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RT-AX86U? RT-AX82U? RAX50?

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Mainerunr

New Around Here
So my trusty RT-N66R decided to disappear last night. Even running a line directly to my laptop would not let me see the router. After some wrangling, I managed to get it to reappear (power cycling and the resetting did not seem to want to work but eventually did). About 2 hours later it disappeared again and it took a factory reset to bring it back.

To be fair, it's been hanging on the back of a filing cabinet in a corner since it was new without great (or really, any) air circulation (which was after AC was out but I had no AC devices at the time so the N was fine).

I've been waiting for the RT-AX86U since I heard about it...and now it's out and nobody seems to have any in stock. Asus does but 2 business day processing plus 2 day shipping puts me a week out and I'm not confident that I can keep the old one working long enough (all my son's college classes are online and my daughter's HS classes are online 3 days a week starting after next week....add to that how antsy teenagers get when the internet is down for any reason and....).

So the question. I can get an RAX50 today at BB for $300, I haven't really checked the availability of the 82U but considering how close in price it is to the RT_AX86U but with less ram 2x2 vs 3x3 on the 2.4 and a slower processor, it seems to not be a great option. I did find a place that claims to have three RT-AX86U's in stock, they do not ship and it's a decent drive away (but certainly doable...just not until saturday).

Any of them should be an upgrade over what I have now and I imagine any should handle the 12-16 devices that are typically connected (with 4 phones, 3 laptops and 3 PS4's often in use at the same time...the PS4's wired).

Any reason to stay away from any of these? Is there a better option (should I just go with an RT-AC86U?) I think the phones and 2 laptops do have AX capability but all are limited by my internet plan anyway. I do plan on relocating the router to a shelf just inside the door of the stairs to the basement (middle of the house, up high, just have to check how long the power cord is).
 
Stay away from the RAX50. It's a good router, when it works. I returned mine back to BB after a week. clients would stop seeing the 5GHZ band at random times even in the middle of watching a youtube video. Only a reboot of the router would clear it. It's probably firmware but I wasn't waiting around for them to fix it.

RAX50 and AX82U share the same 3 core CPU, they are about equals. I'd spring for the AX82U if you can't get the AX86U.

(I just stuck with my old AC router for now)
 
This is funny, I have a RAX50 and it’s been a fantastic router so far. Better range than the RT-AX58. Stable with zero issues. I was looking at the RT-AX82U but the Idiot lights in front I don’t need and the RAX50 is virtually the same router. I bought mine for $229 at BB on a Amazon price match deal and it included a year of Netgear Armor for free. If you can get it at BB try it out and if it doesn’t work out you can always return it.
Like everything there’s always both sides of a coin, YMMV.
 
RAX50 is on sale $100 cheaper at BB Canada now, I see they have a new firmware (66) listed with a mile-long list of fixes, tempted to give it another chance at that price. (I was at 64 when I 1st had it).
 
I guess I might also add the AX58U to the mix. Since just about everything is AC or AX these days, it should still be faster, the processor has got to be faster than the N66 too. Upside, I can get it today, downside, it really isn't what I want (but might be adequate and should be an upgrade either way...)

So, either I drive 30 minutes tonight for the AX58U or wait and drive 2.5 hours saturday morning for the AX86U.
 
AX58U is the same hardware as the AX82U but with firmware limited features; like 4x2 stream 5GHz band, that is 4 stream on the upload but 2 stream on the download side or something like that. it is advertised as 2X2 but we know about the 4X4:2 weirdness. The AX82U is full 4x4 on the 5GHZ. It may only matter if you have clients that can do 4X4 anyway.
 

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