ASUS RT-AX3000 Dual Band WiFi Router

Pros: – affordable latest ultra-fast WiFi 6 router with more than enough specs for a typical home wireless network. – More options for configurations compared to other similar mid-range WiFi 6 routers. – Adequate WiFi signal strength for a small-size home/condo/apartment. – Able to handle multiple WiFi 6 capable devices at once. – Can also configure the router via a cell phone app. – Can set up an extended range WiFi network through an AiMesh with other Asus routers. Cons: – Maximum WiFi 6 bandwidth (5GHz channel) is lower than the higher-spec‘d Asus RT-AX88U, though the bandwidth is more than enough for a typical home network. – No LAN aggregation Overall Review: Recommend for anyone wanting to set up a home network with the latest WiFi 6 wireless network standard. The specs of this router is more than enough. If wanting more gaming oriented features, might want to consider the more expensive AX11000 router.

Pros: – Faster computing speed over the standard ISP modem. – Doesn’t go slow down or hiccup when a dozen devices are connected to it at the same time. – Uses latest WiFi 6 protocol. Longer term investment. – Sets up automatically with your ISP. – Great signal strength upgrade if you’re using your ISP’s standard modem/router. – Compact size also, it’s smaller than my ancient Linksys G-router from the 2000’s. Cons: – The ONLY thing I think would be good is if it had maybe a couple more rear ethernet ports like 6 instead of 4 (nitpicking). I use of the 4: 1) 4K Vizio Smart TV 2) Bose Soundtouch 300 3) Personal Desktop Computer 4) Personal Server (Synology) If I decide to have a 2nd PC I’ll have trouble not being able to have it hard wired to it. I think it’s fairly common to have multiple PCs in an office connected to a single router like a switch. I could remedy this by moving the server to the room with the modem using one of its ethernet ports, but it won’t be as hidden from plain sight as in the office and the power cable isn’t long enough. Overall Review: I admit, this was quite easy to setup although you need to make sure you have 2 ethernet cables, one for the modem and router (WAN port) and the other for one of the 4 LAN ports in the rear of the router to the PC. It will configure itself once you enter the standard IP address in your browser and all you have to do it input the name of the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bandwidths (decided to separate them) and passwords. I bought this primarily to use as an access point more centered in my house apart from having a much broader signal range throughout the house and of course better delegating of signal because the modem/router given to me by my ISP was making it difficult to get a strong signal and was slow in doing internet tasks. It’s processor seemed to be overwhelmed easily by having 7-8 devices connected to it, luckily with this new router doing all the work, it made getting to webpages faster and casting to my Chromecast or Apple TV devices much faster when it used to lag or flat out not do what I asked it to. I also bought this primarily to have invested in long term device because of the new WiFi 6 protocol that’s new to keep around. I bought some CAT 8 cables also which was also an investment in order to get the maximum speed while not risking loss of signal to the router from the modem and even to my personal computer. I recommend it personally, my father now has signal on the other side of the house when before it never reached.

Pros: – Fast Speeds – Increased 5ghz range over AC router – Triple core cpu, and plenty of memory – Very stable running Asus Merlin Overall Review: Bought this to replace my AC1900 which was running out of NVRAM due to my custom configs and ended up needing rebooted every week or so. I have had this router for 6 months and have had to reboot it twice, it has been very soiid, I could not be happier with my purchase. Router has ASUS Merlin firmware installed. I put a good bit more stress on my routers then the average person with VPN server, static dhcp leases, and other custom scripts/ configs in JFFS folder, and have about 25 wired devices and 15-20 wifi devices connected (not including any guest devices). Also bought an AX200 wifi card for laptop and can get real world speeds faster than 1 gbps on file transfers. WiFi range has increased about 20% as well. My 5Ghz AC devices see almost no drop in performance at the farther corners of the house (while before the 2.4 band would be faster in the far corners due to signal drop off). I can not speak to AI Mesh performance/functionality. If you can centrally locate your router then this model will support a 2100-2400 sqft home with ease.