ASUS RT-BE88U
VerifiedMPN: RT-BE88U3 reviews
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After my previous router was plagued with an increasing number of disconnects, I decided to upgrade to the ASUS RT-BE88U. I was drawn to this router for two main reasons: the incredible number of LAN ports (it has 10 in total, including 2.5G and 10G options, which is way more than the standard 4) and the fact that it’s future-proof with WiFi 7. This router was incredibly easy to set up. The ASUS Router app had a simple, step-by-step process that got me connected in less than 15 minutes.
The performance has been flawless. I haven't experienced a single disconnect to date, and the stability is rock-solid, even with dozens of devices connected. I'm extremely happy with this purchase and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful, reliable router that will last for years.
Purchased in at Amazon for $474.
- ISP: Exetel Broadband
This wifi 7 (BE) router from Asus is just what you need if you just got upgraded to 2000/200 optical fibre (or 2000/100 HFC) by the NBN: Most standard routers only have 1 Gb/s ethernet ports. So to use the extra speed you need a 2.5 Gb/s ethernet port on your router. BE88u ethernet ports Outgoing (8 total) - 4x 2.5 Gb/s - 4x 1 Gb/s Incoming - 2x 10 Gb/s ports in (1x ethernet and 1x SPDIF)
N.B. The 8 ethernet ports are particularly useful for anyone who has more than 4 ethernet dependent devices e.g. If you're gaming a wired connection will always give you a faster response time (lower ping) than a wireless connection. VOIP phones need a wired connection. Wired connections will also be much faster than wireless connections especially as the distance from the router drops off. It is not hard to accumulate more than 4 wired devices if you care about speed i.e. We have 6 (4 computers and 2 VOIP lines).
Other features of this router include 1) Wifi 7 is even faster e.g. A Google TV Streamer (wifi 5) now connects at 450 Mb/s whereas it was only connecting at 350 Mb/s on the older Asus RT-AX88u.
2) ~200 devices are supported under wifi 7 (BE). This roughly double the Wifi 6 (AX) limit. This eliminates the need to create a mesh network (to recognised all the devices) and will reduce the time taken to log all devices onto the network e.g. A wifi 6 network can take up to 5 minutes to mesh and recognise all devices. The BE88u wifi 7 standard has a lower latency and should recognise devices much more rapidly. Anyone with a lot of devices will appreciate this.
3) The range on these routers is amazing. We can see the signal 74 m away at a friends house... and that's going through multiple walls and houses. If your existing wifi signal isn't very good this is the ideal solution N.B. The range is similar on the older AX88u.
4) These routers are virtually trouble free. They don't lock up and they never seem to fail. Just use them for years without problems.
The transfer from the older AX88u to BE88u was relatively trouble free. Just make a note of any special settings... but the admin panel was virtually identical.
Visually the BE88u is virtually identical to the AX88u. This is handy because the new router fitted onto exactly the same mounting points (two flat headed screws) on the wall as the old one.
There were two problems: 1) The admin panel takes 50 seconds to load when using Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Brave if you have old firmware. This is a software issue because Opera and Netscape load the admin panel in less than a second N.B. Asus released a firmware update on the 14/11/25 which fixed this issue.
2) The Smart connect feature manages both 2.5 and 5 GHz frequencies together (appear as one signal). If you have this feature turned off separate 2.5 and 5 Ghz frequencies appear. The only problem is that for some reason the wifi is ~6x faster when using smart connect i.e. 450 Mb/s v's 72 Mb/s (when using separate frequencies). Asus is aware of the problem and will update the firmware and fix this with a future update.
This is a fairly big router but it will sit happily on the wall, on a desk or on a bench without taking up too much room.
The prices on these routers keep dropping. They're starting to pop up on Amazon for ~$400 but were around $1000 when initially released.
This is a great router and you'll probably wish you had bought one years ago.
:-)
Purchased in at Amazon for $423.
- ISP: Optus 1000/100
- Modem: Arris CM8200
- +2
Horrible, Weak and Disappointing – If you could see a picture of my AX88U you would see that ASUS basically has used the same body for this WIFI 7 version. That's where the likeness ends. This model is slower weaker and just plain horrible. I had great expectations for this and straight out of the box it looked the same as my old one except the 2 bands were slightly wider giving a 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ band that added up to the claimed 7200 Mps. The setup was easy, then I found I could barely get a signal two rooms away .I then dove into the settings and found the firewall was on, turned it off and the connection to the room improved, however the 5ghz band was showing a weak signal. I then realised smart connect was on, so I turned this off and ended up with two identically named bands in the 2.4GHZ spectrum, this is not right , so I mucked around a bit more clearing the settings and going back to scratch looking for the button that allowed you to separate the two bands.
It did not appear until I reconnected the smart connect then started all over again.
I had the 2.4 ghz signal this time and a 5ghz band, which showed up as weak as two rooms away. I set up one of my AC92U as a repeater and that solved that problem, however, my other AC92U was In Access Point mode and prior to connecting with this router I was getting a strong signal and fast internet to my back bedroom computer as it was only a wall away and connected by a Cat6E cable running under my house. But wow what a shock, my connection on the computer showed I had solid connection with plenty of band width, but testing this online, it crawled and crawled. By this time, I had been battling for well over two hours moving my 3 other routers around to get a good signal, but I gave up in despair. I have never had such a piece of junk and I think ASUS rushed this to market at half the price of other brands but then again it only delivered half the performance. Buyer beware of this one and unless you have some WIFI 7 peripherals I would stay away from this. Was it the lack of a 6GHZ band causing the problems? I don't think so, my old one was a Wi-Fi 6 and had the same identical bands but at a lower width and yet it outperformed this one clearly, it also had less of everything in the hardware department yet made this look like a sinking boat. Asus claims this was 20% better in some way but I just can't find it. Another thing that grieves me about ASUS is the lack of documentation they send with their products. Basically, just a slip of paper with a few drawings on it, fair dinkum, these things are complicated, and I don't know where ASUS are hiding their manuals , and I don't know why they don't send a complete manual, heck for what they charge they should send you a gift certificate for a Big Mac. And another stick on with some passwords , never seen this before but yeh, I eventually found out when my password would not work.
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