I don't use wifi, which asus router should I buy with at least 1 2.5GB WAN?

[Prodeje79]

I have a full Omada setup and still do not like any of their gateways. I don't use anything special like vlans. I have a spectrum 1gb connection. Again, I do not use the asus wifi. I think I am interested in the RT-AX88U_PRO, but figured I'd see what is the most stable. I do currently still run Daves FlexQoS.

 

[L&LD]

I would suggest you don't buy a router with a single 2.5GbE Port (WAN or LAN).

The GT-AX6000 is the most (balanced) hardware with the highest performance that RMerlin supports today and has been used for almost a year without any issues. On sale, there is nothing else worth considering, but with the caveat of 'most stable', it is also worth some/many extra dollars too, particularly if you need it now.

 

[Prodeje79]

What do you consider a good sale price? I'm debating to get the Amazon warehouse acceptable for $227 and roll the dice. I'm also unsure how this will fit in my network rack. Haha

 

[RMerlin]

Go with at least two multigig ports, so that way if you get an Internet connection that's 1 Gbps or higher, you will get the full ISP speed and be able to feed at least a multigig switch for all of your wired devices to also be able to get above 1 Gbps.

The RT-AX88U_Pro is a good choice there, as it has modern hardware, and a pair of multigig ports.

Alternatively, you might want to consider just getting a small mini PC' and run a more advanced distro on it (bet it pfsense or OpenWRT). It will end up costing you about the same, but will have a longer support life, and better performance.

 

[Prodeje79]

Go with at least two multigig ports, so that way if you get an Internet connection that's 1 Gbps or higher, you will get the full ISP speed and be able to feed at least a multigig switch for all of your wired devices to also be able to get above 1 Gbps.

The RT-AX88U_Pro is a good choice there, as it has modern hardware, and a pair of multigig ports.

Alternatively, you might want to consider just getting a small mini PC' and run a more advanced distro on it (bet it pfsense or OpenWRT). It will end up costing you about the same, but will have a longer support life, and better performance.

Well darn, you recommend ASUS RT-AX88U and L&LD recommends GT-AX6000. I'm sure I've seen a few threads comparing. Looks like $213 vs $227 Amazon warehouse..... Final answer?

Maybe pfsense someday, but I don't think anything else has full come nat.

 

[ColDen]

Somes may pretend that you have now to make a hard choice: the beauty or the beast

 

[RMerlin]

Well darn, you recommend ASUS RT-AX88U and L&LD recommends GT-AX6000. I'm sure I've seen a few threads comparing. Looks like $213 vs $227 Amazon warehouse..... Final answer?

They are fairly similar, so pricing will depend on your region. I expect the RT-AX88U_Pro to eventually get cheaper because it's not marketed as a ROG product, so you won't have to pay the gamer tax.

Maybe pfsense someday, but I don't think anything else has full come nat.

None of the newer Asus router does either. Fullcone NAT was never implemented by Broadcom on either the GT-AX6000 or the RT-AX88U_Pro.

 

[Datalink]

I second L&LD's and Merlin's recommendation. If you're going to buy a router these days, buy one with two or more multi-gig ports. Or as Merlin indicates, buy a small mini PC with multi-gig ports on it and run something like pfsense, opensense, OpenWRT or others. You can buy them as straight ethernet pc's or with wifi. Just depends on your network and what devices are parked where.

The Republic of Gamer (ROG) Rapture GT-AX6000 is a gaming router, or, at least that’s the way that its marketed. The Asus RT-AX88U Pro is almost the same router. Both routers have the same processor and amount of memory. The difference is that the GT-AX6000 has one 2.5 Gb/s port that can serve as a WAN port, or a LAN port. The other 2.5 Gb/s port is designated as a LAN port. The RT-AX88U Pro has two 2.5 Gb/s ports. One is designated as a WAN port, and the other one is designated as a LAN port. So, they are fixed, in terms of what their respective roles are.

The GT-AX6000 has one USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 2.0 port. The RT-AX88U Pro has one USB 3.2 Gen 1 port.

Other than that, the two routers are essentially the same, albeit with a different external look.

As Merlin indicated, if you buy the RT-AX88U Pro, you won't be paying the gamer tax applied to the GT-AX6000.

Note, we're talking about the RT-AX88U Pro, not the RT-AX88U. Be careful when it comes to buying the correct model.

Fwiw, taking a quick look around over the last couple of days, the two Asus routers we're talking about here are probably the cheapest routers with two 2.5 Gb/s ports that you're going to find. From what I've seen, every other "consumer" wifi router with multi-gig ports starts above $500 and goes up from there. That includes mesh router systems.

At the end of the day, its up to you as to which router fits the space where its intended to go.

If full cone nat is important, look at pfsense, opensense, Openwrt or others, and if any of those are capable, maybe a mini pc is the path to take:

R86S mini PC features Intel Jasper Lake processor, optional 10 Gbps Ethernet ports (firewall or networking appliance) - Liliputing

R86S mini PC features Intel Jasper Lake processor, optional 10 Gbps Ethernet ports (firewall or networking appliance)

liliputing.com

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-qotom.html?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20230707185834&SearchText=qotom&spm=a2g0o.productlist.1000002.0

There are other models available thru AliExpress and thru Amazon as well. They're more expensive on Amazon.

One word of warning for the mini pc's with Intel I225-V network controllers. Intel mucked up the intergap spacing on the I225-V network controllers. So, they don't play well with other manufacture's controllers when running at 2.5 Gb/s. And there are other problems with those controllers. I came across a statement that indicates Intel brought out an I225-V2 which may have finally solved the issues, but, I can't find any evidence of that on the Intel site. Maybe that was a misintrepretation on someone's part. In the mean time, there are ton's of motherboards out in use with that controller onboard. I'd bet that any owners attempting to run speeds over 1 Gb/s aren't terribly happy.

 

[RMerlin]

I came across a statement that indicates Intel brought out an I225-V2 which may have finally solved the issues

My motherboard has a rev. 3 of the I225-V, and it was still so unreliable that I gave up, and installed a PCI-E Realtek-based NIC, which has been flawless since then.