Observations on switching from RT-AC86U to GT-AX6000

[maxbraketorque]

I use the ASUS main/AP mode for my two router home network. This setup requires wired backhaul. It lacks some features of Aimesh, but its 100% reliable, and I have full control over the radio settings on the AP. I replaced both the main and the AP RT-AC86Us with GT-AX6000s. My home network already incorporates a multigig switch for the wired network, so moving from the RT-AC86U to the GT-AX6000 allowed me to bring the wireless part of the network up to 2.5 gbps. I'm running the current latest beta firmware - 9.0.0.6.102.4856. A few thoughts on the move to the GT-AX6000 main/AP combo:

• The GT-AX6000 is definitely larger than the RT-AC86U, but its not really that much more of an eyesore than the RT-AC86U because the body of the GT-AX6000 sits horizontal rather than vertical. If a set of more normal looking antennas were used, it would look less obtrusive than the RT-AC86U.
• N and AC wireless range and speed at long range are about the same as my RT-AC86U. No surprise here as the RT-AC86U is known to have excellent wireless range, and I guess the good news is that the GT-AX6000 range is as good rather than worse.
• Maximum wireless speeds are now of course higher due to 2.5 gbps networking and AX mode, but not a lot higher. Close range, large file transfer speeds between my wired server and my wireless 3x3 AC laptop went from 80 MB/sec with the RT-AC86U to 90 MB/sec with the GT-AX6000. I wouldn't expect my AX laptop to be any faster because its only 2x2 (which now seems to be the standard for built-in AX wifi, even on Macs). I have yet to try a folder of small files which may be more relevant because backup software (which everyone should be using) is often chatty and uses lots of small transfers.
• I've not yet experimented to see if my AX devices have better range in AX mode than in AC mode. I may try that at some point.
• Not surprisingly, the router GUI runs noticeably faster on the GT-AX6000 despite the RT-AC86U GUI being no slouch.
• The ROG web GUI design is annoying.
• I'm just beginning to explore the beta firmware features. Not much to say here yet except that the Network Map is still broken (stops updating after a while) with the new beta firmware. I guess ASUS is never going to fix this.
• Based on my experience thus far, I would say there is no clear benefit to the upgrade except to have access to the next generation ASUS firmware which hopefully will be significantly better.
• If someone wants to get one of the ASUS Pro-level routers, I see no reason not to choose the GT-AX6000 for dual band needs because it has all the features and capability of the RT-AX88U Pro and RT-AX86U Pro but runs significantly less expensive at this time.

 

[FernandoF]

Thanks for the detailed post, @maxbraketorque. I will follow this thread with great interest.

Have you by any chance compared the CPU and radio temperatures between the 2 models? If not, could you please just post the current CPU/2.4GHz/5GHz temperatures of the GT-AX6000, along with the ambient temperature?

Finally, have you noticed any range difference between low (36-48) and high (149-161) 5GHz channels on the GT-AX6000?

Thank you!

 

[SpringThing]

I use the ASUS main/AP mode for my two router home network. This setup requires wired backhaul. It lacks some features of Aimesh, but its 100% reliable, and I have full control over the radio settings on the AP. I replaced both the main and the AP RT-AC86Us with GT-AX6000s. My home network already incorporates a multigig switch for the wired network, so moving from the RT-AC86U to the GT-AX6000 allowed me to bring the wireless part of the network up to 2.5 gbps. I'm running the current latest beta firmware - 9.0.0.6.102.4856. A few thoughts on the move to the GT-AX6000 main/AP combo:

