ASUS Launches RT-AX88U 802.11ax Wireless Router

Wi-Fi 6, or 802.11ax, is a thing now… And there appear to be real benefits to the updated standard, especially in congested locations. Naturally early adoption isn’t cheap, with this new ASUS RT-AX88U SRP’g for $350. But, if future proofing (at least for a year or two :)) is on your resolutions list, this could be exactly the thing for you.

Fremont, CA (January 3, 2019) — ASUS today announced that the RT-AX88U WiFi router is now available at leading resellers. Featuring the latest 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard, which includes a variety of new technologies that improve WiFi speed and network capacity, RT-AX88U enables users to get cutting-edge, future-proof performance from their home WiFi network.

In addition to the latest WiFi technologies, RT-AX88U features a powerful quad-core processor to ensure smooth and responsive performance as well as two USB ports and eight Gigabit LAN parts to provide users the flexibility to expand and configure their network as they want. RT-AX88U also features powerful built-in software, including adaptive QoS and wtfast^® to accelerate online gaming, AiMesh for creating a whole-home mesh WiFi system, and AiProtection Pro to keep users and all their connected devices safe from online threats.

Many households and small businesses upgrade their WiFi router infrequently, so current purchasing decisions can affect network performance for years to come. By upgrading to a new WiFi router, such as RT-AX88U, when a new network standard like Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) becomes widely available in 2019, users can maximize network performance now and get the longest lifespan out of their WiFi network.
“Consumers demand reliable Wi-Fi at home — whether they are streaming from their smart TV, playing video games or uploading to their cloud,” said Greg Fischer, Broadcom Senior Vice President and General Manager, Broadband Carrier Access. “Broadcom closely collaborated with ASUS on the RT-AX88U to deliver the world’s first fully compliant Wi-Fi 6 product to market.  The RT-AX88U will provide consumers with faster, more seamless wireless connections to more devices in every corner of the home.”

802.11ax Wi-Fi

With the latest 802.11ax Wi-Fi, ASUS RT-AX88U supports 160MHz bandwidth and 1024-QAM to provide ultrafast Wi-Fi speeds of up 6000Mbps — 1148Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 4804Mbps on the 5GHz band — 2.3X faster than 802.11ac dual-band routers. In addition to boosting WiFi speeds, the 802.11ax standard offers a number of other improvements and optimizations that address the massive increase in the number of connected devices in recent years.

RT-AX88U features a revolutionary combination of OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology that provides up to 4X better network efficiency and capacity. With OFDMA, the data channel is separated into smaller sub channels, so data from different devices can be bundled together to ensure no bandwidth is wasted. This means that one channel can transmit data to several devices at the same time, improving efficiency and reducing latency. These smaller sub-channels also enable RT-AX88U to provide up to 80% greater coverage than previous-generation routers.

The 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard also helps to improve battery life of connected devices. A new technology called Target Wait Time (TWT) allows transmissions to be scheduled, so connected devices can sleep for longer periods, delivering up to 7X better battery life with supported clients. 802.11ax is fully backwards compatible with previous Wi-Fi standards, so users can connect any current WiFi device to the RT-AX88U and enjoy a seamless networking experience with maximum WiFi coverage.
Flexible, high-performance hardware

ASUS RT-AX88U comes with eight Gigabit LAN ports to provide maximum flexibility for users who need or prefer wired connections. Additionally, two USB ports enable connection of an external hard drive or printer to create network storage or wireless backups and printing. One of the USB ports is located on the front of the router for easier connectivity.

To handle the data from the increased number of connected devices supported by 802.11ax as well as from the eight LAN ports and two USB ports, RT-AX88U comes with a 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core CPU that provides enough processing power to keep even the busiest networks running smoothly.
Advanced software features

ASUS RT-AX88U gives online gaming a double boost with adaptive QoS that prioritizes game packets within the network for smoother online play. Additionally, Gamers Private Network (GPN) powered by wtfast^® finds the shortest possible path between the gaming device and the game server, minimizing ping time and packet loss.

Support for ASUS AiMesh allows users to create a mesh WiFi system by connecting other supported AiMesh routers to their network, letting them enjoy whole-home coverage with seamless roaming, synchronize features and centralized control.

RT-AX88U provides lifetime free AiProtection Pro – commercial grade network security powered by Trend Micro that protects all connected devices within the network, even those that cannot run security software, such as IoT devices. AiProtection Pro regularly auto-updates its security signatures from the Trend Micro database to ensure network security is always up to date.

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AVAILABILITY & PRICING

ASUS RT-AX88U is available now at leading resellers in North America at an MSRP of $349.99. Please contact your local ASUS representative for further information.

SPECIFICATIONS

RT-AX88U

Wi-Fi		Network standards: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, IPv4, IPv6. Concurrent dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11ax (5GHz): up to 4804Mbps 802.11ax (2.4GHz): up to 1148Mbps 802.11ac (5GHz): up to 4333Mbps 802.11n: up to 600Mbps
Wi-Fi features		Broadcom Max WiFi Technology OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) Beamforming: standards-based and universal RangeBoost 1024-QAM high data rate 20/40/80/160MHz channel bandwidth MIMO technology: 2.4GHz: 4 x 4 MIMO 5GHz: 4 x 4 MIMO
Processor		1.8GHz quad-core processor
Memory		256MB Flash / 1GB RAM
Ports		1 x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN 8 x 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet LAN 2 x USB 3.0
Antennas		4 x external detachable antennas
Management		UPnP, IGMP v1/v2/v3, DNS Proxy, DHCP, NTP Client, DDNS, Port Trigger, Port Forwarding, DMZ, System Event Log
Firewall and access control		Firewall: SPI intrusion detection, DoS protection Access control: Parental controls, Network service filter, URL filter, Port filter
Features		Link Aggregation, Smart Connect, IPTV support, Roaming Assist, Dual WAN.
Additional features		Guest Network: 2.4 GHz x 3, 5 GHz x 3 MU-MIMO Traffic Analyzer Adaptive QoS WTFast Gamers Private Network AiProtection Pro Guest Network: 2.4 GHz x 3, 5 GHz x 3 VPN server: IPSec server, OpenVPN server, PPTP server VPN client: OpenVPN client, L2TP client, PPTP client NAT Pass-Through: PPTP Pass-Through, L2TP Pass-Through, IPSec Pass-Through, RTSP Pass-Through, H.323 Pass-Through, SIP Pass-Through, PPPoE relay Mac OS Backup Enhanced media server (AiPlayer app compatible): Image format: Jpeg Audio format: mp3, wma, wav, pcm, mp4, lpcm, ogg Video format:  asf, avi, divx, mpeg, mpg, ts, vob, wmv, mkv, mov AiCloud: personal cloud service 3G/4G data sharing Printer Server: Multifunctional printer support (Windows only) LPR protocol support Download Master Supports bt, nzb, http, ed2k Support encryption, DHT, PEX and magnet link Upload and download bandwidth control Download scheduling AiDisk file server: Samba and FTP server with account management
Weight		1010g