Asus RT-AC88U Gaming Router Review
A Superfast wireless router that consists of a dual-band frequency selection feature.
Asus RT-AC88U is a superfast wireless router that consists of a dual-band frequency selection feature. It is the world’s first router for the home WiFi network, which supports both dual-band LAN as well as WAN.
Here, we will discuss and analyze the Asus RT-AC88U router in detail. You will also get additional information about all the specifications, pros, cons, and many other features.
So, if you are considering to purchase this router, have a look at the points discussed below.
A detailed review of the device is given here. So, go through this information before investing in the Asus RT-AC88U router.
8 Gigabit LAN ports
User Friendly Interface
Excellent WiFi Performance
AiMesh compatible
High Price
Position of USB 3.0
Average Buffer Rate and Network Storage
Social Interactions
The #ASUS RT-AC88U router has eight superfast Gigabit LAN ports, speedy Wi-Fi performance and lots of useful features. See why @CNET calls it the #Lexus of wireless Routers 🤔🤔🤔 - https://t.co/tomxGBG6dy pic.twitter.com/PuiI6femJj
— ASUS North America (@ASUSUSA) December 22, 2018
Put my Super Hub in modem only mode with an Asus RT-AC88U router. 2.4Ghz,/5GHz on different SSIDs. All over my house and Garden:
— Chris (@WeakestLync) May 19, 2018
2.4Ghz = 93Mbps/12Mbps
5Ghz = 217Mbps/12Mbps
Standard routers are awful on all BB Providers.
Supports MU-MIMO Feature
The MU-MIMO is the Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output feature that enables the router to control and regulate WiFi bandwidth with ease. It is first launched by Qualcomm in its MU/EFX 802.11AC Wi-Fi chipset. The router consists of the first WiFi chip that comes from Broadcom.
Apart from the MU-MIMO feature, all the 802.11ac wireless devices handle the clients connected to the router in the same way.
How does this MU-MIMO Feature Work?
Let’s consider a particular WiFi network where the router doesn’t use its full ability. As a result, the wireless networks that are active in it become inefficient. Then the device may lag its performance by losing power unnecessarily. Besides, it may fail to maintain the connection with more than one client.
With the help of the MU-MIMO feature, you can activate more than one connection and the transmission takes place simultaneously. Thus, it helps you to maintain the correct speed of the Internet connection for each client.
Wireless Connectivity: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, AC1200 2×2 Wave 2 Wi-Fi (expandable mesh; dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, TX beamforming); Bluetooth Smart ready
Processor: 1.4 GHz dual-core processor
Memory: 128 MB Flash
512 MB RAM
Operating Frequency: 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
Ports: RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for LAN x 8
USB 2.0 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1
Dimensions: 11.8 x 7.4 x 2.38 ~ inch (WxDxH) (Without Bezel)
Weight: 950 g
Power Supply: AC Input : 110V~240V(50~60Hz)
DC Output : 19 V with max. 2.37 A current
Encryption: 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise , WPA2-Enterprise , WPS support
Features: ASUS WRT firmware, AiCloud, AiProtection, High-power mode, Download master application, Dual-WAN, Port Aggregation, VPN server, Guest network, DLNA server, Automatic IP, Static IP, PPPoE (MPPE support), PPTP, L2TP, IPv4, IPv6.
MU-MIMO also has the ability to connect to multiple WiFi networks with different WiFi tiers. You can connect each router to a specific tier. After that, you will be able to connect more that one WiFi device at a time to the router without slowing down the network.
Soon, all the routers of different brands will adopt this feature and will also support MU-MIMO technology.
Design Specifications
The Asus RT-AC88U router contains USB 3.0, which provides fast data transmission from a host storage space. The device is the first home-based router that has multiple numbers of LAN ports. As the number of LAN ports increases, the clients that connect to the router also increases.
If you have two broadband connections such as cable and DSL, then you can use both of them. With the help of the same router, they will stay online simultaneously. One of the most useful things is that you can use all the USB ports as a host for wireless dongles.
So, if you want to surf the Internet via a cellular broadband connection, this router can be a good pick.
User-Friendly Web Interface
The web interface of the Asus RT-AC88U router has a wizard that is easy to understand and use. Just plug in the device and open a web browser to access the router’s setup wizard.
Follow some on-screen instructions and then create a good username and a strong password for the device as well as the parent network.
After the basic router setup is complete, go through the entire interface in order to manage the device. It also has a unique network map that shows you all the devices that are currently connected to your router.
As you see the active client devices, you can click on them to initiate the communication. You also have the right to change their names according to your preference.
When the clients connect to the router, you can see their MAC address. Thereafter, you will have the right to monitor each and every activity of the connected clients.
With the help of the interactive network map, you can access the components of the router’s settings like Dynamic DNS address, WAN, WiFi Settings, and so on.
Other Features
The Asus RT-AC88U router is rich in features that are helpful to perform a number of tasks. Some of them are AI protection, Adaptive Quality Service, multiple VPN servers supporting various guests network, resourceful USB ports, and many more.
AI protection for Asus RT-AC88U router is set up and mechanized by Trend Micro. It gives you the ultimate protection from various threats like spyware, malware attacks, viruses, and other cyber threats.
In case, an affected client is connected to your router, then this feature will stop transferring your information from the router. If you turn this feature on, then a few components of your router will stop working. Those components are port forwarding facility, UPnP, remote access, and many others.
The adaptive QoS sets a certain priority to the network bandwidth that you are using. It also controls Internet surfing, online gaming, file downloading, online video streaming, and so on. You can also arrange these categories with the help of the mouse, then leave the rest to the router.
Users can also manually operate the QoS facility with a particular function present in the router via “Apps analysis”. This feature helps you to monitor the activity of the client nodes that are active in your router.
The two USB ports present in the router are of great use. They provide multi-purpose functions to access any cloud secondary storage devices. This includes cellphone modems (WiFi Hot Spot), USB printers, and many more.
There is also another exclusive feature that will help whenever you play online games. The feature is known as WTFast or GPN (Gamers Private Network). It is specially designed for people who play games with the help of the MMO.
Note: The GPN allows perfect uploading and downloading of your gaming data between your computer and the game server. Hence, you don’t have to download the WTFast client on every computer where you want to play your favorite game.
Mode of Conduct
In order to use the Asus RT-AC88U router smoothly, you need to upgrade its firmware to the latest version.
It is one of the fastest routers on the clock rate of 5GHz. So, no client can handle the device’s top speed delivery feature.
When any device is active on the router within the range of 15 feet, the connection speed is near about 645 MB per sec. If you take the device a little bit far away, then the speed deteriorates to 335 MB per sec.
Summing Up
We hope that you have gone through the previous sections thoroughly and know that Asus RT-AC88U is one of the best routers. It is mostly preferred because of its dual-bands facility. As the router comprises exclusive features, the best advice that we can give is to go for it.
We assume that no other brand can offer this type of product having tons of features like this. The successors of the Asus RT-AC88U router are also great networking devices with multiple salient features.
