ASUS AX6000 Dual Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router, 8 Ports, Lifetime Security, Adaptive QoS

I'm a long time Asus user and I am replacing a four year old Asus AC router. It works great but over the years the number of devices in my household has increased significantly (almost 50 devices) and many of them are Chromecasts streaming Hulu Live TV. The older router would max out on memory and CPU and sometimes disrupt our activities. I decided to upgrade to a router with more performance and decided to future proof it a bit and spend the extra money to get an AX/WiFi-6 compatible router.This is the second router I purchased. Even though I am a long time Asus user, I initially tried the TP-Link Archer AX-6000. That router performed very well for speed and range but I had CONSTANT problems with it going offline/online - usually 3-4 times per day. I have a family of 6 so unless you want to call an immediate family meeting near the router, it's got to be solid. I worked with tech support who was very responsive but they could not fix the problem. I'm not sure if I had bad hardware or if it was just a firmware issue that might be fixed at some point, but I couldn't accept the disruption of all my devices especially when we're streaming TV. So unfortunately, the TP-Link went back to Amazon. I knew I should have never left Asus!I purchased the Asus and I'm very pleased to report that this thing is rock solid. I have not even once gone offline and all my devices connect and work perfectly. Range and speed are outstanding. I have 115Mbps service in my house for now (hoping 500+ will be available sometime soon) and I'm able to get those speeds anywhere in the three story home. Using a throughput app, I'm seeing 700-1000 Gbps depending on where I am at in the home. Ping is very low, lower than both the old Asus and the TP-Link. So overall excellent performance and range. I have my network setup in "smart" mode where the SSID is the same for both radios. I'm not sure if it makes a difference because I've always set mine up that way, just never had the "smart" feature as an option. The smart mode I think tries to balance the number of devices on each radio and will move them if demand is too great on one or the other. Seems to work well although I haven't tested it without it turned on.So overall, I definitely recommend this router. I've only had it for a short time but I will come back and update the review if something changes. For all those that are having connectivity issues, have you updated to the newest firmware? Mine is rock solid.

I purchased the ASUS WIFI 6 802.11AX Router to replace my NetGear NightHawk WIFI 5 802.11AC Router. Although the WIFI signal is excellent, I can’t say it is any better than the signal I had from the NetGear NightHawk.If you are looking to purchase this Router to replace a WIFI 5 802.11AC Router you may not see much performance gain.On a plus note, I had no issues at all with getting the WIFI Router setup and I LOVE the user interface settings on the Router. Plus the Router looks awesome!I also LOVE the extra Gigabit ports in the back of the Router. The ports came in very handy plugging in extra devices. Previously, I was using a USB 3.0 external dumb switch but I did not get the best connectivity with the switch. When I started using the Gigabit ports that problem was solved immediately.You can go into the user interface settings on the ASUS Router and it will show you if any of the network cables that are plugged in are having performance issues and what the possible issues are to fix the issue.If I had it to do over, I would definitely buy this Router again! If you are on the fence, don’t let the price stop you. Yes, it is more expensive than other Routers. But, you get what you pay for.

10/17/22: Updated to 5 stars. Original firmware this router came with was 3.0.0.4.386.41700 which was frustrating dropping the internet connection daily (DHCP WAN issue). Upgraded to firmware 3.0.0.4.388.20518 and it's been stable so far! Will post updates as I have more time to test it thoroughly. The addition of VPN fusion support is a win too! I did not use the web interface or app to update the firmware automatically. Downloaded the firmware from Asus' website. Reset the router to factory defaults. Plugged in a PC via ethernet cable then updated firmware. Reset the router to factory defaults again, disabled Smart Connect/band steering, then manually configured the router to account for older devices on my network (up to MCS 9 256 QAM for 2.4 Ghz and left 5 Ghz on Nitro/1024 QAM). I'm playing things a bit safe with those settings but your mileage may vary depending on the devices on your network.7/30/22: Purchased and received in October 2021. I have mixed feelings about this router. On the one hand, excellent hardware. No dropped connections over wifi along with consistent signal strength. So many settings /features in the firmware as well and with the quad-core CPU + 1GB of RAM this router is FAST. On the other hand, the unit I received exhibits the DHCP over WAN issue (mine drops its Internet connection once a day around 3:30pm). A reboot restores Internet connectivity but I noticed my public IP address changes each day even with the DHCP query setting on Normal instead of Aggressive or Continuous. It turns out many other customers are reporting the same issue or very similar issues with the newer Asus firmware as well (do a search for Asus RT-AX88U DHCP WAN and SNB/Rogers forums will come up). So this router's been sitting on the side as an ornamental fixture in my home (actually it's my test platform) while I use a TP-Link router to manage wifi traffic (less features but stable day in and day out for work and anything else I do on my network). Lately I've started looking at the forums again and it appears a few of the newer firmware releases are stable. As soon as I can carve out some time on my weekends, I'll get back to working on this router.The one thing holding this router back from its true potential is it has only a 1Gbps WAN port, when other routers on the market in its price-range have 2.5Gbps WAN ports. If it had a 2.5 Gbps WAN port, it would be a true contender. If you don't foresee having internet service any faster than 1Gbps in the near future, then it's a solid option. To be fair there are many customers that have gotten good units and have no issues. Because I like its hardware so much (Broadcom chipset, 4G-LTE tethering and 8 LAN ports) and firmware features (QoS/bandwidth limiter settings), I decided to hang onto it as a 'project to work on'. To date I've seen no evidence of it having any hardware issues. Will post updates as I work more on this router and I hope to be able to give it more stars.