120 is 6000 speed rated with dual band. Netgear does not have direct competitor technology of AiMesh but has Orbi like Extenders with Ethernet back-haul option, but I felt conceptually AiMesh sounded better with more flexibility. For instance, if times comes and I really need 5Gbps or even 10Gbps LAN port, I can purchase next generation ASUS router with such feature and use both AX11000 as AiMesh node.

Vs. Other AX Mesh systems
Orbi, TP Link, and Arris will have Wifi 6 Mesh systems this year. I like and need Mesh system at home, but if we can get the Mesh functionality with more option/flexibility why would I choose more restrictive system? (Other than simplicity).

********* Conclusion *********

On paper, ROG Ax11000 is undoubtedly the best router on the market including what's coming in near future. As a single router, this deserved 5 stars for sure.

In AiMesh mode, I had originally struggled due to network stability issue. I was lucky enough to solve this on my own with internet search; however, ASUS tech support was no help. I would have returned the devices if I couldn’t have solved the issue. Since default setting did not work smoothly, I expect there will be others having the same or some different issues, and may consider this device may be unusable in AiMesh mode. So I’d give 4 stars for AiMesh setting because set up can be very tricky but once one figures out, it works better than other Mesh system I owned in the past.
In the future, I hope VPN Fusion feature to be fully functional, third band to be optionally opens up in AiMesh mode and node to be configurable at least to some extent.

I normally don’t write long reviews, but thought due to our interesting networking environment, this review may be helpful for others contemplating this Asus AC88U router in more complex situations.

The short summary is that this router has been very capable and refined out of the box (contrary to what some professional reviewers have claimed as “beta” with some Asus routers and users), with only the slightest of “glitches” that should be remedied as the firmware matures. It was a sufficient enough improvement in a very busy mixed network to replace our old workhorse AC68U. For those with the most active networks, the AC88U is probably the current SOTA and should squeeze every last ounce of performance from it.

We have what is best described as a mixed-protocol, mixed-device, high-activity, network. Much of it is wired gigabit ethernet, but with a heavy supporting load of wireless 2.4 and 5 ghz clients, from legacy G to the latest AC Wi-Fi devices. Our broader network has three laser printers/MFPs (including color models), a Mac running OS X server with outboard RAID stack serving 10+TB of local data, three other Mac clients, three PC laptops, two PC workstations, a LAG-ethernet connected NAS unit for all local backups, six Squeezeboxes (wired and wireless) served by LMS locally, five Apple TVs, two network-managed cable boxes, several other smart TVs, Android tablets and streaming clients (Amazon Fire and Roku), two networked BD players, no less than seven iOS devices running both N and AC Wi-Fi, two gaming consoles, a fully populated Cisco 24-port managed switch with multiple LAG connections, and about 2,500 total feet of gigabit ethernet cable to manage. And a fairly active 2.4 ghz guest network on top of all of it for the regular in-law and neighbor visitors and all their devices. The longest Wi-Fi run is about 65 ft through 5-6 walls and across four levels (I do not believe in local repeaters or APs for security reasons). We run our 175/12 ISP WAN pretty much at its limit, with monthly activity typically in the 300-400+ GB range. At any given time, there are never less than 26-28 active clients on our network. Most activity is multiple-client, higher bitrate HD video and audio streaming, and regular larger data transfers, including multiple TimeMachine, local and off-site server backup routines. With all local data, HD video and audio traffic, Internet and cloud video streaming and data transfers, several RDC clients running, and continuous off-site server backups, our network is typically managing and moving hundreds of GB daily across many streams simultaneously. This is a heavy load for any router.

We were among the first buyers of the AC68U as a result. It has been a stable device since day one, with incremental improvements as Asus has refined its firmware. To date, our old AC68U still does a capable job. It is good-looking, petite, and draws no attention to itself. It just does the job. Consequently, I would continue to recommend this now classic AC router for any but the most intense network environments. Where the 68U can now falter for us is on longer and fringe wireless AC and other 5ghz connections during heavier network activity, where speeds and latency can start to fall off. As a result, we started shifting some devices to the 2.4 ghz band to relieve the AC68U. Under peak network activity, some ethernet transfers would also experience a slight drop off (from 100-105 MB/s to perhaps 75-80).

Enter the AC88U. It has several features that helped wring some additional capacity and headroom out of our busy network. The LAG feature is a legitimate IEEE 802.3ad setup, and allows a 2GB pipeline from our server to both Wi-Fi and Ethernet clients. Previously, a LAG connection was confined to Ethernet-side only. The AC88U’s more robust 5 ghz hardware delivers stronger and more stable fringe connections than the 68U, and with more headroom. We can move all our clients back over to 5 ghz with no speed drop off. The AC88U can support multiple HD video streams on all of them simultaneously without any compromises. Fringe 5 ghz devices previously connecting to the 68U at 125-150 mb are now rock solid at 350-400+ mb. Older 5 ghz clients such as the Intel 6300 AGN series are now holding stable connections at or just under 300 Mbps across much longer distances.

Updating the 88U to the latest firmware was an easy affair, taking under 3 minutes. Migration from the 68U to the 88U was fairly painless, with a settings save and upload between them transferring about 80% of our router settings over to the new router. However, some settings need to be manually re-entered, and all settings should be double-checked. I imagine similar later model Asus routers will have a similar experience.

