All time low on the ASUS RT-BE86U Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router.
2.6GHz Quad-Core CPU.
1GB RAM & 256MB Flash.
1 x 10GbE WAN/LAN port.
1 x 2.5GbE WAN/LAN port.
3 x 2.5GbE LAN ports.
1 x USB 3.2 Gen1.
1 x USB 2.0 Gen1.
2.4GHz and 5GHz Dual Band Wi-Fi 7. No 6GHz.
ASUSWRT 5.0.
Supports Merlin firmware.
Surcharges: 0% for bank deposit, Afterpay & Zip Money. 1.2% for VISA / MasterCard & PayPal. 2.2% for AmEx.
Free shipping excludes WA, NT & remote areas.
I'm seeing $499 @ Amazon AU. Link?
For the newer model: Asus RT-be92u
EU stock
RT-BE92U is only like 2 months newer and that price is from Amazon Germany. Pass.
Slower processor, 1 less USB.
No 5GHz 4x4 only 2x2
No link aggregation
But
Supports 6GHz
Uses about half the power.
Can tether your mobile over wifi to provide wan
It's now dropped to $399 @ Amazon AU for the Australian stock. If going by the seller Amazon AU which is the right one instead of the EU model from Amazon Germany.
https://www.amazon.com.au/ASUS-RT-BE86U-Multi-Link-Subscript…
That $361 device is better than this one. Tri-band vs Dual-band WiFi 7. 4 antennas vs 3 antennas. You can compare their specs here: https://www.asus.com/ch-en/product-compare?ProductID=26439,2…
The $361 is EU stock, so might have weaker wi-fi to meet their requirements. Not sure if that's actually true, or if it can be changed with a software region setting like a different router that I own.
Either way, $399 for an old model is not great when the new tri band model is still in stock for $361 https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/904956
All EU routers have weaker Wi-Fi. Changing the Asus region doesn't unlock the Tx power. I don't know if the script workaround works on the Asus Wi-Fi 7 routers.
This RT-BE86U Wi-Fi 7 router $399 is not an old model and was released late 2024.
The RT-AX86U from 2020 and RT-AX86U Pro from 2022 are the older Wi-Fi 6 models.
That’s some good insight. @plague69 @botchie have good comments too.
It’s not as clear cut as I’d thought. I did a bit more reading up on the Asus models from users and while these are all good models (after firmware updates) there are significant weaknesses too.
Thanks for pointing that out.
4 antenna but 2x2 on 5ghz and 2x2 on 6ghz, 86u has 4x4 on 5ghz
eu stock is rubbish, you get such poor range its never worth it
Need quad band wifi 7 router at this price, any suggestions?
Quad-band costs way more. Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Wi-Fi 7 router $1299.
You're going to be waiting a very long time for a quad band wifi 7 router to come to this price point. There are currently none. Those are priced at over $1000.
For example can get yourself a TP-Link BE24000 Quad band WiFi 7 router from Amazon AU currently for $1090. https://www.amazon.com.au/TP-Link-Touchscreen-HomeShield-Arc…
$361 on Amazon