Netgear Nighthawk X8 vs Asus RT-AC5300

[Hussein Zreik]

Hey guys!

First timer to this forum, and all I've been reading is great things! Awesome to see so many passionate people about networking!

So I've had many years of experience in the IT field and when it comes to home networking, I always want the best. So starting off, the nighthawk X10 is out of the question because of it's absurd price. but for something in the $200-$300 range for what I want, I narrowed it down to two options.

Simply put, which router is better overall and why? The Netgear Nighthawk X8 or the Asus RT-AC5300? Right now price point they're looking at $220 for the X8 and $300 for the AC5300

Thanks in advance for all your time and replies!

 

[Internet Man]

Do you have a specific reason for wanting tri-band?

Good move avoiding the X10. It's certainly not the best.

 

[Hussein Zreik]

Do you have a specific reason for wanting tri-band?

Good move avoiding the X10. It's certainly not the best.

All the devices in my household are 5GHz (30+ not including guests). So another band to offload older, less active devices that could still benefit from the 5GHz, would be helpful. I did research on both but can’t seem to decide which is better. Leaning more towards the Asus but I wanted to get a couple more opinions for sure. Thanks for the reply btw!

 

[pege63]

Yes but are the devices on the 5GHz wifi network 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4 clients?

 

[psychopomp1]

Based on my experience the wifi range/coverage on the Asus AC5300 isn't as good as the X10.

If you must go for a tri-band router, then either go for the Netgear R8000P (X6S) or Linksys EA9500V2. The X6S has superseded the R8500 (X8), I've heard many good things about it and priced at $260, its within your price range. The EA9500V2 is an upgrade on the excellent EA9500V1 with more RAM (1GB) and a beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor, priced around the $300 mark. Good luck at finding a EA9500v2 for sale though, they are rare beasts out there! (Bestbuy might be your best bet if in US)

 

[Hussein Zreik]

Yes but are the devices on the 5GHz wifi network 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x3 clients?

It’s a mixture really, can’t really say how much of each cause there’s so many, but def a good mixture, with the most being of the first 3.

Based on my experience the wifi range/coverage on the Asus AC5300 isn't as good as the X10.

If you must go for a tri-band router, then either go for the Netgear R8000P (X6S) or Linksys EA9500V2. The X6S has superseded the R8500 (X8), I've heard many good things about it and priced at $260, its within your price range. The EA9500V2 is an upgrade on the excellent EA9500V1 with more RAM (1GB) and a beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor, priced around the $300 mark. Good luck at finding a EA9500v2 for sale though, they are rare beasts out there! (Bestbuy might be your best bet if in US)

The X10 was a no go anyways, not worth it for that price point. I also do quite a bit of gaming along with 3 other devices in the household if that helps, and are upgrading from the Netgear AC1900, starting to die on me. I also have a gigabit connection. I was really looking between the x8 and the ac5300 by Asus, but if the x6s has superseded the x8 then I guess it’s between those two (X6S vs Asus AC5300).

Thanks in advance for all your time guys!

 

[Internet Man]

Based on my experience the wifi range/coverage on the Asus AC5300 isn't as good as the X10.

If you must go for a tri-band router, then either go for the Netgear R8000P (X6S) or Linksys EA9500V2. The X6S has superseded the R8500 (X8), I've heard many good things about it and priced at $260, its within your price range. The EA9500V2 is an upgrade on the excellent EA9500V1 with more RAM (1GB) and a beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor, priced around the $300 mark. Good luck at finding a EA9500v2 for sale though, they are rare beasts out there! (Bestbuy might be your best bet if in US)

The EA9300 is 3x3 like the R8000P (X6S) but it has the same "beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor" as the EA9500v2. Unfortunately it is priced at $300 new right now but a refurbished model is $180 from LinksysDirect via Newegg.

 

[avtella]

Take a look at the R7800 (X4S), still one of the best for 5Ghz WiFi performance if not the best, it also has a more powerful CPU (yet cooler) and newer WiFi chipset (same as in the X10) than the X8.

Between the X8 and RT5300AC they are pretty much the same hardware wise internally, but Asus has more UI options and a better layout, RMerlin firmware support.