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Asus RT-AX89X review

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Mutzli

Very Senior Member
Tweaktown posted it's review of the RT-AX89X. This router has some nice features like dual 10Gbe ports and two Qualcomm QCN5054 WiFi radios for separate WiFi5/6 and 2.4GHz band. But bottom line for me I wouldn't spend $450 on this router with WiFi6E just around the corner and most importantly no support for Merlin firmware.
 
I wouldn't spend $450 on this router

You can use it as a side table. :rolleyes:

AX89X-Spider.jpg
 
What does the last "X"/"U" in the model signify? e.g. AX89X vs. AX88U

Sent using Tapatalk
 
X = extremely expensive.

U = uncommonly usable.

:)
 
I recently upgraded to this router coming from the AX88U that I got last November and I was extremely happy with! The 88U was really solid performed for me and decided that I should give it to my parents to use and get the 89X.

Been using it for a week now and I can say that I’m rather disappointed. I never had issues with the 88U but I can’t say the same thing for the 89X.
My iPhone 11 Pro has issues staying connected to the 5GHZ network, my Apple TV 4K drops the connection multiple times during movie streaming. What should be better or the same coverage as the 88U considering that it has more antennas is just not the case here. It could be firmware issues but still.... this is a 450 router!!! And I live in townhome.
Also right out of the box without any custom settings there’s a fan that is spinning awfully loud and annoying and it starts right when you turn on the router regardless of the temps inside. You can manually adjust the speed of the fan but it doesn’t help with the annoying noise that feels like they just used a extremely cheap small fan inside.
Another surprise to me was that the 89X does not support WPA3 as of right now which the 88U does. Again - 350 router is beating a 450 dollar one :/

Maybe all the issues that I’m experiencing are coming from the firmware and they could be fixed down the road but as of today this router performs worse than the 88U and can’t justify the price tag it has.
I’m considering return it few weeks from now if things don’t improve and just get another 88U. Such a shame!!!!!
 
At this moment, you are better off with RT-AX88U if you have 1 Gigabit or lower internet connection. With Wifi6E around the corner, RT-AX89X feels like a wasted beta experiment.
The latest May 2020 firmware for RT-AX88U has finally hit the stability mark for me and been using it since 10 days without reboot.
Not a day goes by when my friend moans about his poor choice of upgrading from RT-AX88U to 89X.
 

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