AC88U vs AX3000

[ark1g09]

Hi all - as the title says, have an option to either get a used AC88U for cheap (USD 123) or the AX3000 for USD 146. What would be the best option?

Location: single story 4 bedroom apartment (c.2800 square feet/260 square meters)

My Devices & use cases:
- OLED tv for streaming 4k Netflix
- Devialet speaker for tidal hi fi streaming
- Desktop PC running a Plex media server & gaming and occasional 4k Netflix if necessary
- Xbox one x for streaming Plex from my desktop & gaming
- 2x 16 MacBook Pro for web browsing & occasional gaming
- 2x iPads for web browsing
- 4x iPhones for typical usage without streaming

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi all - as the title says, have an option to either get a used AC88U for cheap (USD 123) or the AX3000 for USD 146. What would be the best option?

Location: single story 4 bedroom apartment (c.2800 square feet/260 square meters)

My Devices & use cases:
- OLED tv for streaming 4k Netflix
- Devialet speaker for tidal hi fi streaming
- Desktop PC running a Plex media server & gaming and occasional 4k Netflix if necessary
- Xbox one x for streaming Plex from my desktop & gaming
- 2x 16 MacBook Pro for web browsing & occasional gaming
- 2x iPads for web browsing
- 4x iPhones for typical usage without streaming

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

What are you using now?

OE

 

[L&LD]

With a single story 2800 SqFt home, you may need both, depending on the layout and construction materials the home uses.

 

[Gar]

AC88 is older tech. I'd go with the much newer AX3000 (AX58U) and have the AX option for longevity.

 

[digits n bits]

Hi all - as the title says, have an option to either get a used AC88U for cheap (USD 123) or the AX3000 for USD 146. What would be the best option?

Location: single story 4 bedroom apartment (c.2800 square feet/260 square meters)

My Devices & use cases:
- OLED tv for streaming 4k Netflix
- Devialet speaker for tidal hi fi streaming
- Desktop PC running a Plex media server & gaming and occasional 4k Netflix if necessary
- Xbox one x for streaming Plex from my desktop & gaming
- 2x 16 MacBook Pro for web browsing & occasional gaming
- 2x iPads for web browsing
- 4x iPhones for typical usage without streaming

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

I use the RT-AX58U same as the AX3000 and in my experience it won’t cover a 3000 sq. ft. area, not even close. It struggled to cover 2200 sq. ft. A RT-AX88U would be a better choice to cover that large an area.

 

[ark1g09]

What are you using now?

OE

Starting from scratch - have nothing running right now.

With a single story 2800 SqFt home, you may need both, depending on the layout and construction materials the home uses.

I see - yes lots of concrete walls AFAIK, I assume this might really interfere with the range?

I use the RT-AX58U same as the AX3000 and in my experience it won’t cover a 3000 sq. ft. area, not even close. It struggled to cover 2200 sq. ft. A RT-AX88U would be a better choice to cover that large an area.

Looks like i might need to bump up the budget if im going to cover the whole property.

Taking all this into account, which would be better -
1. a single powerful router like the GT AX11000
2. an AX88U & AC88U running on AI mesh?

 

[ark1g09]

Also - assuming the heaviest activity/use case will be streaming plex from my desktop to the xbox one x/watching 4k netflix whilst simultaneously gaming on my desktop, and assuming both the desktop and the xbox is close to the router (so range isnt an issue/variable), would there be a huge noticeable performance difference between the AC88U and the AX88U?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, concrete will be an issue for range.

The 5-year-old RT-AC88U will be noticeably 'less' than the newer RT-AX88U. For throughput and range in my experience.

If you can run an AiMesh wired setup, the RT-AX88U and the RT-AX58U make a great combo.

The GT-AX11000 will not make too much difference over an RT-AX88U with concrete wall construction. Worse, it doesn't offer RMerlin firmware options either.

 

[ark1g09]

Yes, concrete will be an issue for range.

The 5-year-old RT-AC88U will be noticeably 'less' than the newer RT-AX88U. For throughput and range in my experience.

If you can run an AiMesh wired setup, the RT-AX88U and the RT-AX58U make a great combo.

The GT-AX11000 will not make too much difference over an RT-AX88U with concrete wall construction. Worse, it doesn't offer RMerlin firmware options either.

Noted - thanks for that, will avoid the ax11000.

For a combo - which would be better:
Ax88u main + ac88u node
Ax88u main + ax58u node

 

[OzarkEdge]

Starting from scratch - have nothing running right now.


