Asus RT-AC88U

Deleted member 22229 · Aug 9, 2015

Anybody have any pics what this new router looks like and will this router be using the crappy Quantenna chipset ? I did a google search but came up empty although i did not spend a huge amount of time trying.

hggomes · Aug 9, 2015

No, it will use only Broadcom chips, no QTN anymore.

sfx2000 · Aug 9, 2015

Kal-EL said:
using the crappy Quantenna chipset ? I

Probably not - it wasn't quantenna that messed up the 87U, it was ASUS - the chipset itself is decent...

RMerlin · Aug 10, 2015

sfx2000 said:
Probably not - it wasn't quantenna that messed up the 87U, it was ASUS - the chipset itself is decent...

Actually, all the 5 GHz interoperability issues are related to Quantenna, not to Asus. Asus merely reuses the SDK and drivers from Quantenna.

The heat issue however is probably a design issue on Asus's end.

System Error Message · Aug 11, 2015

RMerlin said:
Actually, all the 5 GHz interoperability issues are related to Quantenna, not to Asus. Asus merely reuses the SDK and drivers from Quantenna.

The heat issue however is probably a design issue on Asus's end.

ASUS needs to switch the location of their grills. The orientation of the board, heatsink and grills should be so that the heatsink and grill face upwards/sidewards or perhaps attach a fan.

hggomes · Aug 11, 2015

I agree with all, except the Fan which is definetly a no go on routers, fans will sooner or later start with annoying noises, accumulate dust and eventually fail and obviously user cant do anything about it / open it or warranty will be voided, resuming you don't really need an active cooling system on such devices.

A router even with a powerfull CPU can easily be cooled with a good passive cooling system, several X86/X64 CPUs work with passive soluctions so its not that hard on ARM or MIPS CPU's.

It's all a matter of efficiency on the cooling system adopted by the manufacters, which it's not the best of all IMO on ASUS router, Netgear routers have better cooling systems overall comparing the same hardware, temperatures are usually 10-15º lower.

Like i said before several times there is obviously a failure on ASUS control quality department, its on sight of everyone.

A real proof of this is seeing most of the users with temperatures issues and being forced to buy separatelly external USB coolers and adapt on their routers, which in my point of view is just RIDDICULLOUS when people pay that much for such devices already and after are forced to fix something that shouldnt never happen in the first place, they should be ready to work on decent temperatures.

System Error Message · Aug 11, 2015

You can use fans on routers too. Doesnt netgear have a model with fan? I've really wanted to fix the thermal problem on my AC68U but i read that you cant take the heatsink off. high end mikrotik routers have 2 fans not only for cooling but as redundancy.

hggomes · Aug 11, 2015

Sure, you can also use Water Cooling or LN2 on it, all it's possible, though not needed at all.

No, Netgear doesn't have any router with active cooling, the only router using a cooler was Linksys WRT1900AC which recently was removed on new revision WRT1900ACv2, and this one uses a even faster clock CPU.

Sure you can take the heatsink off, the issue on RT-AC68U is that the heatsink screws are bending it and its not even touching the shielding, i lower temperature 20º after replacing the heatpads and setting properly the heatsink, obviously you will also be forced to loose your router warranty after opening it.

http://imgur.com/8pZvSsz,CjqD6b5,v1...9s4Ix,g8aK9LR,mNyys5d,DkZVDio,KRg127O,sfGUdxq

Read this thread:

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac87u-5ghz-band-r-i-p.23183

RMerlin · Aug 11, 2015

The Asus RT-AC5300 will have a fan based on what I see in the source code (unless they make any last-minute change, like they did with the RT-N66U which also initially had a fan).

Fans are a major turn-off for buyers, so they should be avoided as much as possible. Plenty of ways that passive cooling could be improved with the current hardware designs without the need for a passive cooler.

IAAI · Aug 11, 2015

Not everyone could place the router in the optimal position to make the air flow or even distribute the WiFi signal from the optimal position.
Why not adding a fan and giving the user a way to disable it through the GUI
or you will end up like me
[emoji23]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

snb008 · Aug 11, 2015

My RT-AC87U is fairly hot, relatively speaking. Perhaps this 'hotness' is mainly due to poor quality control of the heatsink/thermal pads. But I suspect a major reason is a lack of proper ventilation inside the router. The ventilation grills are placed to the sides and at the bottom of the cover. Fresh air just does not go into the router through those grills naturally. Hot air inside also does not escape out of the router through them as well. As a result, hot air is 'trapped' and accumulated inside. This is why the top cover (especially the area directly above the CPU) is so hot. What this router needs is simply some fresh air entering one side of the router and exiting through the other side. Even a small amount of current will be sufficient to eliminate any accumulation of hot air inside. I am using a small (~90mm) USB fan for this purpose. Its CFM is very small but the temp of the CPU drops 20C+ easily.

