Asus RT-AX88U Router Review

The Asus RT-AX88U And The Wonders Of Wi-Fi6

If you’ve been following along with the recent technological leap forward from Wi-Fi5 to Wi-Fi6 you know it’s a big leap. The ASUS RT-AX88U is designed to take full advantage of it. The new ASUS RT-AX88U is the upgraded Wi-Fi6 version of the RT-AC88U. With the change from “AC” to “AX” comes much more bandwidth, reduced latency, and improvements to MU-MIMO and Beamforming.

Unfortunately, the full potential of the new Wi-Fi6 standard won’t be felt without a Wi-Fi6 adapter. Even so, the ASUS RT-AX88U is backward compatible with AC and all those older Wi-Fi standards. The ASUS Rt-AX88U is a powerful gaming router with great features for online gamers. It has impressive processing speed with is 1.8GHz Quad-Core CPU and can handle at least 30 devices at the same time with ease. Additionally, it is also equipped with a comprehensive set of security features to protect your network and data. In addition to the beefy processor, the ASUS RT-AX88U also sports a full 1GB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage. The result is all the throughput a gamer or video streamer could desire.

Asus RT-AX88U Design

The Asus RT-AX88U gaming wireless router has a very sleek and attractive design, making it perfect for use in any gaming environment. The low-to-the-ground profile, black matte finish with yellow-gold trim are a beautiful combination. Its striking appearance resembles a starship readying itself for takeoff at any moment. In the back are no fewer than 8 Ethernet ports and 2 USB 3.1 ports. It’s a well-known fact that Ethernet is the preferred connection type for optimum network performance because of the shared nature of Wi-Fi. With the Asus RT-AX88U running out of Ethernet ports should never be a concern. Two of these Ethernet ports support Link Aggregation which allows you to combine the bandwidth of two Ethernet connections into one big “double-wide” connection for increased throughput during file transfers. On the Wi-Fi side, Asus claims a total of 6000Mbps. In short – that’s a lot! That’s 1148Mbps on the 2.4GHz side and 4804Mbps on the 5GHz side. Many Wi-Fi5 routers can achieve that with 3 Bands but the fact that the Asus RT-AX88U does this with 2 bands illustrates the leap in performance you get with Wi-Fi6.

Asus RT-AX88U Features

As I mentioned earlier the RT-AX88U is basically an RT-AC88U that has been injected with Wi-Fi6 so the features are very similar.

Adaptive QoS

Adaptive Quality Of Service is extremely easy to use and configure. It basically senses and identifies the traffic on your home network and adjusts to it automatically.

AiProtection

AiProtection is a TrendMicro product that protects all the devices on your home network from online threats. I will automatically warn you of malicious websites and stop your browser if necessary. AiProtection also included some easy-to-use parental control functions. They allow you to block devices from specific online categories such as Adult, Social Media, Gambling etc.)

Game Boost

This Asus router also includes a free client that allows gamers to connect to the WFTast Global Player Network, a VPN service especially to reduce latency and lost packets for gamers.

AiMesh

AiMesh allows you to connect other routers with AiMesh into a mesh network that expands your wireless signal throughout your home without the need to disconnect and reconnect as you roam. The RT-AX88U also allows you to create a VPN server or VPN client. A VPN server allows you to access your home network from anywhere. A VPN client is similar to VPN services you can purchase on the Internet that disguise your public IP address.

Interface and Configuration

The AsusWRT interface has been around for a while now but it should not go away until there’s something better to take its place. Especially with such a highly configurable router as the RT-AX88U. Adaptive QoS which allows you to control the bandwidth usage of your computer as opposed to other devices on the network is intuitive and super-simple to configure. Trend Micro’s free AiProtection Pro blocks malware and virus and is included for the life of the router. Unlike antivirus software installed on individual machines, AiProtection (Powered by TrendMicro) protects your entire network from threats and will display a warning and stop your browser if you happen upon any malicious websites. The Parental Controls allow you to block certain websites on the Internet as well as prevent individual clients on your network from accessing certain Adult and social media sites. Game Boost provides serious gamers with a client interface that allows them to access a special Global Player Network and VPN gaming network. As great as it sounds it’s still in the early phase and reviews of the service are mixed. AiMesh allows you to join other Asus AiMesh capable routers and form a mesh network that allows seamless roaming throughout your home. Wi-Fi6 still needs to get some bugs worked out in this area.

Asus RT-AX88U Setup Process

No change-up here. The best way to configure the RT-AX88U, as with most wireless routers is still the good-old web interface. If you get stuck check out my wireless router setup video which shows you just about everything you need to know to set up and configure most wireless routers.

1. Connect the router’s WAN port to your modem with an Ethernet cable and reboot the router and the modem to allow the router to pick up an IP address from your ISP
2. Connect a LAN port to your computer and reboot BOTH to allow your computer to receive a new IP address from the router. This allows you to quickly access the web interface without doing any manual configuration.
3. The Asus’s web interface is 192.168.50.1 or you can use router.asus.com to set it up for the first time.

Performance

On the 5GHz side, the router reaches 900Mbps at about 10 feet. At 40 feet this dropped to about 800Mbps. This is to be expected of course. One thing to keep in mind is just about all clients and client adapters out here are of the 2×2 variety. As a result, the 4X4 configuration on the router doesn’t make the 2×2 clients any faster. Think of it as an extra lane of traffic if things get backed up with too many devices. In testing in both far and near tests on the 5GHz band the RT-AX88U scored significantly ahead of Asus’s previous top-of-the-line AC router (ROG Rapture GT-AC5300) So, yes it looks like Wi-Fi6 is here to stay and the Asus RT-AX88U may be leading the way.

Asus RT-AX88U – Video

Conclusion

The Asus RT-AX88U is a powerful gaming router that offers great performance and range. With speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, it is perfect for gamers who need fast connections and plenty of bandwidth. Overall, the Asus RT-AX88U is a great choice for gamers who need a powerful and reliable router that can handle high-definition gaming sessions and extended network coverage.

FAQs:

Q: Is it worth getting a gaming router? A: If you live in a home with a lot of Wi-Fi devices and you are serious about gaming the answer is yes. The QoS and customization features in most gaming routers greatly improve the user experience Q: Is the RT-AX88U a good gaming router? A: The Asus RT-AX88U and the Asus ROG routers are specifically designed to deliver the best possible performance for gamers. They provide the tools and features that allow you to conquer your opponents and dominate other devices on a congested network. Q: Is the RT-AX88U a modem router? A: If you already have a modem router you’ll need to ask your ISP to turn it to bridge mode. This allows the RT-AX88U (or any other wireless router for that matter) to do all the router functions on your home network. Q: Can the Asus RT-AX88U be wall mounted? A: The RT-AX88U is NOT wall mountable.

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