Asus WiFi 7 and WiFi 6E routers

[jheff21]

Hope I am in the right thread. If I take an Asus BE88u as main router, in theory it should be able to mesh well with an Asus AX6000 Rapture. Is it no "compatibility" issues coz be88u is wifi 7 and the latter is wifi 6, right? Also both dual bands only. Can I confirm if my understanding is correct?

 

[shachok86]

Hope I am in the right thread. If I take an Asus BE88u as main router, in theory it should be able to mesh well with an Asus AX6000 Rapture. Is it no "compatibility" issues coz be88u is wifi 7 and the latter is wifi 6, right? Also both dual bands only. Can I confirm if my understanding is correct?

I have be88 and mesh with axe7800 and tuf ax6000 with no issue.

 

[xiaofan]

I have be88 and mesh with axe7800 and tuf ax6000 with no issue.

What about the 6GHz band of Asus RT-AXE7800? Wasted or still useful?

 

[shachok86]

What about the 6GHz band of Asus RT-AXE7800? Wasted or still useful?

Most of my device still using wifi 6 (hp/tablet/laptop)... only my s24u using wifi 7... n no diff in speed between wifi6e n wifi 7...maybe my be88u wrong setting or got problem tho...

 

[jheff21]

I have be88 and mesh with axe7800 and tuf ax6000 with no issue.

Thanks for your inputs!

 

[xiaofan]

Most of my device still using wifi 6 (hp/tablet/laptop)... only my s24u using wifi 7... n no diff in speed between wifi6e n wifi 7...maybe my be88u wrong setting or got problem tho...

RT-BE88U does not have 6GHz band as it is a dual band WiFi 7 router, so in reality you will not see much wireless speed improvement using it, typical real world WiFi speed using RT-BE88U will be less than 2Gbps.

If you want to hit above 3Gbps, then you need to get WiFi 7 router with 6GHz band and 320MHz channel bandwidth support.

Reference: first post in WiFi 7 router thread
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-7-routers-without-6ghz-band-support.6905228/

1) WiFi 7 router with 2x2 80MHz clients on the 5Ghz/6GHz band, max Phy speed 1441 Mbps, real world speed 600Mbps to 1Gbps (770% of MAX PHY speed). You will not be able to exceed 1.15Gbps in general (80% of MAX PHY Speed).

2) WiFi 7 router with 2x2 160MHz clients on the 5Ghz/6GHz band, max Phy speed 2882 Mbps, real world speed 1Gbps to 2Gbps (70% of MAX PHY speed). You will not be able to exceed 2.3Gbps in general (80% of MAX PHY speed)

3) WiFi 7 routers with 2x2 320MHz WiFi 7 clients on the 6GHz band, max Phy speed 5764 Mbps, real world speed 2Gbps to 4Gbps (70% of MAX PHY Speed). You will not be able to exceed 4.6Gbps in general (80% of PHY speed).

4) In the future with better HW/FW especially MLO implemenation, the speed may be increased.

 

[xiaofan]

Most of my device still using wifi 6 (hp/tablet/laptop)... only my s24u using wifi 7... n no diff in speed between wifi6e n wifi 7...maybe my be88u wrong setting or got problem tho...

Actually my question is whether the 6GHz band of RT-AXE7800 is wasted in this case.

Main AIMesh router is RT-BE88U --> no 6GHz band

RT-AXE7800 in AP mode --> you can use the 6GHz band (but no real speed improvement over 5GHz band in this case as it is WiFi 6E and not WiFi 7).

RT-AXE7800 as AIMesh mesh node --> not so sure if you can use 6GHz band here.

Not a real problem for your use case, just curious.

 

[shachok86]

Actually my question is whether the 6GHz band of RT-AXE7800 is wasted in this case.

Main AIMesh router is RT-BE88U --> no 6GHz band

RT-AXE7800 in AP mode --> you can use the 6GHz band (but no real speed improvement over 5GHz band in this case as it is WiFi 6E and not WiFi 7).

