[SOLVED] Asus Rt-88U

[Bryanardell]

I’m moving into a 2400sq house and know I’ll need to upgrade my router. I’m looking to purchase the asus RT-88U. Does any one have any experience with this router, will it cover a home of this size?

any recommendations for an alternate device?

 

[bill001g]

There actually is no way to predict it since it depends too much on the house itself. The actual distance the radio signals go is about the same on almost all quality routers. Even old 802.11n routers transmit at the same legal power. It is the transmit power that determines the distance. Now there is some difference in the actual speed because newer router cram more data into the signal but that is too hard to combine the ideas of how much speed you get at certain distances. The main problem with cramming more data into a signal is interference from neighbors has more chance to damage this transmission.

Be careful about chasing big numbers. It is mostly marketing hype to get those who just figure bigger is better without learning what they mean. Most times the limitations are the end devices. Unlike routers end devices do not always transmit at full legal power and have small antenna. So the device can hear the router but the router can not hear the device. In addition most end devices only have 2 antenna so fancy things like 4x4 mimo on the router is a waste of money. Routers like the 88u are using a non standard qam1024 data rate that is actually part of the newer wifi6 standard. BUT since it is not part of 802.11ac and it is done in a method not compatible with wifi6 devices it is again just a trick to get bigger numbers.

Asus makes quality product. There is nothing really wrong with the router other than it having lots of feature you may pay extra for and not use.

To get better coverage in a house your best options is mulitple radio sources. You would put AP connected to the main router via ethernet in remote rooms to improve the coverage.

Your current router should give you a indication of how well your coverage is. If your current router has a number say 1200-1750 that matches most end devices ability and will likely represent the best you can expect. Most times you will not get much more than about 300mbps even on the most expensive routers and it can be far less if the walls of your house absorb lots of signals or you have lots of close by neighbors.

 

[rhyalus]

Which 88U? There are a lot of articles and youtube reviews of the AX88U. I just ordered it and it is arriving today.

Bill is right on all fronts, of course.

R

 

[Bryanardell]

It’s the ac-3100, the 8 port version. I’m hoping I will not need to use any kind of booster, but it’s an older house so I might not have a choice. What AP do you recommend to recommend?

 

[bill001g]

If you want actual AP ubiquiti is likely your best option. Pretty much any router can be used as a AP. Nothing real fancy since when you use a router as a AP most stuff other than the wifi an not really be used.

 

[hang-the-9]

I’m moving into a 2400sq house and know I’ll need to upgrade my router. I’m looking to purchase the asus RT-88U. Does any one have any experience with this router, will it cover a home of this size?

any recommendations for an alternate device?

In addition to the router you would want to have a good WiFi adapter on the computers. I like the Netgear ones that are in the $50-$75 range https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgea...V873xlAk-Vwf2pzZNwQaAobXEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Of all the adapters I tried those seem to be the most stable and with good range, ended up buying 3 of them for most of my systems.