Asus Reveals Eight Ethernet Port RT-AC88U Gaming Router At ROG Unleashed

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Guest

Guest
Do gamers really have more than 4 computers in a short distance? I doubt there are many use-cases for these.
 

beoza

Distinguished
Oct 23, 2009
329
0
18,860
Do gamers really have more than 4 computers in a short distance? I doubt there are many use-cases for these.
There are more than just computers being hooked up in homes, think of all the wired and wireless devices you currently have. You could have consoles (XB360/XB1, PS3/4, Wii/WiiU), gaming laptops, phones, streaming boxes (Nvidia Shield, Netflix), PC's, Tablets all online pretty much at once with this router and not experience issues (not enough info here to be sure about that) like more traditional routers. It's not just computers anymore, everything is being connected to the internet, even your fridge can be connected. I can see a use for this for me personally as I don't like using my PC's and laptops wireless (if I can avoid it with laptops) just more secure when doing banking/online purchases (if you are proactive with your security). Roku (Netflix box) seems to stream better with a wired connection than wireless in apartment complexes where there are a lot of wireless routers. But at the end of the day it all comes down to the individual to decide if they ultimately need this router, or just want it cause it's from ASUS.
 

Bureaucromancer

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2011
5
0
18,510
Honestly I might be interested in this if the price is vaguely reasonable purely for the extra ports. 4 really doesn't cut it, and piling on a switch for the number and location of my devices is a lot messier than getting a few more ports on the router. Of course with Asus networking gear it's a big if whether the price will be sane.
 

somebodyspecial

Honorable
Sep 20, 2012
1,459
0
11,310
Yes, with so many of us having more devices that are NOT PC's (roku's blurays, 3/2 of each in my house, xbox etc), I'd like to see them all switch to 5+. I have 3 routers going in my house due to this crap, but am looking to go 1 cisco 8 port something when they get their AC stuff going (a business model probably anyway for some cisco training). Just waiting for AC MU-MIMO to get better before I don't mind spending on some AC stuff so I can get by on just an 8 port. Not sure why we've been stuck at 4 for so long at home with so many devices. Add consoles, PC's, roku's and blurays and you can easily hit 10. I always opt for wire when available, PERIOD. I'll likely have an ethernet TV next upgrade shortly too. Yeah I can use more ports ;)
 

JROldman

Reputable
Oct 10, 2015
2
0
4,510


Exactly! :D
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
A stupidly expensive router with 8 LAN ports, vs a typical router with 4 LAN ports and a $20 gigabit switch.
Is the actual router functionality any better?

Putting more LAN ports on the basic router is no big deal. If it adds more than $20, no thanks.
 

SirGCal

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2010
310
0
18,780
8 port is a welcome change for many I'm sure! For me, a 16 port would be perfect. Right now my AC68U feeds my Cisco SG100-16. I use 12 right now with all the stuff. TV tuner takes one, servers each take two (could take 4), each room has a wired HTPC, consoles, etc. Right now the router is just the router and wireless access point. A 16 port one would be nice to assure I have enough. I also wounder when they'll start looking at 10G ports.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Of course more LAN ports are needed. In my house, we have multiple switches to distribute the signal to where it goes.
Those gigabit switches are cheap.

If this the only benefit of this super zoomie router is 4 more LAN ports...whoopiede do. Easily done with a $20 switch.
Now...if this router brings other benefits to the table...great.

But 4 more LAN ports is nothing special or expensive.
 

SirGCal

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2010
310
0
18,780
I'd like to know how quotes work... Tried it in Firefox and IE both.. nothing happens but the + goes to a - on the button... And I'm directly on the forum also, FWIW.

Anyhow, I know of NO 10/100/1000 x4 or 5 switches I'd buy close to $20. If that quality is fine for you great but... The cheapest one I see that I would consider on Amazon right now is mid 30's.

Regardless, this router does more then just that, it's 2.4G and 5G speeds (according to this) are twice what I can get on my AC68U. Plus what else it may do (or not). Still, I don't see anything on the price yet so. Regardless, this would peak my attention if I was looking just for a new unit today. Too bad I JUST got the AC68U.. Ohh well.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Well...I have a few TP-Link switches around the house here. 5 port and 8 port. $17 and $23 from Amazon. Work just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1005D-1000Mbps-Gigabit-Capacity/dp/B000N99BBC

I'm not begrudging whatever this router does. If it does other router stuff better than other devices...great. But proclaiming "8 ports!" is not a selling point for me.


(yeah, that quote button thing is messed up. We've been discussing that for quite a while)
 

Larry Litmanen

Reputable
Jan 22, 2015
616
0
5,010
I had such horrible experience with a Netgear router that was pretty much top of the line, all the endless calls to India, 45 minute holds..............i just lost it. I simply got a router from the cable company and life became less stressful.

I am sure long term it is cheaper to buy your own, but cable companies already give AC routers.
 
2 minutes ago: ASUS releases yet another ridiculous router, I already have a nice ASUS wireless router; Why am I clicking on this link?
2 seconds later: OMG, 8 Ethernet ports on a consumer router?! I might be interested!

Seriously though, with consumer 10Gb/s Ethernet still nowhere to be seen (or 2.5, or 4, or 8Gb/s), I would love to pick up a router like this! 2 ports to my desktop, and 2 to my home server in Ether channel and it would make my world a much better place! Throw in another single gigabit line to the server for the 'peasants' in the home who just stream content from it, a wired wifi repeater for upstairs, a wired connection for my wife's PC, and move my printer from the wifi to a wired connection and I would already be out of ports! But still a lot better than the 4 ports I have today! Seriously interested, though I am sure the price will be out of reach at launch.
 

conceptj

Honorable
Jan 18, 2013
11
0
10,510
Finally something more than 8 ports. Like most people here I use switches to expand my network, but I hear that using switches in between slows the speed down in some way. Very happy to see 8 ports.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Not to any measurable degree, no they don't.
 

Benjamin_6

Reputable
Oct 11, 2015
1
0
4,510
im glad to see a router with more then 4 ports, some people may thing this is enough for homes. but were i currently live we have had to add a 4 port and 8 port switch, just to get enough ports for the devices in the home.
 

manitoublack

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2009
109
0
18,680
It seems everyone has missed the point (Even Asus.) 4-Stream Wireless AC is awesome, but not so awesome, when aside form a very limited number of Asus Devices that have a 3-Stream client solution. 99.99% of punters only have at best a 2-Streatm client device.

Thus even though the router may have a peak 2.1Gb/s 5GHz speed, to a single client the best you're going to get is 40-50MB/s on a 2-stream WiFi-AC adapter (Intel 7260 being popular.) As WiFi bandwidth is shared, you could in theory utilize more of the available bandwidth (depending on router smarts, and number of users.)

But what I really want (and what we should all want) is 4-Stream client solutions to go with this new crop of routers!!! I want true Gigabit WiFi!!! 4-Stream Wireless-AC will provide that.

Regards
Jordan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.