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ASUS AC2900 WiFi Gaming Router (RT-AC86U) - Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router, WTFast Game Accelerator, Streaming, AiMesh Compatible, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Adaptive QoS

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9,777 ratings

$127.87
FREE Returns
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
AC2900
This item is certified to work with Alexa
WORKS WITH ALEXA
Add voice control by combining with an Alexa device
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Total Price: $155.86
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Purchase options and add-ons

Brand ASUS
Model Name Ac2900
Special Feature Aimesh, Qos, Led Indicator, Internet Security, Parental Control
Frequency Band Class Dual-Band
Wireless Communication Standard 802.11ac
Compatible Devices Personal Computer, Tablet, Laptop, Smartphone, Security Camera, Gaming Console, Smart Television
Frequency 5 GHz
Included Components RT-AC86U networking router, RJ-45 cable, Quick start guide, power adapter
Connectivity Technology Wi-Fi, USB

About this item

  • Connector Type : USB.Antenna: External detachable antenna x 3. Internal antenna x 1..Memory : 256 MB Flash, 512 MB RAM
  • Dual-band (2.4 plus 5 GHz) AC2900 wireless router with the latest 802. 11AC MU-MIMO technology for data transfer speeds up to 2900 Mbps
  • 1.8GHz 32bit dual-core processor optimizes network traffic and connectivity speeds from the USB 3. 1 Gen1 and 4x Gigabit LAN ports
  • Designed for lag-free online gaming and flawless 4K UHD streaming with WTFast game Accelerator and adaptive QoS; Product Segment: AC2900 ultimate AC performance: 750 plus 2167 Mbps
  • A protection powered by Trend Micro provides built-in 24/7 protection from external attacks and threats, neutralizing them before they reach your network or connected devices. DC Output : 19 V with max. 1.75 A current
  • Manage your network with the ASUS router app – setup your network, manage usage and parental controls, even get instant notifications about important network-based events. Connected devices must be 802. 11 ac-compatible for best results. Ac input: 110v240v(5060hz)

This product is available as Renewed.

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Price$127.87-27% $87.59
List:$119.99
$129.00-16% $208.83
List:$249.99
-22% $141.18
List:$179.99
-7% $101.99
List:$109.99
Delivery
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
Customer Ratings
User interface
4.2
4.1
4.8
4.3
4.4
4.1
WiFi signal
4.1
4.2
4.0
4.5
4.5
4.1
Tech Support
3.5
3.6
3.5
3.7
3.7
3.6
Quality of material
3.8
4.4
4.6
Easy to install
4.3
4.5
4.3
Sold By
Amazon Warehouse
Amazon.com
Xtrasaver Inc
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
BookNutrition
connectivity tech
Wi-Fi, USB
Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB
Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB
Wi-Fi
number of ports
6
5
6
5
data transfer rate
2900 megabits per second
3000 megabits per second
2700 megabits per second
5700 megabits per second
5400 megabits per second
1800 megabits per second
wireless standard
802 11 AC
802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 G, 802 11 G, 802 11 A
802 11 AX
802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 A
802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 G, 802 11 G, 802 11 A
802 11 A, 802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 G, 802 11 N
frequency band class
dual band
dual band
dual band
dual band
dual band
dual band
lan port bandwidth
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit
10/100 megabits per second
2.5 Gigabit
Gigabit

What's in the box

  • RT-AC86U networking router
  • RJ-45 cable
  • Quick start guide
  • power adapter

  • From the manufacturer

    Banner
    NitroQAM

    Ultrafast Wi-Fi with NitroQAM & 5GHz Quad-Stream Technology

    Whether you're gaming online in a heated competition or streaming a live event in 4K UHD, lag and buffering are simply not an option. NitroQAM (1024-QAM) technology delivers the ultimate 5GHz quad-stream (4x4) speeds of up to 2167Mbps, giving RT-AC86U combined total speed of 2917Mbps.

    Mu-Mimmo

    Revolutionary MU-MIMO Technology

    MU-MIMO gives every compatible device its own dedicated full-speed Wi-Fi connection, so that multiple devices can connect at the same time without slowing down the network. In fact, RT-AC86U is able to connect to multiple MU-MIMO-compatible clients at each device's maximum speed simultaneously.

    QOS

    Prioritize Your Game with Adaptive QoS

    Boost your gaming bandwidth with Adaptive QoS, which allows you to easily prioritize gaming packets and activities. You can even assign full dedicated bandwidth while gaming under gamer solo mode, making RT-AC86U the perfect ally for low latency gaming anywhere in your home.

    AiProtection

    AiProtection with Parental Control

    RT-AC86U incorporates ASUS AiProtection, a commercial-grade network security system powered by Trend Micro Smart Home Network. With AiProtection, all connected devices are protected, even if they have no antivirus capability of their own — such as IoT devices.

