Monday, September 4th 2017
ASUS Announces the 802.11ax-enabled RT-AX88U Wi-Fi Router
At IFA 2017, ASUS introduced a number of new products, from laptops to routers. One of the more interesting announcements made by the company was the RT-AX88U Wi-Fi router, which packs technology that is actually ahead of its time. The 802.11ax specification is expected to be finalized and publicly released only by 2019, but as with previous improvements to the 802.11 protocol, products supporting the standard are already hitting the shelves. remember that support for unfinished specifications is always subject to change, but if you're looking to purchase a new router and want to be as future-proof as possible, it doesn't get much better than this.
The next-generation RT-AX88U 802.11ax Wi-Fi supports unprecedented combined speeds of up to 5952 Mbps - 1148 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 4804 Mbps on the 5GHz band, with 4x4 MIMO in both bands. Only three companies - Quantenna, Qualcomm and Broadcom have 802.11ax-enabled silicon as of the end of August 2017; ASUS elected to use Broadcom's solutions. New technologies for the 802.11ax include OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, which should enable better spectral efficiency in convoluted network conditions) and MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO). Thanks to this, the 802.11ax technology provides 4x faster throughput than 802.11ac technology on connected devices in dense environments, while also increasing network capacity and efficiency. This means the ASUS RT-AX88U supports more simultaneous data transfers than 802.11ac MU-MIMO routers, allowing more devices to have faster network access at the same time without waiting for each other - perfect for homes with a growing number of smart, connected devices. RT-AX88U uses TWT technology to reduce unnecessary communications to 802.11ax devices, reducing power consumption and improving device battery life. Pricing wasn't announced at time of writing.
Sources:
ETeknix, Network World, Computerbase.de
The next-generation RT-AX88U 802.11ax Wi-Fi supports unprecedented combined speeds of up to 5952 Mbps - 1148 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 4804 Mbps on the 5GHz band, with 4x4 MIMO in both bands. Only three companies - Quantenna, Qualcomm and Broadcom have 802.11ax-enabled silicon as of the end of August 2017; ASUS elected to use Broadcom's solutions. New technologies for the 802.11ax include OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, which should enable better spectral efficiency in convoluted network conditions) and MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO). Thanks to this, the 802.11ax technology provides 4x faster throughput than 802.11ac technology on connected devices in dense environments, while also increasing network capacity and efficiency. This means the ASUS RT-AX88U supports more simultaneous data transfers than 802.11ac MU-MIMO routers, allowing more devices to have faster network access at the same time without waiting for each other - perfect for homes with a growing number of smart, connected devices. RT-AX88U uses TWT technology to reduce unnecessary communications to 802.11ax devices, reducing power consumption and improving device battery life. Pricing wasn't announced at time of writing.
17 Comments on ASUS Announces the 802.11ax-enabled RT-AX88U Wi-Fi Router
As for clients, that's generally always the case with new networking technology. Expect clients to be announced in six to nine months time.
Yes, 5GHz doesn't have the range of 2.4GHz, that's for sure, but it seems to vary hugely between routers, as the two I use as range extenders are not nearly as good as the R7800 on either band. However, 802.11ax is not shifting to a new frequency, it'll continue to use 2.4 and 5GHz, but apparently the Broadcom implementation doesn't support 2.4GHz which sucks, as this is where we might see some interesting performance improvements once the 802.11ax standard is ratified.
I would advice against buying these early "draft" 802.11ax products though, as the 802.11ax spec isn't supposed to be ratified until 2019, so there's a lot of work to be done still. Considering what a mess 802.11ac is, it looks like we're in for another bumpy ride unless the Wi-Fi Alliance can pull their shit together and force people to adhere to the spec for a change.
Maybe read up on the tech first?
I still remember both N and AC spec. started like this, few draft spec. routers/AP's before the spec. was finalized.
I also have three floors and use my old N600 router as an AP for the upstairs bedrooms. It delivers my full 60 mbps while my AC router covers the first floor and basement office.
And yes, your ISPs are not particularly nice at all. In fact, you have some of the worst and most expensive internet access in the developed world. I suffer every time I go to the US, especially cheaper hotels are horrible.
The thing is, don't expect anything more than 2x2 AC1200 clients, at least not for a few more years until there's a process shrink or two in the manufacturing tech used to make the power amplifiers and Wi-Fi chips. Why? Because they produce too much heat today, so it's not possible to cram these things into smartphones and tablets, although it might work in notebooks. Then again, Intel and the industry in general seems to want to move to M.2 1216 modules which are soldered onto the PCB, which limits what can be put on there.
That said, MU-MIMO helps more devices get better Wi-Fi performance, as long as all your Wi-Fi devices that are actively using the network supports MU-MIMO, but that's highly unlikely... 802.11ax should further help improve things, but again, support for 802.11ax is needed first...