AX router recommendations?

[Gamoya]

Im just curious, there has been many recommendations for Xiaomi AX3600 and I have also seen many comments about SSH guides / OpenWRT etc. My understanding about these jailbreaking methods is that the firmware and GUI is still not 'ready' or released yet to the public; and that has not deterred tech savvy people from buying and configuring it for use. However as im not exactly a tech person, scripting like that may prove to be a challenge for me and I'd do my best to avoid that. May I know has the afore-mentioned issues been resolved? In other words, can the average people buy AX3600 and set-up router easily for good wireless use at home?

Appreciate if anyone can help advice. Thanks in advance!

PS: Im using 500mbps Whizcomms btw

 

[xiaofan]

You do not need to use SSH to use AX3600. The exposed FW feature is limited and that is why power users use SSH to gain more features. But if you just need simple features, you do not need SSH access.

Take note the China version has Chinese Web UI and no Singtel VLAN support out of box. And take note the internation version has Singtel VLAN support but weaker WiFi signal out of box. So you may want to avoid Xiaomi AX3600 if you are a Singtel ONT user.

If you do not want all the hassles, buy Asus router like RT-AX58U.

 

[skpuppy]

I am a Asus and Xiaomi user. I think Xiaomi router super easy to setup. Never had such an easier time due to mihome app.
For Xiaomi, just open mihome app and then scan QR, key in SSID and password and boom! It is done. Click + to add additional router to mesh. Boom! Done! Haha! No sweat. Of course I don’t play with advance settings but ok la. Easy to use

 

[soneat]

Below S$200 with the ongoing promotion now.

Asus RT-AX56U AX1800 at around S$179

Asus RT-AX58U AX3000 at S$199 promotion price, usual price S$229 (good value)

TP-Link AX73 AX5400 at S$184
D-Link DIR-X5460 AX5400 at S$193

Linksys E8450 AX3200 at around S$165

Hi xiaofan,

Between Asus RT-AX58U AX3000 (S$199) and TP-Link AX73 AX5400 (S$149), in your opinion, which router is a better buy? Stable connection, responsive to client connections are the priority.

Currently using a very old Linksys router (>10 years) and it is beginning to get a bit unstable (i.e. sometimes cannot connect, sometimes connection drops).

 

[xiaofan]

Hi xiaofan,
Between Asus RT-AX58U AX3000 (S$199) and TP-Link AX73 AX5400 (S$149), in your opinion, which router is a better buy? Stable connection, responsive to client connections are the priority.
Currently using a very old Linksys router (>10 years) and it is beginning to get a bit unstable (i.e. sometimes cannot connect, sometimes connection drops).

Either one is a good buy. TP-Link Archer AX73 AX5400 is basically the counterpart of Asus RT-AX82U with less features but very similar HW specifications.

Asus has better long term support of FW. Since you seem to like to use the router in longer time, I will suggest buying the Asus RT-AX58U. You may check whether there are better offers from the Asus side (eg: Courts or Challenger). I do not follow the offer closely and I am not good at finding lobangs. For example there was an offer from Courts recently for RT-AX86U Gundam Special Edition at S$312 posted in this forum section, that was a superb offer. There was also another offer for RT-AX82U from Courts.

 

[soneat]

Either one is a good buy. TP-Link Archer AX73 AX5400 is basically the counterpart of Asus RT-AX82U with less features but very similar HW specifications.

Asus has better long term support of FW. Since you seem to like to use the router in longer time, I will suggest buying the Asus RT-AX58U. You may check whether there are better offers from the Asus side (eg: Courts or Challenger). I do not follow the offer closely and I am not good at finding lobangs. For example there was an offer from Courts recently for RT-AX86U Gundam Special Edition at S$312 posted in this forum section, that was a superb offer. There was also another offer for RT-AX82U from Courts.

Thank you!

 

[xiaofan]

TP-Link has launched Archer AX72 which uses IPQ5000 dual core CPU instead of the BCM6750 CPU used in the Archer AX73, and with slightly lower performance based on the following review.