    Home Hub

    Your Sharing Center & Digital Home Hub

    RT-AC86U has four Gigabit LAN ports, USB 2.0 port and USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1) port. Smart TV, game consoles, NAS storage devices and more can now have their own dedicated ports, making RT-AC86U your digital home hub.

    App & Interface

    ASUS Router App & ASUSWRT User Interface

    The ASUS Router App and ASUSWRT are built from the ground-up to be both intuitive and robust, all without needing to boot up a PC. RT-AC86U features the enhanced, intuitive ASUSWRT user interface, which gives you easy access to both the 3-step web-based installation process and a wealth of robust advanced options.

    ASUS Routers

    Asus

    ASUS RT-AC86U

    Asus

    ASUS RT-AC66U B1

    Asus

    ASUS RT-AC68U

    B016EWKQAQ

    ASUS RT-AC3100

    Asus

    ASUS RT-AC5300

    Customer Reviews
    4.4 out of 5 stars
    9,777
    4.4 out of 5 stars
    4,991
    4.4 out of 5 stars
    13,689
    4.2 out of 5 stars
    4,750
    4.3 out of 5 stars
    2,858
    Price
    $127.87 $133.74 $143.99 $119.97 $295.00
    WiFi Speed
    2900 Mbps 1750 Mbps 1900 Mbps 3100 Mbps 5300 Mbps
    WiFi Coverage
    Very Large Home Large homes Large homes Very Large Home Very Large Home
    Total Gigabit Ethernet ports
    4 4 4 4 4
    ASUS AiMesh Compatible
    Ai Protection

    Looking for specific info?

    Product Description

    Designed to deliver jaw-dropping network performance, The ASUS RT-AC86U features a 1. 8GHz dual-core processor with the latest 802. 11AC MU-MIMO technology. Maximize your online experience with game-boosting Adaptive Qu's, gamers private network by Waist, and built-in network security from Protection. Use the ASUS router app to manage your network while on-the-go. Wi-Fi technology is 20/40/80 MHz bandwidth. Note-if having issues connecting to 5 GHz network make sure that wireless device supports 5 GHz or features dual Band capabilities.

    Product information

    Technical Details

    Collapse all

    Additional Information

    Warranty & Support

    Amazon.com Return Policy:You may return any new computer purchased from Amazon.com that is "dead on arrival," arrives in damaged condition, or is still in unopened boxes, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. Amazon.com reserves the right to test "dead on arrival" returns and impose a customer fee equal to 15 percent of the product sales price if the customer misrepresents the condition of the product. Any returned computer that is damaged through customer misuse, is missing parts, or is in unsellable condition due to customer tampering will result in the customer being charged a higher restocking fee based on the condition of the product. Amazon.com will not accept returns of any desktop or notebook computer more than 30 days after you receive the shipment. New, used, and refurbished products purchased from Marketplace vendors are subject to the returns policy of the individual vendor.
    Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here. [PDF ]

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    ASUS AC2900 WiFi Gaming Router (RT-AC86U) - Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router, WTFast Game Accelerator, Streaming, AiMesh Compatible, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Adaptive QoS

    ASUS AC2900 WiFi Gaming Router (RT-AC86U) - Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router, WTFast Game Accelerator, Streaming, AiMesh Compatible, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Adaptive QoS


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    Customer reviews

    4.4 out of 5 stars
    4.4 out of 5
    9,777 global ratings

    Customers say

    Customers like the ease of setup of the networking router. They say the app is straightforward and the GUI is intuitive to figure out. They also appreciate the speed, saying it has good speeds and pings. Customers also like the usability, and coverage. However, some customers disagree on connectivity, performance, quality, and value.

    AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

    549 customers mention453 positive96 negative

    Customers find the setup of the networking router very easy. They say the app is straightforward and intuitive to figure out. They also appreciate the live ping info, which is very useful for setup.

    "...Fortunately, ASUS makes this a pretty simple process if you know how to navigate their UI..." Read more

    "...it took a little time to get it where I wanted it but initial setup and config was easy...." Read more

    "...-Very easy and simple to tune your frequency bands and channels, I notice in a lot of reviews people often say things like "2.4 ghz band can't get..." Read more

    "...Out of the box:It's insanely simple and to the point. You have a router, a power cable, and a network cable...." Read more

    475 customers mention352 positive123 negative

    Customers like the speed of the router. They mention that it has good speeds and pings, with a faster dual-core CPU. They also appreciate the incredible performance and throughput, saying that it's more responsive.

    "...Was able to get the full internet speed in almost every room of the house, the lowest it went in a far corner room was ~150 up and down...." Read more

    "...and even all the way to the back of my back yard, full signal and full speed- great to not have to rely on my cellular data plan while out with the..." Read more

    "...The performance and throughput on this router is incredible, especially when you have QoS configured to prioritize gaming and your gaming devices..." Read more

    "...wifi along with the additional error checking result in a data transmission latency that reduces the value of a very high speed wifi protocol." Read more

    121 customers mention107 positive14 negative

    Customers like the usability of the networking router. For example, they mention it has a great user interface, is comprehensive, and well laid out. Some say the management interface on this unit is similar to the older Linksys screens.