• The GT-AX6000 is definitely larger than the RT-AC86U, but its not really that much more of an eyesore than the RT-AC86U because the body of the GT-AX6000 sits horizontal rather than vertical. If a set of more normal looking antennas were used, it would look less obtrusive than the RT-AC86U.
• N and AC wireless range and speed at long range are about the same as my RT-AC86U. No surprise here as the RT-AC86U is known to have excellent wireless range, and I guess the good news is that the GT-AX6000 range is as good rather than worse.
• Maximum wireless speeds are now of course higher due to 2.5 gbps networking and AX mode, but not a lot higher. Close range, large file transfer speeds between my wired server and my wireless 3x3 AC laptop went from 80 MB/sec with the RT-AC86U to 90 MB/sec with the GT-AX6000. I wouldn't expect my AX laptop to be any faster because its only 2x2 (which now seems to be the standard for built-in AX wifi, even on Macs). I have yet to try a folder of small files which may be more relevant because backup software (which everyone should be using) is often chatty and uses lots of small transfers.
• I've not yet experimented to see if my AX devices have better range in AX mode than in AC mode. I may try that at some point.
• Not surprisingly, the router GUI runs noticeably faster on the GT-AX6000 despite the RT-AC86U GUI being no slouch.
• The ROG web GUI design is annoying.
• I'm just beginning to explore the beta firmware features. Not much to say here yet except that the Network Map is still broken (stops updating after a while) with the new beta firmware. I guess ASUS is never going to fix this.
• Based on my experience thus far, I would say there is no clear benefit to the upgrade except to have access to the next generation ASUS firmware which hopefully will be significantly better.
• If someone wants to get one of the ASUS Pro-level routers, I see no reason not to choose the GT-AX6000 for dual band needs because it has all the features and capability of the RT-AX88U Pro and RT-AX86U Pro but runs significantly less expensive at this time.

The price difference between this and an ax86u pro / ax88u pro is just 20€ here,so it was a no brainer to go for the pro variant

 

[slackjaw99]

Finally, have you noticed any range difference between low (36-48) and high (149-161) 5GHz channels on the GT-AX6000?

I've been using this model for 6 or 7 months and haven't noticed any range difference between low and high 5ghz channels.

Temperatures IMO are too hot for good longevity of the silicon, but that is not specific to the 6000. Also I'm not sure if heat causes the cpu to downclock or not. Sorry I can't give you exact numbers cuz my routers, APs, and 2.5gbs switches, basically all the hardware that gets hot to the touch, all sit on top of air filters to keep them cool and long lasting.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Thanks for the detailed post, @maxbraketorque. I will follow this thread with great interest.

Have you by any chance compared the CPU and radio temperatures between the 2 models? If not, could you please just post the current CPU/2.4GHz/5GHz temperatures of the GT-AX6000, along with the ambient temperature?

Finally, have you noticed any range difference between low (36-48) and high (149-161) 5GHz channels on the GT-AX6000?

Thank you!

Nothing in the ASUS beta firmware GUI that reports temperature, and I can't find a command line command to read CPU temperature with the GT-AX6000. If anyone knows the command line command, I'll check.

 

[sl4fko]

I use the ASUS main/AP mode for my two router home network. This setup requires wired backhaul. It lacks some features of Aimesh, but its 100% reliable, and I have full control over the radio settings on the AP. I replaced both the main and the AP RT-AC86Us with GT-AX6000s. My home network already incorporates a multigig switch for the wired network, so moving from the RT-AC86U to the GT-AX6000 allowed me to bring the wireless part of the network up to 2.5 gbps. I'm running the current latest beta firmware - 9.0.0.6.102.4856. A few thoughts on the move to the GT-AX6000 main/AP combo:

