ASUS RT-BE92U price drop – Stability issues still a concern?

[Arctic Ace]

Hi all,

I noticed the ASUS RT-BE92U has dropped below €190 on Amazon.de (around €183 right now). Specs look great for a Wi-Fi 7 router at this price point, but I remember seeing reports about stability problems — random reboots, WAN/DNS dropouts etc.

Are these issues still present, or have things improved? Would you consider it a safe buy now, or better to wait?

Thanks for your insights!

 

[degrub]

Maybe amazon is trying to clear out a bunch of returned gear.
Search the forums here for the issues.

 

[mellifluous]

Just went 60 days without any issues between firmware updates. Memory usage stayed constant.

 

[zdaw700]

Have a refurb (it was a bit less). Amazon is selling them new for that. 100% Check for Amazon inventory tags and shrinkwrap removal (not always an indicator).

MerlinWRT is golden on it. Couldn't get it to run wifi 7 properly (with multiple recommended settings). Weird shenanigans that when that has an issue (clients would death randomly; LAN would disconnect) the whole network went down (a lot of things that were issues in other threads were already disabled). One day the router factory reset itself -- it's a good thing it was on a Saturday. 100% functional on 6E however.

It's going back due to this. It's not rMerlins fault and probably not Asus' firmware and I'm pretty sure it's bad hardware. Feels like the reseller packaged a dud refurb but I'm not willing to waste time or stability when people can lose work over it.

I'd recommend getting a AX88U over this.

 

[Vimes]

Have a refurb (it was a bit less). Amazon is selling them new for that. 100% Check for Amazon inventory tags and shrinkwrap removal (not always an indicator).

MerlinWRT is golden on it. Couldn't get it to run wifi 7 properly (with multiple recommended settings). Weird shenanigans that when that has an issue (clients would death randomly; LAN would disconnect) the whole network went down (a lot of things that were issues in other threads were already disabled). One day the router factory reset itself -- it's a good thing it was on a Saturday. 100% functional on 6E however.

It's going back due to this. It's not rMerlins fault and probably not Asus' firmware and I'm pretty sure it's bad hardware. Feels like the reseller packaged a dud refurb but I'm not willing to waste time or stability when people can lose work over it.

I'd recommend getting a AX88U over this.

That is sad, especially as I had thought that much of the stability concerns had been addressed in firmware updates..? Assuming from what you have written you did not find that..?

did you end up refunding it, if so what did you then go for..?

 

[zdaw700]

That is sad, especially as I had thought that much of the stability concerns had been addressed in firmware updates..? Assuming from what you have written you did not find that..?

did you end up refunding it, if so what did you then go for..?

We think it was a hardware issue because it was refurb (some random amz reseller; likely trying to make a quick buck and not actually checking hardware).

Went for an AX11000 Pro on rMerlin firmware (didn't even bother with stock, it's the first thing done after unboxing). No problems with LAN or mesh. We may never upgrade to anything else in our lifetime unless it fries itself (so once support ends we'll just put it behind a WRT modem or something as APs).

 

[Vimes]

We think it was a hardware issue because it was refurb (some random amz reseller; likely trying to make a quick buck and not actually checking hardware).

Went for an AX11000 Pro on rMerlin firmware (didn't even bother with stock, it's the first thing done after unboxing). No problems with LAN or mesh. We may never upgrade to anything else in our lifetime unless it fries itself (so once support ends we'll just put it behind a WRT modem or something as APs).

I live in the UK and had a chance of buying a couple of the BE92U routers through Amazon, Germany. They had a great price and then 20% off for the Warehouse deals. I deliberated a lot, to the point of the offer ending. But, I just could not pull the trigger on returns to Amazon Germany, if needed, of a router that could well have been returned with faults beyond that of the user, the software or just a change of mind. If I was to buy one it would be new from a place that is good for returns, locally.
I have seen the odd post mentioning hardware revisions, one of them being a V4. I suppose people are going to look for these sorts of things, when the router behaves erratically.

Good result for you, in the end.

 

[Tech9]

They had a great price

Not sure why you insist on experiments with the cheapest tri-band ASUS model when you have capable enough and still supported ASUS devices in your signature. The great price may lead to great frustration and loss of time and money. Remember, what counts the most is user experience and not the specs on paper.

 

[Vimes]

Not sure why you insist on experiments with the cheapest tri-band ASUS model when you have capable enough and still supported ASUS devices in your signature. The great price may lead to great frustration and loss of time and money. Remember, what counts the most is user experience and not the specs on paper.

