Main features of the new router
This new gaming router from the manufacturer ASUS is a model that is located in the mid-high range of routers with the WiFi 6 standard. Logically, it is below the popular and well-known ASUS RT-AX86U, since this new model is about of a lower version with less powerful hardware and less technical specifications, however, at the wireless level WiFi 6 is still exactly the same as the RT-AX86U, therefore, if you are looking for great wireless performance in a router, pay close attention to her CARACTERISTICS.
Wireless features
This new router is Simultaneous dual band with WiFi 6 and AX5700 class. In the 2.4GHz band we can achieve a speed of up to 861Mbps, thanks to its three external antennas in MU-MIMO 3T3R configuration, at 40MHz channel width and the WiFi 6 standard. 5GHz band we can achieve a speed of up to 4804Mbps, thanks to its four antennas (three external and one internal) in MU-MIMO 4T4R configuration, the 160MHz channel width supported by this router and the WiFi 6 standard.
This WiFi router incorporates all the standards incorporated in WiFi 6, such as Implicit and explicit beamforming, the MU-MIMO in the two frequency bands, and also the technology OFDMA that will allow us to optimize the wireless network to the maximum when we have dozens of connected wireless clients. This model supports other important features such as TWT (Target Wake Time) To save energy on end devices, it also supports Agile Multiband WiFi for a high-performance mesh and load-balanced WiFi network, and even supports the standards 802.11k / v to have WiFi roaming between nodes in a completely transparent way.
This router has Smart Connect with band-steeringIn addition, we will also have the possibility to configure the behavior of the band-steering in an advanced way, in order to adapt perfectly to our needs. We also have a WPS button on the side to sync wireless devices easily and quickly, without the need to enter the WPA password. Finally, this router has authentication WPA3-Personal and WPA2 / WPA3-Personal, therefore, we will have the latest wireless encryption to have the best possible security.
Wired and USB Features
This new router has One Gigabit Ethernet port for the Internet WAN, we have NAT by hardware to achieve the best wired performance, and we also have the possibility to configure Link Aggregation in the WAN using the LAN port 1. Other important features are that it supports VLANs in the Internet WAN, VLAN per port and also the triple VLAN of Movistar FTTH.
This router has a total of four Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, supports Jumbo Frames at 9K, we also have the possibility to configure Link Aggregation in the LAN 1 and LAN 2 ports, in addition, the LAN 1 port is preconfigured as Gaming Port, therefore, the device that we connect to this port will have the highest priority possible, ideal for connecting consoles or a gaming PC.
Regarding the USB ports, we have one USB 2.0 port and one USB 3.0 port high-performance, thanks to the Asuswrt firmware we will be able to configure a large number of services to make the most of the potential of these USB ports. For example, we have Samba server, FTP, FTPES, DLNA media server, print server, Torrent client and much more.
Unboxing and differences with the RT-AX86U router
In RedesZone we already have with us this new ASUS RT-AX86S router, a router that is geared towards gaming and is located in the mid-high range of routers. It has a medium-high-end hardware, so we will not have any problems at the wireless or wired level, however, we found quite a few differences with respect to the RT-AX86U model that we have previously tested. The RT-AX86U model is the top model of this new ASUS RT-AX86S router. The first difference that we find in this router are the ports, both the Ethernet ports and the USB ports that they incorporate.
The RT-AX86U model has a 2.5G Multigigabit port, which can be configured as an Internet WAN or as a LAN. This Multigigabit port in a home router without being the top of the range was a before and after, if you have a NAS server with this type of connectivity, we are sure that you will be making the most of it. The new ASUS RT-AX86S model does not incorporate this portIn fact, physically both teams are exactly the same, and here the only thing we will find is part of the case.
Regarding the USB ports, the RT-AX86U had two USB 3.0 ports on the rear, now with the new RT-AX86S we have a USB 2.0 port and another USB 3.0 port, therefore, here it has also been cut in technical characteristics.
Other very important characteristics that differentiate both models are the CPU and RAM. The ASUS RT-AX86U model has a 1.8GHz Quad-Core processor and 1GB of RAM, the new ASUS RT-AX86S model has a 1.8GHz Dual-Core processor and 512MB of RAM. You could say that it has been cut in half in both respects, will it perform well in the WiFi, wired and USB tests that we usually do? You will see it very soon in our complete analysis.
Next, you can see our complete video where we show you how this new router is, we explain what technical characteristics we have in this model and the main differences with respect to the previous model. We also pay special attention to the difference between the Ethernet and USB ports that we have in this new model.
Soon in RedesZone we are going to offer you a complete analysis where you can see the real performance of this equipment in the wired, WiFi, USB tests and we will also show you all the firmware configuration options.
