The router was selling at a new yearly low a few days back
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/665084#comment-11390175
Looks like it has dropped further - really value for money at ~46% discount with Aussie warranty and sold and shipped by Amazon AU
CamelCamelCamel.
I ended up buying the AX-58U for Wi-Fi6 enabled router instead (during the 10% shopback deal last night)
https://www.amazon.com.au/ASUS-RT-AX58U-AX3000-802-11ax-90IG…
Well timed.
I got the TUF AX5400 for $145 from UK.
Going to test out if the missing band c is going to make any difference with my FTTC NBN 100.
I am banking on no.
UK tx transmit power is weaker = weaker Wi-Fi signal. This doesn't affect everyone but it's something to be aware of.
You need to source your own power brick or adapter and for warranty you need to send it back to Amazon UK. Asus won't cover you with local 3 years warranty.
Jeez it's amateur hour.
Amazon sends it back to the uk - they often just do a full refund.
Lower tx power is only in the 2.4ghz spectrum. Some 5ghz bands are missing but others are enabled. Good for some, not for others.
Who's the amateur exactly?
@bargainshooter: The ones who hide behind negging and have no clue about the Wi-Fi spectrum in different countries. What I'm saying isn't wrong.
@Twix: its not wrong but it offers no real difference to 99% of ppl that will use it, for $150 is a bargain and half - router that has been released few months ago, wifi 6, dedicated gaming port, parental control, vpn server ability is more then enough to warrant that $$ + loads of other updates and Melin prob soon but not needed
@botchie: I never said it wasn't a bargain. I'm just pointing it out because it gets asked all the time in Amazon UK deals. That dedicated "gaming" ethernet port is a marketing gimmick. Merlin has never done firmware for the TUF series.
@Twix: fair but i think the UK missing band fears are unfounded, why wouldn't you go for uk ax540 for $150 over this old one for $200? makes no sense
And I wouldn't agree on gaming port - does what it promises, when connected by wire it stops you from lagin if other devices on the network try to take the bandwidth
@botchie: There not unfounded, they just don't affect everyone. The gaming ethernet port does what it promises but you can setup the same thing manually in any Asus router.
My NBN is slow…
I purchased 3, so I can mesh them up for extra coverage.
I don't have many devices on 2.4ghz, mainly printer. Don't need the gaming port or merlin.
Don't think it would make much difference to my usage.
But I will find out.
you wont see any difference - its a great router
Is this any good? Interested because it has link aggregation.
Finally drops below Joybuy's $205. I think that was two years ago?
Australians get ripped off for everything.
During the last year there was router component shortages so that's why prices went up.
Australians get ripped off for everything.
VAT in the UK is 20% do you prefer that?
A rock solid router, and an excellent price for anyone looking for good reliable WiFi.
Is it better than their RT68U? I am having issues with my RT68U (can't login to router sometimes or read off the attached hard-drive storage and need to reset) and if it is the same WiFi performance looks to be a good deal.
I upgraded from AC68U to AC86U - huge upgrade, the best part is vastly improved wireless range, I had several black spots in my house (double storey) with the AC68U, after upgrading to the AC86U no more black spots and WiFi speed has also improved dramatically. If you don't have / need WiFi6 this is an awesome deal.
Yes, I had 68u and then moved to AC86 and now AX86, and always ran Merlins custom Asus firmware on them with barely an issue.
Wifi was generally excellent, and you can also use the Asus app to login to your router if you have an iphone/ipad and probably android.
As Bauser99 said, if you dont need the wifi 6 (which im not even sure i notice the difference) then this is the sweet spot router.
edit it seems they are now out of stock, but as an alternative the AX58U is quite decent, which is somewhere in between the AC86U and the AX86U
https://www.amazon.com.au/ASUS-RT-AX58U-AX3000-802-11ax-90IG…
Still says 1 left! I just got one just in time!
Did you notice any difference in WiFi range between the AC86U and the AX86U?
I could use AX with my iPhone 12 I suppose but with 100MB broadband I don't think I would be able to notice a difference, my main consideration is WiFi range as I have a few IoT devices installed in my backyard and that's starting to push the AC86U limits, keen to hear if you noticed any WiFi improvements when moving to the AX
@bauser99: I think it may have improved a tad, but hard to say without any proper testing, though according to this https://www.mbreviews.com/asus-rt-ax86u-vs-rt-ac86u/2/#test there is quite a bit of difference between the old model and the new.