    "...-As usual Asus makes it SUPER convenient and easy to add network storage, you literally just follow the instructions on the router and suddenly you..." Read more

    "...The router configuration menu is easy to navigate and the user interface is beautiful.Performance:..." Read more

    "...This has the best of both worlds - a VERY useful, easy to navigate, and incredibly powerful GUI in the phone to deal with most things, and a web..." Read more

    "...The interface is pretty well laid out and most anybody who has done any networking should find most of what they need for basics easy to setup...." Read more

    103 customers mention103 positive0 negative

    Customers are satisfied with the coverage of the router. For example, they mention it provides good coverage through their house, it easily covers all three floors of their 3600sqf house, and it has a huge range for WiFi. Some say that it eliminates all dead spots and patches up all the deadzones in their house.

    "...I get super coverage and stable performance on either channel. I use the 2.4 Ghz channel as it is likely the most stable and goes through more walls...." Read more

    "...I am happy with the range coverage...." Read more

    "...We now have amazing speed, great coverage, and solid connections. I removed our WiFi access point as it was no longer needed at all...." Read more

    "...1. Coverage of the two bands were greater than what I had before for my entire house is covered including outside on my patio were no coverage was..." Read more

    1,055 customers mention563 positive492 negative

    Customers are mixed about the connectivity of the router. Some mention that the signal was excellent, providing a better wireless signal to several wifi enabled devices that they have around. The WiFi range is more than enough for their apartment, and the signal strength seems strong and steady and doesn't drop out. However, others say that they consistently lost internet connectivity, and that the router does seem to lose connection to the main occasionally.

    "...These have been great routers for my needs. Fast, inexpensive, reliable...." Read more

    "...which was not only a headache to try to set up, but consistently lost internet connectivity...." Read more

    "...To net it out, the mesh network, VPN with exception management, Internet failover, and parental controls all work well...." Read more

    "...The AiMesh router does seem to lose connection to the main occasionally. No idea why, the system or wireless logs shed no light on the issue...." Read more

    889 customers mention548 positive341 negative

    Customers are mixed about the performance of the router. Some mention that it performs flawlessly, while others say that it doesn't completely work. Some say that the device stops responding somewhat frequently, resulting in no internet selectively. Some customers also mention that the built-in media server may not work for all of their file types.

    "...Also, the QoS (Quality of Service) functionality is great...." Read more

    "...why I'm not giving this 1 star, it's because well it doesn't completely not work...." Read more

    "...two at my house and two at my cabin (large property), and all of them work perfectly...." Read more

    "...VPN with exception management, Internet failover, and parental controls all work well...." Read more

    291 customers mention157 positive134 negative

    Customers are mixed about the quality of the networking router. Some mention that it's running super solid for 5 years with minimal tweaking, and the technology seems solid and performant. However, others say that it simply is not reliable, and ends up being very weak on CH 1 and 11.

    "...This dual router setup has been 100% reliable since the day I set it up. My router settings are fairly simple...." Read more

    "...AiMesh is amazing. But the way they ignored their faulty hardware on this model for years leaves a very sour taste in my mouth...." Read more

    "...It's fairly heavy for it's size, and the plastic seems thick and durable...." Read more

    "...This router, however, does not include the capability to do so...." Read more

    237 customers mention109 positive128 negative

    Customers are mixed about the value of the networking router. Some mention it's good value at 125 per unit, and one of the most affordable mesh systems. However, others say that it wasn't worth it, is the worst router they've purchased, and is extremely expensive.

    "...these do great in more well spaced out neighborhoods, but not so great in a townhouse or condensed housing setting near an airport...." Read more

    "...To summarize again, this is a great, inexpensive, high performance router in my experience.04/05/2020 UPDATE..." Read more

    "...only connect using the 2.4ghz as the backhaul which made it basically unusable as a node...." Read more

    "...What I can say is that they are totally worth it if you need to cover your whole house and well...your entire property for that matter...." Read more

