Ax-16000 vs Ax-11000 Pro

[128bit]

it's that time of year and our 'puters have been after santa to make them happier. frankly, we're fairly set with our current meshed network, but i'm curious if the ax16000 can use that 6g band as a backhaul when meshed? if so, that would likely mean i'd need a pair of 6g capable devices, but they're priced better these days and considering my clients, we'll be happy as wifi 6 "patients" for the foreseeable. a pair of ax-11000 pro routers is not out of the question if the second 5g band is selectable as a "clean" backhaul pipe. just curious.

if the above can't be accomplished, is the ax-11000 pro a significant enough upgrade for replacing the ax88u pro which has been stellar as a main, or even its meshed beast, the gt-ax6000? the ax88u pro surprisingly provided better coverage, so it got promoted to a main.

still, there are some weak spots. so, while the waves are a-flowing nicely, just keeping an eye out for a better wifi 6 option.

. . . any experiences or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Tech9]

Keep using the routers in your signature. They are the same hardware generation. The new ones you are looking at will be EoL-ed around the same time. If you really want to upgrade for whatever reason - go for BE-class equipment for longer support and prepare to deal with eventual issues coming with it.

 

[128bit]

call it my holiday itch but it was a choice between getting the house rewired or splurging on a wireless solution. my gt ax-6000 was meshed to the ax88u pro. yep, the pro had a bit more reach, so it became the main. unlike many here, i'd like to get to a point where i'm done with upgrades! sacrilegious ain't it?

i found 2 new rog rapture gt-ax11000 pros on amazon for $207/ea. hell, ebay had used ones selling for much more, so i took the dive. tl; dr - best wireless move i ever made and i already have a $300 offer for my old hw.

the key may be the ax11000 pro's second 5g band as that radio seems like it's being used primarily if not exclusively for backhaul. in my case, i saw improvements on "meshed" clients well above 50%. using a firestick max gen 2, measured speeds from its internal app improved from 190-224 to 298-330. i'm blown away! mind u, even at 190, i had no streaming problems but since my ultimate goal is retirement from never ending upgrades, wifi 6 seems to be the "promised" platform for my use case. not surprisingly, the wired speed was consistent with the previous router.

admittedly, few in this audience may have any interest. it's not a recommendation, just sharing my experience. lastly, these spiders are the huge and ugly! most of the remaining work will be trying to hide them.

 

[degrub]

If you want to "retire" from upgrading, invest in infrastructure .

 

[jerry6]

call it my holiday itch but it was a choice between getting the house rewired or splurging on a wireless solution. my gt ax-6000 was meshed to the ax88u pro. yep, the pro had a bit more reach, so it became the main. unlike many here, i'd like to get to a point where i'm done with upgrades! sacrilegious ain't it?

i found 2 new rog rapture gt-ax11000 pros on amazon for $207/ea. hell, ebay had used ones selling for much more, so i took the dive. tl; dr - best wireless move i ever made and i already have a $300 offer for my old hw.

the key may be the ax11000 pro's second 5g band as that radio seems like it's being used primarily if not exclusively for backhaul. in my case, i saw improvements on "meshed" clients well above 50%. using a firestick max gen 2, measured speeds from its internal app improved from 190-224 to 298-330. i'm blown away! mind u, even at 190, i had no streaming problems but since my ultimate goal is retirement from never ending upgrades, wifi 6 seems to be the "promised" platform for my use case. not surprisingly, the wired speed was consistent with the previous router.

admittedly, few in this audience may have any interest. it's not a recommendation, just sharing my experience. lastly, these spiders are the huge and ugly! most of the remaining work will be trying to hide them.

The AX1100 pro has done well for me over the last 3 years have yet to have a problem . I hope it will last 4 or more years , gives mr full speed on wireless on a 2gb line

 

[128bit]

If you want to "retire" from upgrading, invest in infrastructure .

indeed! that's exactly why i jumped on 2 gt-ax11000 pros. super overkill for my home setting but considering how slow clients adopt new standards, perfect for me. to me, it is an infrastructure investment in a glorified switch that effectively distributes data! my true fun happens once the data's received at the client be it a tv or my personally built ultra 7 265 pc rig.

The AX1100 pro has done well for me over the last 3 years have yet to have a problem . I hope it will last 4 or more years , gives mr full speed on wireless on a 2gb line

that's the feedback i was hoping for. my old boxes were great but the ax11000s just took it to another level. i've spent well over 20 hours with tweaks. i've learned lots from the snb talent but i have to give some credit to these damned ai bots with some settings questions.

typically, they spew too much crap, much like what i'm doing now but if u "teach" them, the experience can improve. they have design constraints that can be circumvented. this minimizes the large amount of false recommendations. out the 3 i've tried, chatgpt has been the most accurate followed by copilot and gemini. i would not recommend gemini for any tech work and copilot can hallucinate and loop/repeat. using ai is a personal toss-up but there are techniques that seem to work for me. here's what's sad, the consumer level ai's are essentially at alpha test and we're the testers.

