Thoughts? Asus GT-AC5300 vs Netgear Nighthawk AX8

[pod3545]

I didn't see this already being discussed. Apologies if it is. With "ax" being advertised so much, I was wondering what everyone thinks of upgrading from the GT-AC5300 to the Nighthawk AX8. Some background for those curious, I've had issues with the AC5300 ever since I tried for over a year to get mesh working consistently. Finally I resorted to abandoning the mesh effort and had to do a factory reset of the router to get it out of mesh mode. (per the direction from Asus support.)

the AC5300 is working ok now. I still have occasional drops from my IP cams (which report fine signal but not perfect). From what I see on youtube, the AX8 promises to be able to handle more wireless devices better.

Anyone have any experience so far?

 

[Trip]

As with all the N and AC products that were hitting before IETF ratification, I would wait, and let the beta-ware festivals continue until well after the standards are defined and several rounds of QA/QC have been done on the AX products. You're not giving up that much performance by remaining on AC Wave 2 gear for another year or two. Just my 2C.

If you're having signal issues, jumping wifi standards without adding any more APs likely won't solve them. Instead, look to get some wired backhaul closer to the wifi deadspots, then deploy another AP(s) there. And/or buy another Asus AiMesh-capable model and run it in-tandem with the GT-5300. Wifi problems solved. No AX necessary.

 

[#TY]

I would pick an Asus router compatible with Merlin firmware any day of the week

 

[thiggins]

This focused review compares AC and AX routers for throughput vs. range.