RT-AXE7800 as AIMesh mesh node --> not so sure if you can use 6GHz band here.

Not a real problem for your use case, just curious.

Can use the 6ghz band in aimesh mode... so technically my house got all the wifi band...my phone usually switch to wifi6 when i go far from the be88 in living room

 

[jheff21]

Can use the 6ghz band in aimesh mode... so technically my house got all the wifi band...my phone usually switch to wifi6 when i go far from the be88 in living room

So it means you are not using MLO? Wanted to explore whether MLO is effective and if can mesh with lower end router. I just got BQ16 1 pack and want to see if can mesh with AX88u

 

[rAcEr]

Currently using Ax82u as my main router with aimesh. Is it worth upgrading to a WiFi 7 router to fully maximise 10gbpa broadband? The starhub offer bundle of Netflix and Premier league is really attractive.

Am looking at the be88u but read online that 6ghz band is not available for this device. Does that mean it's not a good option? I typically try to go for mid range router devices

 

[jheff21]

Currently using Ax82u as my main router with aimesh. Is it worth upgrading to a WiFi 7 router to fully maximise 10gbpa broadband? The starhub offer bundle of Netflix and Premier league is really attractive.

Am looking at the be88u but read online that 6ghz band is not available for this device. Does that mean it's not a good option? I typically try to go for mid range router devices

Initially I was thinking of BE88U as well because of the massive numbers of ports and it being a Wifi 7. It sure is a future proof one. But yes, it was a downer personally because of the lack of 6GHz band. Personally, 6GHz is not a NEED currently, but i FOMO . So i took BQ16 instead which future proof it albeit less LAN ports.

If i didnt FOMO, id take BE88u #1. I think the price when I checked in Sim Lim was 53x-ish. If MLO is a thing you want, check further reviews coz last i checked, MLO in BE88u isnt consistent on launch.

 

[xiaofan]

Currently using Ax82u as my main router with aimesh. Is it worth upgrading to a WiFi 7 router to fully maximise 10gbpa broadband? The starhub offer bundle of Netflix and Premier league is really attractive.

Am looking at the be88u but read online that 6ghz band is not available for this device. Does that mean it's not a good option? I typically try to go for mid range router devices

Basically it comes down to the budget.

Lower budget --> RT-BE88U is quite good for 10Gbps Fibre broadband (you may need to use a 10G SFP+ RJ45 module to use the 10G SFP+ port). It has the same CPU (BCM4916) and same 2GB RAM as top of the line ROG GT-BE98 router, and in fact it has more LAN ports.

Higher budget --> 6GHz is nice to have, if you are chasing for high wieless speed.

 

[jheff21]

Basically it comes down to the budget.

Lower budget --> RT-BE88U is quite good for 10Gbps Fibre broadband (you may need to use a 10G SFP+ RJ45 module to use the 10G SFP+ port). It has the same CPU (BCM4916) and same 2GB RAM as top of the line ROG GT-BE98 router, and in fact it has more LAN ports.

Higher budget --> 6GHz is nice to have, if you are chasing for high wieless speed.

Curious, why you mentioned on the 10G SFP? Since BE88U is having 10G SFP + 10G WAN/LAN. Actually im interested to know whether these two can use concurrently (assume 10G SFP for WAN, 10G WAN/LAN for LAN or wired backhaul). I kinda became skeptical on these "dual ports" coz i believe EB810v can use only 1 but not both together.

 

[xiaofan]

Curious, why you mentioned on the 10G SFP? Since BE88U is having 10G SFP + 10G WAN/LAN. Actually im interested to know whether these two can use concurrently (assume 10G SFP for WAN, 10G WAN/LAN for LAN or wired backhaul). I kinda became skeptical on these "dual ports" coz i believe EB810v can use only 1 but not both together.