• The GT-AX6000 is definitely larger than the RT-AC86U, but its not really that much more of an eyesore than the RT-AC86U because the body of the GT-AX6000 sits horizontal rather than vertical. If a set of more normal looking antennas were used, it would look less obtrusive than the RT-AC86U.
• N and AC wireless range and speed at long range are about the same as my RT-AC86U. No surprise here as the RT-AC86U is known to have excellent wireless range, and I guess the good news is that the GT-AX6000 range is as good rather than worse.
• Maximum wireless speeds are now of course higher due to 2.5 gbps networking and AX mode, but not a lot higher. Close range, large file transfer speeds between my wired server and my wireless 3x3 AC laptop went from 80 MB/sec with the RT-AC86U to 90 MB/sec with the GT-AX6000. I wouldn't expect my AX laptop to be any faster because its only 2x2 (which now seems to be the standard for built-in AX wifi, even on Macs). I have yet to try a folder of small files which may be more relevant because backup software (which everyone should be using) is often chatty and uses lots of small transfers.
• I've not yet experimented to see if my AX devices have better range in AX mode than in AC mode. I may try that at some point.
• Not surprisingly, the router GUI runs noticeably faster on the GT-AX6000 despite the RT-AC86U GUI being no slouch.
• The ROG web GUI design is annoying.
• I'm just beginning to explore the beta firmware features. Not much to say here yet except that the Network Map is still broken (stops updating after a while) with the new beta firmware. I guess ASUS is never going to fix this.
• Based on my experience thus far, I would say there is no clear benefit to the upgrade except to have access to the next generation ASUS firmware which hopefully will be significantly better.
• If someone wants to get one of the ASUS Pro-level routers, I see no reason not to choose the GT-AX6000 for dual band needs because it has all the features and capability of the RT-AX88U Pro and RT-AX86U Pro but runs significantly less expensive at this time.

I've made exactly the same upgrade from AC86U to GT-AX6000 in november last year.

I agree with all of your 8 findings except with nr. 2; I get A LOT better N signal coverage with GT-AX6000 than with AC86U.

Bottom line, the router IS great.

 

[maxbraketorque]

I've made exactly the same upgrade from AC86U to GT-AX6000 in november last year.

I agree with all of your 8 findings except with nr. 2; I get A LOT better N signal coverage with GT-AX6000 than with AC86U.

Bottom line, the router IS great.

Interesting to hear about N signal coverage. When I checked the signal strength in the room furthest from both routers, I did notice the both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal strength seemed stronger than what I recalled for the AC86U. So definitely not giving up range with the GT-AX6000 even for N and AC.

 

[FernandoF]

I've been using this model for 6 or 7 months and haven't noticed any range difference between low and high 5ghz channels.

Temperatures IMO are too hot for good longevity of the silicon, but that is not specific to the 6000. Also I'm not sure if heat causes the cpu to downclock or not. Sorry I can't give you exact numbers cuz my routers, APs, and 2.5gbs switches, basically all the hardware that gets hot to the touch, all sit on top of air filters to keep them cool and long lasting.

Thanks for your response!

Nothing in the ASUS beta firmware GUI that reports temperature, and I can't find a command line command to read CPU temperature with the GT-AX6000. If anyone knows the command line command, I'll check.

Thank you for willing to help, @maxbraketorque. I've been running Merlin for so long that I forget temperature information is not easily available with the Asus stock firmware.

The following works on my AC86U -- maybe you could try that on the GT-AX6000 when you have a moment:

1) After logging in to the router via a browser, open a new tab and paste the address 192.168.50.1/ajax_coretmp.asp (please adjust the IP address for the router accordingly). The radio temperatures can be found on the first row of the text output. The CPU temperature, with 3 decimal places, can be seen almost at the end of the output.

2) If SSH is available and what you mean by command line, the following commands display CPU and radio temperatures respectively (you may need to adjust eth5 and eth6 accordingly as well):

cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp | awk '{print $1/1000}'
wl -i eth5 phy_tempsense | awk '{print $1/2+20}'
wl -i eth6 phy_tempsense | awk '{print $1/2+20}'

Thanks again!

 

[maxbraketorque]

2) If SSH is available and what you mean by command line, the following commands display CPU and radio temperatures respectively (you may need to adjust eth5 and eth6 accordingly as well):

cat /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp  (please divide the result by 1000)
wl -i eth5 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'
wl -i eth6 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'

Thanks again!

