New models to be introduced with 3006.102.2

[portets]

seems like a moot point until there are more machines supporting wifi 7 320ghz..

i finally got a laptop with be200 wifi 7.,. on my gtaxe1600 i can get about 1.5gig throughp0ut with openspeedtest on my nas.. good enough for me know plus like the quad bands. about 1g on 5ghz frequencies rooms away.. 6ghz band seems to really only be good for the same room.

On Wi-Fi 7 routers with AFC, 6GHz bands will get a power boost making them have the same range as 5GHz. Most Asus models don't have it enabled yet but claim they will this year or next.

 

[Tech9]

On Wi-Fi 7 routers with AFC, 6GHz bands will get a power boost

No transmitter can exceed the maximum allowed power as per regional regulations.

 

[portets]

No transmitter can exceed the maximum allowed power as per regional regulation

In the US the maximum allowed power in the 6GHz band has been increased as long as the router manufacturer follows FCC AFC regulations. Possibly true of other countries as well. Technically this can be implemented in Wi-Fi 6E, but it seems only Wi-Fi 7 routers are gaining this feature.

This power increase is just enough to offset 6GHz poor range, making it equal to 5GHz range.

 

[mmjlmjl]

This is getting way off topic folks, I recommend you start a separate topic if you want to discuss OpenWRT or pfsense.

And right you are. If you are in need of a beta tester, I have a RT-BE88U on loan for the next few weeks to test if it could fulfill my needs. I already found some shortcomings in the ASUS stock firmware and VLAN and DHCP reservation support

See this post.

 

[portets]

I'm excited to test out Merlin on my RT-BE88U as well. It's a good choice porting it to this router, as one of the best Wi-Fi 7 routers lacking the 6GHz band and many countries not allowing 6GHz I think it'll be very popular

 

[Tech9]

In the US the maximum allowed power in the 6GHz band has been increased

In the US the maximum power allowed on 5GHz band non-DFS range is 1000mW. For practical use above 400mW the range doesn't increase because Wi-Fi is two-way communication and the clients have to be able to communicate back to the router through the same obstructions. Clients have weaker radios. What is the allowed power increase on 6GHz band with AFC so it can match the 5GHz band range and what client can match the power increase on the other end? I'm more interested in technical side of things. We've all seen marketing overpromising and underdelivering.

 

[johndoe85]

Very nice for folks following the upgrade path.

RT-AC86U -> RT-AX86U -> RT-AX86U Pro -> RT-BE86U
RT-AC88U -> RT-AX88U -> RT-AX88U Pro -> RT-BE88U

Very expensive too

 

[hadesflames]

ffs I just bought an ax88u pro 6 weeks (maybe 8) ago asus....silly rabbits

Wait, no offense or anything but... how is this Asus' fault? It's not like we haven't known about these routers for months... and wifi 7 in general for like what 2 years now?

 

[Ice9]

Just wants to say thanks to RMerlin for adding support for these routers in the future. Someone else pointed me to this thread as

Tbh, the BE86U is a bit of a let down. Does not support 6Ghz. If you are coming from an AX86, only worth of note is MLO. Overall speed increase will be minimal otherwise. I'd rather wait for the BE86U Pro.

I was mostly looking at the RT-BE88U (I don't need 6Ghz), but thought I'd wait and see what the RT-BE86U has spec wise as I also don't need that many ports, but then I saw the BE86U has only 1GB RAM compared to 2GB for the BE88U.
I'm kind of disappointed as I thought it'd be almost the same spec wise, minus the ports and slightly less Wi-Fi speeds. The less RAM has put a bit of a damper on it.

They skimped on the RAM as well, the BE98/96/88U have 2GB, the BE86U only has 1GB. I'm not saying that I need 2GB now, just that it feels like I'm not getting that much for my money with this generation.

I just saw that a few days ago. I was a bit disappointed upon seeing that. Can anyone tell me in what situations would the 2GB RAM make a difference?

 

[Elmer]

Just wants to say thanks to RMerlin for adding support for these routers in the future. Someone else pointed me to this thread as


I was mostly looking at the RT-BE88U (I don't need 6Ghz), but thought I'd wait and see what the RT-BE86U has spec wise as I also don't need that many ports, but then I saw the BE86U has only 1GB RAM compared to 2GB for the BE88U.
I'm kind of disappointed as I thought it'd be almost the same spec wise, minus the ports and slightly less Wi-Fi speeds. The less RAM has put a bit of a damper on it.

I just saw that a few days ago. I was a bit disappointed upon seeing that. Can anyone tell me in what situations would the 2GB RAM make a difference?