    So close to gigabit wifi speeds, but yet so far
    4 Stars
    So close to gigabit wifi speeds, but yet so far
    EDIT:I had another opportunity to set these up in a different environment for a family member. She had just bought a 4000 square foot house, she has 250 Mbps up/down fiber internet and does not live near any weather radar stations. I opted to not update to the latest firmware (5/2020) and instead installed the second latest (3/2020). Everything went smoothly setting up as wired access points. Was able to get the full internet speed in almost every room of the house, the lowest it went in a far corner room was ~150 up and down. What's even craziers is the 2-3 ms ping over wifi. I would strongly reccomend this mesh 2pk system (even though I didn't choose to use the "mesh" system) for larger houses far away from weather stations. Upping my review to 4 stars as these do great in more well spaced out neighborhoods, but not so great in a townhouse or condensed housing setting near an airport.ORIGINAL REVIEW:This is a review for the 2 pack of RT-AX92UHere's the TL;DRI really really really wanted to like this mesh router system. I think that if you happen to be nowhere near a weather radar station, the nodes are very far apart, you're ok with compromises, and you're very very patient, then maybe you could make it work. But sadly there are many features that are only available when certain other settings/modes are enabled, and many things that you lose when you enable other modes (I'll go into more detail below). I was actually able to obtain a gigabit level download speed in a speedtest from my isp, but on that connection to anything outside my isp, I got dial up speeds. Trying to get this to work as expected was an emotional roller coaster that sadly ending in returning it.A little background on me, I'm an IT engineer. Before I got my degree in IT, figuring out how routers worked and what every setting means and does has been a hobby of mine since I was 12, starting when I setup our first 802.11 b router. So I've been self taught and professionally taught in the ways of home and enterprise wireless networking for the last 20 years. Not saying I know it all, but I just want to assure you that this review isn't a case of someone that just didn't know how to configure it.Let's break this down by each feature and how it betrayed meAggregate WANI have gigabit comcast internet. The provisioned download speed (according to dslreports) of comcast's gigabit internet is actually 1.2 GBps. Since I have a modem with the ability to do a aggregate wan link, I was hoping to achieve a connection speed above the cat 5e ethernet threshold of ~940 Mbps using the 160 Mhz wifi bands. I don't actually have a wifi 6/ax adapter in any devices yet, but I do have a intel ac9560 adapter (2x2 160 Mhz) which is capable of a 1.7 Gbps link. I figured being close enough to the router I'd be able to theoretically see above 1 Gbps on a speed test. So I set up the aggregate WAN on the main router and on the modem and got it hooked up. It did make the start up take quite a bit longer, but it got a connection and showed 2Gbps in the web gui, huzzah. I was able to get a 1.7 Gbps link near the router, but sadly never got the speeds I desired (I also didn't have anything at home capable of testing a aggregate LAN link, but on a single ethernet cable from the router I was able to get download speeds of 950, which is better than 940, so that's something).Here's the real kicker, I discovered as I played with various settings that the router would go into a constant reboot loop and you would have maybe a few seconds when it was up to try and disable what was causing it. It turned out what was causing it for me was having the aggregate WAN enabled. It worked fine the first day I set it up, but when I woke up the next morning I found myself without internet and a constantly rebooting router. Until I disabled the aggregate WAN (which wasn't giving me the desired above 1gbps speeds anyway) I was stuck in that frustrating loop.Available Wifi ChannelsThis is a question I posted that I never got an answer to so I just want to put it here.On the 2.4 Ghz Band*the standard 1-11 channels are available.On the 5 Ghz #1 Band* the standard lower 5 Ghz channels of 36-48 are availableNo Dfs channels are available on this band (there is a range of 52-64, which fun fact is the only one that doesn't interfere with the weather radar station at a nearby airport for me, so I couldn't ever get a long term stable 160 Mhz wifi from this router).On The 5 Ghz # 2 Band* The Dfs Channel Range of 100-112* The Dfs Channel Range of 114-128* The non-dfs but non-standard and less crowded range of 132-144* The standard Channel Range of 149-161* The non-dfs but also non-standard (but restricted to 20 MHz band) channel 165 is also availableSo almost every channel band is available, except of course for the one range I need to be able to obtain full ax speeds in my area. The fact that so many channels are available really made me want to keep this router, as I hope to not live by an airport forever and would be able to use the dfs channels elsewhere, but sadly there were other issues.Mesh/AP Setup/Wifi Link speeds (gigabit wifi speeds?!)As another reviewer pointed out, even if you used a wired backhaul for the ai mesh, the 2nd 5Ghz band disappears. You can actually bring it back by unhiding the ssid in the advanced settings. But I discovered that although you can set it to a dfs channel range, it won't broadcast in 160 Mhz or it will change the channel on you after you hit save. It also does change the channel automatically if you're near a radar station like I am, but it would allow it for a short time before that happened. So, if you enable the Mesh system in any