1. You can use them at the same time, RT-BE88U has two 10G ports, one 10G RJ45 port, one 10G SFP+ port.

2. You can use one as WAN port and the other as LAN port. The tech spec says the 10G SFP+ port is for WAN port but in reality you can use it as LAN port based on the reports (same for Asus RT-AX89X).
https://www.asus.com/sg/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/techspec/

Reference: RT-BE88U 10G SFP+ port can be used as LAN port
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-nat-possible-with-asus-stock-firmware.91423/

3. You can use the 10G SFP+ port as WAN and the 10G RJ45 port as LAN.

ONT --> RT-BE88U 10G SFP+ Port with 10G SFP+ RJ45 module as WAN
10G RJ45 port as LAN port --> 10G switch with RJ45 ports and/or Desktop/Laptop with 10G RJ45 network adapter

3. You can also use the 10G RJ45 port as WAN port to connect to the ONT. Then you use the 10G SFP+ port as LAN port.

ONT --> RT-BE88U 10G RJ45 port as WAN

10G SFP+ LAN port with SFP+ 10G RJ45 module --> 10G switch with RJ45 ports and/or Desktop/Laptop with 10G RJ45 network adapter

Or

10G SFP+ LAN port --> DAC cable --> 10G switch with SFP+ ports and or Desktop with 10G SFP+ network adapter

Or

10G SFP+ LAN port with SFP+ optic module --> Fibre Cable --> 10G switch with SFP+ ports and or Desktop with 10G SFP+ network adapter, with SFP+ optic module

4. 10G switch with SFP+ ports are much cheaper than 10G switch with RJ45 ports.

 

[jheff21]

1. You can use them at the same time, RT-BE88U has two 10G ports, one 10G RJ45 port, one 10G SFP+ port.

2. You can use one as WAN port and the other as LAN port. The tech spec says the 10G SFP+ port is for WAN port but in reality you can use it as LAN port based on the reports (same for Asus RT-AX89X).
https://www.asus.com/sg/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/techspec/

Reference: RT-BE88U 10G SFP+ port can be used as LAN port
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-nat-possible-with-asus-stock-firmware.91423/

3. You can use the 10G SFP+ port as WAN and the 10G RJ45 port as LAN.

ONT --> RT-BE88U 10G SFP+ Port with 10G SFP+ RJ45 module as WAN
10G RJ45 port as LAN port --> 10G switch with RJ45 ports and/or Desktop/Laptop with 10G RJ45 network adapter

3. You can also use the 10G RJ45 port as WAN port to connect to the ONT. Then you use the 10G SFP+ port as LAN port.

ONT --> RT-BE88U 10G RJ45 port as WAN

10G SFP+ LAN port with SFP+ 10G RJ45 module --> 10G switch with RJ45 ports and/or Desktop/Laptop with 10G RJ45 network adapter

Or

10G SFP+ LAN port --> DAC cable --> 10G switch with SFP+ ports and or Desktop with 10G SFP+ network adapter

Or

10G SFP+ LAN port with SFP+ optic module --> Fibre Cable --> 10G switch with SFP+ ports and or Desktop with 10G SFP+ network adapter, with SFP+ optic module

4. 10G switch with SFP+ ports are much cheaper than 10G switch with RJ45 ports.

Thanks for the detailed input. I dont have a BE88u to play around but the theory behind is nice to know. Thanks for sharing your time and effort xiaofan. I am learning a lot.

 

[ruffruff]

Hi Xiaofan, do you know if it is possible to link the 2nd BE88U as an AI Mesh node using the SFP+ port? The reason for asking is that I've got the SFP+ to RJ45 adaptor for the Asus BE88U (AI Mesh node), but it is not quite reliable when I connect the Thunderbolt 10Gbps ethernet adapter to it. After a while, the PC couldn't get an IP or rather couldn't sustain an IP with it. This issue doesn't occur if I connect it with the 2.5Gbps ethernet port on the BE88U AI Mesh node.

If it is not possible, then I will need to look for an SFP+ Thunderbolt LAN adapter for my desktop.

