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.
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.