Not sure why you feel that I am insisting to try that particular router, but point taken and very much valid.. I was initially intrigued enough to read up about it, and speculate to take advantage of buying a refurb for 120 UK pounds including delivery etc. Principally it might have been useful for the 2.5GB LAN options, as well as the potential for a a faster WAN port, our contract ends next year for our 500Mb FTTP connection.
But, most of that is moot when what is initially impressive on paper for a tri-band router seems less than functional overall.
I can now put to bed my initial speculative looks to think that this particular router, well most of those in the BE range, would be worthy of consideration over what we already got.
Much of our LAN is covered with 2.5GB switches that work as expected. The AX88U is superb with six of its 1GB ethernet ports in use. The AX58U, gen 1, also great in Mesh mode on another level.

At times being speculative with considering what is "new" to the market, since having the AX88U for so long, can actually work very much opposite to what some may assume.......It just works and does so exceptionally well and very very stable. Unless I bother to update the AX88U router it simply does not miss a beat and has zero disconnections.

 

[aaronwt]

Hi all,

I noticed the ASUS RT-BE92U has dropped below €190 on Amazon.de (around €183 right now). Specs look great for a Wi-Fi 7 router at this price point, but I remember seeing reports about stability problems — random reboots, WAN/DNS dropouts etc.

Are these issues still present, or have things improved? Would you consider it a safe buy now, or better to wait?

Thanks for your insights!

I have four BE92U units I setup last week. I finally got it mostly stabilized. But by going old school and just having a router and three separate Access Points. Although even still 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi hasn't been completely stable. But, much, much, much better than when I had everything in a mesh system.

I tried two different BE92U units as the router and a BE92U router in mesh mode with one, two, and three nodes. As well as just the router. Nothing was as rock solid as my old Asus devices over the last twelve plus years.

I will be returning my four BE92U units and plan to setup two RT-BE96U units this weekend. So, hopefully, those work out better than the BE92U units did for me.

 

[Tech9]

plan to setup two RT-BE96U units this weekend

This is no much different than your existing ZenWiFi Pro ET12 with 2x 5-port 2.5GbE switches. TL-SG105S-M2 model switch is currently $50 on Amazon. You could get about 1:1 user experience for $100 and 15min time. How much do you pay for 2x RT-BE96U routers and how many of your mobile clients need >1.7Gbps?

 

[aaronwt]

This is no much different than your existing ZenWiFi Pro ET12 with 2x 5-port 2.5GbE switches. TL-SG105S-M2 model switch is currently $50 on Amazon. You could get about 1:1 user experience for $100 and 15min time. How much do you pay for 2x RT-BE96U routers and how many of your mobile clients need >1.7Gbps?

I have several PCs right now that are using WiFi7 adapters, instead of their 10GbE connections. I plan on reconnecting their 10GbE connections when I move them back to their permanent locations, sometime in the Winter.

They were getting 1.5+Gbps speeds, over WiFi7, with the BE92U units when I was testing them. Plus, I have a Galaxy S tablet and a Galaxy S phone that have WiFi7. Although, I don't need those faster speeds with those two devices. Plus, I have twelve or thirteen WiFi6E devices.

I had already decided to upgrade after I saw the sales prices. I got great deals on the BE92U units at under $200. Plus 5% back in BestBuy rewards, and 20% back from TopCashBack. But, with all the issues I had with the BE92U units, I really have no choice but to return them. The BE96U units were $400 each and I will get 5% back in BestBuy reward dollars, and 2% back from TopCashBack(The special 20% back was only for a few days on Asus devices. So, it sucks that I need to return the BE92U routers. It would have been nice to also get 20% back on the BE96U routers). My ET12 units were only $200 each, since I got them used. And my AX89X was also only around $200, since they were used. But, I wanted to go with new units this time.

Of course, I will probably upgrade again in two years. Since I upgrade way to often. I already went through three sets of WiFi6E Access Points. First, four Verizon routers as APs. Then two TP-Link routers as APs. And then, the two ET12 units in an AP mesh.

Also, after using Merlin on the BE92U, I wanted to get routers that use Merlin. Otherwise, I would have purchased two or three of the Rog Strix GS-BE18000 routers, since they were also on sale. Or even go back to the AX89X with the two ET12 routers in an AP mesh. But, none of those devices have Merlin firmware available for them.

Also, I'm pretty much done with TP-Link products. I would get them because they would be inexpensive. But then they would be a pain with their UI or there would be issues with them. I absolutely hate dealing with the two TP-Link wireless bridges I use. Since they were not as simple to setup as a bridge like Asus. Where I just select the bridge option. But they were ultra cheap. And I also have a TP-Link long range directional AP. That can supposedly be used for up to several kilometers. But, that UI was nowhere as bad as the UI with the other TP-Link devices I have used. But, I just have it pointing at my parking spot. So my Ring Car Cam can connect to my network.

I had also upgraded my switches to more 10GbE only switches, or with switches with two 10GbE ports and four 2.5GbE ports. But, none of that was going to be TP-Link products. And I also wanted to get rid of the four fiber connections I was using. Three 10G and one 1G. And not need to use those SFP+ ports anymore for fiber or copper. Since the Copper SFP+ modules get too hot.

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