I see - yes lots of concrete walls AFAIK, I assume this might really interfere with the range?



Looks like i might need to bump up the budget if im going to cover the whole property.

Taking all this into account, which would be better -
1. a single powerful router like the GT AX11000
2. an AX88U & AC88U running on AI mesh?

If you buy Asus as you appear to be doing, I would plan for AiMesh at some point... you will likely want a second node to cover 2800 sq. ft. with 5 GHz and to accommodate difficult materials like concrete walls. You might want to confirm those walls to anticipate signal difficulties and node locations.

Me, I'd stay on AC routers a bit longer, especially if you don't have any AX clients. A 2xRT-AC86U AiMesh might do it. And look to WiFi 6e later after it has arrived and matured a bit.

As has been noted, the used AC88U is probably not worth buying at that price at this time. That leaves the AX combo being discussed.

If the concrete walls are a real problem and the 4 bedrooms are a real need WiFi coverage-wise, such that you might benefit from more and more modest nodes, then I wonder if a main router paired with some Zen WiFi nodes would fit the bill. I don't recall anyone posting about this combo yet... a 1-level, large footprint layout with concrete walls (?) is a bit uncommon.

OE

 

[L&LD]

Noted - thanks for that, will avoid the ax11000.

For a combo - which would be better:
Ax88u main + ac88u node
Ax88u main + ax58u node

With AX clients only going to be the norm going forward, the RT-AX88U with an RT-AX58U AiMesh wired node makes the most sense today. It will be faster and even cheaper than the RT-AC88U too.

 

[ark1g09]

so to clarify - a used AC88u for USD 123 is too expensive/not worth it? cause a used ac86u is about the same price, and a new ax58u is more expensive at USD 175 (couldn't find used). Or is it the 'used' aspect that is an issue?

 

[L&LD]

For myself, used and 5 years old are real issues for the RT-AC88U. The RT-AC86U I would never buy used (search for older units not rebooting).

Saving (only) $52 today will be more than offset by not having to spend $123 today and $175 or more 'tomorrow' when your AX client portfolio increases with each new device purchase.

Not to mention the fact that both the RT-AX88U and the RT-AX58U will likely be in sync (via same firmware, features and capabilities) than an AX and AC combo ever will.

If you were upgrading one or the other, it would be a different story. But buying both new today, AX + AC, I think will lead to regrets (sooner).

HTH.

 

[ark1g09]

For myself, used and 5 years old are real issues for the RT-AC88U. The RT-AC86U I would never buy used (search for older units not rebooting).

Saving (only) $52 today will be more than offset by not having to spend $123 today and $175 or more 'tomorrow' when your AX client portfolio increases with each new device purchase.

Not to mention the fact that both the RT-AX88U and the RT-AX58U will likely be in sync (via same firmware, features and capabilities) than an AX and AC combo ever will.

If you were upgrading one or the other, it would be a different story. But buying both new today, AX + AC, I think will lead to regrets (sooner).

HTH.

got it. an incredibly useful answer - thank you for saving me from an unwise purchase!

 

[ark1g09]

If you buy Asus as you appear to be doing, I would plan for AiMesh at some point... you will likely want a second node to cover 2800 sq. ft. with 5 GHz and to accommodate difficult materials like concrete walls. You might want to confirm those walls to anticipate signal difficulties and node locations.

Me, I'd stay on AC routers a bit longer, especially if you don't have any AX clients. A 2xRT-AC86U AiMesh might do it. And look to WiFi 6e later after it has arrived and matured a bit.

As has been noted, the used AC88U is probably not worth buying at that price at this time. That leaves the AX combo being discussed.

If the concrete walls are a real problem and the 4 bedrooms are a real need WiFi coverage-wise, such that you might benefit from more and more modest nodes, then I wonder if a main router paired with some Zen WiFi nodes would fit the bill. I don't recall anyone posting about this combo yet... a 1-level, large footprint layout with concrete walls (?) is a bit uncommon.

OE

for some reason the ax zen routers are quite expensive where i am (singapore) so a pair of new AX58Us would be cheaper than a couple of AX Zen Wifi routers. If this were the case i assume it would be better to just get a couple of ax58Us as nodes?

 

[OzarkEdge]

for some reason the ax zen routers are quite expensive where i am (singapore) so a pair of new AX58Us would be cheaper than a couple of AX Zen Wifi routers. If this were the case i assume it would be better to just get a couple of ax58Us as nodes?

Seems reasonable, but I'm not familiar with AX router to say which is a better buy.

OE