The Asus RT-AX86U stands among the top Wi-Fi 6 routers available on the market today, offering impressive features and performance at a competitive price. In this review, we will examine what makes it an excellent choice for those looking to upgrade their home network or simply searching for a reliable and powerful router.

Design and Build Quality

The Asus RT-AX86U sports a minimalist, sleek design with its matte black finish, three external antennas, and an array of LED indicators on the front panel, making it a visually attractive addition to any room in your house. Beyond its aesthetics, the build quality is top-notch, ensuring longevity and durability for long-term use.

Performance

Powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage, the Asus RT-AX86U provides swift performance across various tasks. The router supports both AX5700 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and legacy Wi-Fi standards, ensuring seamless connectivity to all your devices.

With its 4×4 MU-MIMO support, this router can handle simultaneous connections from multiple devices without any impact on overall performance. Additionally, it offers up to 5,700Mbps throughput across both bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz), providing ultra-fast data transfer speeds suitable for everything from gaming consoles to IoT devices.

Features

The Asus RT-AX86U comes packed with useful features that cater to different types of users. Firstly, the adaptive QoS enables prioritization of specific devices or applications so that you can enjoy uninterrupted gaming or streaming experiences. The router also boasts AiMesh support, which allows you to pair it with multiple compatible routers to create a single seamless mesh network.

Moreover, this router comes with WPA3 encryption for enhanced security, as well as a dedicated gaming port that optimizes bandwidth allocation for low-latency gaming. The built-in VPN support and AiProtection Pro, powered by Trend Micro, offer additional layers of security protection to shield your network from potential threats.

Ease of Use and Setup

Setting up the Asus RT-AX86U is a breeze, thanks to the intuitive Asus Router mobile app. You can easily configure your router through its step-by-step setup guide, control connected devices, manage guest networks, and install firmware updates with just a few taps on your smartphone.

Verdict

The Asus RT-AX86U stands out as one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers for the money, offering stellar performance and a comprehensive set of features at a competitive price. Its ease of use and seamless integration with other devices make it an ideal choice for those looking to upgrade their home network or simply invest in a top-of-the-line product that is worth every penny.