Everything seems to connect quickly and have good speed and rarely lose connection. I really also love the 2.5Gbps port.
Is this a good upgrade from AC68U?
A better upgrade is the RT-AX86U or RT-AX88U.
Yes - it's the ac68u successor. Don't listen to the wifi6 crowd if you don't have any wifi6 devices.
Definitely an upgrade from AC68U, has better range then AC68U,
but no wifi6 if thats what you looking for.
Yes. That's what I did. Can't remember the details but I did it for improved security against hacking threats. Stronger signal strengths especially 5 GHz.
Yes, but now out of stock, as an alternative this is also decent, https://www.amazon.com.au/ASUS-RT-AX58U-AX3000-802-11ax-90IG…
A little bit curious as I'm new to 'routers that aren't from my ISP'.
I have a Belong modem which seems to get the job done, haven't had any issues with it.
What benefits would this have over that one? I'm only on the 50/20 plan so not doing anything extremely high speed.
Would this have better bandwidth distribution or something?
Do you need more coverage? If it works for you right now I wouldn’t spend the extra unless there are features you need like VPN etc. Coverage would be only reason to upgrade, this router covered my two storey unit with 2.4GHz but needed help to get the 5GHz to the upstairs room in the far back.
My place is relatively small so I'm able to get 5GHz coverage just about everywhere.
Only feature I wouldn't mind is OpenWRT which it doesn't look like this one supports.
I'll probably hold off for now then, thanks for the insight!
Also curious to this, have the stock standard MyRepublic router with horrendous black areas in the house. On the 100/50 plan.
depends on what you use it
for me if I play online games I love to have dedicated gaming port as kids streaming tv can cause lag
parental control - you can limit any device connected to it better and even set time limit not just content
vpn server - if you have vpn you can set it up on router level so you can watch USA netflix on your smart tv
thats just some benefits - better ping, better coverage , wifi 6 if you get wifi 6 router
Dedicated gaming port sounds very interesting, I do a lot of cloud gaming via gamepass, I assume this means it gets its own bandwidth allocation separate from the rest of the users or something?
if you do cloud gaming on your phone then this one is for you
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B098R5MVHQ/ref=ppx_yo_d…
you get an app on your phone and you can active mobile game mode that will direct bandwidth to your phone as priority
@botchie: That sounds great, thanks so much!
Cheaper than the router in the OP too. Probably a silly question but any issues with getting a UK router? ie any missing network bands or anything?
@mangobango: well yes you can ready about that here apparently but I see now difference on myn (have that model)
works better then old Telstra Gen 2
only annoying part is that you need uk power adapter as it comes with UK and US plug only - but thats $5 at Bunnings
You can always try this for a month and return free if you don't like it
or spend more for Aussie rip off models :) (as in they always rip us off on this stuff)
@botchie: Oh that's true, I thought Amazon would be a bit less likely to accept returns for electronics like this.
May as well give it a go, thanks for all the info! Appreciate you taking the time to give a bit of an insight :)
@mangobango: all good - I ordered 2 and have to return one as I bought one for $240 :( so returns are fine and easy
I have a NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 R7000. Is this an upgrade for me? I normally have 3 or 4 users at a time watching Netflix and playing Xbox etc over the Wifi. My Netgear needs rebooting once a week as it grinds to a halt with my NBN connection
I am in exactly same situation. I am wondering whether it is the modem or the infrastructure/ISP that is the issue. Any thoughts?
Is there a firmware upgrade you need to do? Sounds like a memory leak issue.
Fron memory one of the older Asus firmware had that issue but was fixed.
Just checked, firmware is up to date.
That is probably the cause of your problem. Netgear's firmware for the R7000 is very inconsistent in its stability between versions.
Install and stick to V1.0.9.42_10.2.44 . That is the last rock solid version
Note it does have some minor unpatched vulnerabilities that would be exposed to your internal network. A relatively low risk if you trust the devices on your internal network. But it will run for 6+ months without a hitch. I often have 3 streams + browsing occurring on a 250Mbit NBN connection. Never reboot / turn off unless I am doing something planned.