Review:
https://www.blacktubi.com/review/tp-link-archer-ax72/https://www.blacktubi.com/review/tp-link-archer-ax73/

 

[xiaofan]

CPU is quite an important factor to decide the AX Router purchase

1. Top end: Qualcom IPQ807x series and Broadcom BCM4908/49408

IPQ807x (best performance): Xiaomi AX9000, Asus RT-AX89X, Xiaomi AX3600 (best price performance), Redmi AX6, Linksys MX10 (MX5300), Netgear RAX120, QNAP QHora-301W

BCM4098 (most popular): Asus GT AXE11000, GT-AX11000, RT-AX86U (top rated AX router), TP-Link Archer AX11000/AX6000, Netgear RAX200/RAX80, Linksys MX5300 and many more

BCM49408: Asus RT-AX88U

IPQ817x series (lower end than IPQ807x): Linksys MX4200 (IPQ8174)

3. Mid end: Qualcomm IPQ6000 series, IPQ5000/IPQ5018 series, Broadcomm BCM6750/6755 series

Xiaomi AX1800 and Redmi AX5 -- IPQ6000 series

Xiaomi AX6000, Xiaomi AX3000, Redmi AX5, TP-Link Archer AX72 -- IPQ5000/IPQ5018

Asus RT-AX82U/AX58U and TUF AX3000, TP-Link Archer AX73 and AX10, Linksys E9450 -- BCM6750

Asus RT-AX56U/RT-AX55, Zenwifi XT8/XD6/XD4, TP-Link Archer AAX90/AX20, Deco X20/X60/X68/X90, Netgear RAX20 and many more -- BCM6755

Interl GRX350A3 CPU is not common and not recommended: TP-Link Archer AX50 and Netgear RAX40.

4. Low end: MTK7621/7622 series MIPS based

Linksys E8450: MTK7621AT dual core 880MHz
Linksys E7350: MTK7622BV dual core 1.35GHz
Ubiquiti Unifi U6 Lite (AP): MTK7621AT dual core 880MHz
Ubiquiti Unifi U6 LR (AP): MTK7622 series dual core 1.35GHz

 

[xiaofan]

From the other thread.

It will depend on your budget. I recommend Asus router more than Huawei or Xiaomi.
1) Budget low S$100: Huawei AX3 quad core global version is the best value router at S$58 from official Huawei Lazada/Shopee shop, with local warranty but out of stock now. Usual price S$98 but most often selling at lower price.
Redmi AX3000 and Xiaomi AX3000 China version (not for SingTel ONT users) can be considered as well if you do not mind no local warranty.
Other options with local warranty.
TP-Link Archer AX20 at around S$89
D-Link DIR-X1840 at around S$89
2) Budget S$100 to S$200: if you can still get Xiaomi AX3600 local or China version at reasonable price. That is the best value router if you can get it around S$120 to S$150. Take note Xiaomi has stopped the production of Xiaomi AX3600.
Xiaomi AX6000 can be considered as well if you do not mind no local warranty (not for SingTel ONT users). Price is around S$172 from Lazada. It is not as good as Xiaomi AX3600 as a router (slower CPU and no SSH access) but it is a better AP than Xiaomi AX3600.
Asus RT-AX56U AX1800 can be considered if you need more FW features and long term support. During promotion, RT-AX58U AX3000 may be just below S$200.
Other options with local warranty:
TP-Link Archer AX73 AX5400 at around S$179.
D-Link DIR-X5460 AX5400 at around S$159.
3) Budget between S$200 to S$300.
RT-AX82U AX5400 promotion price from Courts at around S$240 will be a good buy.
4) Budget above S$300: Asus RT-AX86U AX5700 is the best value if you get the special edition from Courts promotion at around S$320.

 

[xiaofan]

Unfortunately Huawei official shops show Out of Stocks for the AX3 Quad Core global version now.

And it is said that Courts also runs out of future stocks of RT-AX86U special edition.

Ref: Huawei Lazada shop S$58 AX3 Quad Core version shows no stock.
HUAWEI AX3 WIFI 6 Router Quad Core | 3000 Mbps | HUAWEI Share | HUAWEI HomeSec | | https://s.lazada.sg/s.Zvrdw

 

[xiaofan]

Some updates to the above post with formating changes and contents updates.

1) Budget low S$100: example options
Huawei AX3 quad core global version is the best value router at S$58 from official Huawei Lazada/Shopee shop, with local warranty but out of stock now. Usual price S$98 but most often selling at lower price. But right now it is out of stock.

Redmi AX3000 and Xiaomi AX3000 China version (not for SingTel ONT users) can be considered as well if you do not mind no local warranty.

Other options with local warranty.
TP-Link Archer AX20 at around S$89
D-Link DIR-X1840 at around S$89

2) Budget S$100 to S$200: example options
If you can still get Xiaomi AX3600 local or China version at reasonable price. That is the best value router if you can get it around S$120 to S$150. Take note Xiaomi has stopped the production of Xiaomi AX3600.