 

[xiaofan]

Hi Xiaofan, do you know if it is possible to link the 2nd BE88U as an AI Mesh node using the SFP+ port? The reason for asking is that I've got the SFP+ to RJ45 adaptor for the Asus BE88U (AI Mesh node), but it is not quite reliable when I connect the Thunderbolt 10Gbps ethernet adapter to it. After a while, the PC couldn't get an IP or rather couldn't sustain an IP with it. This issue doesn't occur if I connect it with the 2.5Gbps ethernet port on the BE88U AI Mesh node.

If it is not possible, then I will need to look for an SFP+ Thunderbolt LAN adapter for my desktop.

Technical questions directly addressed to me will be ignored.

Please search my recent post for the reason.

BTW, pm for technical questions will also be ignored.

 

[mdsummer]

Asus China version vs Local version
They are basically the same HW and same FW, just different country code. The country code can not be changed as it is outside of the FW area. The country code will decide the minor differences in the behaviours.

Major differene:
Local version has three years HW warranty. China version will have no local warranty.

Minor differences in terms of FW behaviours:
1) China version has Chinese/English Web UI
2) China version may have specific game accelerator (网易 UU 加速器), just ignore it.
3) China version may ping Baidu for web monitoring but you can change the behavior.
4) Some China version routers may have special Web UI skins like Asus TX-AX6000, which is a bit different from local version TUF-AX6000.
5) China version has wireless region defaul to China, but you can change to Asia region to be compliant to local regulation.
6) Some reports say that Asus Instant Guard VPN may not work with Asus China routers.

Hi xiaofan, I looked into Asus SG website and saw there is firmware available on the tube6500:


ASUS TUF-BE6500 Firmware version3.0.0.6.102_55645
Version 3.0.0.6.102_55645
58 MB
2024/10/23
https://www.asus.com/sg/networking-...00/helpdesk_bios?model2Name=TUF-Gaming-BE6500

do you know if this is the Asia firmware?

 

[TheAlphaLion]

There is a report of high CPU usage for Asus RT-BE92U here. Not so sure if ZenWiFi BT10 (should be using the same CPU) has the same issue or not.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...ers-without-6ghz-band-support.6905228/page-62

Other forum is reporting ASUS router malware, one of them had 100% CPU usage on 1 core. Although only reported on AC and AX routers, might affect newer routers as well.

There are fixes in the latest firmware. Do keep your firmware updated.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/malware-damaging-asus-routers.92752/

 

[xiaofan]

Other forum is reporting ASUS router malware, one of them had 100% CPU usage on 1 core. Although only reported on AC and AX routers, might affect newer routers as well.

There are fixes in the latest firmware. Do keep your firmware updated.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/malware-damaging-asus-routers.92752/

Thanks for the heads-up. This was also mentioned by another forum member whose RT-AX86U was damaged by the malware.

Better to disable AIcloud (I am not using this feature myself).

Asus has not released the FW fix for RT-AX86U yet. Merlin has the fixed FW released for Asus WiFi 6 router supported by Merlin, including RT-AX86U. My RT-AX86U is running as an AP after OpenWRT router. But I will upgrade to new Merlin FW over the weekend.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-3004-388-8_4-is-now-available.92938/
3004.388.8_4 (17-Nov-2024)
- CHANGED: VPN killswitch will now only be active if the
VPN client itself is enabled. If you stop/start
the client yourself over SSH, you need to also
update the enabled/disabled nvram setting.
- FIXED: Security issues in AiCloud (backports from Asus)
- FIXED: CVE-2024-2511, CVE-2024-4741, CVE-2024-5535 &
Implicit rejection for RSA PKCS#1 in openssl
(backport from Ubuntu by RSDNTWK)

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/malware-damaging-asus-routers.92752/
Models with unidentified upload traffic mentioned in SNB Forums reports so far:
RT-AX86U
RT-AX88U
GT-AXE11000

Models with damaged radios after reset mentioned in SNB Forum reports so far:
RT-AC86U
RT-AX56U
RT-AX82U
RT-AX86U
RT-AX86S
TUF-AX5400