IMO Asus is miles ahead of their competition with Routers / Modems given their experience in manufacturing computers.
Netgear only make modems. Go with the Asus - you'll be much happier
My Netgear R7000 has been rock solid from past 5 years. Will upgrade to AX router only.No more AC routers.
Should we be avoiding AC routers?
I have the D7000 rubbish & yes it is also common for the modem router version to lock up randomly & you have to reboot. You can image how much fun that is with wife & I working at home & you have that long reboot & sync up. Considering putting it on a timer to reboot once a week. Found no difference with beam forming on or off. NETGEAR support is iffy. I wont buy NETGEAR stuff again. Regret not buying the Asus router that was popular then.
I have the R7000 router, and I was getting frequent device dropouts. Forums said to turn off auto updates and downgrade the firmware to v1.0.9.42. Has been solid ever since the downgrade.
Yes - this is good advice. Stick to V1.0.9.42_10.2.44 and the R7000 will be rock solid stable.
Dumb questions, I'm looking for a really really good router for work from home…
Q1, this is not a modem so I will need an nbn HFC modem right?
Q2, since its not for gaming, will I get much benefit going for wifi6 or potentially wifi6e?
Q3, since this router supports Mesh, how exactly does mesh works? Do I need to buy multiple of this same router or there are cheaper mesh options? 😂
Any information is appreciated!
Q1 - yes.
Q3 - yes, you would need another Asus router that has the "AiMesh" feature. If you specifically want mesh, there are other options designed specifically for this purpose. Just search for mesh wifi here.
Thanks for the info.
1 you should already have the NBN supplied modem, should be branded Arrix?
2 do you have any devices that support WiFi6? If so what bandwidth activities will you be doing? Most people hardly max their WiFi capacity unless there are multiple users downloading and uploading multiple connections etc. 20 odd devices here and has hardly missed a beat. NBN is shit though not even 50Mbps.
3 you use the most powerful one as the router and another Asus AiMesh compatible router as the node. Very easy to setup just reset the node one and setup as node by clicking node on the node when setting up and have the router in AiMesh setup.
An NBN HFC connection comes with an HFC modem - you shouldn't need to purchase a separate modem.
A wifi6 router is good for wifi6 clients. Won't help much if your clients are wifi5.
Mesh connects two routers together to extend coverage. A three band router (eg asus zen) is better for wireless mesh than a dual band like this - but this will still work with another aimesh router.
How would this suit better than a mesh network (price aside)
Can anyone tell me if this provides better range than asus-rt n56u?
definitely yes, range and speed. I had that one back in the day
cheers
Bought this last night at $215 with 10% cashback bringing it down to $193. I'm glad I did.
Bought 2 for AIMesh
Are you sure cashback is $22? It's generally calculated on ex gst price.
Shame no cashback ☹️
+1 for this old workhorse. If you don't need wifi6 don't pay double for wifi6.
wifi 6 is $150 :)
Wish there was the DSL / NBN FTTN version of this for a cheap price. I have the 68U x 4 in my place in a Mesh network, would be tempted to upgrade but no point as i would need the DSL version in order to use that as the main router.
Can't you just use a basic modem and bridge?
Does this mean use modem router combo connected to nbn and then bridged with physical ethernet connection to a router, allowing for extension of WiFi network through the house? If I wanted to have the second router separated on a different level of the house how would you connect the two? Just run a long Ethernet cable? Powerline?
Yes for FTTN that is what you can do. Wired with ethernet or purchase a mesh Wi-Fi bundle pack.
I use a gigabit powerline - so far so good…
Yeah I can do that and have done that in the past, but basically its really annoying when you are trying to troubleshoot connection issues and / or if you just want to see your connection statistics etc plus the extra device just adds up when i already have 4 routers in the house. But it might be thats what i have to do down the track. I dont come across many good FTTN capable modem / routers that are also good / up to date routers at a decent price.
What is a good modem for FTTN? I suppose I could use my current DSL-68U as the modem and then add this router on top as the main router / Mesh and have the other 68Us connect to this router as another AI mesh node.
just got a GL.iNet Flint, how is this one compared to?
Excellent router. I have all these Asus routers such as ac 86u, 88u and ax86U and ax88u, ax11000. If you don't have a lot of wifi 6 compatible devices. This router is one of the best router on the market.
which would you suggest for WIFI6?