Thanks. I was curious as well, and these pretty much work except it appears that the 2.4 GHz radio is at eth6 and the 5 GHz radio is at eth7. I suspect that the 2.5 gbps LAN port is at eth5.

cat /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp  (please divide the result by 1000)
wl -i eth6 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'
wl -i eth7 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'

CPU = 66°C
2.4 GHz radio = 50.5°C
5 GHz radio = 49.5°C

All temperatures are in very acceptable ranges. The CPU of my main AC86U would reach 82/83C without a fan and with a fan, it would sit around 63C. Nice to no longer need a fan. I think that without a fan, my AC86U radios ran at 55C and with around 45C.

 

[hellreturn]

You must be in cool place.. cos i see this temps in mine:

fanctrl_info = ; curr_cpuTemp = "59.262"; curr_rxData = fanctrl_info[3]; curr_coreTmp_2 = fanctrl_info[1]; curr_coreTmp_5 = fanctrl_info[2];

I agree with UI - that annoying red theme sucks.

I feel my current AC-3100 as much better 2.4Ghz range. Same camera, same place, can't even find GT-AX6000.

 

[FernandoF]

CPU = 66°C
2.4 GHz radio = 50.5°C
5 GHz radio = 49.5°C

All temperatures are in very acceptable ranges. The CPU of my main AC86U would reach 82/83C without a fan and with a fan, it would sit around 63C. Nice to no longer need a fan. I think that without a fan, my AC86U radios ran at 55C and with around 45C.

Thank you for checking your temperatures.

You must be in cool place.. cos i see this temps in mine:

fanctrl_info = ; curr_cpuTemp = "59.262"; curr_rxData = fanctrl_info[3]; curr_coreTmp_2 = fanctrl_info[1]; curr_coreTmp_5 = fanctrl_info[2];

I'm not sure I follow, @hellreturn. Your CPU temperature seems to be 59°C, which is even lower than what @maxbraketorque reported (66°C).

 

[RogerSC]

Couple of comments. Been using RMerlin's latest, 388.2, and the GUI is the same one that you're familiar with. Not the ROG red on black one *smile*. Also, the temperatures of the radios and CPU are available in the GUI. I find that performance using either Asus or RMerlin's firmware are pretty much the same. The only real difference is that RMerlin's firmware tends to be more stable. And tends to get fixes and new features just a little later, since he has to wait for the GPL source for a particular Asus release level to be available.

One other thing, with Merlin's firmware I'm able to use Diversion for ad blocking. Very easy to set up, nice automated install, and works well, happy with it.

So I guess the choice is whether you want the extra stability and features that Merlin offers, or if you want the Asus fixes and enhancements slightly earlier. Personally, I go back and forth a bit as new firmware versions come out, and appreciate each for their strengths.

As to which wireless router has better performance, the RT-AX86U or the GT-AX6000, no question for me that the GT-AX6000 performs better here. Better range, and speed at range.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Couple of comments. Been using RMerlin's latest, 388.2, and the GUI is the same one that you're familiar with. Not the ROG red on black one *smile*. Also, the temperatures of the radios and CPU are available in the GUI. I find that performance using either Asus or RMerlin's firmware are pretty much the same. The only real difference is that RMerlin's firmware tends to be more stable. And tends to get fixes and new features just a little later, since he has to wait for the GPL source for a particular Asus release level to be available.

One other thing, with Merlin's firmware I'm able to use Diversion for ad blocking. Very easy to set up, nice automated install, and works well, happy with it.

So I guess the choice is whether you want the extra stability and features that Merlin offers, or if you want the Asus fixes and enhancements slightly earlier. Personally, I go back and forth a bit as new firmware versions come out, and appreciate each for their strengths.

As to which wireless router has better performance, the RT-AX86U or the GT-AX6000, no question for me that the GT-AX6000 performs better here. Better range, and speed at range.

I wrote this thread to compare performance between my RT-AC86U main/AP vs a GT-AX6000 main/AP combo. I guess its inevitable that people will misread and think I'm comparing to the AX86U.