. . . and thanks a bunch for sharing your ax11000 experience.

 

[degrub]

Sorry, i wasn't clear. Infrastructure means installing cabling to each room or as needs, and to a common termination point.
Then you pick and tune the APs needed. You can either install a switch, managed or not, at the common point. Router sits between switch and the modem. If you use a managed switch, then the router only needs to handle internet traffic and basic admin.

If one is using wifi as the infrastructure, then it is hit and miss and prone to issues ( no matter whose gear), particularly if using consumer gear..

 

[128bit]

Sorry, i wasn't clear. Infrastructure means installing cabling to each room or as needs, and to a common termination point.

i hear ya and fully understand; but you now know, my needs have been exceeded with a wireless backhaul! here's why. the mesh node feeds two firesticks (ax). with some antenna adjustments, the embedded speed app shows mid 300s solidly now. in the same room but a couple feet away from the firestick my ax laptop runs upper 400s. so there may be some limitations with the firestick that even a wired backhaul may not have fixed. my laptop can use 160. the stick may be limited to 80. granted, they have 2 different speed apps but that's more than enough for our needs with browsing at home. the "investment" will likely net at ~ $100 with the sale of my other 2 devices where i would have spent $100s on an electrician type and put more holes in my walls.

that aside, data delivery devices are a means to an end for me much like any ssd. i'm an old coder and my fun is on the pc. i'll dabble with python or powershell to write a script for small tedious stuff, and if i'm truly adventurous, wrap that code in a gui.

i'm stoked that there's so much talent on snb with you pros and hobbyists, that i can maximize the ax11000's power; but when it goes eol, i'm having a toast.

 

[Tech9]

i found 2 new rog rapture gt-ax11000 pros on amazon for $207/ea

Fair price and 2x identical units for AiMesh is a good choice. All the best in 2026!

 

[Notconnected]

Keep using the routers in your signature. They are the same hardware generation. The new ones you are looking at will be EoL-ed around the same time. If you really want to upgrade for whatever reason - go for BE-class equipment for longer support and prepare to deal with eventual issues coming with it.

What are the issues coming with the BE class routers.

 

[Tech9]

Most complaints come from connectivity issues on 2.4GHz band to older or specific IoT devices. ASUS BE-class routers also have non-functional Trend Micro bwdpi engine affecting related to it firmware features. The most affected are Adaptive QoS and perhaps others relying on application traffic recognition like Traffic Analyzer and Parental Controls.

 

[Notconnected]

Most complaints come from connectivity issues on 2.4GHz band to older or specific IoT devices. ASUS BE-class routers also have non-functional Trend Micro bwdpi engine affecting related to it firmware features. The most affected are Adaptive QoS and perhaps others relying on application traffic recognition like Traffic Analyzer and Parental Controls.

Thanks for replay, this is valuable to know, I still use 2.4 to link to an outside building, oddly enough I prioritise 2.4 ability otherwise I can not take advantage of what is stored in the outlaying building.

 

[Tech9]

I still use 2.4 to link to an outside building

A wireless bridge on 5GHz may significantly increase the throughput and reliability.

Omada 5GHz 867Mbps Indoor/Outdoor Wireless Bridge

The Omada wireless bridge, EAP211-Bridge KIT, delivers up to 867 Mbps wireless data rates and gives a long-range transmission up to 0.62 (1 km). Auto-pairing and centralized management enpower your efficient deployment and management.

www.omadanetworks.com

The kit above is $90 on Amazon US. Close to Gigabit throughput on short distances.

 

[conflictednetworks]

Most complaints come from connectivity issues on 2.4GHz band to older or specific IoT devices. ASUS BE-class routers also have non-functional Trend Micro bwdpi engine affecting related to it firmware features. The most affected are Adaptive QoS and perhaps others relying on application traffic recognition like Traffic Analyzer and Parental Controls.

I actually was bored today and rang up ASUS to inquire about that particular problem and not surprisingly, the tier 1 support folks had no idea what I was talking about nor did they feel it was a problem. I was blunt and asked "when are you pushing GT Booster's ARK" to the BE class routers and I was hearing crickets lol.

Their BE stuff seems pretty good at this point (in Canada at least) sans the issues that Tech9 has pointed out.

 

[Tech9]

the tier 1 support folks had no idea what I was talking about

The first thing you are going to hear is reboot, reset and try again.