Next Generation or Edition Router with 802.11ax - the RT-AC88AX

[Gerrim4]

Finding clients that will take full advantage of 802.11ac speeds is very hard to find. Most are 2x2 that can never hit highest speeds. I see there will be a AC88AX, which at least would have more function than the routers running 802.11ad.

For weeks been looking for new router as my old one is just 1x1 802.11n dual band, 300 max speed and about 8 or 9 years old. Looked at some Netgear, Linksys and Asus routers and will probably buy the RT-AC88U. The GT-AC5300 seems to have problems, issues I am hoping to avoid in the 88U.

Something I did like in the Netgear router was the Nighthawk X10, R9000. It has the triple band, but one band is the 802.11ad which is and will be useless. However, the router ran Plex Server with upgraded CPU and memory.

If and when Asus comes out with the 802.11ax or some other new router, it would be nice to see Plex Server, if marketable and stable. In the least, the consumer would have something to use while waiting for client wifi to reach higher bandwidths in 4x4 or in the least as close as marketable. Netgear seem to sell a lot of the X10s, given that the 802.11ad band is useless.

I guess I'll have to wait until 2019 to see specs on the AC88AX.

[MarshallR]

RT-AX88U is coming soon(ish) - we are one of the first (wave) ax device makers. A PCIE .ax adapter for PCs will follow a bit later. The RT-AX88U should be on display at Computex in early June.

.ax also enhances .ac with new technologies like OFDMA, proper MU-MIMO and 160MHz bandwith. Some .ac client devices support 160MHz 2x2, which will push Gigabit-like speeds and it doesn't need its own dedicated 5G channel because channel-use has been better arranged.

With regards to Plex built-in, I will pass on the request to the development team. You mean Plex + use USB attached storage for local media playback?
The AX88 has a quad-core, 64-bit CPU so it's plenty powerful.

[Gerrim4]

Thanks. As long as the marketable and there seems to be ample power, why not. For years people have been setting up home networks to stream content. If stable and easy to setup, should be a big seller while client tech gears up.

[gggplaya]

I too am waiting for this router. I already have a 3x3 wirelessAC router with a 3x3 wireless PCI-e card, and while it says i'm connected at 1.3gbps, the real world transfer speeds are more like 300-500mbps at best. I thought about upgrading to an AC86U with a new PCI-e adapter to take advantage of 1024QAM, but I figure I might as well wait for wireless AX to hit the market, that'll make a bigger difference in achieving advertised speeds.

As for Plex, I still don't think an ARM processor is good enough, you need a cpu passmark score of 2000 or higher to properly encode 1080p video. Plex can do direct-play just fine with an arm processor, but if your client device can't play the format, it'll need to transcode which is where processing power comes into play. I use a Lenovo M73 which I bought used on ebay for $150, it's been a great plex server and only consumes <14watts at idle which is about $1.50 per month in electricity when left on 24/7. I have it set to auto power-on recovery in case power is lost, which I tested and it boots right back up and plex server is automatically started.