way, at least on the most recent firmware, you cannot get the full ax speeds. On 80 Mhz channels with an ax 2x2 device, I believe you'd still be able to get up to a 1.2 Gbps link speed, but you wouldn't be able to get 2.4 Gbps without the 160 Mhz dfs channels. (the 4.8 Gbps link would require a 4x4 160 Mhz wifi 6/ax adapter, which doesn't exist outside of ax routers at the moment, though you could technically use one of these nodes as a bridged adapter with an ethernet cable, but that's quite the expensive adapter).Also, a few notes on what the Mesh actually means. So in a typical enterprise wifi system, you have many access points (AP's) on various channels to create a roaming network. You're device automatically disconnects and reconnects typically without you noticing, with some exceptions of apps/services that don't support roaming connections. You can also set this kind of system up with routers in your home by switching them to AP mode and adjusting the wifi channels. What the mesh system does different is that it broadcasts everything on the same wifi channel so that roaming isn't required and or attempts to occur in a manner that doesn't interrupt connected apps/services. This mesh network can also be created with a wireless backhaul (Asus routers have actually supported wireless bridging for longer than mesh systems have been around), or with a wired backhaul. Wired is better if it's a possibility for you. If you don't have ethernet throughout your house you can create a wired network using your home coaxial ports by getting moca adapters (ethernet over coax adapters, which is what I am using, moca 2.5 specifically) or by getting powerline adapters.The issue I ran into with this setup (other than losing the 160 Mhz band capability) is that my house isn't actually that big. I am in a townhouse that's maybe ~1700 sqft, so if both the nodes are on the same channel, they interfere with each other cause they're too close. I wanted to do a multi ap or mesh system to be able to have full signal in every spot of a small house, because hey why not? Sadly when I tried to use the mesh system the signal was never low enough for my devices to switch routers without manually resetting my wifi. I messed with the roaming assistant rssi settings and found that it's possible to make a device bounce back and forth constantly or never even connect if you set that to above -65. I was hoping that particular feature would allow me to force clients to roam as I travel up and down the stairs, but they were just too close together and I ended up getting slower speeds and more difficulty. If I had a bigger house and these were further apart, I don't think that would have been an issue.Also another note, enabling the mesh with a wireless backhaul doesn't make it impossible to use the 2nd 5 Ghz band. It just makes it hidden by default. There is a asus support article that states you can go into the advanced wireless settings and unhide the 2nd 5 Ghz band to allow its use by devices. This is probably related to it locking out the ability to use the 160 Mhz channels when mesh is enabled as I'm sure that would still apply in wireless backhaul mode since it's probably trying to reserve that link speed for connecting nodes.So because of this, I decided to go with an AP setup with 3 separate wifi channels (see smart connect section below for more on that).So I set up one router upstairs and connected the second using my moca 2.5 ethernet over coax adapter downstairs. I setup the wifi names the same on each band with channels that wouldn't overlap(i.e. 2.4 upstairs on channel 8 and downstairs on channel 1, only enabling 5-1 on the downstairs level because the 80 Mhz on 36-48 will overlap regardless of control channel, and then having one of the 5-2 bands on the 100-112 range and the other on the 112-128 range. This is the setup I used when I achieved the fastest speeds in speed tests, I tried virtually every possible combination).Another little note on wifi link speeds and your internet bandwidth; there are those that say you shouldn't expect your full internet speed on wifi, even the people that install your internet tell you this. I'm here to tell you that this is false (but also an understandable thing as you're not always going to be at a full wifi signal, and you might have interference, and it's not technically the ISP's job to get you the best possible wifi speed because the router is often, though not always, your property not theirs, they just need to get you the promised level of speed into the modem). It is 100% possible to get your full speed (other than multi-gig speeds) with ax wifi, just not 100% of the time. You shouldn't expect to be able to get 4.8 gpbs on this router, even if you had that link speed and somehow had that from your isp. You should expect to get 30-60% of your wifi link speed. In the best conditions with a full strength ac signal I can get around 500-550 Mbps in a speed test against my isp's speed test server, which is about 60% of the 866.67 Mbps link speed. On average, with more traffic and such, I'll see 250-400 with a 866.67 Mbps link speed, which is 30-40% of the link speed. So in theory it is possible to achieve around 1.02 Gbps on my fastest 1.7 Gbps link and between 720 Mbps-1.44 Gbps on a 2.4 gbps link (hence why I wanted the aggregate wan link to work, because a single cat5e uplink will limit my internet speeds to ~940 Mbps). So if you only have a internet speed in the range of 5-500 Mbps down or up, then you can get the full connection speed (and perhaps even less ping) with a more powerful router if you have everything configured correctly and have devices that support such.So with them setup I started doing some speed tests on the 5 Ghz bands (I only connect iot devices to the 