Based on our testing, the AC88U’s more robust processing and transmitting power has improved all network transfer speeds over the 68U by approximately 10-15%, including for WAN traffic. This may not prove significant over a smaller network and/or with smaller data transfers, but for larger volume data transfers and heavy users with lots of clients, it adds up to a faster, more responsive network experience. As with all these matters, YMMV, and I suspect the 68U to be the the full equal of the 88U in less hectic environments. But the biggest gains for us with the 88U were seen with wireless clients, and in the 5 ghz band, particularly over distance.

The 88U is not without its flaws. It is a large and somewhat garish-looking device (we're older and best described as "mature", but I'm sure anyone under 30 will love it), and requires more real estate and electricity than the trim and classy looking 68U did. Its firmware, while surprisingly polished so early, is not yet mature. Most notably, we occasionally experience some very brief page load delays under Safari (2-3 sec), and very infrequently a slight delay when first connecting to our NAS - but once connected, it flies. I would characterize these more as “glitches” than full blown bugs, and expect that they will resolve over the next couple of firmware revisions. However, the entire Apple ecosystem in our house runs flawlessly under it, with all that implies (Airplay, Airdrop, Home Sharing, TimeMachine, FaceTime, etc), and the PCs, Apples and Androids all get along together nicely. The 88U is also eye-watering expensive, and you are paying to be on the bleeding-edge with it. MU-MIMO is an infant technology, and like most consumers, we are not yet using it. Perhaps later. I’m not a lamp-watcher, but the single LED to indicate all switch activity may bother some.

However, the bottom line is the AC88U is probably the strongest, most powerful home/prosumer router currently available. But its advantages over a more mainstream AC router such as the 68U are likely only going to make economic sense in busier, more complex networking environments. I consider it the top choice in any mixed environment, where ethernet is significantly deployed. The only possible current upgrade over the 88U is the tri-band AC5300, which can support even more 5 ghz clients than we have, and makes more sense in a Wi-Fi dominant environment. But for up to 12-15 5 ghz clients, the 88U is its equal. We expect the 88U to be with us for the next 3-5 years before our technology overtakes it, much as the 68U was. Again, for most homes, the difference between the 68U and 88U is not going to justify the price difference. Unless your 68U is starting to strain or stumble, there is little to be gained with the 88U.

I won’t go into all the other features of the AC88U which are common to all Asus routers, such as AiProtection, etc., except to say they are all work well on the AC88U. Having used many router brands over many years, we continue to prefer Asus for its combination of solid, reliable hardware and relatively useful and stable native firmware, and have not found the need for 3rd-party firmware solutions as with some other brands. The Asus Router App needs some work however, and is currently best avoided.

For a little less money, the AC3100 is just about the same router as the 88U, with 4 less ethernet jacks. However, we appreciate the extra ethernet jacks on the 88U to relieve our big switch from supporting server room devices such as printers and our RAID stack.

Should the operation of the 88U change in future, we’ll update our review accordingly. But after about a week with the 88U, we are confident enough to sadly say goodbye to our trusty 68U (which is still worth about $95 on trade-in).

LONG TERM UPDATE (July 30, 2018):

We still have this great router, and it has worked flawlessly across many firmware revisions since the original review over two years ago.

If anything, our network demands have increased since the original review. In addition to the above network traffic, we now are 'cable TV cord-cutters', have upgraded to full gigabit Internet service with an SB8200 modem, rely exclusively on streaming Internet TV and VOIP services (including plenty of Amazon Prime streaming), and have expanded ethernet into another renovated section of our house with heavy 4k video streaming activity. Our total networked data storage reservoir now exceeds 20TB (we have built up a substantial digital media collection, which is why we finally ditched cable).

Our 88U has yet to stumble or slow under the increasing load. It has been a most impressive router that handles whatever you throw at it. We grew so confident in this router, we even set up a 2.4 ghz band Wi-Fi audio client in our shed/outbuilding nearly 125 feet away this summer. And the 88U reaches it with fair to good signal strength, while accommodating everything else, in stride.

At this point, the firmware is quite mature, and quite stable. The only time we ever reboot the router is for a firmware update, or should a power outage cause some non-UPS clients to have reconnection issues.

In addition, the Asus mobile app has been repeatedly updated and improved, and has become quite usable. We will often access the router from a tablet to periodically 'roll call' which clients are accessing the network, to gauge traffic pressure, and to see if any firmware updates are available.

I do see that some later purchasers are having problems with this router. It is not uncommon for manufacturers to implement hardware revisions through a product's life cycle, and it would not surprise me if Asus may have done this after we bought ours. Sometimes those hardware revisions are not for the better. Ours was a very early production version, and it appears that many similar good reviews were with that initial production. So buyers may want to note the time frame where poor reviews are occurring and avoid the hardware revision for that period. And hunt or wait for revision versions with the best reviews.

Another tip for maximum network stability is to keep any router on a dedicated full sine wave UPS. While transient protection is obvious nowadays, many administrators overlook the impact of voltage sags on networking infrastructure, especially during summer. Mains supply voltage sags can stress some semiconductor circuits and also affect the stability of the device, both immediately and over time.

There are now significantly more powerful routers available, some from Asus. But it would take an extreme level of network traffic to overwhelm the 88U, even in mid-2018. I just don't see that happening in any rational home networking environment. Our network hasn't been able to do it, and I think we present a near-corporate environment load.

So with those observations, and aware that some later production may not be as reliable, I can still unequivocally recommend the 88U. It is as much router as anyone will ever practically need at this time short of a corporate environment. It has been our most dependable and best performing router in the nearly 25 years we have had residential networks.