Ax86 U and ax88u are very similar. You will be fine to choose one of them. Ax11000 is much more expensive. Unless you really want to spend a lot on the router, then you can go for ax11000. Ax88u has extra Lan port than ax86U. But for whatever reason, I like the appearance of ax86U more.
RT-AX86U or RT-AX88U if you want the 8 LAN ports.
thank you both! Yeah I don't need 8 LAN ports so the 86U will probably be my go-to.
Is it a good idea to buy several of these to get strong reception through Aimesh, or is that unnecessarily expensive compared to e.g. buying repeaters? Can't tell whether Aimesh is just a way of repurposing old routers or if people do buy a bunch of these for the purpose.
Do repeaters work on 5ghz? Aimesh works on 5ghz or ethernet. If using 5ghz, it will halve the 5ghz max speed but could still be ok for most purposes. Better yet, asus zen wifi is a triple band aimesh router so no loss of speed on 5ghz.
I ordered some RT-AX55 last night with the plan to replace my hated Tenda but didn't feel great about the decision so cancelled them.
I do want to get this but sort of feel I should just be patient and wait for the RT-AX86 to drop in price.
If you don't have wifi6 devices the ax86u will be no better than the ac86u
I have the AC68U older model but honestly one of if not the best router I've ever had… regular updates too even after all this time.
Perfect been in the market for a new Merlin based Asus!
I have the RT68U since 2016. Have started to get some wifi signal dropouts lately. Ordered the Asus XD6 (2pack) for $399 last night's officeworks deal. I am really tempted to cancel that get this instead. I have a large 2 story home. Ethernet wired as well. 68U covered my whole house well. Any thoughts, which option might provide better coverage and larger bandwidth? I can always buy this and use the AI mesh as well, hence tempted.
Stick with the XD6.
Buy this create Aimesh. Upgrade your firmware on RT68U, use the new 86U as primary
Not good with this kind of stuff so would appreciate some help.
I have the NBN black box, and a tpg supplied modem with a HFC connection. Can this replace the tpg supplied modem?
The Asus can replace the TPG modem.
Can this also replace my POS Telstra Gateway Max NBN router? Eg i just connect this direct to the NBN box and put my telstra account details into the Asus router/modem?
If yes, does the same go for this other Asus device https://www.amazon.com.au/ASUS-RT-AX58U-AX3000-802-11ax-90IG… and which one would be recommended?
THe AX3000 looks a bit more future proof with WIFI 6??
Any modern Asus router can plug in to the nbn box. On the Asus you select automatic IP from the WAN connection drop down box menu. Your Telstra account details are not used in routers anymore. How big of an area are you trying to cover?
@Twix: Thanks mate
Largish 2 bed unit. Router will be located centrally in the apartment. Ideally signal will make its way through the ceiling to rooftop area as well (not ciritical though).
Most major devices needing high speed are cabled to router.
what you have to be careful about is your phone - wont work with asus if you replace the Telstra one
@botchie: Do you mean landline? If so, all ok as we dont use one. Also appreciate il likely loose the 4g backup should nbn loose power/access. Understand that this is a feature of the Telstra Gateway which Asus would not share.
@N1CKO: yes, nowadays phones go through your Telstra router but if you dont have it then your are ok, and yes you will lose the 4g backup
I just have my asus router connected through gen2 - you dont lose anything noticeable that way and have 4g backup if needed
@botchie: Guys for update here. Bought this router - pulled the ethernet cable from the back of my Telstra Gateway max. Plugged it into the right port on the Asus router. Followed the setup guide and was up and running in minutes. Super simple and didnt even need to plug in any telstra details. Just wifi details - which in effect i just gave the same 5g and 25 wifi names and password as the old router so all devices reconnected automatically. One issue i'm having with this router today was through the day the wifi network just totally dropped out?? No reason. Thoughts? How can i identify the cause of the issue (Assuming it happens again)
@N1CKO: that's a bummer, that hasn't happened to me yet so not sure what the issue could be, sounds like it might be hardware related and might need to be returned for a new one?
If you don't use the phone line, then yes.
Typical routers do not have phone port (think VoIP, don't know what is the NBN terminology).
Yep no phone line. Thanks both!
Amazon AU price-matching Centre Com