AX router recommendations?

[xiaofan]

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

Netgear and Linksys are also not bad but they are more focused on Mesh systems.

Netgear Orbi is still the king of mesh systems.

Linksys has the E series which supports EasyMesh but so far there is no high end yet, highest end is only E9450 which is similar to RT-AX82U in terms of the specifications.

TP-Link has come out with many models in China with some good stuff. However, they are not available in Singapore.

 

[xiaofan]

Dongknows recommendation of consumer AX routers in 2021 (updated on 7-Nov-2021).
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-6-routers/
Best AX router in 2021 -- Asus RT-AX86U

High end AX6000 dual band
1) Asus RT-AX89X
2) Netgear Nighthawk RAX120
3) Asus RT-AX88U
4) TP-Link Archer AX6000

Mid-end AX5400
1) Asus RT-AX82U
2) Netgear Nighthawk RAX50
3) Netgear Nighthawk XR1000
4) Asus GS-AX5400 (not available in Singapore)

 

[BradenHeat]

Netgear and Linksys are also not bad but they are more focused on Mesh systems.

Netgear Orbi is still the king of mesh systems.

Linksys has the E series which supports EasyMesh but so far there is no high end yet, highest end is only E9450 which is similar to RT-AX82U in terms of the specifications.

TP-Link has come out with many models in China with some good stuff. However, they are not available in Singapore.

Nahhhh

Netgear is still not matured for the low end to mid, their "custom qos" or other settings is as bad as linksys ,

but for normiees that dont care about the tweaking, yea, its defnitely my recommendation for those non-gamers, to have it set and go

Dongknows recommendation of consumer AX routers in 2021 (updated on 7-Nov-2021).
https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-6-routers/
Best AX router in 2021 -- Asus RT-AX86U

High end AX6000 dual band
1) Asus RT-AX89X
2) Netgear Nighthawk RAX120
3) Asus RT-AX88U
4) TP-Link Archer AX6000

Mid-end AX5400
1) Asus RT-AX82U
2) Netgear Nighthawk RAX50
3) Netgear Nighthawk XR1000
4) Asus GS-AX5400 (not available in Singapore)

Though he has put out a ton of good information, the recent stint with Ubiquity's Unifi Dream Router, was really bad.

is there still a blanket on the reviews ? geeze ,


haha, side rant, if Linksys velop can get to asus level of customization, i would get it in a heart beat, same goes for Orbi lol ,

their design is one of the best for a person like me [ getting old and all]

used to accept RGB and spikey, now, just want something flush but fully customized with merlin

 

[xiaofan]

TP-Link has come out with many models in China with some good stuff. However, they are not available in Singapore.

Some good examples.

Chinese website has recommended a lot of TP-Link AX router this year, they have very good price performance ratio. I tend to think they can be very useful as wireless AP but I tend to think they are not so good as a router.
https://www.acwifi.net/16947.html
1) High end Wifi 6E capable triband router, XTR10890, AX11000 rated with 2 x 10G port, Qualcomm IPQ8072A quad core CPU, 1GB RAM and 128MB flash
https://www.acwifi.net/17099.htmlhttps://www.acwifi.net/17038.html
2) Mid end Wifi 6 triband router, XTR10280, AX10200 rated with one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 512MB RAM and only 16MB Flash
https://www.acwifi.net/15955.html
3) Mid end Wifi 6 triband router, XTR7880 AX7800 rated wih one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 512MB RAM and only 16MB Flash
https://www.acwifi.net/15903.html
4) Mid end Wifi 6 dual band router, XDR5480, AX5400 rated with one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 256MB RAM and only 16MB Flash. XDR5470 has 2.5Gbe port with similar specifications.
https://www.acwifi.net/14090.html

 

[BradenHeat]

Some good examples.

Chinese website has recommended a lot of TP-Link AX router this year, they have very good price performance ratio. I tend to think they can be very useful as wireless AP but I tend to think they are not so good as a router.
https://www.acwifi.net/16947.html
1) High end Wifi 6E capable triband router, XTR10890, AX11000 rated with 2 x 10G port, Qualcomm IPQ8072A quad core CPU, 1GB RAM and 128MB flash
https://www.acwifi.net/17099.htmlhttps://www.acwifi.net/17038.html
2) Mid end Wifi 6 triband router, XTR10280, AX10200 rated with one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 512MB RAM and only 16MB Flash
https://www.acwifi.net/15955.html
3) Mid end Wifi 6 triband router, XTR7880 AX7800 rated wih one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 512MB RAM and only 16MB Flash
https://www.acwifi.net/15903.html
4) Mid end Wifi 6 dual band router, XDR5480, AX5400 rated with one 2.5G SFP port, IPQ0518 dual core CPU, 256MB RAM and only 16MB Flash. XDR5470 has 2.5Gbe port with similar specifications.
https://www.acwifi.net/14090.html

oh god, no , more spider legs ? ???


alas, Linksys and asus xt8 is the close "good looking " routers around ,

Orbi isnt avaliable as a single Router lol

 

[xiaofan]

haha, side rant, if Linksys velop can get to asus level of customization, i would get it in a heart beat, same goes for Orbi lol ,

their design is one of the best for a person like me [ getting old and all]

used to accept RGB and spikey, now, just want something flush but fully customized with merlin

Unfortunately Merlin FW is only for the normal Asus router and not for Zenwif series yet.