2.4 network, and they don't need much speed to work, so I didn't bother doing testing there).On the 5-1 band, I got the expected 866.7 mbps link speed and my speed tests were in the 300-500 mbps range. This is what I got from my previous ac router, so all was good here. I was able to use the internet smoothly and all was well, but this was the same as what I was upgrading from.On the 5-2 Band, I got the expected 1.7 Gbps link speed(fun fact, while testing this with aggregate wan enabled, every time I connected a 160 Mhz device the routers rebooted themselves, once aggregate wan was disabled this stopped happenning). So I did a speed test near a router and got really excited! I got the speed you see in the attached screenshot, a spped of over 940 Mbps down over wifi. I was like, eureka! I did it! Gigabit wifi baby! So I went out to the internet to experience this speed....This is where all hope was crushed. Nothing was loading smoothly. So I went to go download something, I find that things like steam game downloads and nvidia graphics drivers typically are capable of pretty fast downloads, so I went and downloaded a driver from nvidia. Typically I might see speeds of 30 MB/s or faster on a wired gigabit connection, which is what I thought I would see. Instead, I got a blast from the past as I watched the download crawl along at 1-5 Kb/s and even slow down to a few 100 b/s. I thought, oh maybe it's just the internet, so I try resetting the modem, no good. I try the same test on the 5-1 Ghz band, I get faster speed 10+ MB/s download speeds. So it's only happening on the 5-2 band, so I think well maybe it's the radar interference, maybe I just have to give up on dfs channels. So I switch it to a standard channel in the 149-161 range. Same problem, the 5-2 Ghz band will not go through the internet. So I systematically try every setting available (which is not a small number by the by) and nothing works. Even did resets and tried using just 1 router instead of 2, same result. Maybe I just got a bad device, but after all that trouble and knowing that I would never be able to keep a dfs channel stabling broadcasted in my current house, I decided to return it and am now using something that supports the 52-64 dfs channel range from a different brand.Smart ConnectAnother goofy thing about this system is the smart connect configuration availability.There are actually 3 smart connect modes, but there availability is contingent on whether or not you use the mesh system.* All 3 bands (available only with mesh disabled)* 5Ghz 1 + 5Ghz 2 Bands (mesh disabled)* 2.4 + 5 Ghz 1 (mesh enabled)It would be nice to be able to have the separate 5 Ghz-2 band to have a dedicated ax device network without enabling mesh. Especially since enabling the mesh takes away the 160 Mhz channels as mentioned above. While asus does give some good control over smart connect, you can create all sorts of custom rules for when a device connects to which band, I like being able to know which one I'm connecting to if my device supports the fastest speed. So to me it makes sense to combine the 2 lower bands and use that for iot devices (thermostats, nest/echo hubs, smart lights, tvs, etc) and then have user devices use their own dedicated band capable of the fastest speeds. But since I could only do that in the mesh, I ended up trying to keep 3 separate networks as mentioned above.Other NotesNow all this being said, there are more reasons why I really really wanted this thing to work for me.There is a feature for basically everything imaginable. You can create a vpn, but not just the openVPN configuration that comes with most routers. You can make a ipSec vpn or pptp vpn. It provides a dynamic dns service for free because you own the router, same with the extra security features that you can add on top of the firewall. The qos features are extensive (not that I use qos on a gigabit connection) but I like looking at the choices, there's even a (somewhat creepy) feature to enable logging all web surfing history (creepy if used with roommates, smart if used with your children). Basically Asus by far has the best gui and feature sets on their routers. I like being able to control every aspect of my network and asus gives me consumer friendly versions of a lot of the tools I am used to using in network engineering in the enterprise. From firewall traffic logs, to vlans, to vpns, this little router has some punch. However, there is of course a caveat to this too. The router only has 512 MB of ram, if you start enabling features, you'll see the ram load get really high, which is bound to affect your network performance. So it has a boat load of features, but not enough power to use them all at once. Not that I wanted to use them all at once, but if someone did, you'd run into trouble.I also contacted support about my issues back on 6/18, I didn't receive a reply till 6/28 after I had already returned it. The reply I got was a basic scripted reply of things I had already tried, which is expected for a first reply but the timing was too long. Their response time is likely affected by the current global pandemic, but I still would have liked to have gotten something before a week had passed and I had gotten to the point where I had to give up on it.If you're wondering why I'm not giving this 1 star, it's because well it doesn't completely not work. It has lots of potential and its feature set is too good to really say it's a 1 star product. Perhaps after a few more firmware updates it might get to a less problematic level of stability with the wifi 6 features it so abundantly markets itself as having. But until then, it's just a great wifi 5/ac mesh router.
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    Top reviews from the United States

    Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2021
    Style: AC2900 ROG Gaming RouterVerified Purchase
    Have this paired with modem netgear cm-1200, ASUS extender rp-ac1900 (Ethernet back on for the ai mesh system). And Comcast gigabit internet. And all Ethernet cables are cat7.

    Always have 2 wired desktop PCs, 9 wireless connections.

    I recommend for any gamer.

    I love this router!

    Super easy set up, easy mesh setup. If you do wifi mesh you will drop a lot of MB’s. I only got 150 after wifi mesh. But it was solid and reliable. So I went with Ethernet back haul and got 600+on the other end of my house (60ft away from router.) 650 on the same side of the house as the router. 998Mbs lan to pc. I also only use the 5G wifi. Turned off 2.4G.

    After a month I had the issues everyone else had. Actually had it on the last router cause this was its replacement (old:asus ac-68u). Still had internet wifi issues.

    Had Comcast come out and look things over. They said since I just replace the router my less than 1 year old arris sb-8200 modem was the issue. Yeah, ok… So I bought the net gear cm-1200 to make sure. Still had issues. I really wanted to solve this wifi dropping the internet issue.

    Found a connection for the cable out side my house, looked good but when the problem happened if I disconnected it and reconnected it the issue would go away for a few days. I replaced the cable with a 100’ Kable direct cable and ran directly from the modem to the isp connection. Never had an issue again. Has been 12 months no problems. Have had the router for 16 months.

    Great features on the ap. Firmware updates via the app. I love this router.

    All in all, the issues I had was all the bad reviews on all sites. Turns out it was just a bad connection to isp. How many others have this issue and don’t know/think to check the connection to the modem from isp.

    Also this router has a feature called Dfs to change the frequency of the wifi. Found a really old thread on Reddit about a50s losing connection to base station due to wifi interference. And Omg my gen 2 asto A50s work again no cutting out. Who would of thought. That router signals was what was causing the astro a50s to lose connection to base station. Even better for ASUS to put that Dfs button click to fix the issue instead of trying to change the frequency manually.

    After all of that having solid internet and then getting to use my a50s again was total bonus!
    Customer image
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable and good gaming router!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2021
    Have this paired with modem netgear cm-1200, ASUS extender rp-ac1900 (Ethernet back on for the ai mesh system). And Comcast gigabit internet. And all Ethernet cables are cat7.

    Always have 2 wired desktop PCs, 9 wireless connections.

    I recommend for any gamer.

    I love this router!

    Super easy set up, easy mesh setup. If you do wifi mesh you will drop a lot of MB’s. I only got 150 after wifi mesh. But it was solid and reliable. So I went with Ethernet back haul and got 600+on the other end of my house (60ft away from router.) 650 on the same side of the house as the router. 998Mbs lan to pc. I also only use the 5G wifi. Turned off 2.4G.

    After a month I had the issues everyone else had. Actually had it on the last router cause this was its replacement (old:asus ac-68u). Still had internet wifi issues.

    Had Comcast come out and look things over. They said since I just replace the router my less than 1 year old arris sb-8200 modem was the issue. Yeah, ok… So I bought the net gear cm-1200 to make sure. Still had issues. I really wanted to solve this wifi dropping the internet issue.

    Found a connection for the cable out side my house, looked good but when the problem happened if I disconnected it and reconnected it the issue would go away for a few days. I replaced the cable with a 100’ Kable direct cable and ran directly from the modem to the isp connection. Never had an issue again. Has been 12 months no problems. Have had the router for 16 months.

    Great features on the ap. Firmware updates via the app. I love this router.

    All in all, the issues I had was all the bad reviews on all sites. Turns out it was just a bad connection to isp. How many others have this issue and don’t know/think to check the connection to the modem from isp.

    Also this router has a feature called Dfs to change the frequency of the wifi. Found a really old thread on Reddit about a50s losing connection to base station due to wifi interference. And Omg my gen 2 asto A50s work again no cutting out. Who would of thought. That router signals was what was causing the astro a50s to lose connection to base station. Even better for ASUS to put that Dfs button click to fix the issue instead of trying to change the frequency manually.

    After all of that having solid internet and then getting to use my a50s again was total bonus!
    Images in this review
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    2 people found this helpful
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    Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2019
    Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
    I thought I had reviewed this router some time ago, but apparently I forgot to do it. I bought one in December 2017 and one in March, 2018. Both are being used and are set up in my two-story, 3100 sq-ft house, in router+AP mode to provide high strength 5 GHz coverage for the entire house. I'm not using AiMesh mode and haven't tried it. These have been great routers for my needs. Fast, inexpensive, reliable.

    I started with just one RT-AC86U that replaced my RT-AC3100 that had replaced my RT-AC68U, and I found that, overall, RT-AC86U provided better range and speed for both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands than either of those two routers for multiple types of devices (Mac laptop, Android phone, iPad). I did a fairly extensive set of tests that can be found on the SNB forums. I was able to connect in the far bedrooms on the 2.4 GHz band with just a single router and had no problem doing typical internet surfing, but while the connection strength and speed was better than the two previous routers, it still wasn't what I wanted.

    After doing a fair bit of reading, I realized that no single router would provide the 5 GHz coverage that I wanted in the far bedrooms, so I bought a second RT-AC86U, and set it up in AP mode at a location suitable to provide good signal strength in the far bedrooms. Running in main+AP mode requires a dedicated ethernet connection between the two routers. Running this cable is easy for some, but not others. AiMesh is an option for those who don't have the option of running an ethernet cable. For the main AC86U, I have both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios enabled, and the satellite AC86U has only the 5 GHz radio enabled. I did this because the 2.4 GHz band on the main AC86U does sufficiently cover the entire house.