If there is no active cooling and a router relies only on natural convection, it should be a standing design like a 68U so that hot air could, at least, rise up and has a good chance of escaping the router compartment.

RogerSC · Aug 12, 2015

The fan on the WRT1900AC is made to turn on when the router gets hot enough to need it. Mine hasn't turned on yet *smile*. I agree, though, what I want to see on a router is passive cooling that works, not a fan. The less mechanical parts that a device like a router has, the better I like it.

hggomes · Aug 12, 2015

Like i said before they have removed it on Linksys WRT1900ACv2 even with a faster CPU, they realized that the fan was not there doing anything, based on your statements we can confirm it in real life usage.

jacabrera · Oct 9, 2015

Just found this:

http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-rt-ac88u-router/

nagle3092 · Oct 9, 2015

jacabrera said:
Just found this:

http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-rt-ac88u-router/

8 lan ports?!?! I can see this in my future. I hate having a switch sitting above my tv with the router. Now hopefully its not a ridiculous price.

sfx2000 · Oct 10, 2015

This device has all the makings of a nice and proper follow up to the RT-AC68 series...

Curious to find out how they added the extra four ports, as BRCM SoC's typically host 5 ethernet ports (1 WAN, 4 LAN), but my guess would be RGMII to a dedicated switch controller, which is fine..

Feast your eyes on all those ports - other question would be the USB port on the back, as it has two, and where is that other port? My best guess is it would be towards the front as USB3, getting it away from the RF section, and easier to access... the port on the back might be good for a Printer or whatever...

RMerlin · Oct 10, 2015

sfx2000 said:
Curious to find out how they added the extra four ports, as BRCM SoC's typically host 5 ethernet ports (1 WAN, 4 LAN), but my guess would be RGMII to a dedicated switch controller, which is fine..

RTL8365MB. No idea how it's interconnected however.

USB 3.0 port is at the front, similar to the RT-AC87U and RT-AC3200.

bilboSNB · Oct 10, 2015

I like the look of this one, hopefully it will actually deliver on its promises this time, whatever they are!

sfx2000 · Oct 10, 2015

RMerlin said:
RTL8365MB. No idea how it's interconnected however.

USB 3.0 port is at the front, similar to the RT-AC87U and RT-AC3200.

It's a decent chip - info here from Realtek's site...

So the assumption would be that 4 of the LAN ports hang off the Broadcom SOC directly, and 4 are running on the Realtek switch.

Raises some interesting possibilities as far as traffic management across those ports (considering the RT as an attached unmanaged switch over ethernet) - if the RT has light management, this is even better.

Pretty cool..

RTN · Oct 10, 2015

RMerlin said:
RTL8365MB. No idea how it's interconnected however.

USB 3.0 port is at the front, similar to the RT-AC87U and RT-AC3200.

It can be connected through the port RGMII ?? Broadcom BCM47094

FEATURES

Tri-band (Xstream) AC5400 router support with three BCM4366 4x4 radios

Dual 1.4GHz Cortex A9 CPU

Network hardware acceleration, Layer 2 switch and flow control

Integrated 5 port 10/100/1000 BASE-TX Ethernet transceivers

USB3.0, offering >100MB/s Data rates

RGMII expander ports

ASUS RT-AC88U Specifications:

CPU: Broadcom BCM47094 @1.4GHz (ARM Cortex A9)
Flash: 128 MB (NAND), RAM: 256/512 MB (DDR3)
Wi-Fi: 4x4 MU-MIMO, NitroQAM, DualBand, 2.4/5 GHz
WLAN: 2x Broadcom BCM4366 SoC 4T4R 802.11abgn/ac
PA: Skyworks 4x SKY2623L (2.4GHz), Skyworks 4x SKY85405 (5GHz)
LNA: NXP (SiGe) BGU7224 (2.4GHz), Macom MAAL-011078 (5GHz)
Antenna: 4x Detachable Dual Band 5dBi antennas
Switch: Realtek RTL8365MB (4x GbE)
Ports: 1x WAN (GbE), 8x LAN (GbE)
USB: 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC88U

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