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ac vs ax 88 u

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If the ax 88 u was out when I purchased the ac 88 u I would have purchased the ax without a second thought

I didn't have money at the time and I got it for a good price from my friend so I said better something than nothing :D

What exactly does better radios mean ? I know wifi 6 is supported on ax88u, but is that mean that wifi range is better covered than on ac88u ?
 
I didn't have money at the time and I got it for a good price from my friend so I said better something than nothing :D

What exactly does better radios mean ? I know wifi 6 is supported on ax88u, but is that mean that wifi range is better covered than on ac88u ?
I don't think so but I don't really know someone else will have to answer that one
 
Ok, I am waiting for someone who have AX88U to confirm is wifi better on it than on AC88U

Upgrading from the RT-N66U, RT-AC56U, RT-AC68U, RT-AC3100, RT-AC86U to the current RT-AX88U, and RT-AX58U (wired AiMesh node), I can tell you each upgrade was made for performance reasons. :)

https://www.snbforums.com/members/l-ld.24423/#info

With the RT-AC88U equivalent to the RT-AC3100 in WiFi performance, the RT-AC88U is at least 2 upgrades ago. :)

See the link above for more details.

With AC clients connecting at about 40 to 400Mbps previously and now connecting at 866.7Mbps in the most used areas, and the download speeds increased proportionately, the previous AC king (RT-AC86U) has been beheaded.

With AX clients connecting at 2.4Gbps almost everywhere (wired AiMesh) and hitting above 850Mbps (minimum 650Mbps) and uploads hitting 930Mbps, the improvements are real. :)

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/intel-ax200-wireless-card.64184/#post-585324

The results above are not just a swap of one router to another. Rather, it is a full and systematic set up to enable the new hardware as fully as possible in the WiFi environment it is being installed in. :)

This has included upgrading the laptops that I can with AX200 cards. Adding a second router at the other end of the home in wired AiMesh mode. Using (and being able to use) 160MHz bandwidth for the AX routers and all (AC and AX) clients.

My ISP speeds are Fibre 1Gbps up/down symmetrical. The RT-AX88U main router's hardware (RAM and CPU cores) makes better use of that ISP speed more effortlessly than the RT-AC86U ever could. Regardless of wireless performance.

The RT-AX88U with RMerlin firmware and amtm scripts is the best combination of performance, features, security, and ease of use (not to mention the lowest overall cost too) that I have found.

I bought it to test it but kept it because it delivers on (most of) the performance it promises.

If 2.4GHz performance is more important to you, the RT-AC3100/RT-AC88U may have an edge. But not by much and overall will be a downgrade over the performance the RT-AX88U has on tap.

HTH. :)
 
Upgrading from the RT-N66U, RT-AC56U, RT-AC68U, RT-AC3100, RT-AC86U to the current RT-AX88U, and RT-AX58U (wired AiMesh node), I can tell you each upgrade was made for performance reasons. :)

https://www.snbforums.com/members/l-ld.24423/#info

With the RT-AC88U equivalent to the RT-AC3100 in WiFi performance, the RT-AC88U is at least 2 upgrades ago. :)

See the link above for more details.

With AC clients connecting at about 40 to 400Mbps previously and now connecting at 866.7Mbps in the most used areas, and the download speeds increased proportionately, the previous AC king (RT-AC86U) has been beheaded.

With AX clients connecting at 2.4Gbps almost everywhere (wired AiMesh) and hitting above 850Mbps (minimum 650Mbps) and uploads hitting 930Mbps, the improvements are real. :)

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/intel-ax200-wireless-card.64184/#post-585324

The results above are not just a swap of one router to another. Rather, it is a full and systematic set up to enable the new hardware as fully as possible in the WiFi environment it is being installed in. :)

This has included upgrading the laptops that I can with AX200 cards. Adding a second router at the other end of the home in wired AiMesh mode. Using (and being able to use) 160MHz bandwidth for the AX routers and all (AC and AX) clients.

My ISP speeds are Fibre 1Gbps up/down symmetrical. The RT-AX88U main router's hardware (RAM and CPU cores) makes better use of that ISP speed more effortlessly than the RT-AC86U ever could. Regardless of wireless performance.

The RT-AX88U with RMerlin firmware and amtm scripts is the best combination of performance, features, security, and ease of use (not to mention the lowest overall cost too) that I have found.

I bought it to test it but kept it because it delivers on (most of) the performance it promises.

If 2.4GHz performance is more important to you, the RT-AC3100/RT-AC88U may have an edge. But not by much and overall will be a downgrade over the performance the RT-AX88U has on tap.