Xiaomi AX6000 can be considered as well if you do not mind no local warranty (not for SingTel ONT users). Price is around S$172 from Lazada. It is not as good as Xiaomi AX3600 as a router (slower CPU and no SSH access) but it is a better AP than Xiaomi AX3600.

Asus RT-AX56U AX1800 can be considered if you need more FW features and long term support. During promotion, RT-AX58U AX3000 may be just below S$200.

Other options with local warranty:
TP-Link Archer AX73 AX5400 at around S$179.
D-Link DIR-X5460 AX5400 at around S$159.

3) Budget between S$200 to S$300, example options.
RT-AX82U AX5400 promotion price from Courts at around S$240 will be a good buy. Usual price is on the high side at around S$329.

Asus RT-AX58U and Asus TUF-AX3000 can be considered as well if you can not get the Courts promotion for the RT-AX82U.

4) Budget around S$300 to S$500, example options
a) Asus RT-AX86U AX5700 is the best value if you get the special edition from Courts promotion at around S$320. But it is said that Courts has run out of future stocks. So you may have to get it elsewhere and the price will be higher at around S$419 fo the special edition. Normal version is still exclusive to Singtel as of now.

b) Asus RT-AX88U can be an option as well if you need 8 LAN ports

c) Xiaomi AX9000 triband at S$399 local version is also an interesting buy.

d) Wired pfSense router + AX APs: not a pure AX router but a wired router + AX AP option, you can pair the wired router with cheap AX routers running in AP mode (eg: those listed in the below S$200 categories). Total budget will be around S$400 to S$500

Wired router option: Mini PC using Intel J4105 or better, with 4 or more LAN ports, 8GB RAM and 256 GB SSD are priced within the range of S$200 to S$300. It can be a good option to run pfSense more than enough. And if you do not want to use it as a router you can still run Winodws or Linux (very smooth for Linux).

5) Budget between S$500 to S$1000, example options
a) Probably not necessary for a single router, unless you want to go for things like GT-AX11000 (around S$659), RT-AX89X or the new GT-AX6000 (not available in SG yet).

b) But you can consider two router AIMesh solution like RT-AX86U + RT-AX82U; or RT-AX86U + Zenwifi XD4/XD6

c) AX mesh solution: Asus Zenwifi XT8 dual pack, or Netgear Orbi RBK852 or RBK753

d) pfSense mini PC (S$200 to S$300) + Unifi PoE switch + Unifi AX AP (U6-Lite at S$149 or U6-LR at S$279)

e) Ubiquiti UDM (S$469) + 8-port Unifi PoE switch + one Unifi AX AP (U6-Lite at S$149 or U6-LR at S$279), if yiiu want to go for the fulll Unifi solution

6) Above S$1000, examples only, not want to spend so much myself.

a) AIMesh solution -- GT-AX11000 + Zenwifi XT8 dual pack, both are tri-band AX

b) pfSense mini PC (S$200 to S$300) + better Unifi PoE switch + two Unifi AX AP (U6-Lite at S$149 or U6-LR at S$279)

c) If you are going to full Unifi route, then you can consider Unifi Dream Machine Pro (S$589 from official Ubiquiti Singapore store) wired router, plus better Unifi PoE switch and two Unifi AX APs (U6-Lite at S$149 or U6-LR at S$279)

 

[badsector]

new Asus GT-AX6000 on taobao also looks good

 

[xiaofan]

new Asus GT-AX6000 on taobao also looks good

Indeed this is another high end router, probably not as high end as Asus RT-AX89X (dual 10G port, Qualcomm IPQ8074 top of the lince CPU), but close as it comes with the high end CPU BCM4912 (quad core Cortex A53 at 2GHz) from Broadcomm and dual 2.5G port.

Product page: https://rog.asus.com/networking/rog-rapture-gt-ax6000-model/

English news: https://inf.news/en/digital/7f6ff3277f5a5db108bf828c6874cb51.html

Detailed Review in Chinese:
https://www.koolcenter.com/posts/31
Short review in Chinese
https://www.acwifi.net/17245.html

 

[Flanky]

guys, saw that RT-AX82U is @ $243 @ courts
then
netgear RAX50 is @ $219 @ Amazon
Which one will be a better value?

 

[xiaofan]

guys, saw that RT-AX82U is @ $243 @ courts
then
netgear RAX50 is @ $219 @ Amazon
Which one will be a better value?

