Asus ROG AC2900 router $129 - $15 promo @ Newegg

[VirtualLarry]

ASUS ROG (GT-AC2900) Dual-Band Wireless Gigabit Wi-Fi Gaming Router - GeForce NOW Optimization with Triple-Level Game Acceleration, 4 x LAN, 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0 Compatible with AiMesh
+ $15 off w/ promo code SSBP927, limited offer

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

 

[gibster]

After some research recently I settled on the TP-Link AX4400, for around the same price as the above router it supports WiFi 6. Had it for a month or so, so far so good, it allowed me to take advantage of the full download speed from Comcast (I now get 1Gbps, with an older router I was limited to around 300Mbps):

TP-Link 6-Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wi-Fi Router | up to 4.4 Gbps Speeds | Upgrade Any Home Internet | Archer AX4400 - Walmart.com

Buy TP-Link 6-Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wi-Fi Router | up to 4.4 Gbps Speeds | Upgrade Any Home Internet | Archer AX4400 at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

 

[UsandThem]

After some research recently I settled on the TP-Link AX4400, for around the same price as the above router it supports WiFi 6. Had it for a month or so, so far so good, it allowed me to take advantage of the full download speed from Comcast (I now get 1Gbps, with an older router I was limited to around 300Mbps):

TP-Link 6-Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wi-Fi Router | up to 4.4 Gbps Speeds | Upgrade Any Home Internet | Archer AX4400 - Walmart.com

Buy TP-Link 6-Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wi-Fi Router | up to 4.4 Gbps Speeds | Upgrade Any Home Internet | Archer AX4400 at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

TP Link: Good hardware. Hardly any firmware updates before it's abandoned.

The v1.60 (newest) version of that router has one firmware update for it. If it's lucky, it might get 1 or 2 more max.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/archer-ax4400/v1.60/#Firmware

Whereas the Asus model in the OP has received 17 firmware updates in just under two years.
https://rog.asus.com/us/networking/rog-rapture-gt-ac2900-model/helpdesk_bios

 

[gibster]

TP Link: Good hardware. Hardly any firmware updates before it's abandoned.

The v1.60 (newest) version of that router has one firmware update for it. If it's lucky, it might get 1 or 2 more max.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/archer-ax4400/v1.60/#Firmware

Whereas the Asus model in the OP has received 17 firmware updates in just under two years.
https://rog.asus.com/us/networking/rog-rapture-gt-ac2900-model/helpdesk_bios

Like you mentioned, this router just had a firmware upgrade in December, it installed as soon as I let it in the admin pages, it's a fairly new router. We'll see how many more updates it will get, I don't count on a router "lasting" more than a few years anyway, new features advance faster than what firmware updates can accomplish. I'd much rather have a WiFi 6 router than a WiFi 5 one with many updates... Besides, more updates = they write buggy code to begin with, right?
The router in OP is at least 3 years old, that's EOL already for routers...

 

[VirtualLarry]

The router in OP is at least 3 years old, that's EOL already for routers...

Well, by that standard, almost any "AC" router is effectively EOL, but a lot of times there's fairly slow uptake of new wireless standard (unless you own a new flagship cell phone). A lot of consumers, I would guess, have routers that are more than five years old.

But anyways, it has solid reviews, seems like a decent (if last-gen) "gaming router", and most importantly, it's $115 rather than MSRP of $199.

This is the "gaming" version of the "bigger brother" of the AC68U, the AC86U.

Well-reviewed at the time, and as you can see by the firmware updates, pretty well-supported too. (Supports AiMesh.)

The almost-elderly at this point, AC68U and family, sells for that much new too.

It should be noted, that the AC86U / ROG AC2900 and newer, have ENCRYPTED BOOTLOADERS. Last time that I checked, that meant NO THIRD PARTY FIRMWARE for these. Which is kind of a bummer.

 

[gibster]

Well, by that standard, almost any "AC" router is effectively EOL, but a lot of times there's fairly slow uptake of new wireless standard (unless you own a new flagship cell phone). A lot of consumers, I would guess, have routers that are more than five years old.

But anyways, it has solid reviews, seems like a decent (if last-gen) "gaming router", and most importantly, it's $115 rather than MSRP of $199.

This is the "gaming" version of the "bigger brother" of the AC68U, the AC86U.

Well-reviewed at the time, and as you can see by the firmware updates, pretty well-supported too. (Supports AiMesh.)

The almost-elderly at this point, AC68U and family, sells for that much new too.

It should be noted, that the AC86U / ROG AC2900 and newer, have ENCRYPTED BOOTLOADERS. Last time that I checked, that meant NO THIRD PARTY FIRMWARE for these. Which is kind of a bummer.

Yeah, I was partly joking about the EOL, but as you see, in the 3 years since the router came out, it is missing AX, and no firmware upgrade will give it that capability I suspect. Other than my daughter's iPhone 11, I don't have any devices doing AX, but I suspect my next phone or other gizmo will...

 

[VirtualLarry]

in the 3 years since the router came out, it is missing AX, and no firmware upgrade will give it that capability I suspect. Other than my daughter's iPhone 11, I don't have any devices doing AX

That's precisely my point.

By the time you accumulate enough client devices to make AX a useful / necessary feature on your router, wireless standards will have likely moved on to "Wifi 7".

I don't know if the AC2900 ROG router supports 160Mhz channels in 5Ghz mode, but if it does, and supports MU-MIMO, then that's like 90% of the (hardware-dependent) performance-related benefit of an AX router right there. The other 10%, is things like WPA3 and Opportunistic wifi encryption.


Plus, the ROG router has RGB. Checkmate!

Edit: I'm not knocking the TP-Link router, hardware-wise. They tend to be pretty solid and functional units. But I like a lot of support, personally, and Asus gives you that more than TP-Link.

And if you wanted an AX router on the cheap, look up the Netgear RAX-35, it can be had for $50 these days (!)

 

[gibster]

Plus, the ROG router has RGB. Checkmate!

Mine is sitting in the basement, I suppose the rats may have been amused if it had RGB

RAX-35 has pretty bad ratings on Amazon, so...

It's just another option, I didn't think the AX4400 was such a great deal (at Walmart), so I did not post a separate thread for it, but for some it may be an alternative to your ASUS. My previous router was a DLink DIR-868L, and it's been EOL'd in 2020, so it was time to update for me... It has been produced since 2013, and like I mentioned, it could no longer keep up with my current Comcast connection, not to mention that it may have had security holes... With the AX4400 I truly overkilled it I think, I could probably run an office at home with 20 people all running wireless and it would not break a sweat.

 

[GrumpyMan]

You had me at RGB. I heard that makes the internet go faster.