Actutally if you look at the industrial design of Linksys Velop MX5300/MX4200, Netgear Orbi RBK852/752/352 and then Asus Zenwifi XT8/XD6/XD4, actually Asus Zenwif is not bad compared to the other two.

And then if you look at the hardware design of the Zenwifi XT8 you will feel the cost is too high for the lower end CPU used (BCM6755, same in the RT-AX55 and RT-AX56U). But then its wireless performance is on par or better than Linksys Velop MX5300 which has higher end CPU.

 

[xiaofan]

oh god, no , more spider legs ? ???

alas, Linksys and asus xt8 is the close "good looking " routers around ,

Orbi isnt avaliable as a single Router lol

TP-Link does have the ones with internal antenna but they are only for the Chinese market.
https://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_cattag_2137_106_00_01_655_03.html
This one (TL-XTR10890) is pretty cool, Wifi 6E triband AX11000 rated.
https://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_2177.html
This one (TL-XDR5450) looks not bad either, Wifi 6 dual band AX5400 rated.
https://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_2164.html
Lower end AX1800 rated TL-XDR1850
https://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_1689.html

 

[xiaofan]

oh god, no , more spider legs ? ???

alas, Linksys and asus xt8 is the close "good looking " routers around ,

Orbi isnt avaliable as a single Router lol

Maybe you should consider faceplate type (In-wall) of mesh systems.

This is from Huawei, looks pretty cool.
https://consumer.huawei.com/cn/routers/h6/
TP-Link has a whole ranges of AC+AP solution as well, with Ceiling mount AP or faceplate APs.
https://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_976.htmlhttps://www.tp-link.com.cn/product_cattag_2152_126_00_01_02_696_700_05.html
Of coure you can also look at faceplate APs from Ubiquiti, but no AX yet.
https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-wireless/products/unifi-in-wall-hd

 

[BradenHeat]

Unfortunately Merlin FW is only for the normal Asus router and not for Zenwif series yet.

Actutally if you look at the industrial design of Linksys Velop MX5300/MX4200, Netgear Orbi RBK852/752/352 and then Asus Zenwifi XT8/XD6/XD4, actually Asus Zenwif is not bad compared to the other two.

And then if you look at the hardware design of the Zenwifi XT8 you will feel the cost is too high for the lower end CPU used (BCM6755, same in the RT-AX55 and RT-AX56U). But then its wireless performance is on par or better than Linksys Velop MX5300 which has higher end CPU.

yea, i am thinking of just switching to netgear orbi for the black version lol , but they do not sell the a single unit

Linksys velop wise, never heard much complaints from my buddies whom i recommended


as for zenwifi, haha thinking, but like you say, the specs are really sub-par for that pricing

 

[BradenHeat]

QHora-301W urgh....... if its design was more vertical zzzzzzzz ahhhhhhhh seriously lol........

 

[xiaofan]

Wifi 6 router is the way to go if you are buying a new router.

On the other hand, if you have an excellent AC router, like the Asus RT-AC86U or the Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Machine, you can keep it as your main router for a while. You can wait for the Wifi 6E or Wifi 7 router which will use the 6GHz band. Or you can add low cost WiFi 6 APs.

For example, if you have the RT-AC86U, you may add mesh point like RT-AX55.

Best consumer Wifi 5 routers: take note RT-AC88U is a very good router if it works (older units may develop hardware failures).

Netgear XR500 (with Qualcomm IPQ8065 CPU) is also an interesting gaming router. Take note the latest XR1000 has a low end CPU (BCM6750, same as Asus RT-AX82U) and it is actually selling at lower promotion cost (S$349) than XR500 now.

https://dongknows.com/best-wi-fi-5-routers/

 

[BradenHeat]

@xiaofan is there any next gen of Broadcom chips or QC that will be coming out ?

if its gonna be like that till next year, i might as well get a 2nd hand ax86u

 

[firesong]

@xiaofan is there any next gen of Broadcom chips or QC that will be coming out ?

if its gonna be like that till next year, i might as well get a 2nd hand ax86u

There are always new chips coming out. After all, there's the rollout of the 6Ghz band that's expected to form the cornerstone for the full 802.11ax spec and the upcoming, in draft 802.11be spec.