Go for RT-AX82U in this case since Asus provides better FW features. And you have the 3 years local waranty with the Courts order.

BTW, both have similar HW specifications and wireless performance.

Review:
https://dongknows.com/asus-rt-ax82u-ax5400-gaming-router-review/https://dongknows.com/netgear-rax50-nighthawk-ax6-wi-fi-6-router-review/

 

[Flanky]

Go for RT-AX82U in this case since Asus provides better FW features. And you have the 3 years local waranty with the Courts order.

BTW, both have similar HW specifications and wireless performance.

Review:
https://dongknows.com/asus-rt-ax82u-ax5400-gaming-router-review/https://dongknows.com/netgear-rax50-nighthawk-ax6-wi-fi-6-router-review/

noted with thanks.
actually the netgear one is from amazon sg, so have 2 years local warranty. then i think shopback got some cashback 3% so the price tempt me.
then i read the asus nas feature not very good, like netgear nas better.
so overall u think still worth the $30+ difference right? (sorry for the spoon feeding, i only recently decided to upgrade my nokia beacon which i suddenly realise how slow it has been all along)

 

[xiaofan]

noted with thanks.
actually the netgear one is from amazon sg, so have 2 years local warranty. then i think shopback got some cashback 3% so the price tempt me.
then i read the asus nas feature not very good, like netgear nas better.
so overall u think still worth the $30+ difference right? (sorry for the spoon feeding, i only recently decided to upgrade my nokia beacon which i suddenly realise how slow it has been all along)

Yes I will go for the Asus myself as I am a proud owner of Asus RT-AX82U (China edition, below S$200). Haha.

But if you like the Netgear it is also not a bad buy.

 

[Flanky]

Yes I will go for the Asus myself as I am a proud owner of Asus RT-AX82U (China edition, below S$200). Haha.

But if you like the Netgear it is also not a bad buy.

okok. thanks. will go for Asus.
pay more for the FW support and community support

 

[Flanky]

okok. thanks. will go for Asus.
pay more for the FW support and community support

update. bought at courts at $221.26. non-gundam, normal version. (save $22 or so for a plain jane compared to gundam goodness) i figure the router is going to be on a shelf and no one will look at it after 2 days.

 

[BradenHeat]

CPU is quite an important factor to decide the AX Router purchase

1. Top end: Qualcom IPQ807x series and Broadcom BCM4908/49408

IPQ807x (best performance): Xiaomi AX9000, Asus RT-AX89X, Xiaomi AX3600 (best price performance), Redmi AX6, Linksys MX10 (MX5300), Netgear RAX120, QNAP QHora-301W

BCM4098 (most popular): Asus GT AXE11000, GT-AX11000, RT-AX86U (top rated AX router), TP-Link Archer AX11000/AX6000, Netgear RAX200/RAX80, Linksys MX5300 and many more

BCM49408: Asus RT-AX88U

IPQ817x series (lower end than IPQ807x): Linksys MX4200 (IPQ8174)

3. Mid end: Qualcomm IPQ6000 series, IPQ5000/IPQ5018 series, Broadcomm BCM6750/6755 series

Xiaomi AX1800 and Redmi AX5 -- IPQ6000 series

Xiaomi AX6000, Xiaomi AX3000, Redmi AX5, TP-Link Archer AX72 -- IPQ5000/IPQ5018

Asus RT-AX82U/AX58U and TUF AX3000, TP-Link Archer AX73 and AX10, Linksys E9450 -- BCM6750

Asus RT-AX56U/RT-AX55, Zenwifi XT8/XD6/XD4, TP-Link Archer AAX90/AX20, Deco X20/X60/X68/X90, Netgear RAX20 and many more -- BCM6755

Interl GRX350A3 CPU is not common and not recommended: TP-Link Archer AX50 and Netgear RAX40.

4. Low end: MTK7621/7622 series MIPS based

Linksys E8450: MTK7621AT dual core 880MHz
Linksys E7350: MTK7622BV dual core 1.35GHz
Ubiquiti Unifi U6 Lite (AP): MTK7621AT dual core 880MHz
Ubiquiti Unifi U6 LR (AP): MTK7622 series dual core 1.35GHz

Wow,

thank bruh,

this is something to note : for those wanting to have a good merlin support to the QoS and other tweaks,

ax86u is really a no brainer

but im really surprised on the Netgear and Linksys, those are just under performing with bad software else would think they would have been better with the tweakers