    This dual router setup has been 100% reliable since the day I set it up. My router settings are fairly simple. No attached storage because I have a dedicated NAS. I have several ports on my "server" computer forwarded. The VPN server on the router is enabled, and I use it routinely without issue. Most of the other bells and whistles are disabled. I'm not using traffic monitoring, nor am I using AiProtection. No gamers on my network. I have a typical range of devices connecting - several computers, several phones, security cameras, NAS, printer. All work without issue. WiFi speeds with a strong signal are as good as can be expected. My MacBookPro with 3x3 5 GHz consistently has a 1300 mbps link speed in the vicinity of either router, and transfers to/from my server computer from this laptop go at 70 MB/s. LAN speeds over ethernet are quite fast. If I set up jumbo frames, I can saturate the 1GB/s ethernet between my server computer and NAS in both read and write mode. Its a bit slower with a standard MTU.

    I will say that obtaining good hand-off between the two AC86Us as people move from location to location in the house took a bit of tuning. I had to enable the Roaming Assistant option on the main AC86U to kick devices off it when the 5 GHz signal strength falls below -66 dBm. Something like this has to be done because most devices don't readily disconnect from one access point until signal strength is in the pits, even when there is another high strength access point in the vicinity.

    To summarize again, this is a great, inexpensive, high performance router in my experience.

    04/05/2020 UPDATE

    I'm puzzled by the nearly 20% 1-star reviews because I now have four of these in service, two at my house and two at my cabin (large property), and all of them work perfectly. Either I've been really lucky with all four, or there is something about the settings and/or other equipment for some people that is causing issues.

    07/21/2021 UPDATE

    My four RT-AC86Us continue to work flawlessly. Performance and functionality of the devices continue to improve as ASUS and Merlin continue to improve the firmware for this router and other ASUS routers. At the current price of $150, this is an outstanding router to have even considering that AX (WIFI 6) routers are now available. IMHO, WIFI 6 is a bit of a gimmick. 98% of people will not benefit from WIFI 6 even if your laptop/phone/tablet are WIFI 6. There just aren't many needs for that kind of speed, and the reality is that the half-duplex nature of all wifi along with the additional error checking result in a data transmission latency that reduces the value of a very high speed wifi protocol.
    28 people found this helpful
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    Top reviews from other countries

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    Andre V.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good Mesh Solution
    Reviewed in Canada on April 10, 2023
    Style: AX6100 Router 2-PackVerified Purchase
    I got these as I needed more coverage around the house. I am really happy as it gave me great speeds. I got a notebook and walked around the home and I could get very good signal strength and sustained transfer speeds. The lowest speeds on the graph image were on the corners of the basement.
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    Andre V.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good Mesh Solution
    Reviewed in Canada on April 10, 2023
    I got these as I needed more coverage around the house. I am really happy as it gave me great speeds. I got a notebook and walked around the home and I could get very good signal strength and sustained transfer speeds. The lowest speeds on the graph image were on the corners of the basement.
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    Kevin
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Nice upgrade from my old Asus RT-AC68U
    Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2022
    Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
    Had an old Asus router setup as an access point in basement and it died after almost 10 years of service. I needed a new main router so that I could move my current one into the basement and switch it to the access point. I found the AC86U on sale and it had good reviews, and because I'm familiar with their products, it was a good solution. Setup was easy and flashing Merlin was a breeze. The range is better than the AC68U was and it seems somewhat faster. Would recommend as a good router for normal use (5 users on and off for the day, WFH setup ups and streaming at night)
    2 people found this helpful
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    SAMUEL MONTOYA GUILLEN
    5.0 out of 5 stars Asus Router AX6100 RT-AX92U 2 PK,
    Reviewed in Mexico on September 24, 2022
    Style: AX6100 Router 2-PackVerified Purchase
    ESTE TOUTER LO ESTOY USANDO PARA EL WIFI DE MI CASA 300 METROS CUADRADOS Y FUNCIONA MUY BIEN
    One person found this helpful
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    Oscar Filho
    5.0 out of 5 stars Faz diferença
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 30, 2022
    Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
    É muito bom, eficiente , fácil de instalar e monitorar. Ele nunca foi barato mas entrega em qualidade. Atualmente está um pouco defasado pois não entrega wi-fi 6G , mas se o custo estiver bom é uma excelente opção. Se a internet for rápida e os switchs que estiverem sendo usados forem giga, o resultado surpreende!
    Rogelio
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muy buen producto
    Reviewed in Mexico on June 29, 2021
    Style: AX6100 RouterVerified Purchase
    Fácil de instalar y usar, buen alcance y sin pérdida de velocidad.