Merlin's firmware has been a strong selling point for ASUS routers. I've been using it on all my ASUS routers up to the GT-AX6000. For the GT-AX6000, I decided to start with the new ASUS 9.0.0.6 beta firmware because it has a new guest network architecture that resolves a long standing issue of not being able to have isolated guest networks on ASUS routers operating in AP mode. Unfortunately, its totally broken in this beta, and its not possible to have guest networks of any kind on ASUS routers in AP or mesh mode. I'll likely hop over to 388.2 soon.

 

[ColDen]

Thanks. I was curious as well, and these pretty much work except it appears that the 2.4 GHz radio is at eth6 and the 5 GHz radio is at eth7. I suspect that the 2.5 gbps LAN port is at eth5.

cat /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp  (please divide the result by 1000)
wl -i eth6 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'
wl -i eth7 phy_tempsense | awk '{ print $1/2+20 }'

CPU = 66°C
2.4 GHz radio = 50.5°C
5 GHz radio = 49.5°C

All temperatures are in very acceptable ranges. The CPU of my main AC86U would reach 82/83C without a fan and with a fan, it would sit around 63C. Nice to no longer need a fan. I think that without a fan, my AC86U radios ran at 55C and with around 45C.

I have very similar temperatures:

 

[sl4fko]

Mine are a bit higher...

 

[RogerSC]

I wrote this thread to compare performance between my RT-AC86U main/AP vs a GT-AX6000 main/AP combo. I guess its inevitable that people will misread and think I'm comparing to the AX86U.

Merlin's firmware has been a strong selling point for ASUS routers. I've been using it on all my ASUS routers up to the GT-AX6000. For the GT-AX6000, I decided to start with the new ASUS 9.0.0.6 beta firmware because it has a new guest network architecture that resolves a long standing issue of not being able to have isolated guest networks on ASUS routers operating in AP mode. Unfortunately, its totally broken in this beta, and its not possible to have guest networks of any kind on ASUS routers in AP or mesh mode. I'll likely hop over to 388.2 soon.

I was actually reacting to the various complaints about the web admin GUI and the difficulty of getting temperature data from Asus firmware by pointing out that there's an alternative out there. And the pro's and con's of each.

Yes, I did make the assumption that you were comparing to the RT-AX86U simply because it doesn't make sense to me to make any comparison between the RT-AC86U and the GT-AX6000. So I read it the way that made sense to me, which is something that I'm prone to do *smile*, sorry.

 

[ColDen]

Mine are a bit higher...

View attachment 49649

Your CPU Load Average values are 3 times higher than mine suggesting that you are running more processes and, accordingly, running hotter.

 

[maxbraketorque]

...

Yes, I did make the assumption that you were comparing to the RT-AX86U simply because it doesn't make sense to me to make any comparison between the RT-AC86U and the GT-AX6000. So I read it the way that made sense to me, which is something that I'm prone to do *smile*, sorry.

It may seem like an odd comparison, but I can say with certainty that there's no obvious difference in network performance between my AC86U main/AP combo and my GT-AX6000 main/AP combo despite the fact that the GT-AX6000 combo allows my wireless network to now take advantage of my 1.3 gbps internet connection and my 2.5 gbps wired network where all my movies and backups are stored. And at this point in time, there is no feature advantage to the GT-AX6000 because of all the clever people on this forum that have created many great Merlin Add-ons that work with the AC86U. For the most part, the GT-AX6000s represent a temporary diversion for me into router-as-a-hobby.

 

[hellreturn]

Thank you for checking your temperatures.


I'm not sure I follow, @hellreturn. Your CPU temperature seems to be 59°C, which is even lower than what @maxbraketorque reported (66°C).

Sorry my bad. I ended up comparing my temp to 2.4 GHz radio = 50.5°C.

 

[Ampicillin]

Hey I see same difference. I ordered ax86u pro and was wondering if ax6000 is good

The price difference between this and an ax86u pro / ax88u pro is just 20€ here,so it was a no brainer to go for the pro variant