Asus RT-AX86U review: The best Wi-Fi 6 router for the money

 

A 12 months in the past, the Asus RT-AC86U outperformed its more pricey competition inside the gaming router class. Speeds were high and steady, lag became properly and coffee, capabilities had been deep, and the fee wasn't too painful. I liked it a lot that it not most effective made it to primary on our listing of the first-rate gaming routers, however it additionally made it to primary on our listing of the nice routers, length.  

Now there is a brand new version: Asus RT-AX86U to be had now for $250. As the addition of an "X" to the version number may characterize, it supports 802.11ax, better referred to as Wi-Fi 6. This approach that similarly to current gaming functions like tool prioritization and forwarding of open NAT ports, it supports new Wi-Fi -Fi 6 functions along with 1024-QAM and OFDMA that make your home network faster and extra efficient. (Just be aware that it would not aid Wi-Fi 6E, which adds get admission to to the newly discovered 6 GHz band as a sort of very wide, dedicated bandwidth for Wi-Fi 6 network site visitors. Routers like this may not begin hitting stores on the quit of this yr.) 

Check this out: Wi-Fi 6: what's it?

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Priced at $250, the RT-AX86U is actually a step up from access-degree Wi-Fi 6 routers like the $70 TP-Link Archer AX10 and $one hundred fifty Linksys MR7350, but neither regarded like a huge development to me. I tried them. At my place. The RT-AX86U without problems outperformed every of them and I felt like part of a excessive-quit AP while the use of it. In our lab, it posted fantastic pinnacle speeds, turning in local 5GHz transfer speeds of up to 1.8Gbps at distances of as much as 37.5ft (at 75ft, the rate dropped to just 1.4Gbps). In my house, it kept latency low better than any router I've attempted, that's precisely what you need in case you're a gamer, and fantastic even if you're not. $250 for a router like this doesn't strike me as unreasonable in the slightest.

Overall, this router ticks all of the bins. It's speedy, complete, and smooth to use, or even without Wi-Fi 6E, it appears promising enough with a WAN port that helps download speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. Gamer or no longer, this Editors' Choice award-prevailing router is on the top of your wireless networking want list. 

Asus Wi-Fi 6 Router RT-AX86U

$250 at Walmart

$250 at Amazon

$250 in NEWEGG

I LIKE

Incredible Wi-Fi 6 experience with high speeds and long variety

Best-in-elegance latency management

Multi-gigabyte WAN port

Full app with device prioritization

I DO NOT LIKE IT

Somewhat cumbersome design

No extra 5 GHz band for committed gaming visitors

Band guidance "Smart Connect" reduces common speed

Features and Characteristics

RT-AX86U is a twin-band AX5700 router, which means it helps Wi-Fi 6 and the maximum theoretical pace on the two.4GHz and 5GHz bands is 5700Mbps or 5.7Gbps. Don't let this range idiot you: these numbers are primarily based on optimized lab exams that don't recall actual factors like distance, interference, and physical obstructions, and you could best hook up with one band at a time. Hour. Translation: Your real speeds can be tons decrease.

However, this does not mean that they'll be sluggish. The router capabilities maximum statistics transfer speeds of up to 4804 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 861 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, and is ready with a 2.Five Gbps WAN port that offers inbound wired speeds. Of several gigabytes out of your modem. All of this makes it a terrific preference if you stay in a house with a gigabit net plan, and guide for 4x4 MU-MIMO connections at the 5GHz band makes it clean for the router to handle more than one gadgets at the same time or join them collectively. . . A couple of visitors hyperlinks to gadgets the use of a couple of antennas. 

In our lab, with a MacBook Pro related to the router's high-speed WAN port, we have been capable of wirelessly transfer files to a Wi-Fi 6 PC at a most speed of 1795 Mbps, or almost 1.Eight Gbps. Even when we improved the gap among the MacBook and the patron PC to seventy five ft, the velocity dropped to simply 1.Four Gbps. Keep in mind that you may handiest be capable of retrieve statistics from the cloud as rapid as your ISP plan lets in, however it's very effective hardware though.

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The Asus app offers a host of gaming capabilities that promise to boost your network performance while gaming.

Screenshots: Rai Christ/CNET

Asus gaming routers also feature a feature-rich app with many