If you need to buy now, just get what you can. Your devices will likely limit it to Wifi 5 anyway, unless you have 100% wifi 6 devices.

 

[BradenHeat]

There are always new chips coming out. After all, there's the rollout of the 6Ghz band that's expected to form the cornerstone for the full 802.11ax spec and the upcoming, in draft 802.11be spec.

If you need to buy now, just get what you can. Your devices will likely limit it to Wifi 5 anyway, unless you have 100% wifi 6 devices.

lol no la,



for me yea, new toys itchy

but problem comes

meaningful software tweaks/ qos/ bufferbloat

and looks department lol

UDM cannot make it, especially when im playing games.

yes im just being a cheap good and high quality low tier charac like lol

and to be honest, im looking at linksys velop mx10 to try out and if theres something coming soon, might as well hold out. [ im looking forward to not wifi 6e, but rather the black Orbi lol ]

And why not Alien, well, its not friendly for whats intended for what customizing

and its also out of stock

and Netgear Orbi, lol, theres no single router, and its always sytem



https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbke963b/ im sold on this but not the amound of nodes that i need HAHHAA

but yea, to answer you, moi tech heart itchy rah.... and ubiquity isnt something im looking to mess at the moment at this time of my life lol

 

[xiaofan]

In terms of chipsets, yes Wifi 6E SoCs are in place. Wifi 7 SoC is also on the horizon (Mediatek to announce in 2022).

Qualcomm Wifi 6/6E SoCs are the most comprehensive.
https://www.qualcomm.com/wi-fi-6e/product-list
Broadcomm Wifi 6/6E solution (not so much in SoC side)
On the SoC side, BCM4910/4912/4915 supports 10Gbe (BCM4908 only supports 2.5Gbe)
https://www.broadcom.com/company/news/product-releases/52836
MTK finally upgraded the old MTK7621AT/7622BV (dual MIPS core, used in low end Wifi 6 router) to higher end Flogic 830 Quad Core ARM Cortex A53 CPU. That should help vendors to come out high performance triband Wifi 6/6EE routers with lower cost. It actually supports dual 2.5 Gbe.
https://www.mediatek.com/products/homeNetworking/mediatek-filogic-830
More routers should come with 2.5Gbe WAN/LAN support (many TP-Link cheap routers in China already comes with 2.5Gbe port, using Qualcomm IPQ5000 series of dual core A53 CPU).

On the client side, more Wifi 6E triband adapter (still mainly 2*2 AX) will come into play other than the existing Intel AX210.

Hopefully 3x3 AX and 4x4 AX clients will also become available.

 

[lance88]

Hi guys, I have shortlisted to below 3 routers, prices are range of $160 which will you recommend and why?
Tp-link Ax72 ax5400 (also open to consider ax73)
Xiaomi ax6000
D-Link x5460 ax5400

 

[xiaofan]

Hi guys, I have shortlisted to below 3 routers, prices are range of $160 which will you recommend and why?
Tp-link Ax72 ax5400 (also open to consider ax73)
Xiaomi ax6000
D-Link x5460 ax5400

IMHO none of them are really good. Asus RT-AX82U is selling at about S$240 during Courts promotion and that will be better than all three routers.

But if you want to choose among the three, probably TP-Link Archer AX72 (or AX73) is a better one.

Compared to Xiaomi AX6000: better FW feature and with local warranty. English UI.

Compared to D-Link: more users are using the TP-Link and the feedback seems to be better than the D-Link. There are very few posts about D-Link AX routers in this forum.

But if you are okay with Chinese UI and simple FW features, and no local warranty, and you are mainly concerned about wireless coverage, Xiaomi AX6000 can be considered as well.

 

[weeza77]

Any recommendations for AX routers with Wifi 5 DFS channels option?

 

[xiaofan]

Any recommendations for AX routers with Wifi 5 DFS channels option?

The Asus AX routers have support for the DFS channels for Wifi 5/6, for example, Asus RT-AX86U/82U/58U.

 

[lance88]

IMHO none of them are really good. Asus RT-AX82U is selling at about S$240 during Courts promotion and that will be better than all three routers.

But if you want to choose among the three, probably TP-Link Archer AX72 (or AX73) is a better one.

Compared to Xiaomi AX6000: better FW feature and with local warranty. English UI.

Compared to D-Link: more users are using the TP-Link and the feedback seems to be better than the D-Link. There are very few posts about D-Link AX routers in this forum.

But if you are okay with Chinese UI and simple FW features, and no local warranty, and you are mainly concerned about wireless coverage, Xiaomi AX6000 can be considered as well.

Xiaomi AX6000 ui are in Chinese?

How is Asus RT-AX82U better? It's using the same tri core Broadcom as TP-Link ax73

D-Link x5460 is using a tri core Broadcom but they didn't disclose the model