HTH. :)

Thanks for so detailed explanation. Of course it helps :)


2.4Ghz is more important because most of devices are connecting via 2.4 in my home, I have like only 3-4 5Ghz device, and around 20 that are on 2.4.

I have 100/100 optic connection, and that's the top I can go with this ISP that I currently have. Other one that is not available at my place can hit 500/250

So I'm not sure if I would have any benefit with this kind of speed with AX88, what do you think ?
 
With an optic 100/100Mbps (I'm assuming a very low latency) ISP connection, and based on what I see from various customer's environments, there will be benefits.

The benefits will be most apparent when the router is centrally located in the home as seen from the main areas serviced, the proper control channels and bandwidth are adjusted/tested and set accordingly, the client devices' network settings are fully reset (or more straightforward, a new SSID is used) and the router is set to factory defaults and minimally and manually configured without 'blindly' using old settings that may have worked or have been needed in the previous router.

Additionally, whether those benefits are noticeable depends on many factors including the network infrastructure, WiFi environment (including non-WiFi RF interference too) and the way the network is used too.

That is why I have to repeat that the only way to know is if you test it for yourself. :)

With 5 times as many 2.4GHz devices as 5GHz devices in use now, it may not be worth it even if you see a significant difference with an upgrade?

As usual, the upgrade on its own is most likely worth it. What will make that decision a 'go' is the cost of making that change. The same was true for me too (on each upgrade, but particularly on the RT-AX88U where it was conditional on me selling the RT-AC86U and also getting the RT-AX88U on sale too).

RT-AX88U Upgrade https://www.snbforums.com/threads/b...ta-is-now-available.60037/page-31#post-531024


For myself, the upgrade to the RT-AX88U has proven very satisfying and continues to bring more levels of security and performance with each RMerlin firmware release too.
 
With an optic 100/100Mbps (I'm assuming a very low latency) ISP connection, and based on what I see from various customer's environments, there will be benefits.

The benefits will be most apparent when the router is centrally located in the home as seen from the main areas serviced, the proper control channels and bandwidth are adjusted/tested and set accordingly, the client devices' network settings are fully reset (or more straightforward, a new SSID is used) and the router is set to factory defaults and minimally and manually configured without 'blindly' using old settings that may have worked or have been needed in the previous router.

Additionally, whether those benefits are noticeable depends on many factors including the network infrastructure, WiFi environment (including non-WiFi RF interference too) and the way the network is used too.

That is why I have to repeat that the only way to know is if you test it for yourself. :)

With 5 times as many 2.4GHz devices as 5GHz devices in use now, it may not be worth it even if you see a significant difference with an upgrade?

As usual, the upgrade on its own is most likely worth it. What will make that decision a 'go' is the cost of making that change. The same was true for me too (on each upgrade, but particularly on the RT-AX88U where it was conditional on me selling the RT-AC86U and also getting the RT-AX88U on sale too).

RT-AX88U Upgrade https://www.snbforums.com/threads/b...ta-is-now-available.60037/page-31#post-531024


For myself, the upgrade to the RT-AX88U has proven very satisfying and continues to bring more levels of security and performance with each RMerlin firmware release too.

I manage to configure AC88U yesterday really sweet. What you said find a sweet spot and now it's working like a scharm. Channel 11 wasn't working too good so I switch it to 6, of course before switching I scanned with wifi analyzer. And I enable Tx burst mode, it was disable all along. I have AP 5-6 hard brick walls away from me and he is now working better at 144/144Mbps at -52dBm (n). And all other devices are working better also, it's like I did some miracle thing on router lol . So for now I will leave it like this. Thank you for everything that you wrote and share all the info. you collect from your experience. If I decided one day to empty my pockets :D and buy AX88U I'll let everyone know.
 
Last edited:
@Thermaltake, changing the control channel would have worked even without using the WiFi analyzer. :)

If anything, it actually slowed you down. :)
 
But, did you also test control channel 1 then? :)

No matter what an app may suggest, actual testing will prove. :)
 
@Thermaltake,

RT-AX88U-5GHzBand-General-2020-05-20.png


RT-AX88U-5GHzBand-Professional-2020-05-20.png
 
@Thermaltake, and the other settings match?

In my settings: Enable IGMP Snooping is enable, Universal Beamforming is enable, and TX bursting is enabled. Should I disable that first two ?

I don't have like you beamforming ac/ax cause I have ac router.

EDIT:
On first page Protected Management Frames is disabled in my settings and should I put it on highest channel possible or leave it like this ?
 

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