Can't speak for the wifi 7 models, but I upgraded from a RT-AX88U (1 GB) to a GT-AXE16000 (2 GB) and the stability difference is very noticeable. I run 90+ clients using 4 aimesh units (including an old but still reliable 1750b) and some amtm apps, Skynet being the largest. The unit uses somewhere around 1100 to 1200 MB even though I've offloaded DNS to a couple of raspberry pi units running pihole. With the 88U I was rebooting about every two to three days, now I auto reboot once a week even though I don't really think I need to do so - just habit. So yeah, 2GB is the minimum I would consider if you are running a smart-home with lots of clients. May not be an important factor if you have far fewer clients.

 

[heysoundude]

Wait, no offense or anything but... how is this Asus' fault? It's not like we haven't known about these routers for months... and wifi 7 in general for like what 2 years now?

we just haven't had a release timeline until recently, and they seem to be coming in shorter intervals

 

[freddyjuarez]

RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U Product different Compare｜ASUS USA

Comparison between RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U in Network Standard 、Product Segment 、WiFi Data Rate 、Antenna 、Transmit / Receive 、Processor 、Memory 、Boosts Speed、Operating Frequency 、Operating Mode、I/O Ports 、Buttons、LED Indicator 、Power Supply 、Package Content 、Product Weight (g)、Product...

www.asus.com

The RT-BE88U for sure has the better specs on paper....

Hey how long usually does it take for Asus to release a pro version of a router
I'm pretty sure RT-BE86U and RT-BE88U will get a pro version released

 

[swejuggalo]

RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U Product different Compare｜ASUS USA

Comparison between RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U in Network Standard 、Product Segment 、WiFi Data Rate 、Antenna 、Transmit / Receive 、Processor 、Memory 、Boosts Speed、Operating Frequency 、Operating Mode、I/O Ports 、Buttons、LED Indicator 、Power Supply 、Package Content 、Product Weight (g)、Product...

www.asus.com

The RT-BE88U for sure has the better specs on paper....

Hey how long usually does it take for Asus to release a pro version of a router
I'm pretty sure RT-BE86U and RT-BE88U will get a pro version released

Is it always a thing though? Pro would most often hint of additional features non-Pro don't have. Like the VLAN additions and new generation of firmware. And in those cases it may go like half the life time of the original hardware. Unless Pro and non-Pro are meant for different regions already in the beginning.

For me the upgrades from AX88U to BE88U was a pure WiFi standard upgrade, for fun rather than a need. If for pure need I would probably had waited until software support on AX88U died.

 

[RMerlin]

Hey how long usually does it take for Asus to release a pro version of a router
I'm pretty sure RT-BE86U and RT-BE88U will get a pro version released

Those "Pro" models aren't a planned thing. Asus just wanted to release new models based on the BCM4912, and they decided to slot them as updated versions of the existing lineup.

There is currently no newer CPU than the BCM4916 already used by these Wifi 7 devices.

 

[RMinNJ]

RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U Product different Compare｜ASUS USA

Comparison between RT-BE88U、RT-BE86U in Network Standard 、Product Segment 、WiFi Data Rate 、Antenna 、Transmit / Receive 、Processor 、Memory 、Boosts Speed、Operating Frequency 、Operating Mode、I/O Ports 、Buttons、LED Indicator 、Power Supply 、Package Content 、Product Weight (g)、Product...

www.asus.com

The RT-BE88U for sure has the better specs on paper....

Hey how long usually does it take for Asus to release a pro version of a router
I'm pretty sure RT-BE86U and RT-BE88U will get a pro version released

The port specs look really nice on these models.

 

[freddyjuarez]

The port specs look really nice on these models.

Specifically on RT-BE88U

 

[Rhialto]

Isn't everyone's router working fine now? No need in rushing to get on 3.0.0.6., let that new thing mature a bit first.

 

[freddyjuarez]

Isn't everyone's router working fine now? No need in rushing to get on 3.0.0.6., let that new thing mature a bit first.

Naw my dude I want Asus to take my money

 

[jsbeddow]

Isn't everyone's router working fine now? No need in rushing to get on 3.0.0.6., let that new thing mature a bit first.

I'd hardly call nearly two years of betas (9.0.0.6) and releases (3.0.0.6) a rush that needs more time to mature. Quite the opposite actually...seems more like unfulfilled promises at this point.

 

[Rhialto]

I'd hardly call nearly two years of betas

Oh that much already? I thought it was less than a year. Anyway broad release will help in finding out the last quirks ...