Asus RT-AX86U Pro AX5700 Wireless Dual-Band Wifi 6 Gaming Router

Coming from an Asus RT-AC68U that was rock solid for the past 8 years, this model adds a significant speed and range improvement. With the router centrally located in a new 2800 sqft one level house with all interior walls insulated, Floor to ceiling cabinets, solid wood doors, quality windows and slider doors, stucco siding, I now have good signal on the patio whereas with the AC68U, signal was really spotty with frequent drops. It has the same top notch Asus interface and frequent firmware updates unlike Netgear and TP_link which stop providing firmware updates after 2-3 years, leaving the most important security device in your house vulnerable to hackers. On the negative side, it doesn't seem to be as stable as the AC68U, radios drop once in a while for a minute ... MoreComing from an Asus RT-AC68U that was rock solid for the past 8 years, this model adds a significant speed and range improvement. With the router centrally located in a new 2800 sqft one level house with all interior walls insulated, Floor to ceiling cabinets, solid wood doors, quality windows and slider doors, stucco siding, I now have good signal on the patio whereas with the AC68U, signal was really spotty with frequent drops. It has the same top notch Asus interface and frequent firmware updates unlike Netgear and TP_link which stop providing firmware updates after 2-3 years, leaving the most important security device in your house vulnerable to hackers. On the negative side, it doesn't seem to be as stable as the AC68U, radios drop once in a while for a minute or two, hopefully these drops will be fixed in future firmware updates. Over all a great purchase, arguably the best bang for the buck router out there.

It's very fast and stable for me, and I'm running Merlin 388.1. Compared to my old Asus RT-AC66U B1, the RT-AX86 Pro has a snappy-fast GUI and throughput is fantastic. From my work, I can now watch my 4K home security camera at 25fps with no video stuttering of any kind. My old RT-AC66U B1 would struggle requiring me to reduce the camera's frame rate from 25fps to 18. The Pro footprint is nice and compact while the chassis sports a classy look. Under the chassis, the Pro shares the same quad core 2GHz CPU as the AX6000. I might have looked harder at the AX6000 if it wasn't the size of a skateboard and supported VLANs like the Pro models. The only annoyance with the RT-AX86 Pro for me, the LEDs on the front are bright white. I disabled them in the firmware, but it ... MoreIt's very fast and stable for me, and I'm running Merlin 388.1. Compared to my old Asus RT-AC66U B1, the RT-AX86 Pro has a snappy-fast GUI and throughput is fantastic. From my work, I can now watch my 4K home security camera at 25fps with no video stuttering of any kind. My old RT-AC66U B1 would struggle requiring me to reduce the camera's frame rate from 25fps to 18. The Pro footprint is nice and compact while the chassis sports a classy look. Under the chassis, the Pro shares the same quad core 2GHz CPU as the AX6000. I might have looked harder at the AX6000 if it wasn't the size of a skateboard and supported VLANs like the Pro models. The only annoyance with the RT-AX86 Pro for me, the LEDs on the front are bright white. I disabled them in the firmware, but it would nice if there was a 50% setting vs. full on or full off.

I am using this as AImesh Node with another AX86U. Works fine with Merlin and also using the Dual Wan feature as I have both Cable and Fiber internet connections. Everything is working fine. I had one incident where the primary Wan stopped and would not switch over but I just reinstalled the Firmware and it all came back. I like all the settings and have used many of the VPN settings and also Asus DDNS.It is also nice that with AImesh you can bind specific things to either Node or Base unit. I did have one old gadget that required the old B connection and although turning on the BG setting it still would not connect. I could only connect that to a very old B router. But, there are a lot of user settings on this router and maybe I did not find the right setting. ... MoreI am using this as AImesh Node with another AX86U. Works fine with Merlin and also using the Dual Wan feature as I have both Cable and Fiber internet connections. Everything is working fine. I had one incident where the primary Wan stopped and would not switch over but I just reinstalled the Firmware and it all came back. I like all the settings and have used many of the VPN settings and also Asus DDNS.It is also nice that with AImesh you can bind specific things to either Node or Base unit. I did have one old gadget that required the old B connection and although turning on the BG setting it still would not connect. I could only connect that to a very old B router. But, there are a lot of user settings on this router and maybe I did not find the right setting. But despite these issues, it still is the Best Router I have had. Highly recommend.