Asus is a famous Taiwanese multinational company that is known for manufacturing not only computer hardware but mobile phones as well. The company has a long lineup of devices that you can select from which might confuse you at first. This is why it is best that you first visit their official website. You will then notice that the site has different tabs for all the products manufactured by them. The user can select a tab that they are interested in and then view all the products available.
Clicking on any model will provide you with a detailed list of specifications. This helps in deciding if the device is worth purchasing or not. Talking about this, two of the most famous routers from the brand are Asus RT-AX86U and Asus RT-AC86U. Both of these are amazing, but people often get confused between them. This is why we will be using this comparison to provide you with a list of distinctions between the two devices so that you can select one easily.
Asus RT-AC86U vs Asus RT-AX86U
Asus RT-AC86U
The Asus RT-AC86U is one of the most famous routers that is manufactured by the brand. This comes with a unique look that makes it quite appealing. Although, on top of this, you should note that the device also has tons of features included. If you are looking for a router to increase the signal range in your house while also getting a lot of new features, then this device is exactly what you should get.
The device uses a dual-band frequency that allows it to create two separate networks. One of these is the standard 2.4 GHz channel that most devices in your home will use. Although, the second network will use the 5 GHz band which is much faster. This can be amazing but there are some things that you need to keep in mind. This channel band can only be used by devices that support it. Additionally, the frequency might have a higher speed, but the signals are quite weak if there are any objects between the devices.
Considering this, you can easily select one of the two networks depending on your usage. Aside from this, another great thing about this router is that it comes with a lifetime security service pack from Asus. This helps your router is having a firewall active at all times that prevents people from other networks to access your data. This way you can browse data without having to worry about your network being insecure.
Asus RT-AX86U
The Asus RT-AX86U is another famous router from the same brand. You will notice that the names of these two devices look very similar. This is because both of the routers are the same. The only difference between them is that the Asus RT-AX86U model is an upgrade to the previous router. Instead of using the standard Wi-Fi 5 technology, Asus has now manufactured the router to utilize Wi-Fi 6 instead.
You should note that this upgrade required different hardware which is why the Asus RT-AX86U has an upgraded processor and board. This helps it in outputting a much wider and stronger signal strength. On top of this, the new technology from Wi-Fi 6 also allows the device to provide its users with a faster speed. The main thing that you should note is that Wi-Fi 6 can only be noticeable if you have a connection speed higher than 3 Gbps.
However, if you put the two routers side by side then you will easily be able to notice that the Asus RT-AX86U has much more stable signals. Aside from this, another feature that this router has is that you can control it using Alexa. There are only a few things that you can do using this feature, but these can still be fun to use. The user has to access additional configurations from the online portal of their router and then configure them.
When it comes to purchasing one of these routers, you should first consider what your requirements are. If having Wi-Fi 6 is not necessary, then the Asus RT-AC86U model is the better option. On the other hand, if you want a future-proof router or Wi-Fi is required then the Asus RT-AX86U will be the better option for you.